The harvest is in. Give thanks!

PA Thanksgiving

Luke 21:1ff -- Stewardship of life

Parkview Presbyterian Church 11-13-05 [1st Stewardship Sunday]
Loy D. Mershimer
Luke 21:1-4: “A Stewardship of Life”

Today’s text offers us another mystery of Jesus. Jesus sits by the Temple donation box with the disciples. Together they watch the processions of givers, some blowing their horns of announcement, others dropping in small fortunes and valued heirlooms, basking in the awe of bystanders…ostentations givers receiving due reward of crowd and glory.

In the midst of this fanfare, Jesus catches the disciples’ attention. “Look!” He said. There, behind the crowd, walked a humble widow…shawl draped around her face, head bowed low…weak from lack of nutrition and care. Slowly and quietly she approached the box, and dropped in two pennies.

The she quickly stepped away, melted into the crowd…and was gone.

Then Jesus turned to His disciples: “Truly, I tell you,” He said. “This poor widow has put in more than all the rest.”

More than all the rest!

What? Lord, we have eyes. We can see and we can count. We’ve seen the riches poured into that box today; we’ve heard the trumpets and applause. Now you try to tell us these two pennies from a poor widow are worth more than all that? Lord, have you lost it? :-)

Here again, Jesus stands over against our human wisdom. And if we look deeply into His words…we may just find that we are the crazy ones, not Him.

There’s something about the way we give and receive that shows our hearts.

This text mysteriously offers us key lessons of stewardship and life, as Jesus sits beside the Temple treasury box today…and looks at our hearts. He offers three mysteries which define true giving and show us ourselves.

The first mystery is that true giving comes from the heart. It is not motivated by return or reward.

True giving comes from the heart: Jesus words about the two pennies only make sense if there is some other calculus involved, a value system not of this world.

And that is the case. Perhaps we can better understand this concept if we look at it on a human level, and what it means to receive a gift. Let’s flip this for a moment, from giving to receiving…and see how the heart is involved in receiving.

Dr. R. W. Bulois, executive director of the New Destiny Treatment Center in Clinton, OH, tells us helping a homeless man recently.

In the November issue of the New Destiny newsletter, Dr. Bulois tells of walking to his car in a university parking lot, where he was accosted by a man asking for assistance. The man asked if he could provide a meal and a night’s lodging. Dr. Bulois looked in his wallet only to discover that he was down to his last 10 dollars.

But he handed the man the ten dollars anyway. “Here,” he said. “It’s all I have.” “You can surely get a meal for that!”

Dr. Bulois says that he will never forget how the man looked at him [in disgust]. “Are you sure you don’t have more?” the guy said.

“Yes, I’m sure,” he responded.

“You don’t care if a man has to sleep outside, as long as you have a nice warm home!” retorted the homeless man. “What good can ten dollars do me?”

Stunned, Dr. Bulois could only blink…and watch…as the man walked down the street with his last ten dollars. [1]

Only a true heart can receive a true gift. We see that in daily life. Now, Jesus shows us a higher level on that same order: Only a true heart can give a true gift. And, a true gift, though small in price, is somehow greater than the largess of larger, false gifts.

There is a divine calculus at work in these two pennies. These two pennies bring the worth of heaven into the world. These two pennies, which required a giving of the heart to heaven, released the power of heaven back into the world.

This is first thing Jesus highlights in true giving. It is from the heart, not motivated by return or reward.

Secondly, also mysteriously, He shows us that true giving comes from the essence of our life, not the excess.

Here is another hint that Jesus gives on the calculus of heaven. Verse 4: All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.

Heaven considers the heart; heaven also considers the substance: was this gift given out of the essence of life, or the excess?

This principle, when honestly applied, is so convicting. It has convicted me! So we ask, in the light and power of the Spirit:

Have we consciously eaten one less meal at a fancy restaurant because of the need in the world, or need in our church?

Have we taken one less expensive vacation? Or denied ourselves one less status symbol or one less luxury?

Until we have done even that one thing, the widow stands in judgment upon us. She gave from her want, we give from our excess.

We give God the tithe, and rightfully so, but a true tithe reveals a life of stewardship, where the whole is ordered in light of God’s call, God’s will for our world. If we view the tithe as a bargain with God whereby we can give a fraction and then spend the remainder on our own desires and programs, outside His intent, then we’ve missed the point of tithe: stewardship of life in God.

