Buzzards, Bats, Bumblebees and Eagles
Are You Living Like The Bumblebee?
Scriptures: Luke 9:51-56; Acts 16:20-25
Introduction
As you may recall, I have shared with you previously about the buzzards and the bats. With all of their other capabilities, both have limitations that could threaten their existence in certain situations. This morning I had planned to focus on the bumblebee and the eagle, but there was too much information to do both so I will focus on the bumblebee and complete this series next week with the eagle.
I. The Bumblebee
I shared with you last week that I am not the biggest fan of "roughing it" in the outdoors. In the summer time I like air conditioning in a mosquito free environment. In the winter I love snow, rain and freezing weather as long as I have a warm place to "endure those hardships." Where some people get depressed in the winter, it does not bother me at all. There are many reasons to love the winter, but two of mine are these: no mosquitoes and no other flying insects that bite or sting. You’ve got to admit, those are some pretty convincing reasons to enjoy the winter, unless you like having bite marks and itching all the time – which I do not. So, let’s talk about the bumblebee.
Bumblebees only live during the autumn time of the year which means they have a very short life. Imagine yourself on a nice fall afternoon, minding your own business, on your own deck, at your own home in your own yard. You’re not bothering anyone, just relaxing. All of a sudden you hear this vibrating noise and you look up to see a bumblebee flying near you. What do you do? Well if you’re one of those nature lovers, you’d look at the bumblebee and admire how it flies, amazed at its beauty. You would not be scared because you understood them. Now if you’re not a nature lover, you’d also look at the bumblebee while assessing your getaway points. The point would be to give the bee plenty of room to ensure you do not get stung. I always assumed that bees were vicious and would attack if given the chance (and some bees are) but not the bumblebee. The first thing I want you to know about the bumblebee is that many species of this bee are very docile and unaggressive. These bees are very submissive and passive. They generally will not attack you unless you have made the unfortunate mistake of disturbing their nest. When their nests are disturbed, these bees will turn very vicious. They will attack in mass anything or anyone who disturbs their nest. When everything is going fine, they will live and let live, not bothering anyone.
Another fact that I learned recently about the bumblebee is that they are a flying miracle. The wing size and the body size do not match, yet they are still able to fly. Just keep that in mind for later.
The last fact about bumblebees has to do with how they respond to being placed in a drinking glass. As with the buzzard (being placed in a 6x8 feet pen) and the bat (when placed on a level surface) faces life threatening situations because of their own abilities, so we find something similar with the bumblebee. If you drop a bumblebee into a normal drinking glass it will stay there until it dies. It never sees the means of escape at the top, but persists in trying to find some other way out through the sides or near the bottom. It will seek a way where none exists until it completely destroys itself. Can you imagine watching a bumblebee fly endlessly around a glass trying to find a way out only to die from exhaustion because it failed to look up? Although the way out does not exist where the bee is looking, it will keep searching. Remember one definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome. I think the bumblebee in this situation comes close.
II. People Are Like Bumblebees
People go through seasons throughout their lifetime. There are times when we are in one of our seasons when we are fully alive and there are times when we have seasons that make us feel as if we are dead. The bumblebee has a short lifespan in that it is alive and active primarily during the autumn time of year. Many people come alive during certain times of the year – their seasons. For example, it is a known fact that the rate of depression increases during the winter time. Why? Because it is cold and dreary outside and you do not have a lot of motivation to be active. The sun is farthest away from the earth so you do not get the same effect from being out in it. If you get depressed during the winter, then that time of year is not your season. In the natural, as in the spiritual, you should understand your seasons so that you can be aware of what you are going through. Sometimes it is difficult spiritually to get moving, but during some seasons you need to know when you need a break to refuel and when you need to stand strong and move forward. It’s all about the seasons.
