Scripture Matthew 6:28-34, Tr. Rev. Wilda Gafney
[Jesus asked,] “Now why do you all worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither labor nor spin. Yet I tell you all, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. Now if the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, God so clothes, will not God do much more for you all of little faith? Therefore, do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For all these the Gentiles strive and indeed your heavenly Provider knows that you all need all these. But strive first for the reign of God and God’s righteousness and all these will be given to you all. So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow has worries of its own. Sufficient is the trouble of this day.
Sermon
I did consider the lilies, when I chose this passage from our lectionary, in the sense that I wondered whether I could learn anything about lilies that would enlighten us about what Jesus is saying. Lilies are certainly significant in our contemporary religious context, strongly associated with the Easter celebrations of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and, therefore, also commonly used at Christian funerals. Lilies are culturally significant throughout the world. They’re found in everything from cuisine to traditional medicines to the Victorian language of flowers, where they represent love, affection, warmth, and happiness. They’re a symbol associated with Mary, the mother of Jesus since medieval times, and they are used in coats of arms. There’s a lot to say about lilies.
But then, during Bible Study this week, I looked up the Greek text of this passage, and it turns out that Jesus didn’t use the word “lily” at all. What he said was, “Consider the anemones.” Anemones, which are related to ranunculus and buttercups, and have a simple five-petal arrangement. They are native to every continent except for Australia and Antarctica. Anemones are humble flowers, mostly grown in the wild, and they’re of the genus “windflowers.”
Consider the anemone, Jesus said, as he continued his sermon on the Mount, referring to a flower that might well have been blooming unnoticed around the feet of his listeners. Jesus notes that the anemone is not a working flower—in fact, sometimes, their stems recline naturally. And despite that, they flourish. They survive all seasons and return. And they are beautiful. Stunning colors of blue, a range of hues between pink and violet, red, and white. Most of them bloom in close clusters, like perfect bouquets sprouting from the earth. According to Jesus, King Solomon himself, with all his prestige and all his wealth, would be no match for these, which God herself cultivates, and cares for, and brings to blossom, and puts to bed, year after year.
So, Jesus asks, why worry? About what you will eat, or what you will drink, or what you will wear? If God takes such meticulous and lavish care of these flowers, won’t God do the same for you? Rather than worrying, seek the reign of God, and God’s righteousness, God’s justice, and God, your Provider, will care for you, in every one of these ways.
It’s interesting that Jesus brings up King Solomon. The son of David and Bathsheba, Solomon was gifted with God’s Wisdom in all things except finances. Well, and perhaps, romantic liaisons. In fact, God appointed Solomon to build the Temple, which he did—and, grand and beautiful as it was, it was less than half the size of the palace Solomon built for himself, as well as the replica of his palace he had built for one of his many wives. And the building of these was the result of forced labor by all his able-bodied citizens, who were commanded to spend one month working on the Temple and palaces for every two months they tended to their own homes and livelihoods. The economic results of this were so dire that they led to the collapse of the kingdom, which, by the time his son took the throne, was completely vulnerable to the Babylonian Empire.[i]
With just one mention of Solomon’s name, Jesus conjures all this, the whole story, for the people who are giving him their full attention. Sure, Solomon had the best of the best of everything and look where it got him. Even Solomon needs the advice that Jesus gives the people he cares for: seek God first. All else that matters, will follow.
We seek God in all kinds of ways: in prayer, in contemplation, in scripture, in service. In nature! One of the most important ways we can seek God, is in community. In a healthy community of faith, we find many of the resources we need for seeking God, and we have the advantage of being able to seek alongside other seekers. For us at UPC, studying scripture in a group means that we have from five to fifteen voices other than our own to enrich our study, each person coming with their own faith journey, questions, insights, and hard-earned wisdom. Doing service in community means that we have others with whom to think and plan and divide responsibilities and accomplish our tasks. Being in community means that we have relationships with others who share our hopes and dreams, our values, and the work to which we are all called. It also means that we get to be a part of the care Jesus promises that God will provide.
Jesus’s words encouraging us not to worry are good—they’re important for people like us, who have the privilege of being able to worship God together each Sunday, and to gather for all sorts of reasons, including doing the work of the church, during the rest of the week. For most of us, these words are just common sense. After all, when did worry help matters?
But what about those for whom worrying about food and clothing is a very real and present danger? What about those for whom putting aside worry is a luxury they can’t afford, because they don’t know, from week to week, sometimes, day to day, what they can expect? How do Jesus’s words strike the person or family in this position?
This is where community comes in. And this is something that Jesus’s people knew well—that community was at the heart of their faith. This is true in both the New Testament and the Old: God’s covenants are almost never with individuals, but with gatherings of the faithful. Community steps in when individuals are in need. We call ourselves the body of Christ, thanks to Paul’s gorgeous metaphor. As that body, we step in to be a part of Jesus’s promise that God will provide. And that is so often how God works: God works through his people, whether it is in listening compassionately, or encouraging the discouraged, or visiting the lonely. As members of that body, we are Jesus’s hands, and voice, and generosity on earth.
When Jesus tells his people to consider the humble flowers that bloom around their feet, he is reminding them that God’s gifts are ever with us—even, especially, in the gift of nature’s beauty. In our little corner of the world, the luminous, blazing trees this past month have given us our own delicious taste of that beauty. And the Provider of that beauty will continue to provide for us all, sometimes, using us as the hands of Jesus in this world. The love of God will continue to bloom for us all. And we will be thankful.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
[i] Wilda A. Gafney, A Women’s Lectionary for the Whole Church, Year A, p. 526.