WHY EAGLES FLY AND
CHICKENS FLUTTER
Rom. 12:2
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR
1. Often we get into the same messes as those we’re critical of.
2. An EMT was working in the emergency room when a father brought in his son who had taken a tire off a miniature car and poked it into his nose. The father was embarrassed and the EMT assured him that kids frequently did that.
3. The technician quickly removed the tire and father and son were quickly on their way home. But a few minutes later, the father was back in the ER asking to talk to the EMT in private.
4. "While we were on our way home I was looking at that little tire and wondering, ‘How on earth did my son did this up his nose’," and then he went on to explain the problem.
5. Fortunately, it only took the EMT just a few seconds to get the tire out of dad's nose!
B. ILLUSTRATION
1. There is a legend that long ago, the chicken was very similar to the eagle; in fact they were very good friends. It was not uncommon to see them flying side by side through the air.
2. One day the chicken said, "Let's drop down to that farm and get a bite to eat; my stomach is growling." "That sounds like a good idea to me," replied the Eagle. They landed next to a cow.
3. "Welcome," said the cow. "Help yourself to some of this corn." The two birds looked at each other with surprise, not accustomed to other animals sharing their food.
4. "Why are you willing to share your corn with us?" asked the Eagle. "Oh, we have plenty to eat here, the farmer gives us all we want." The Eagle and the chicken jumped right in and ate their fill.
5. The chicken asked, "Do you have to work for your food?" The cow answered, "No we don't! The farmer gives us food and shelter free of charge!" The chicken and the Eagle were shocked! They had always had to search for food and work for shelter.
6. When it came time to leave, the chicken said "Maybe we should stay here. We get all the food we want and a nice barn; that sure beats those nests and I'm tired of working for a living."
7. But the Eagle said, "I don't know; it sounds too good to be true. Besides, I like flying high and free. I love my freedom too much to give it up." So the Eagle and the chicken said goodbye, and the Eagle sailed up into the wild blue yonder.
8. Everything went fine for a while with the chicken, but one day he heard the farmer say that the preacher was coming and that they would have fried chicken for dinner!
9. Hearing that, the chicken decided it was time to leave, but when he began to fly, he found he could only flutter! So the next day the farmer's family and the preacher ate fried chicken.
10. When you give up spiritual freedom for security, your ability to fly turns into a flutter!
C. THESIS
Why do Eagles fly and chickens flutter? Because…
I. EAGLES ARE EAGLES BY BIRTH
A. EAGLES ARE BORN TO FLY FAR ALOFT, TO BE THE KING OF THE BIRDS
1. In 1784, Benjamin Franklin wrote his daughter and expressed unhappiness over the choice of the Eagle as the symbol of America. He felt it was a mistake to not select his preference -- the turkey. Although we would like to think we are always right, sometimes we're not! I'm glad he didn't get his way!
2. The Eagle is among the largest and most powerful of birds. The Eagle is certainly more noble looking than a turkey!
B. AS THE EAGLE’S DESTINY IS DETERMINED BY BIRTH, SO IS THE CHRISTIAN’S
1. Just as the Eagle is by birth destined for the clouds and is the King of the birds, so are we by birth -- being born again in our spiritual nature -- destined for greatness.
2. Both Eagles and chickens start off as eggs. They both have feathers and wings. They both can fly to some degree. But the genetic blueprint of the Eagle destines it to be a symbol of power and ascendancy. A chicken however, will always be a chicken, and never rise above a flutter, because that's what it's destined for.
3. The Word of God tells us that if we are born from above, we are not like the people around us. There may be an outward similarity now, but due to our spiritual genes, we will grow up into very different creatures.
4. We are going to have heavenly bodies, enjoy eternal life and glory, and rule & reign with Christ for all eternity! Unfortunately, the people without Christ will not rise to the joys of heaven, but only flutter into the
outer darkness!
II. EAGLES FLY BECAUSE … THEY DON’T CONFORM TO THE NATURE OF LOWER CREATURES
A. ROMANS 12:2
2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
B. BARNYARD DUCKS
1. Barnyard ducks are an example of birds which conform. Normally, they are migratory and wild, traveling thousands of miles in large groups. It's the same with geese.