With a widow’s poverty, Jesus shows us that true giving comes from the essence, not the excess.

And finally, Jesus reveals a third mystery: true giving releases the intent of heaven, as a gift is matched by a life.

“I tell you the truth,” Jesus said. “This poor widow has put in more than all the rest.”

Again, how was it more? How exactly could two copper coins be more than all the gold and silver dropped in the treasury that day? It was more only if heaven made up the difference, only if God was now in the venture instead of just human resource!

And that is precisely the case.

God never intended the tithe to be given in human strength, for human purposes. It was given as a sign of God’s sovereignty over the whole, which would bring the prosperity of God’s law and God’s rule into their world.

Thus, God comes to Israel and asks [in Malachi 3]: “Will you rob God?”

They had withheld the tithes. But what did this mean? Earlier God emphatically told them [Ps. 50], “I don’t need your food; I don’t need your money.” “If I were hungry, I wouldn’t tell you…!” So what does this mean, ‘rob God?’ Will God go hungry?

No. It doesn’t mean God will go hungry. On the first level, it clearly means they haven’t honored God with their giving. But, in context, as we dig a little deeper, it reveals that they haven’t honored God with their lives. The tithes only told the story of what their hearts practiced: absence of God.

So the heavens were shut. God says in the strongest language: “The land is under a curse” [Malachi 3:9]. In their lack of giving, the resources of heaven were locked out. Drought, famine, blight and ruin were the physical signs. All their riches couldn’t give them what God intended with just a fraction, just a tithe, a life in order to goodness.

It is this weight that is behind Jesus’ words at the Temple treasury box. “I tell you the truth; she has given more than all the rest…” Jesus words were mysterious, yet so convicting that the disciples tried to change the subject. I would have tried to change the subject, too! Imagine the weight of the prophets and the failure of the people coming down in one sentence! And so they changed the subject [v. 5].

“Teacher, isn’t this a beautiful edifice!” “Look at these wonderful stones and intricate works of gold. Aren’t we enjoying our worship today?” :-)

But Jesus went to straight to the heart [v. 6ff].

‘I tell you, ‘The day is coming when not one of these stones will be left upon another.’ Prepare your hearts! Live, and give, truly…

‘Test me in this,’ says the LORD Almighty, ‘and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it. I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not cast their fruit…’ ‘Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land,’ says the LORD Almighty.

‘Test me in this,’ says the Lord still today. Test me like this and see if it will make a difference for hurricanes, for tsunamis, for famine, fire and flood. See if it will make a difference for natural disaster, terror, and the orphan march of AIDS…

If we bring our lives, our giving in line with heaven, we just may be the ones that stand in the gap of our world’s destruction. We are not playing little games of stewardship. This is the reason of our birth and the purpose of our lives.

Through Malachi, the Lord speaks:
“I the LORD do not change...” “Return to me, and I will return to you,” says the LORD Almighty.
"But you ask, 'How are we to return?'
“In tithes and offerings,” He answers.

In the offering of life…we return to the God who makes our offerings more than life.

“I tell you the truth,” Jesus said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others.”

May we enter this mystery with our whole hearts, and thus share the blessing of heaven with our world…

Amen!

______________________

Dr. R.W. Bulois, “Whatever happened to ‘Thank you?,” Destiny vol. 40 no. 11, November 2005.

True friend

2 Peter 3:3ff -- The Slowness of God

Parkview Presbyterian Church 10-23-05
Loy Mershimer
2 Peter 3:3-9: “The Slowness of God”

Have you ever noticed how the timing of God makes it hard to believe, sometimes?
In today’s text, some people say that they cannot believe the promise of God because of the slowness of God. In verse 4 they…say, “Where is this ‘coming’ He promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.”

Catch the basis for doubt? “Things continue as they have been; we cannot see a difference, therefore there is no promise…” They didn’t accept the reign [return] of Christ because they just couldn’t see it reflected in current life.

This is the attitude of the scoffer, or skeptic, but it highlights an important human principle: Many times, the timing of God is a stumbling block for humans. Sometimes we cannot accept God’s promise because we do not understand His timing.

As a child, waiting for Christmas, sometimes my brothers and sister and I didn’t wait patiently. Sometimes we even tried to sneak a preview of packages under the tree, feeling, shaking, or even opening small corners. It seemed so long to have to wait! However, we children didn’t lose faith, because we could always compare the promise of the gifts under the tree with a calendar on the wall. And we marked the days down. And we were the first ones up on Christmas morning! :-)

But, something happens in grown-up life, where we can’t mark off the promise by a calendar, and so we stumble… Even for people of faith, we sometimes feel like children who have a hint of Christmas, but no calendar to track it with…a sense of promise, but no guarantee of December 25th. The answer doesn’t come when we expect it...

