"I know it doesn't look like it, but that bird really was a dove, asking us for world peace. No more wars." - Bernie Sanders, Boston Globe
DISCLAIMER: There are two parts to this story: Politics and Theology. Don't read it if you're at the dinner table, is what I'm saying.
This isn't news. I think the world now knows that during Bernie Sander's televised Portland rally, a sparrow flew down from the sky and landed on his podium. I think that it is considered a significant event by at least the social media pundits with whom I am most familiar, and I think that it deserves our attention.
I have been shy, on Facebook especially, about discussing the theological dimension of my political convictions. My religious friends probably aren't going to enjoy my choice of a politician, and my liberal friends will have something to say about the separation of church and state. I ask both sides to bear with me, because what I have to say, I believe, is of consequence. I don't know if God endorses a candidate, and I'm not meaning to say that there is only one possible answer to the question of who a Christian should vote for. I've miscommunicated many times on my convictions.
All of that out of the way? On March 25, 2016, a sparrow came down from heaven and landed on Bernie Sander's podium in Portland, Oregon. He called it a dove. The audience roared. He waved it away and proclaimed a message of peace. In my readings, through all of my classes, we call that a sign from Heaven, and I think it portends something about God's will for our politics, whether or not Bernie Sanders is the guy to make it happen. God still speaks, and this is how He has spoken for a very long time.
A sparrow came and it was called a dove. The symbolism is striking. Birds as a whole, and both of these kinds of birds specifically, were key features of Christ's early ministry, especially in Matthew and Luke - and the traditional message of these birds is Sander's message, a message that has been far from Christian circles and near to the prophetic imagination for a very long time.
First, we'll start with the bird. It landed on Sander's podium, catching his attention and interrupting the audience on national television. Bernie began by saying, "Now, you know, this little bird doesn't know it..."
The bird proved him wrong. It hopped up on the podium, and a cheering ovation came from the crowds. At least the message seemed clear to me: This wasn't a coincidence.
Birds, in the Sermon on the Mount, the first of Matthew's five discourses, is Jesus' go-to example for God's provision. It's one of the most comforting verses to counter our cultural pre-occupation with efficiency and production.
"Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?" - Matthew 6:26, ESV
The message is on a discourse about anxiety. It's a symbol of internal peace. It's a symbol of God's provision, especially for God's people who fear for their ability to feed themselves. In a political season based primarily on fear of economic ruin and violent upheaval, the sparrow says, "Be at peace. Do the sparrows diligently consider their futures? No. God will feed you." It is meant to quell worry about whether we can do the right thing, which in my view means caring for the poor, and still make it ourselves. God feeds those who pursue righteousness. Be not afraid.
The sparrow, specifically, is a symbol of God's sovereignty in times of violence and persecution.
"[Following the warning of violent persecution of Christians]
So have no fear of them, for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known.What I tell you in the dark, say in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops. And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows." - Matthew 10:26-31 ESV
The message is clear. In an election cycle where our politics have focused so often on protecting ourselves (and in an age when the Christian witness has, as the social media pundits have made clear, been horrendously damaged by our seemingly unmerciful stance concerning refugees and Muslims), God says to not be afraid. The sparrow speaks loudly - if God holds that sparrow in His hand, He holds us. We must not be afraid.
And finally, perhaps most poignant, the dove. The universal symbol of peace, with a storied Scriptural history. Noah releases a dove to determine where land, and safety from raging destruction is - and where that dove rests, there Noah goes. Peace from chaos continues to be the dove's legacy when the Spirit descends in the bodily form of a dove upon our Messiah in Matthew 3, Mark 1, and Luke 3. It is God's symbol, "Here I am. This is the calm in the midst of the storm." It is renowned as a symbol of peace. It is a symbol of innocence and righteousness in the midst of violence, as in Matthew 10:16: "Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves."
This bird is a symbol of peace, and I would like to hope that, as Sen. Sanders says, it commands an end to war. But I think there's a more direct message. Don't fear the turbulence of the times. Maintain a faithful witness to God at whatever cost - and in this case, with a sign so evidently before us, maintain that faithful witness by paying attention to that sign. I've drawn substantially from Matthew 10, and so it is fitting that I end with a quote from that chapter. We're talking about a man who is definitely not a Christian, who has a lot of policies that many conservative Christians would disagree with - but who's base motivation and heart is for the care of the poor, for making the living situations of those in the direst need better. He embodies, I think, the Christian social ethic of Matthew 25:40, "As you did it to the least of these my brothers, you did it to me", a point stated in a more poignant fashion to the disciples facing danger in Matthew 10.
My last words, the quote, and we'll be done: I believe God sent this sign because this care for the impoverished, this solidarity with the poor, and this desire to embody Luke's recounting of Christ's beatitudes and woes (Luke 6:20-26) is one of most neglected and most readily applicable of Christ's social messages - one we, as His body, have ignored because of how often we have been guilty of standing on the wrong side of the aisle. So here is Christ's encouragement from Matthew - may it stir us to good works and action, and may it provoke in us a deep love for our world, so that we might be salt and light in the earth. The last verse of Matthew 10:
"And whoever gives on of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he will be no means lose his reward." - Matthew 10:42 ESV
