One Easter Sunday morning
he came to the Church carrying a rusty, bent, old bird cage, and set it by the
pulpit. Eyebrows were raised and, as if in response, Pastor Thomas began to
speak. . .
"I was walking
through town yesterday when I saw a young boy coming toward me swinging this bird
cage. On the bottom of the cage were three little wild birds, shivering with
cold and fright.
I stopped the lad and
asked, "What do you have there, son?" "Just some old birds,"
came the reply. "What are you going to do with them?" I asked. "Take
'em home
and have fun with
'em," he answered. "I'm gonna tease 'em and pull out their feathers
to make 'em fight. I'm gonna have a real good time." "But you'll get
tired of those birds sooner or later. What will you do then?"
"Oh, I got some
cats," said the little boy. "They like birds. I'll take 'em to
them." The pastor was silent for a moment. "How much do you want for
those birds, son?" "Huh? Why,
you don't want them birds, mister. They're just plain old field birds. They
don't sing. They ain't even pretty!" "How much?" the pastor
asked again. The boy sized up the pastor as if he were crazy and said,
"$10?"
The pastor reached in his
pocket and took out a ten dollar bill. He placed it in the boy's
hand. In a flash, the
boy was gone. The pastor picked up the cage and gently carried it to the end of
the alley where there was a tree and a grassy spot. Setting the cage down, he
opened the door, and by softly tapping the bars persuaded the birds out,
setting them free. Well, that explained the empty bird cage on the pulpit, and
then the pastor began to tell this story:
One day Satan and
Jesus were having a conversation. Satan had just come from the
Garden of Eden, and
he was gloating and boasting. "Yes, sir, I just caught a world
full of people down
there. Set me a trap, used bait I knew they couldn't resist. Got 'em all!"
"What are you going to do with them?" Jesus asked. Satan replied, "Oh,
I'm gonna have fun! I'm gonna teach them how to marry and divorce each other,
how to hate and abuse each other, how to drink and smoke and curse. I'm gonna
teach them how to invent guns and bombs and kill each other. I'm really gonna
have fun!" "And what will you do when you are done with them?"
Jesus asked.. "Oh,
I'll kill 'em," Satan glared proudly. "How much do you want for
them?" Jesus asked. "Oh, you don't want those people. They ain't no
good. Why, you'll take them and they'll just hate you. They'll spit on you, curse
you and kill you. You don't want those people!!" "How much? He asked
again. Satan
looked at Jesus and sneered, "All your blood, tears and your life."
Jesus said,
"DONE!" Then He paid the price. The pastor picked up
the cage and walked from the
pulpit.
Maybe
like those birds we need to pray to God to set us free us from our doubts about
Easter. For many people, Easter is sheer nonsense. Like the disciples, we can
be slow of heart and slow to recall the very words of Jesus that had now come
true. We share the same skepticism of the disciples who argued with the
women at the tomb that this news must be some kind of joke. However, God will
have none of this. Perhaps, it is time to set yourself free and bathe in the
truth that Jesus is truly Risen!
God watches over us as we pray: “…as they entered
the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe, sitting on the right
side, and they were alarmed. “Don’t be alarmed, he said, You are looking for
Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here.” (Mark 16:
5-7).