2. But there are those (like at the Sam Houston Museum Park) which become satisfied with their immediate surroundings and food supply, and their sense of “the call of the wild” is lost.
3. When waves of ducks/geese fly over, quacking and honking, they momentarily feel the desire to go, but their ease/complacency has too strong a hold on them, they no longer possess the will to leave the earth for the skies.
4. That’s like many Christians. They become so worldly that the stirring, wooing of the Holy Spirit -- which used to motivate them to seek God – no longer moves them. The Holy Spirit’s presence is a forgotten memory.
5. Peter calls such Christians "Nearsighted;" 2 Peter 1:4-11, especially verse 9. "4 Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. 5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. 8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins."
10 Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, 11 and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”
C. BUT BE TRANSFORMED…
1. Our being transformed is similar to what baby birds do -- "imprint." In the first few days after birth, some birds pass through an extremely impressionable stage.
2. Whatever they see which moves during those days becomes their mother, and they began to follow it and emulate it.
3. That's why the Bible says, "Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith" Hebrews 12: 2. We’re to be conformed to His Image! 2 Cor. 3:17-18.
4. Similarly, if we would "mount up with wings as eagles," we must not focus on the icons, fashions, styles, preferences or world view of the world system, but rather on the Word of God, which is "alive and powerful..."
III. EAGLES FLY BECAUSE … THEY PERCEIVE THEIR GENETIC HERITAGE & DETERMINE TO BECOME WHAT THEY WERE DESTINED FOR
A. GROWTH HAS MANY STAGES
1. After salvation, we reach a temporary place of satisfaction and fulfillment.
2. Then the Holy Spirit begins to draw us and prod us into a deeper place in God.
3. There's times we may feel a holy dissatisfaction with our relationship with God. The book of 2 Chron. 32:31 says that God "left Hezekiah to prove him."
4. At those times, the devil may say, "God isn't enough." But the truth is that God is jealous God; He wants all of our love. He doesn't want it to be a surface love, so he makes us feel needy -- and the answer is that we go deeper in our relationship with God.
B. GROWTH TAKES TIME
1. A college student went to the college president’s office and told him that he thought that the years necessary for college were wasted and that he ought to be able to get out a lot quicker.
2. The college president replied, "It all depends on what you want to be. If you want to be a dandelion, it only takes a short time to fulfill its growing cycle. Then it dies and is gone. On the other hand, if you want to be an oak tree that surpasses the lifespan of humans, then it takes 30 years just to reach maturity.
3. So it all depends on what you want to be; a dandelion or an oak tree!
C. YOU DON’T NEED A TEACHER, YOU NEED A PUPIL!
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION
1. Walter Knight tells the true story of how a farmer who caught a young eagle and placed it with his chickens. The eaglet ate with them and soon adapted itself to their ways.
2. One day an ornithologist visited the farmer. Seeing the eagle, he said, "That's not a chicken. That's an eagle." That's right," said the farmer, "but he's no longer an eagle in his nature. He is a chicken now, for he eats chicken food and does everything chickens do. He'll never fly again!"
3. "You're wrong," said the naturalist. "He's an eagle still, because he has the heart of an eagle." After making several unsuccessful efforts to get the eagle to fly, the naturalist carried the Eagle to the foot of a high mountain just as the sun was rising.
4. High overhead a wild eagle floated on the wind and gave a great cry. Suddenly the farmer’s eagle gave an answering scream of joy, stretched forth his wings, and mounted higher and higher into the sky -- never to return to the farmer.
5. Oh, for a vision of Jesus, that would inspire us to leave earthly things and "mount up with wings as eagles!"
B. THE CALL
1. “1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. 2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Heb. 12:1-2.
2. The writer of Hebrews had three important directives for us:
a. To throw off the worldly influences;
b. To fix our eyes on Jesus;
c. To run with perseverance the race marked out for us.
3. I want us to take those three steps tonight as we close in prayer.
