Setting: an ordinary day at work, in a basement office at The Salvation Army, in a somewhat drab brick building on a busy corner in Hartford CT.

In this office, there are two windows that are level with the ground, since I work in the “garden level” (AKA basement) of the building. I hear noise – street noise, car stereos blaring, fire engine sirens sounding, tires screeching – and worse, all day long at full decibel from where I work.

So, to be able to discern the sound of small birds, at work, amidst the cacophony of city noises, was something. I honestly thought I “felt” as much as heard these birds trying to get my attention. Cheerful cheeps with an insistent edge to them, as if they were saying “look at us” and pay attention.

I responded to their message. The ‘bird chorus’ brought me to the barred window in my office. And I saw four birds on the lawn. They were all simple brown house sparrows. If I was tempted to say, oh just a few sparrows and go back to my work, it would have been a similar reaction people have had to sparrows, for centuries. Sparrows are small, plentiful, and plain We don’t notice them or give them the time of day most of the time. So why would Jesus choose the lowly sparrow to teach his disciples, and us, a lesson?

Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God.  Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows. Luke 12:6-7

Sparrows were actually captured and sold on the market for next to nothing in Jesus’ day. “Of all the birds used for food by the people of those days, sparrows were the cheapest on the market, costing only two farthings for a five of them. The “farthing” was a tiny copper coin of very small value, so a sparrow was all but worthless in human terms. (Institute of Creation Research, 2021).

Jesus chose a little bird that even as food was not a high-priced option. I think he could have used a powerful, valiant bird like an eagle to illustrate the lesson that we are valuable to God. I suspect Jesus knew, and still knows, that in the deepest places of their lives, many people struggle with the hopelessness of feeling insignificant. Robert McGee, author of Search for Significance, would agree. We are all searching for significance to ourselves, to others, to our community and to our world. At our core, we want to be known and valued, yet how often do we feel unseen and unnoticed.

Further, I think Jesus chose the humble sparrows the same way he chooses us. He chooses those who are caught in a sense of insignificance and unworthiness to showcase to the world as His children.

For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. (I Cor 1:26-29 ESV)

Last week, a quartet of humble brown sparrows landed outside my office window and insisted I pay attention to their singing. Knowing what I know about Jesus’ words about sparrows, I trust this was not an accident. This is not the first time sparrows have spoken to me. I do believe these sparrows were sent, on a mission, to remind me that no matter how my day was going, how people were treating me, or how insignificant I felt in the grand scheme of things. I would recall and write about the words Jesus spoke and take them to hear. “Do not fear, you are not forgotten.”

Jesus sent sparrows to convey this message. And Jesus will send us to convey this message to all who will hear.