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Morning Devotion for the Season of Easter

May 17, 2023

Invitatory

On this day the Lord has acted; we will rejoice and be glad in it.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son: and to the Holy Spirit: as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.

Reading - Luke 12:22-31

He said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? If then you are not able to do so small a thing as that, why do you worry about the rest? Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you—you of little faith! And do not keep striving for what you are to eat and what you are to drink, and do not keep worrying. For it is the nations of the world that strive after all these things, and your Father knows that you need them. Instead, strive for his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.”

Meditation - Winnie Smith

Consider the lilies. Don’t worry, be happy. Keep calm and carry on.

In a world full of anxiety, fear, and anger, none of these platitudes is realistic. None is sufficient to encapsulate and rid us of all of the stress we feel at different times from different things.

In this passage, Jesus encourages his disciples not to be caught up in the anxieties of life and assures that God will always provide what is needed. It sounds great, and it is a skill and practice I wish that I could master. I have no retort when Jesus asks, “can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life?” Of course not! (And further, the more we learn of mental health and anxiety, the likelier it seems that worrying might actually take away an hour of our life.) Yet reading the first sentence of this Gospel text, my mind immediately moved to wedding preparations, which I am in the thick of making. When Jesus says “do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear,” I just have to laugh. As I encourage my fiancé to pick a necktie for the wedding, as I look for my own earrings and shoes, as we discuss passed hors d’oeuvres versus stations, every decision feels vitally important. These are the things that will make this wedding! What guests see and eat is what they will remember! Right?

Wrong. I have attended plenty of weddings, and the thing I remember about every single one is how it felt. Witnessing friends or family publicly declare their love and fidelity to another and feeling the joy that radiated from that declaration is what stands out. The food and outfits may have been incredible, but they were temporary. Love and joy last.

I realize that it may sound absurd to equate Jesus’s words about earthly things and God’s kingdom with the decisions of wedding planning. But the text is less an admonition or set of directions than an invitation to a way of living, and one that applies to every part of our living: God always provides what we need. The ravens do not work, but God ensures that they are fed. The lilies merely exist, and God gives them water and sunshine. Why would we be any different? The world might demand much of us - beautiful clothing and good food, among other things - but God demands nothing. All that is asked of us is to “strive for God’s kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.” With that in mind, may we all truly consider the lilies and rest in the certainty of God’s provision that they show us.

Prayer for Guidance

O God of peace, who has taught us that in returning and rest we shall be saved, in quietness and in confidence shall be our strength: by the might of your Spirit lift us, we pray, to your presence, where we may be still and know that you are God; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

(From the Book of Common Prayer, p. 832)