Left Behind For A Reason Series

I want to start today with telling you the true story of “Mike, the Headless Chicken” September 10th, 1945 finds a strapping (but tender) young rooster pecking through the dust of Fruita, Colorado. The unsuspecting bird had never looked so delicious as he did that, now famous, day. Clara Olsen was planning on featuring the plump chicken in the evening meal. Husband Lloyd Olsen was sent out, on a very routine mission, to prepare the designated fryer for the pan. Nothing about this task turned out to be routine. Lloyd knew his mother-in-law would be dining with them and would savor the neck. He positioned his ax precisely, estimating just the right tolerances, to leave a generous neck bone. A skillful blow was executed and the chicken staggered around like most freshly terminated poultry.

Then the determined bird shook off the traumatic event and never looked back. Mike returned to his job of being a chicken. He pecked for food and preened his feathers just like the rest of his barnyard buddies.

When Olsen found Mike the next morning, sleeping with his "head" under his wing, he decided that if Mike had that much will to live, he would figure out a way to feed and water him. With an eyedropper Mike was given grain and water. It was becoming obvious that Mike was special. A week into Mike's new life Olsen packed him up and took him 250 miles to the University of Utah in Salt Lake City . The skeptical scientists were eager to answer all the questions regarding Mike's amazing ability to survive with no head. It was determined that ax blade had missed the jugular vein and a clot had prevented Mike from bleeding to death. Although most of his head was in a jar, most of his brain stem and one ear was left on his body. Since most of a chicken's reflex actions are controlled by the brain stem Mike was able to remain quite healthy.

In the 18 MONTHS that Mike lived as "The Headless Wonder Chicken" he grew from a mere 2 1/2 lbs. to nearly 8 lbs. In an interview, Olsen said Mike was a "robust chicken - a fine specimen of a chicken except for not having a head.”

Miracle Mike took on a manager, and with the Olsens in tow, set out on a national tour. Curious sideshow patrons in New York , Atlantic City , Los Angeles , and San Diego lined up to pay 25 cents to see Mike. The "Wonder Chicken" was valued at $10,000 and insured for the same. His fame and fortune would earn him recognition in Life and Time Magazines. It goes without saying there was a Guinness World Record in all this. While returning from one of these road trips the Olsens stopped at a motel in the Arizona desert. In the middle of the night Mike began to choke. Unable to find the eyedropper used to clear Mike's open esophagus Miracle Mike passed on.

Now, Mike's spirit is celebrated every year at the Mike the Headless Chicken Festival the third weekend in May.

You might say that it was only the grace of God that spared Mike’s life. And you would not be wrong. Everything about Mike was a miracle. The cut had to be right. The farmer had to be compassionate. What seemed to be the end for Mike became the beginning of fame.

We have been dissecting the prayer Jesus prayed for us. He prayed that we would have his joy, the kind of joy that comes with suffering. He prayed we would have his holiness, the kind that makes the world hate us. But He knew we needed God’s grace to accomplish our mission. Much like Mike, the enemy was about to cut off the head of the church in hopes the body would die. So He prayed. John 17:15-16 “I’m not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one. They do not belong to this world any more than I do.” Let’s discover what we can about this portion of his prayer for us.

Wouldn’t it be great if as soon as we became a follower of Jesus we would be whisked away to be with him. There would probably me a lot more followers. But it was, and still, is his desire that we remain in the world. To remain in the world, not be part of the world.

We often feel that we should isolate ourselves from the world. Thomas Rhett Akins wrote a country song in 2011 titled “If I could have a beer with Jesus.” It offended a lot of folks. But in reading the lyrics Jesus is not drinking but only hanging out with a man who is drinking and has a lot of questions. Jesus sat down with the sinners of his time. He probably would sit down with this man. We, on the other hand, would not be caught dead in a bar because of what others would think. Now I am not suggesting hanging out in bars but don’t allow the opinions of others cloud an opportunity to share the Gospel with someone.