So the scoffer’s voice echoes inside our own head: Where is His promise? Everything goes on as usual, doesn’t it? Where is the answer?

It is a human question, for which the text offers two profound answers: One, God does not view time like we do; and two, God’s slowness is related to His work in us, and will for us.

First answer: God does not view time as we do [v. 8].
Verse 8: But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.

We view time in linear fashion, in terms of hours spent waiting for answers…
But God views time as an event, and relates to us from eternity.

There is a lot wrapped up in this statement: in Scripture, those who dared to relate to God as eternity transcended time, in some way. The children of Israel did not have their feet swell or garments wear out as long as they trusted God in the wilderness. Abraham and Sarah brought forth a child of destiny long after time had declared it impossible. And, Caleb conquered giants in physical battle, long past retirement age…

God does not view time as we do, and we can relate to eternity by relating to God. This is the first answer, profound in its own right. The second answer adds even more mystery:

God’s slowness is related to His work in us [v. 8-9].
With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

The answer is quite stunning: The slowness of God is related to the salvation of God.

God does not view outcomes in terms of time, as we do, but in terms of character and future. He views slowness in light of inner goodness. Thus Scripture views the slowness of God as the mercy of God, a form of His wise justice. God delays His promise so that we can be ready for its fulfillment, its appearance…not as enemies, but friends.

When we are vexed with the timing of God, when we stumble at His apparent slowness of answer, it is then that we should see His salvation at work in us, and in our world. The delay of God is the intended deliverance of God.

Here is a spiritual principle at work: When we open to the timing of God, we participate in His salvation, as a partner…not as a rebellious child, or enemy.

Again, referencing my childhood: Before taking family trips, our parents would warn us: “Behave, or else!” Now, we could take the trip one of two ways. We could go by a childish program…kick and fuss and complain and start arguments…and be miserable; or, we could listen up, go with the wise program, and get a lot out of the journey. I’ve taken trips both ways…trust me, it’s better the obedient way! :-)

This is just a small illustration of accepting the timing of God. As children of God we can actually participate in divine salvation, as a partner, benefiting from the journey and contributing to it.

These answers offer us a powerful operating principle of life: God will keep His promises, so trust. Live as if you expect God to keep His promises…

The same God that created this world out of water will take it away in fire. That much is true, so we live as unto the final day, trusting the delay in the goodness of God. This relates to all of our life and becomes a way of life – not only trusting God for the just consummation of this world, but trusting Him for consummation in our personal life, providing the things of need and promise.

Note: For entire sermon email Parkview [email on info page].

Autumn maple leaf

Malawi facing famine

Malawi is facing a famine...a famine quietly stalking under world radar, but deadly serious. Kamana says that Malawi is potentially "the next Niger."

Karen Allen, BBC correspondent in Malawi, relates some of the issues in this article:

The main government maize market in Mulanje is packed.

It is seven o clock in the morning and many Malawians we stumble across have been queueing for days. Queueing on empty stomachs and with bare feet.

Mothers whose breast milk has dried up due to lack of food, jostle for space, their babies strapped to their backs in the traditional African way.

Occasionally a scuffle breaks out as some hungry person, accused of pushing in, is plucked from the queue by police officers.

These are Malawi's poorest people - unable to buy maize on the open market where prices have doubled in recent months. Stocks in the main government markets are diminishing fast, so they're starting to impose rations.

Emerging food crisis

The worse harvest in a decade and failed rains are being blamed for what aid agencies warn is a rapidly emerging food crisis. What is making matters worse is HIV/Aids. One in seven people in Malawi is affected and it is fuelling the problem of extreme hunger.

Money that households would normally spend on buying seed and fertiliser, is being spent on transporting the sick to hospital and buying basic medicine instead.

Malawians, particularly in the parched south of the country, are well used to hardship, but their ability to cope is being severely eroded.

Read the article here. Also, related article here, where UN appeal for relief found no response.

We need to be aware of the developments and participate in intervention: Pray and act, and not pass by on the other side of the road...

autumn ivy leaf

Vashti's summer project a success!

