Geese

Joshua 1: 6-9
Hebrews 3:12-15
Luke 18: 27

Geese

My earlier education was as an ecologist, specializing in natural resource management and wildlife biology. For 15 years my family and I lived in New Jersey at the edge of the Great Swamp. The Great Swamp is a 15,000 acre gravy-bowl-shaped natural area that 10,000 years ago was a deep glacial lake surrounded by high granite ridges. The lake drained over what is now a high waterfall in the Millington Gorge, but every time there are heavy rains the basin tends to flood and overflow into the Passaic River. So, when that area was settled, most people knew enough not to build in what became known as the Great Swamp. In the late 1960’s the area was protected from the New York Port Authority which wanted to create another huge airport there for the metropolitan region.

Instead 11,000 acres of it became a Federal Wildlife Refuge, and other major portions became regional natural area parks. I was responsible for the planning and development of one of those parks, on about 1000 acres of wet, wet land. One of my first projects was to design and create a series of permanent deep ponds, for wildlife and for added protection to the spot where we built an 18,000 square foot solar heated and cooled visitor center and Environmental Education Center, the nation’s first solar heated and cooled public building. Those ponds became home for a lot of Canada geese. After a couple of years, several hundred geese would gather in the fall in those ponds, and one of the most beautiful sights, and sounds, was when the geese flew in in the evening at sunset to spend the night on the open water.

Canada geese were once very low in numbers. Now they are so abundant that in some places, like golf courses that have a lot of ponds, people think of them as pests. They love to eat grass, and grain. And each goose dumps a pound and a half of fecal material per day. So they can be a pain in the neck, and a lot of poop on the ground. I enjoy watching and hearing geese, since they are not eating my crops or fertilizing my yard. I have noticed that geese seem to be able to do something that we in the Church should want to do. For one thing, their flocks seem to get larger. Geese do this partly by reproduction, but they also invite other geese to come join them. They will actually go out and bring new geese, especially young geese, to their flock.

What are some lessons that the church can learn from the world of a Canada goose? One lesson is that Canada geese illustrate the concept of fellowship. Fellowship means “to have in common”, “to share”, “to participate for a common cause”. Why do the geese get together in large flocks before they head south for the winter? The geese get together, not just because they like each other’s company, but because they share a common cause, and together their journey is easier. That is part of why we as Christians meet together, to make our journey with Christ easier.

People in fellowship, who share a common direction and sense of community, achieve their goals more quickly and easily because they are traveling on one another’s thrust. Part of being in fellowship with one another in church is making sure that we are going in the same direction and that we are flying in formation. Have you ever seen a flock of geese take off and scatter in all different directions? They don’t.

Another lesson Canada geese can teach us is the concept of sharing the workload. When you see geese heading south for the winter flying along in a "V" formation, research has revealed that as each bird flaps its wings, it creates an uplift for the bird immediately behind it. By flying in a "V" formation, the whole flock adds at least 71 percent greater flying range than if each bird flew on its own. When the lead goose gets tired, he rotates back in the "V" and another goose flies the point. (It pays to take turns doing hard jobs.)

Whenever a goose falls out of formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of trying to go it alone. It quickly gets back into formation to take advantage of the lifting power of the bird immediately in front. When we fall out of formation with God, the resistance will pull us down away from our goal of growing closer to Jesus. The geese get together for their survival. It is the same for us as Christians. If we embark on our spiritual journey together, the journey becomes easier. Lone geese do not survive long.

Unfortunately, it seems as a general rule regarding getting work done in the church that 80% of the work gets done by 20% of the people. That applies to churches who are not growing. Growing churches are active churches-- the more people involved in the work of the church, the more work for God that gets done. What would happen to the geese if only 20% of them would take the lead? The flock would not survive. What happens when 80% of the work gets done by 20% of the people? The people who are doing the work become discouraged and burned out.

The work of the church is important; we are the body of Christ building the kingdom of God. God works through us. We are his hands and feet, and only by our actions can others come to know Him. Each and every one of you has various talents that could enhance the ministry of this church. We need to bring them into our flock and make sure we all use our talents. If one person does not share his or her gifts in service, the church is weakened. By instinct, geese share the work load among all the geese in the flock. As a church, we should do the same thing.

A third lesson Canada geese can teach us is, they show us the value of encouragement. Have you ever heard a flock of geese flying high overhead? They make all kinds of noise, they honk at each other as they fly. Why do geese honk as they fly? Researchers tell us geese honk to encourage those up front to keep up their speed.

We read in Hebrews 3:13 “But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called ‘Today,’ lest any one of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.” When we honk what is the message we are sending? How many times is the noise that we hear behind people who are working the voice of encouragement? Or is it too often the voice of criticism? Just as the geese are trying to encourage one another as they are on their long journey south, as Christians we should do the same thing. We are on a long journey to Jesus and we need encourager’s.

Finally, Canada geese can teach us the concept of sharing our burdens with one another. This last concept is one that is desperately needed in the church, and not just the burdens of those already part of our flock. When a goose gets sick, or is wounded by gun-fire and falls out, one or two other geese fall out of formation and follow it down to help and protect it. They stay with the goose until it is either able to fly again or dead, and then they launch out to catch up with their group.

Galatians 6:2… “Bear one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ.” Romans 15:1… “Now we who are strong ought to bear the weaknesses of those without strength and not just please ourselves.”

Our community is full of people who are hurting, who have no flock to give them care. Jesus came for the least, the lost, the lonely. He commands us to reach out to them too, whoever they are and wherever they may be, and bring them in. The concepts we can learn from watching geese are concepts that can help make the church stronger.

I pray that as a church we will fly together in formati on, that we will reach out to bring others into our fellowship, that each of us will share the kingdom work of the church, that when we are honking at each other it is to encourage, and that we will share one another’s burdens. If the community around us sees and knows that is the way this church operates, people will flock to us. Amen