Earlier I told you that the bumblebee is very docile an unaggressive. Although you can train the bees because of their passiveness, they will turn vicious when they feel threatened. Last year I was having a conversation with my daughter Victoria about some kid at school who was a bully. I asked Victoria if the kid every bother her. In response to my question, Victoria told me that the girl did not bother her. She said "the girl was like a bee. A bee only attacks when it feels threatened and that is the way this girl is. As long as I do not threaten her, or make her feel threatened, she leaves me alone." When Victoria made this statement, I could visualize exactly what she was saying. As long as this girl did not feel threatened, she would leave people alone, but like the bumblebee, if she was threatened, then you’d have a fight on your hands. Christians are the same way. There are a lot of Christians who will leave you alone unless your offend them or they feel attacked. If you want to know what a person is capable of doing, make them angry. Think about this as I share this story from Luke chapter nine with you.
"As the time approached for Him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. And He sent messengers on ahead who went into a Samaritan village to get things ready for Him; but the people there did not welcome Him because He was heading for Jerusalem. When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, ’Lord do You want us to call down fire from heaven to destroy them?’ But Jesus turned and rebuked them and they went to another village." (Luke 9:51-56)
Jesus was on His way to Jerusalem and had sent James and John ahead to prepare the way (make arrangements for where they would stay during the night on their way to Jerusalem.) James and John had gone to a Samaritan village to seek shelter, but once the Samaritans discovered that they were on their way to worship in Jerusalem, they did not welcome them. (The Samaritans were disturbed about anybody who worshipped in Jerusalem because they believed that Mt. Gerizim was the place to meet with God.) Up until this point, James and John had walked with Jesus, saw how He conducted Himself and the compassion that He offered to everyone. Jesus was about love and James and John had been in the process of learning this. Remember when Jesus first called them He names them "Sons of Thunder", which some believe was given them because of their temper. They had witnessed Jesus outpouring of love and should have known how He would respond to anyone who rejected Him. When they came to Jesus to report in, they told Him with distain how the Samaritan village did not want them there. Now here is the kicker, James and John asked Jesus if He wanted them to call down fire from heaven to destroy the Samaritan people.
They went from calm and caring to instrument of destruction because of one instance when people did not want to accept them. Aren’t you glad God is not like us? He does not automatically destroy us when we do not accept Him? He has love for us and desires only our good. James and John were like the bee, they were fine until they felt threatened in the form of people not receiving them. They were ready to slaughter men, women and children just because they were not accepted in the village. Jesus responded to their request by rebuking them. I can only imagine what Jesus told them. I can see Him explaining to them that this was not the reason that He had come, that He had come to save souls, not destroy them with fire. There are many "Christians" out there destroying in the name of Jesus.
Last weekend Nikki and I went to the Topeka Performing Arts Center to hear James Earl Jones discuss Shakespeare. When we drove up to the center, we saw Rev. Phelps Church protesting outside of the center. They were preaching hate and damnation for America because of homosexuality. Some of their signs were very graphic. They had several signs that said "Thank God for IEDs." I did not know what IED stood for so I had to look it up. IED stands for Improvised Explosive Device. These are the devices that are killing our soldiers; they are a form of land mines. This group of "Christians" was thanking God for devices that were killing Americans because of their own beliefs around homosexuality. What was most troubling to me was there were small kids about the age of 5 carrying some of these signs. As with the one situation with James and John, they believe they are doing this out of their love for Jesus Christ.
The second fact about bumblebees is that they are a flying miracle. They should not be able to fly because of their body size versus their wing size. How many times have you heard stories about people doing things that "they should not be able to do" because they made up their minds to do it? What would happen if you could teach the bumblebee that it was not supposed to be able to fly, do you think it would stop flying? Probably not! The bumblebee would defy our rationale and continue to fly. Sometimes as Christians we must defy other’s rationale for what we are able to accomplish by faith and continue to move on. We can move mountains if we do not let others talk us out of it. Others may not see where you are going or may choose not to follow, but you keep going and do what you know you can. Do not let others dictate to you what you can or cannot accomplish in life for that decisions rests with you.
