Matthew 5:28-29 And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, 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.

The lilies are clothed in glory and splendor, but they don’t last for long in the overall scheme of things. I always think Jesus should have said, “Consider the moon,” or, “Consider the sea,” something with a little longer history! The lilies are fragile, and beautiful, and they rest in the hands of the Father. So do we. Not to worry.

Psalm 114:5 Why is it, O sea, that you flee? O Jordan that you turn back?

The psalmist reflects back on two miracles: the parting of the Red Sea, and the Jordan River flowing backward—both to let the people of God pass over on dry land. He looks at it from the water’s point of view, as if the water had somehow changed its mind! God created the water in the first place, and everything that swims in it. He has the power to turn it around, or not.

Exodus 33:11 Thus the LORD used to speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend. Then he would return to the camp.

Moses set up a tent outside the camp to meet with God, and whenever they visited a pillar of cloud would hover at the entrance to the tent. (That way people knew not to go barging in!) There was never another like Moses, but even his life could not compare with the later prophet and savior, Jesus. They both had God in common and the welfare of God’s people, but even Moses and the law could not save. Jesus saves.

1Thessalonians 1:1 Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy to the church of the Thessalonians in God the father and the Lord Jesus Christ: ...

... Grace to you and peace.

Whatever Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy thought they were writing when they sat down with some thoughts for the Thessalonians, they could not have imagined that these words would be the first ever written in the New Testament of the Bible. This letter, written only 15 years or so after the death and resurrection of Christ, give us the purest view of life in the church in those very early days. How grateful we are for all those who copied and carried it over many years and many miles. Grace to them, and peace.

Mark 1:1 The beginning of the Good News of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

The first of the Gospels to be written, Mark’s Gospel jumps right in with the important part first. The news is good, and the savior is the son of God! His book is just the beginning, and his news would spread all over the world.

Psalm 23:2 He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul.

The good shepherd cares for his flock, day in and day out. He knows our need for rest and nourishment, and he knows our soul’s need for rest and nourishment as well. Because he is our shepherd, we have everything we need.

Psalm 30:5 Weeping may linger for the night, but joy comes with the morning.

Anyone who has ever wept all the long night through knows the peace of dawn. With the sunrise, all of our problems have not gone, but darkness has gone and a new day has begun. Who knows what might happen in its light and hope?

Colossians 2:12 When you were buried with him in baptism, you were also raised with him through faith in the power of God, who raised him ...

... from the dead.

In our tradition, we generally use just a small amount of water for baptism, but going into the Jordan River to be baptized is more like being buried in a potential grave. We should never forget that water is dangerous AND life giving. We die by drowning with him in baptism, and he raised us to new life.

Exodus 20:8-9 Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work.

This passage is part of all the ten commandments listed by Moses as he came down from the mountaintop. God knew then and he knows now that we will always be tempted to work more, earn more, play more, spend more than six days’ worth. No, he says—the seventh day is mine.

Matthew 3:13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him.

Nobody really knows why Jesus received the baptism of John—he was the greater of the two, and he had no sins from which to repent. But he did receive the baptism of John. He was willing to stand in the crowd of sinners and to listen to John’s message. He was willing to go down into the water and come up again. He led the way for all who would come later, down in the water in the name of Jesus and born again to live for him.

Colossians 1:9 We have not ceased praying for you, and asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of God’s will in all spiritual wisdom ...

... and understanding, so that you may lead lives worthy of the Lord.

Paul tells everyone that he knows that he is constantly praying for them. I love to imagine him traveling down the road just naming them all over and over. He wanted this group to be wise and to let that wisdom guide them into lives worthy of their calling. He hadn’t started that congregation, but he had heard all about them, and desired blessings on them, and on their work.

Psalm 25:9 He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way.

The psalmist recognizes the value of being humble. Only from a place of humility will we ever be able to be taught and led. God desires that we learn and follow, but we must let him lead.

John 21:15 Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?”

As they ate breakfast there on the beach, the resurrected Lord gave Simon Peter a chance to undo the damage he had caused by denying that he even knew Jesus. He was restored to his place of leadership in the church, and became its most powerful preacher and teacher. He did love Jesus more than these after all.

Exodus 17:4 So Moses cried out to the LORD, “What shall I do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me!”

As Moses led his people across the desert, they got crankier and crankier, hungry, thirsty, and generally argumentative. As he pleaded to God for help, we remember that he didn’t really want to be their leader in the first place! He was called, and so he obeyed. God hears him out and helps him out all along the way. But it wasn’t easy.

