“Of Geese and Men”

It’s probably not the strangest sight you’ll ever see, but it does make you think. Several generations of geese–large, healthy, beautiful Canadian geese–live in a single field. They find their food there and swim in a pond in that field. What is unusual,however, is that these geese are here year-round. Even in the cold of winter, these geese don’t fly south. In fact, they don’t fly at all!
It’s not that they can’t fly–they’ve been examined by expert veterinarians. They have nice big wings like normal geese. Their muscles--if a little underdeveloped from lack of use--are present and in working order. They can, and do, flap their wings on occasion. They’re not too heavy for their wings to lift them off the ground. There is nothing physically wrong with them. There is no physical reason that they shouldn’t be able to fly.
The problem, it seems, is mental. They’re not mentally-handicapped or anything. They’re perfectly intelligent... by goose standards. It just seems that they have forgotten how to fly. Or, perhaps, they don’t care to try.
Apparently, a number of years back, some of these geese were part of a larger flock flying south. A few of them broke away from the giant V and took a break in the pond below. However, when their fellow geese took off again to join the rest of the flock in the air, four or five of that group stayed behind. They never took to the sky again. They waddled about on the ground and swam in the pond, and ate bugs living in the grass, but never attempted to fly! In time, they mated and hatched out little grounded geese, whom they never taught to fly.
The result is that you now have a whole colony of earth-bound geese. Even when other geese pass over in V-formation, these grounded geese make no attempt to join them, or even seem interested in them. Maybe they think that those soaring geese are a different variety from them. “Those are the sky geese, but we are the ground geese. We have nothing to do with them. If the good Lord had intended us to fly, he wouldn’t have given us these wonderfully wide, flat feet!”
They have been encouraged to fly, of course, by people who see them. “Why don’t you fly south for the winter, you birdbrains? Don’t you know that’s what you’re supposed to do? You weren’t made to stick around on the ground, you were built to fly! Look at those big, fine wings! Consider how aerodynamic that long neck of yours is! Can’t you understand? You were meant for something more! You were meant to soar!”
Geese, unfortunately, do not understand English, or any other human language. All the attempts that we have made to communicate with them have no more impact on them than all of their emphatic honking would make on us. We just can’t make them understand us. What we need is someone who speaks goose!
If only someone could, just for awhile, become a goose and talk sense to them. If only someone could become like them and explain to them that they are meant for something greater than just waddling and swimming. If only a person could squeeze himself into the shape and mind-frame of a goose, he could teach them how to fly again. Then they could really understand it and believe it–and maybe even do it!
The problem is, these geese have built up a sort of community of earthbound-only geese. They are wary of other geese that can fly. When a few migrating geese happen to land in their field, the non-flight geese stay away from them. The only way you could get them to trust you is if you happened to have been hatched out in their home-field. If you were hatched there and grew up there among them, they’d accept you as one of their own. THEN, once you’d gained their trust, you could give them the Goose Good News! “Don’t you see? We aren’t made to stick around on the ground,we were built to fly! Look at these big, fine wings! Consider our long aerodynamic necks! Can’t you understand? We were meant for something more! We were meant to soar!”
Only a fellow goose could make them understand. Only a fellow goose could show them it was possible!
I wonder what the geese would think, if you actually did this and then tried to explain to them who you were. Do you think they would believe you? Do you think that they would comprehend what you had given up to become a goose like them? That you had traded in your human form for that of a gosling embryo inside an egg. Would they ever understand that even though you had hatched out and grown up among them, that even though you looked like a goose and walked like a goose and honked like a goose and--were a goose, you were also something much more? Would they ever be able to wrap their little goosey brains around what a wonderful gift you had given them, in becoming like them, in order to restore them to what they were made to be? Would they appreciate it, even if they couldn’t fully understand it?

On a small blue-green planet in the western spiral arm of the Milky Way galaxy,there were creatures made in the image of God. And though they had once communed with their creator like we would speak with a friend, they no longer did so. This is odd, because that sort of relationship is precisely what they had been created for! They were made for something more than mere earthly survival! They were made to worship their Creator and fellowship with Him!
The problem was that sin had entered into the world. Because God is sinless,humans’ sins made a barrier between them and Him. They could no longer relate to God as friends the way that Adam and Eve did before they had sinned. And so, these human beings descended into a life separated from God.
Graciously, God revealed himself to the people. He gave them laws to show them what they needed to do and not do so their relationship with him could be repaired. He even made provisions within His law for sacrifices to be offered to pay for those times when the people might break His law. But, while the law was good, it mostly just served to show how far they were from reaching God’s high standards of perfection! And while there were a few people here and there who managed to have a pretty good relationship with God, even they had to keep offering sacrifices to atone for their sins. And so there was always this barrier that kept the humans from their real purpose–the real reason they had been created!
If only God could, just for awhile, become a human being and talk sense to them. If only He could become like them and explain to them that they are meant for something greater than just eating and sleeping and working and reproducing. If only God could squeeze himself down into the shape and mind-frame of a human being, he could show them how to repair their fractured relationship with Him. Then they could really understand it and believe it–and maybe even do it!
Maybe, if God were to limit himself in order to become a human embryo inside a young woman; Maybe, if he would then be born and grow up among human beings,they would accept him as one of their own. THEN, when He had gained their trust, He could give them the Good News, “The Kingdom of Heaven is near! Your Creator is seeking you out to draw you to Himself, to become His children once more, to truly get to know Him!”
Only a fellow human being could make them understand. Only a fellow human could show by his example that a restored relationship was possible.
I wonder what these humans would think, if He actually did this and then tried to explain to them who He was. Do you think they would believe Him? Do you think that they would comprehend what He had given up to become a human like them? That He had traded in His Heavenly Glory for the body of a human baby? Would they ever understand that even though He had been born and grown up among them, that even though He looked like a man and walked like a man and talked like a man and--was a man, that He was also something much more? Would they ever be able to wrap their little human brains around what a wonderful gift He had given them, in becoming like them, in order to restore them to what they were made to be? Would they appreciate it, even if they couldn’t fully understand it?
Yet God did that very thing! And he made the promise that He would, some 700 years before the fact, through his prophet Isaiah to a king named Ahaz who was worried that God had abandoned him. “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel –which means God With Us.” (Isa 7:14) And though there may have been a child born in Isaiah’s lifetime who was named Immanuel, only one child born in all of human history truly embodied that name! God sent his Son, Jesus, to be born of a woman, (Gal 4:4) and live among us. Jesus emptied himself of his Heavenly glory (Phil 2:7-8) to become a human being like us! And not only did He tell us the Good News, that we could have a restored relationship with our Creator, He Himself became the sacrifice that makes that relationship possible–by washing away our sins!

Whether we can ever truly comprehend the greatness of such a gift or not, I don’t know. I do know this, however: as this Christmas season approaches, we can certainly be filled with wonder and awe at such a marvelous gift! How can we begin to say thank you enough?