The other fact about the bumblebee was that if placed in a drinking glass it would fly around and around seeking away out, never looking up at its means of escape. This is a major problem for all people because we truly we believe we have the answers for our own lives. Even if we are faced with something we have never faced before, we start thinking about how to handle the situation. We have been programmed to solve things and to worry while we are doing it. For a Christian this is really bad because if we miss our first response, we often find our way back after we have made our own mistakes. In any situation, good or bad, our first response should be to pray. In the good situations we should pray thanking God for it; in the bad situations, seeking God’s guidance before we act. So many times we act before we pray. Like the bumblebee, we spend a lot of time, energy and stress seeking answers when all we really have to do is look up to the Father. There are some answers that we can only receive from Him in the form of peace. If you have tried it your way and it continues to not work out, maybe it is time to try something new.
Acts 16 records a situation that Paul and Silas found themselves in. Look at verses 20-25 of Acts chapter 16.
"They brought them before the magistrates and said, ’These men are Jews and are throwing our city into an uproar by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice.’ The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten. After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. Upon receiving such orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in stocks. About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God and the other prisoners were listening to them."
Paul and Silas were imprisoned because they took authority over a woman dealing with familiar spirits and fortune-telling. This woman worked for a group of men who were very upset when Paul and Silas cast that spirit out of her because they lost their investment. If you go back and read verses 16 through 19, you’ll see that Paul did not immediately cast the spirit out. The spirit recognized Paul and Silas and for days the girl followed them around shouting they were servants of the Most High God. The spirit within that girl recognized the Spirit operating within Paul and Silas. When they cast that spirit out of that girl, they were in trouble. They were beaten severely and cast into prison. If this had been you, would you lay in prison crying and worrying about what would happen to you, whether you’d live to see another day? That would be an almost "normal response, although that was not Paul and Silas’ response. Their response was to sign praises to God. They were looking up and not down. Through their praise, God moved on their behalf and a soul was saved. What would have happened if they had just lain in prison crying and moaning, never offering any praise to God? The Scriptures says that the other prisoners were also listening. I believe those other prisoners also received something through the praise of Paul and Silas.
But how does this work in "real" life, our lives. I want to share something with you from the last sermon that Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King gave before he was assassinated. Before he gave this speech, he had been beaten; his life constantly threatened; his home had been bombed; he had been jailed; spat on and ridiculed. Through all of this, he was a man who knew he had a work to do. When you read his story, you’ll find that there were many times he worried and times when he was depressed. Although he was a man trying to do God’s will, he was also very much human and under a lot of stress. In his last speech titled "I’ve Been to the Mountaintop" you can hear the change in his voice and the change in his words. In that speech he accepted what he had to do and he knew it would probably cost him his life. But unlike the bumblebee that would fly endlessly seeking a way out of a drinking glass until he finally died from exhaustion; Dr. King had found his way out. He had risen above worrying; he had risen above the depression and the fear. In his last speech he was free. I leave you with these words of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King:
"…It really doesn’t matter what happens now. I left Atlanta this morning and as we hot started on the plane, there were six of us, the pilot said over the public address system, ’We are sorry for the delay, but we have Dr. Martin Luther King on the plane. And to be sure that all of the bags were checked, and to be sure that nothing would be wrong with the plane, we had to check out everything carefully. And we’ve had the plane protected and guarded all night.’ And then I got to Memphis. And some began to say the threats, or talk about the threats that were out. What would happen to me from some of our sick white brothers. Well, I don’t know what will happen now. We’ve got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn’t matter with me now. Because I’ve been to the mountaintop. And I don’t mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has it place. But I’m not concerned about that now. I just want to do god’s will. And He’s allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I’ve looked over. And I’ve seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land. And I’m happy tonight. I’m not worried about anything. I’m not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord."
The bumblebee flies around and around seeking a way out but never looking up. Paul, Silas and Dr. Martin L. King looked up. Are you looking up? May God bless you.