Vashti was commission to do a Chicago mural this summer, and chose her theme as the Pullman porters -- with their grand tradition, proud heritage and parade-ground exactness. She worked several personal themes into the mural, incorporating the metaphor of African American Chicago with her childhood home.

It is a very blessed piece of artwork, expressing Vashti's prayer for dignity of life and a return to what Dr. King called 'moral values of the absolute.'

It is encouraging to hear Vashti talk about the piece, and the providential significance surrounding it! This truly is a success in every sense of the word.

God bless you, Vashti! Carry on a noble theme!

Indian Trust Reform Act of 2005

If not now, when...?

Yellow Horse forwarded me a note today, dealing with the Indian Trust Reform Act of 2005. This is a bill (S. 1439) introduced by Senators McCain (AZ) and Dorgan (ND) to repay as many as 500,000 American Indians whose money “disappeared” while in government accounts. This is a moral issue that "must be taken seriously by congressional leadership and the White House." It is a chance to right a long-standing wrong.

Some background of the ITRA 2005 (S. 1439):

Native families have been deprived of land and lease revenues for over a century, keeping many in stark poverty generation after generation. Financial audits, congressional and Government Accountability Office reports, and media investigations document that billions of dollars have been mismanaged and misappropriated. The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and the U.S. Court of Appeals both have ruled in favor of the Individual Indian Money (IIM) account holders during the past decade. The district court judge has held three cabinet officers in contempt of court. At last, Congress is considering paying the debt... Your help will be crucial if justice is to occur.

Even knowing what we know of the U.S. dismal legacy in Indian affairs, the details of this scandal are still shocking, especially as we learn that abuses continue into the present. Congressional audits as early as 1915 showed mismanaged, lost, and pilfered Indian trust funds. Government agencies such as Interior and Treasury departments also put the money of Indian families into the general funds of the U.S. Frequently, Interior did not bother to collect the land-use money owed to Indian families from corporations or non-natives. Indian land was sold without permission... Since the start of a class action case brought nine years ago by Elouise Cobell to rectify the situation, hundreds of Interior’s boxes of trust records have been lost or destroyed.

Interior officials continue to resist liability and repayment, but many in Congress are practical about “clearing the books” and others are concerned about ethical and legal responsibilities. All agree that reform is needed and some amount of repayment is required. S. 1439 proposes to take the billions owed from the off-budget Claims Judgment Fund which is used when the federal government makes mistakes and loses cases.

If you would like support this movement of restitution, please contact your senators and ask them to be co-sponsors of this bill. If they are already co-sponsors, please thank them and ask them to speak to their colleagues.

For more information or to donate, click here.

Get involved for restitution of more than words!

Protect Darfur: video for action

Have a heart for Darfur

Rape is still perpetrated as a tool of terror and control. Young girls made pregnant, wives widowed, homes destroyed...good people silenced. Please click here to watch a four-minute Darfur video.

Armed elements in the Sudanese region of Darfur, including law enforcement officers and the military, continue to perpetrate rape and sexual violence, with authorities seemingly unable or unwilling to hold them accountable, a new United Nations Human Rights Commission report concludes.

We need more than words, but we need those! Raise your voices...spread the word that we need intervention on the ground -- armed guardian angels to protect the innocent lives.

David Morse links this genocide [and world silence] with oil, calling it 'a war of the future' waged in that sprawling desert region of northeastern Africa, where the 'weapons are not futuristic' or cutting edge. Rather, they are old, and future...with a twist:

No, this war is being fought with Kalashnikovs, clubs and knives. In the western region of Sudan known as Darfur, the preferred tactics are burning and pillaging, castration and rape -- carried out by Arab militias riding on camels and horses. The most sophisticated technologies deployed are, on the one hand, the helicopters used by the Sudanese government to support the militias when they attack black African villages, and on the other hand, quite a different weapon: the seismographs used by foreign oil companies to map oil deposits hundreds of feet below the surface.

Have a heart for Darfur.

Again: please click here to watch the four-minute Darfur video.

Pray for what God would have you do. And by all means, please do not be silent!

Amen.

UPDATE: If you cannot open that video link, click here.

Darfur needs protection

Protect Darfur details the recent developments and continued non-intervention in Darfur. The U.S. is still culpable in its protective inaction, and American churches, by and large, are culpable in their collective silence. It is distressing that certain voices in the PCUSA are far more concerned about making political points against Israel than about standing against true oppression, evil and genocide...in places like Darfur [et al].

