Pentecost--from a Sparrow's Point of View

      A Sparrow's Pentecost

by Anna

A sparrow on Mount Olivet
   Watched twelve men or more
As Christ told them of the promise
   The Father had in store. 

It watched them on that mountain
   Away from the city streets,
Where lilies bobbed and sparrows chirped
   And wind and cloud did meet.

The “promise of the Father”
   He told the men that day,
Like a papa bird leaving the nest behind
    To bring food from far away.

“It won’t be long,” Christ Jesus said.
   “Just wait for the promised day.”
Then like a bird that takes his wing,
    He ascended in clouds away.

He had said so clear in the Upper Room
   The Holy Spirit would come.
“But wait for Him,” He had told the men,
   “In your Jerusalem.”

You came with wind and fire
   To those in the Upper Room.
The huddled flowers opened up
   Into fullest bloom.

Like baby sparrows in their nest
   They watched the Spirit come
With fattest bug and worm in beak
   To their Jerusalem.

He filled their hunger, quenched their thirst,
   Filled their mouth with praise,
Cleansed their hearts and healed their soul,
   Oh, what happy days!

Now strong enough, the birds take wing.
    They have enough to share.
The gospel is their message clear;
    It is the news they bear.

Now others in Jerusalem
   Want what those sparrows have–
The spirit of Christ that gives them hope
   And strength and power to save.  

We in current times and place
   Take our cue from them.
We wait for Your promise, Father,
   In our Jerusalem.

It may be in a place of prayer
   Or driving on the road,
Or at a church’s sacred bench,
   Or under a workman’s load.

It may be on a mountain,
   Or on a city street.
It may be in an upper room,
   But You we want to meet.

We seek Your Spirit and Your power.
   We trust and pray like them,
Waiting like sparrow and like flower
   In our Jerusalem.