Tonight at our Word and Sacrament gathering for Christ Community, we read Matthew 6:25-35: Do not worry about your life… look at the birds and the flowers, God can be trusted.
(Photo by Andy Kershaw, found here).
We handed everyone a little flower to look at as the homily was given, so they could examine it and meditate on Jesus’ words:
"As for worrying about clothes, well, look at the little flowers out in the fields. They just pop right up. They don’t slave away getting or making clothes. But King Solomon in his best outfit was not as glorious as one of these. Now if God so adorns the wild grasses—which are here for a day, and the next day are burned for fuel—won’t he do even better by you? You mini-faiths!"
That’s right, Jesus called us "mini-faiths" tonight. It seems he is not "above" coining a phrase to tease us with. The thrust of the evening was taking Jesus’ statement seriously: "Do not worry about your life."
So we responded by writing some of our major worries on paper, then folding them into origami birds, placing them on the altar as a way of placing our worries in the hands of God, where the birds of the air are cared for, just like our worries will be if we give them to God.
Here’s a link to download a PDF of the origami bird, if you want to make one at home:
We also sent everyone home with a notecard with Philippians 4:6-7 printed on it: "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and
petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
The idea is we put the notecard and the bird in a place in our house where a lot of the worrying happens. It’s a reminder to turn the worry into prayer, trusting God to care for us, and believing the promise that his peace will guard our hearts.
Play at home if you like! See what God might do. Peace to you.
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