In Darfur, rape and sexual violence continue against the young girls. General violence is also unabated -- lesser, by degree, but ongoing. The culprits are still not apprehended -- nor condemned by 'prophetic' church voices...whose attention could make a difference...

Tomorrow is too late. We must speak today.

In the words of Dr. James M. Smith:

In a crisis, humanitarian aid and political settlement are necessary but not sufficient to prevent genocide. People also need protection.

Indeed!

Let's offer our prayers and voices, shall we?

[Hat tip: Michael Totten].

UPDATE: Oil and Sudan genocide.

Skydiver feels warm embrace

Daniel Levi Cave is giving thanks for his life.

In his first ever, supposedly safe, static-line jump...something went terribly wrong. The chute failed to properly deploy, flipping in violent spirals as he hurtled toward death...3,500 feet down.

In the deathly free-fall, Daniel called out to God. He said, "God, I believe in you and I trust you. If there is any way I can see my family again, please help me out of here." He said instantly, something warm embraced him. He said it "felt like the biggest hug in the world."

And, somehow, he is alive...with only a broken jaw, broken leg, and some internal injuries.

Coming two days after another woman, Julia Bond, died in her first ever skydive, Daniel's story is remarkable indeed. Julia took a 'safe,' tandem jump with an skydive instructor on Sunday...and tragically, with her family members watching...didn't make it.

Coming this close together, we humanly wonder why God would answer the prayer of Daniel...and not that of Julia...who surely cried out to God on her way down.

Of course, we aren't guaranteed protection when we put God to the test -- we know that. But it doesn't take away the questions...

At least Daniel and his wife can thank God tonight!

You've got a prayer in Denver

Sometimes we can use all the good news we can get...and today has some good news!

Singer Marc Cohn was shot last night, in an attempted car-jacking...but somehow miraculously survived as the bullet just 'grazed' his head.

Blogger Scott Hinderaker puts it this way:

You've got a prayer in Denver

In 1991 Marc Cohn broke into the big time with "Walking in Memphis," a song that spoke to a lot of hearts. For me, the highlight of the song was neither in the verses nor the chorus, but rather in the interlude featuring Al Green:

They've got catfish on the table,
They've got gospel in the air.
And Reverend Green be glad to see you
When you haven't got a prayer.
But boy you've got a prayer in Memphis.

Marc Cohn himself, however, apparently also has a prayer in Denver: "Grammy winner Marc Cohn shot in head." After a performance last night, Cohn's van was the subject of a botched carjacking and Cohn was shot flush in the temple. "Frankly, I can't tell you how he survived," the Denver police spokesman said. I think we can file this story under "today's good news."

Definitely good!

Sometimes we have more of a prayer than we think...

Luke 12:22ff -- The Lesson of the Lilies

Luke 12:22-31: “The Lesson of the Lilies”

Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these…

An amazing statement! Jesus says that the lilies of the field surpass the glory of Solomon. How can a humble flower surpass a great king?

Solomon’s coffers were filled with literally thousands of tons of gold. He had so much silver that its value plunged during his reign, replacing tin and cheap metals in common usage. His storage overflowed with the most expensive spices and cedar wood. He owned so many horses that he created a vast underground stable complex to house them. And wives? Well, we know about that. He took 700 wives and 300 concubines: 1,000 in all!

How then can it be said that a fragile flower, opening and bending with the sun, is greater in glory than Solomon? Isn’t this crazy talk?

It would seem so, except for the fact that it is Jesus who says these words!

When Jesus says ‘consider the lilies,’ He uses a word which means ‘to see with the mind, to see with the soul.’ In other words, if we can see with our heart, there is a spiritual lesson in the birds of the air and flowers of the field…a lesson of life and eternity.

There is a sense in which simple lilies surpass Solomon, in all his glory….all his pleasures and possessions. Here is high wisdom, if we can learn! What does Jesus mean when He says that the glory of the flower is greater than the glory of Solomon?

I think the first point Jesus is making is something about obedience, where the lilies and birds obey God naturally, doing what they were created to do. [1] However, humans often exercise their will away from God’s will, hindering creation intention. So there is a lesson of obedience…

Jesus is also saying something about trust, dependence and order [vv. 28-30].

If then God so clothes the grass, which today is in the field and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will He clothe you, O you of little faith? And do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink, nor have an anxious mind. For all these things the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knows that you need these things.

