Lately, I have been considering the Pharisees. Members of an ancient Jewish sect who were particularly strict and particularly righteous. In my experience, they are often dismissed with a wave of the hand in Christianity. The Pharisees were... difficult. And aggravating. And pretentious, pious, and proud. Most often, though, what we hear of the Pharisees is that they were legalistic: careful followers of the Hebrew scriptures, and tough critics of one another and the people around them.
Lately, I have been considering the Pharisees, because I have been considering the lilies. See, I'm a thinker. Which means that I often let my brain dictate the battles between my heart and my head. It means that I would rather think sound thoughts about Jesus than have the warm & fuzzies. It means that when I consider, I do my fair share of considering. And recently, I've been considering the words of Christ-- one of my favorite things that Jesus asks of the crowds is to "consider the lilies of the field, how they grow." It may not sound earth-shattering, but recently, I have taken to believing that it was.
In Jesus' time, in the Pharisee's time, adhering properly to the law was given a place of prominent importance. The Pharisees spent their days dedicated to the proper implementation of the law of God. And they were good at it. Everyone knew this. They did not stumble... and if they did, it was rarely, and likely understandable because the Law of God is difficult. However, I believe that the piety of the Pharisees had become so great that they began to worship their ability to follow the law rather than rejoice in the Law.
And in comes Jesus, a country boy- by all accounts- whose father was a carpenter, who hailed from the small fishing town of Nazareth. Who looked at the people. And sat with the people. And walked with the people... and he told them stories. Stories filled with the gentleness of burdens shared, and the joy of the lost being found, and the promise that the small could, indeed, be mighty. Jesus told stories, and the Pharisees gave boundaries. Of course, the common people loved Jesus. Of course, the Pharisees did not. Jesus rejoiced in the Law. He even said so (Matthew 5:17).
And in one of these moments, Jesus says to the gathering around him: don't worry (Luke 12:27). The words that every person who has ever felt not-good-enough longs to hear. The words that would've crushed the Pharisees and made the made them defensive. Don't worry. Can you imagine? All that you have worked for, struggled for, and mastered completely dismissed by a country boy from the sticks? It would've been outrageous to the Pharisees...
But Jesus continues, saying to the people: consider the lilies-- which, in Israel, grow like wildflowers. Everywhere! Consider the lilies. In my mind, Jesus looked at the people and said: you don't have to climb the gym rope, hardly anyone can. Instead, walk a lap, it'll be good enough. You don't have to be the elite to be loved. You don't need to worry yourself with the scrutiny of the Law to know the Father.
Even as I wrote those words, my shoulders relaxed. And in my heart beat a hallelujah. How beautiful is our God? How delightful is our Jesus? That we don't have to worry. We don't have to stand against the doorjamb and straighten our spines and will ourselves to be tall enough. We must simply stop... and consider the whimsy of the wildflowers. And remember that we known, we are loved, we are enough. We do not need to worry.
And now, the greatest of challenges: we have to help others consider the lilies around them. We have to take the hands of others and walk with them. We can't receive our own measure of grace and not extend to others what has been extended to us. We have to continuously shed the weight of the Pharisees and remember to consider the lilies.
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