Little Flock

"Little Flock"

Luke 12:32 Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

“Little Flock”, so interesting that Jesus would call us that. Some say He was just speaking to the disciples that was with Him at that time but the teaching was shared by Luke for us today.

This message Jesus is teaching here is mainly about, “why worry, your Father in heaven promises to take care of you”, but “little flock” spoke to me. Often, I have watched as birds flock together. They stick together. They move as one. In observing them, you would say they are of one mind. The Father has put within them this group-think instinct. Each bird must be thinking and reacting to the birds next to them. They seem to know the intents of the whole flock. They are like a kingdom that perfectly flows together.

In a flock of birds, you do not see one bird leading all the others. They function like a kingdom with no king. God is the unseen king. Relating this to a church, it is like they have no bird pastor or pope.

Matthew 6:26 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they.

What would ministry be like if we, as God’s people, could function like a flock of birds? As church members, what if we were so in tune with the Father that we needed no overseer? We would all just know our giftings and would be intently listening for the Holy Spirit to move us in the greater good of the kingdom.

In reality, we are more like a flock of sheep.

Now sheep are accused of being dumb. They walk into danger not even sensing the danger. God has designed them in such a way that they need a shepherd. They need a higher intelligence to keep them in the flock. Sheep do have a worthy gift; they know their shepherd’s voice and they follow. With our human failings, we need an overseer. God has ordained overseers.

John 10:27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.

Let me see what kind of lessons I can learn from this. May be we fit somewhere between the characteristics of birds and sheep.

First, to function as a Christian in the Kingdom, we are to be like sheep having a leader, pastor, priest, etc. Someone who stands responsible to oversee the direction of our lives and lovingly inspires us to function in our giftings. We just do not have that instinct that automatically responds to God.

Psalm 100:3 Know that the Lord, He is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.

Submission to a loving Father is so important. We are designed to be much more intelligent than birds and sheep. Basically, God told Adam he had dominion over all the other creatures. We are to manage this world were God’s innocent animals freely roam.

Least I get into dominion theology, I really want to explore submission.

Our submission to the Lord is to be neither bird like instinct nor sheepish surrender. God has endowed us with intellect to make choices that develop us into responsible coworkers with Him.

Instinct is a very useful tool for preservation, but God did not plan for us to mindlessly flow through life with no clearly defined responsibilities. God warns us about worry/fear and how it can derail a peaceful kingdom life. We do need a healthy respect and assurance of His care for us like the birds are blessed to have.

Neither are we to mindlessly live life as a sheep being led from pasture to pasture. We do need that sheepish sensitivity to the Shepherd/Father’s voice so we can know why we go from pasture to pasture.

I have learned over these many years of walking with the Lord, submission to His will is where peace and happiness are really found. God wants coworkers that recognize His way is best. This may sound robotic but God’s design for us is not anything like that. We are in no way clones but rather each individually made with distinct characteristics to fulfill distinct task especially assigned to us. We each have a special relationship with our Creator. Therefore, our submission takes on a divine domination that affords us a special relationship with God and His eternal purposes. We are the happiest when we know and flow in His plans.

So, know this, He has especially designed you to have a special roll in His divine design. Church is when we flock together for His pleasure.