This is a hard verse. Jesus immediately confuses us: What? ‘Do not seek what to eat, drink, or wear?’ Do not seek the things we need? Is Jesus real, here?

This is a difficult saying, where Jesus lifts up the unconditional trust of flowers and birds as an example for our lives…in some sense it is a mind-blowing statement. 'Do not seek...'

But Jesus gives two principles in this passage, abiding principles which give us some resolution, some insight to His inner meaning.

Principle one [v. 23]: “Life is more than food, body more than clothing.” Catch that? Life is more than food, and the body more than clothing.

Fact: The essence of life is more important that the possessions of life.

This is a principle of spiritual relation, eternal connection.

The second principle is a principle of focus, or direction [v. 31].

Verse 31: “But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.”

Fact: All earthy things take their proper place in light of the kingdom.

When Jesus says ‘do not seek’ the things eat, drink and wear, He is NOT pretending that we have no need of these things. Jesus is very clear that the Father knows our needs. He is making the point that we should not take the same view of these things as pagans…

C. S. Lewis says something to the effect that if we [Christians] live at the same level of luxury as other people in our income level, we are probably sinning. Point: If we are living at same level of affluence as others in our income bracket, we are most likely spending our resources like the world…

Victor Shepherd notes that since the middle nineteenth century, each succeeding generation of North Americans has been, on average, about twice as wealthy as the preceding generation. Victor says,

I am twice as wealthy as my parents, four times as wealthy as my grandparents, and so on. In other words, people today have unprecedented disposable income. What do they spend it on? They spend it on pleasures, all manner of pleasures, hoping that one of the assorted pleasures – or all of them together – will give the joy that everyone craves, but only God can give. [2]

We have far more disposable income, but what do we spend it on? More toys, more leisure, more vacations, more possessions, more distractions…? With so many orphans and chained Christians in the world...?

Solomon turned toward the strivings of the world. Solomon turned his wisdom toward what is worn, what is eaten, tasted and pleasurable, and it became foolishness: light became darkness. Something in the excesses of Solomon went against his creation intention: in exercise of natural self he violated his true-intended self.

Solomon made his physical identity into a false self, the focus of his life, and destroyed his spiritual self. Thomas Merton says that our 'own self can became the obstacle to realizing our true self.’ Catch that? Our own self can become the obstacle to realizing our true self.

I think this is the inner meaning of Jesus’ words. Human glory is intended as true self in obedience to Creator -- like flowers, opening to the Son of Heaven. But humans can turn creation glory into something far less…something else, something self-referential and self-destructive -- something less than lilies.

Listen to Solomon’s descent into despair [Ecclesiastes 2:4-11]:

I undertook great projects: I built houses for myself and planted vineyards. I made gardens and parks and planted all kinds of fruit trees in them. I made reservoirs to water groves of flourishing trees. I bought male and female slaves and had other slaves who were born in my house. I also owned more herds and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem before me. I amassed silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and provinces. I acquired men and women singers, and a harem as well -- the delights of the heart of man. I became greater by far than anyone…before me. In all this my wisdom stayed with me.

I denied myself nothing my eyes desired;
I refused my heart no pleasure…

Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done
and what I had toiled to achieve,
everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind;
nothing was gained under the sun.

Solomon exercised his natural self for possessions and killed his true, creation self.

The flowers and birds exercise daily, utter dependence on God, and so teach us the path to true self: abandonment to kingdom.

And this is how Jesus applies the sermon: But seek first the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you.

Seek the kingdom, wholeheartedly. Like the flowers of the field, God knows our needs, and offers us the Son of life. Like the birds of the air, the Spirit comes as the air beneath our wings. Our calling is to trust and obey, and find our creation nature, our true intended self…destiny and glory of the Divine.

This is the wisdom of the lily!

God grant it to our hearts.

Amen.

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, teach me to be like a lily, daily growing in You, opening to your morning sun, and resting in your sustaining rain, your healing dew…

Lord Jesus, set my nature at one with You, cause me to be my true self...in You, and with nature I will rise to obedience…unconditional obedience.

Lord Jesus, save me from the trap of Solomon, that would make an idol out of false self and call it true self. Let me consider the lily and seek first your kingdom! In your name, strong Son of God, healing Sun of Righteousness, I pray, Amen.

_________________________

[1] Cf. Kierkegaard: “In nature all is obedience, unconditional obedience.”
[2] Paraphrase, Victor Shepherd at http://www.victorshepherd.on.ca/Sermons/newpage43.htm.