Some of you may be familiar with Clarence Jordan’s book The Cotton Patch Gospel. It’s a translation of the Gospel of Matthew into the vernacular of rural Georgia, and it eventually became a stage play. For many years, an actor named Tom Key played the part of Jesus, and as the story goes, on one of the final performances, when the cast was feeling a little frisky, Tom Key decided to have a little fun with the audience.
He was delivering the Sermon on the Mount, and as he looked out at the audience, he pointed at the blank auditorium wall, and said, “Look at the lilies of the field.” Then he stopped, as if he had forgotten the next line. After a brief pause, he pointed again, “Look at the lilies of the field.” He stopped once more, like a phonograph needle stuck in a groove, and repeated, “Look at the lilies of the field.”
The audience began to shift uneasily, but then Key turned to the rest of the cast on the stage, shrugged his shoulders, and said, “I can’t get them to look.” Everyone laughed, and when he said again, “Look at the lilies of the field,” every head in the house turned and looked!
Although Key probably didn’t intend to do so, I think he may have provided a key insight for that passage from the Sermon on the Mount in which Jesus advises us not to worry so much about what we will eat or what we will wear, and instead invites us to “look at the birds and the lilies.”
To be honest, every time I’ve read that passage, I’ve thought to myself, “Well, of course, the birds don’t worry. I mean, what do they have to worry about? They don’t make mortgage payments on their nests, or have to fund braces for their little one’s beaks. The life of a bird is pretty easy compared to our own.”
But maybe Tom Key accidentally stumbled on what Jesus was really trying to get us to do—namely, look … look at the birds … look at the lilies. Here’s my hunch—If we were to spend a little time each day simply observing the beauty that surrounds us, and marveling at the care that God provides for all of Creation … then everything that we tend to worry about would be brought into clearer perspective.
Perhaps when Jesus said, “Look at the birds, look at the lilies”—that’s exactly what he wanted us to do … look, listen, learn. Know that just as God loves and cares for the birds of the air and the flowers of the field … God loves and cares for each and every one of us!
He was delivering the Sermon on the Mount, and as he looked out at the audience, he pointed at the blank auditorium wall, and said, “Look at the lilies of the field.” Then he stopped, as if he had forgotten the next line. After a brief pause, he pointed again, “Look at the lilies of the field.” He stopped once more, like a phonograph needle stuck in a groove, and repeated, “Look at the lilies of the field.”
The audience began to shift uneasily, but then Key turned to the rest of the cast on the stage, shrugged his shoulders, and said, “I can’t get them to look.” Everyone laughed, and when he said again, “Look at the lilies of the field,” every head in the house turned and looked!
Although Key probably didn’t intend to do so, I think he may have provided a key insight for that passage from the Sermon on the Mount in which Jesus advises us not to worry so much about what we will eat or what we will wear, and instead invites us to “look at the birds and the lilies.”
To be honest, every time I’ve read that passage, I’ve thought to myself, “Well, of course, the birds don’t worry. I mean, what do they have to worry about? They don’t make mortgage payments on their nests, or have to fund braces for their little one’s beaks. The life of a bird is pretty easy compared to our own.”
But maybe Tom Key accidentally stumbled on what Jesus was really trying to get us to do—namely, look … look at the birds … look at the lilies. Here’s my hunch—If we were to spend a little time each day simply observing the beauty that surrounds us, and marveling at the care that God provides for all of Creation … then everything that we tend to worry about would be brought into clearer perspective.
Perhaps when Jesus said, “Look at the birds, look at the lilies”—that’s exactly what he wanted us to do … look, listen, learn. Know that just as God loves and cares for the birds of the air and the flowers of the field … God loves and cares for each and every one of us!
posted by Dr. Robert Crilley at
4:41 PM
|
0 comments
