The lily has long been associated with Easter. A legend has circulated for centuries connecting the lily and the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus prayed to the Heavenly Father while sweating drops of blood on the night that he was betrayed. According to the myth, Jesus’ disciples found white lilies blooming all over the Garden of Gethsemane on Easter Day in every place that Jesus had walked, prayed, sat, or wept the night before his crucifixion. Wherever a drop of Jesus’ sweat touched the ground, a white lily rejoiced in his victory.[1] Today in the Christian church, centuries later, the white lily is still used to celebrate the joyous Easter event and signify purity, life, and renewal. Still today the trumpet shape of the white lily heralds the triumphant victory of Jesus’ resurrection.
As we now stand at the turning point of the season of Lent into the season of Easter, the white lily also reminds us of the Lord’s provision for our lives as Christians. In Matthew 6:28 Jesus says to his worry-prone disciples, “And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin.”
We have a tendency to doubt the promised provision of “the God who clothes the lilies,” don’t we? In the March 2012 issue of the Lutheran Witness, the Rev. Ralph Tausz writes about the American obsession with stuff in his article, “Surrounded by Stuff.”[2] He contends that the American pattern of accumulating stuff can be the result of a dangerous attempt to create an identity for ourselves by what we own and what we are capable of buying. He suggests that amassing a stockpile of the material could be a symptom of the bigger problem of insecurity, unhappiness, and a lack of contentment (Tausz 12). In the end, though, as Jesus tells his anxious disciples, it is a trust problem.
In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus’ disciples looked toward the future worrying about the very necessities of life—food and clothing (Mt 6:25-34). Jesus showed those who were his disciples then, and now, that this worrisome attitude is a symptom of a bigger, more serious problem—a lack of trust in God, their Father to provide for each and every one of their needs.
How easy it is for us also to live as orphans who think that we have to frantically fend for ourselves, rather than as God’s adopted children who trustingly receive his gracious provision (Tausz 13). This Easter season let us consider the lily and be moved to trust in our God of provision and new life all the more. For, God who raised Jesus from the dead is our God. He is our God of life. He provided for our reconciliation, redemption, and salvation by sending his Son “to become stuff—our very flesh and blood—in order to save us through holy stuff—his Gospel, Word and Sacraments” (Tausz 14). Will he not provide for all of our earthly needs?
So let us go forth, like the lily, as a sign of our holy God of life and renewal. Let us go forth this Easter season to herald the triumphant victory of our God who provides and sustains life through our words, thoughts, actions and deeds. You were bought with a price and have been raised to new life in Christ. This is your identity. You need not be anxious about anything.
In Christ,
Pastor Josh
[1] “The Easter Lily's History and Christian Meaning: Japanese Lily Symbolizes Jesus' Resurrection for Christians” | Suite101.com http://melissaroberts.suite101.com/easter-lilys-history-and-christian-meaning-a221026#ixzz1pQsADHoc
[2] Ralph Tausz, “Surrounded by Stuff.” In Lutheran Witness March 2012: 11-14.
As we now stand at the turning point of the season of Lent into the season of Easter, the white lily also reminds us of the Lord’s provision for our lives as Christians. In Matthew 6:28 Jesus says to his worry-prone disciples, “And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin.”
We have a tendency to doubt the promised provision of “the God who clothes the lilies,” don’t we? In the March 2012 issue of the Lutheran Witness, the Rev. Ralph Tausz writes about the American obsession with stuff in his article, “Surrounded by Stuff.”[2] He contends that the American pattern of accumulating stuff can be the result of a dangerous attempt to create an identity for ourselves by what we own and what we are capable of buying. He suggests that amassing a stockpile of the material could be a symptom of the bigger problem of insecurity, unhappiness, and a lack of contentment (Tausz 12). In the end, though, as Jesus tells his anxious disciples, it is a trust problem.
In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus’ disciples looked toward the future worrying about the very necessities of life—food and clothing (Mt 6:25-34). Jesus showed those who were his disciples then, and now, that this worrisome attitude is a symptom of a bigger, more serious problem—a lack of trust in God, their Father to provide for each and every one of their needs.
How easy it is for us also to live as orphans who think that we have to frantically fend for ourselves, rather than as God’s adopted children who trustingly receive his gracious provision (Tausz 13). This Easter season let us consider the lily and be moved to trust in our God of provision and new life all the more. For, God who raised Jesus from the dead is our God. He is our God of life. He provided for our reconciliation, redemption, and salvation by sending his Son “to become stuff—our very flesh and blood—in order to save us through holy stuff—his Gospel, Word and Sacraments” (Tausz 14). Will he not provide for all of our earthly needs?
So let us go forth, like the lily, as a sign of our holy God of life and renewal. Let us go forth this Easter season to herald the triumphant victory of our God who provides and sustains life through our words, thoughts, actions and deeds. You were bought with a price and have been raised to new life in Christ. This is your identity. You need not be anxious about anything.
In Christ,
Pastor Josh
[1] “The Easter Lily's History and Christian Meaning: Japanese Lily Symbolizes Jesus' Resurrection for Christians” | Suite101.com http://melissaroberts.suite101.com/easter-lilys-history-and-christian-meaning-a221026#ixzz1pQsADHoc
[2] Ralph Tausz, “Surrounded by Stuff.” In Lutheran Witness March 2012: 11-14.
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