1Peter 3:15 Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands of you an accounting for the hope that is in you.

Many demand an accounting from us at one time or another, but not usually an accounting for our hope. What would we say if it happened? We should always be ready with an answer, with a witness to the Lord Jesus who IS our hope.

John 15:15 I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father.

I love this verse, because it tells us that Jesus valued and loved his human friends. He was speaking here to the disciples, telling them good-bye. He was a friend to them, and they were friends to him. Where would any of us be without friends? Even Jesus knew not to find out!

Psalm 12:6 The promises of the Lord are promises that are pure, silver refined in a furnace on the ground, purified seven times.

There are lots of places in the bible that talk about a refining fire or furnace. All kinds of ore is purified as the heat burns off the parts that are impure. What is left is pure, refined, and strong. Promises can be pure, those who follow them can be pure, the results can be pure, if we are willing.

Exodus 15:1 Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the Lord : “I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously; horse and rider ...

... he has thrown into the sea.”

As they gathered safely on the far side of the Red Sea, the children of God gave him thanks and praise. They sang to him and danced right there on the seashore. They were so grateful, no other kind of praise would have worked!!

1Peter 1:8 Although you have not seen him, you love him.

As Peter wrote to Christians all over the place, he addressed them as one who had actually seen the Lord Jesus in his earthly life. He commended them for believing without seeing what he had seen. Peter sounded in awe of their faith during times of trial, and their joy in every circumstance, and their love for the Lord Jesus, sight unseen.

John 20:28 Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God. ”

Thomas is often called “Doubting,” because he wanted to see proof of the Lord’s resurrection. Once he saw the proof, he became the only person in all the four Gospels accounts to call Jesus, “God.” Many called him Lord, Rabbi, Son of God, Son of Man, Son of David, Anointed One, and many other names. “My God,” exclaimed Thomas the Apostle.

Mark 16:15 Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel.

The chapel of the Virginia Theological Seminary was built in 1870, as the seminary regrouped after 4 years as a Union army camp, hospital and cemetery. A beautiful window is over the altar, then painted in huge letters is this verse —Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel. Graduates of V.T.S have scattered to all corners of the globe in 140 years, preaching every chance they got.

John 21:13 Jesus came, took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish.

There on the beach, the Risen Lord cooked breakfast and ate it with his friends. Nobody asked him who he was—they all knew it was Jesus. He received and restored them to ministry, even though they had all pretty much let him down. The food and the fellowship gave them new strength and new power.

Acts 3:16 By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong.

Peter and John had encountered a lame man begging at the temple’s entrance and had healed him with a word. He was begging for money, but he received so much more than he had asked for. The Book of Acts says that he jumped and danced and clung to the disciples. His joy was made complete.

Luke 24:15 As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up, and walked along with them.

As two disciples walked along on the way to Emmaus, they were very downhearted about the death of their Lord, Jesus. They were baffled and even more saddened by the story of an empty tomb that morning. They didn’t know that Jesus was the stranger walking with them that evening—he taught them and revealed himself in the breaking of bread at their table. They RAN back to tell the others what they had seen and heard!

Psalm 118:19 Open for me the gates of righteousness; I will enter and give thanks to the LORD.

We sometimes forget in our joy and gratitude as Christians, that even though Christ wipes away our sins, he still desires righteousness from us. He desires a holiness in our everyday lives, a sacred heart set apart for him. When we learn those holy ways, we give thanks forever.

Acts 2:24 It was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.

Preaching before thousands in Jerusalem, Peter tried to describe Jesus in many different ways, with lots of different examples. He finally laid out the proof that Jesus had defeated death itself—that even death could not hold the Lord of life in its grip for long. That day, 3,000 came to believe and were baptized. Death no longer had any claim on them, either.

Luke 24:1 On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb.

The women who had loved Jesus when he was alive still loved him after his death, and they imagined that they were going to perform one last gesture of love to his dead body. They were in for one big surprise, and a jolt of joy and relief and astonishment that would carry them for many days and many years to come. They could not stop rejoicing, and they could not stop telling everyone they met what they found that early Sunday morning. He was alive!

1Peter 4:6 For this is the reason the Gospel was preached even to those who are now dead.

This letter from the Apostle Peter is the only place in the Bible where we get this piece of information—that during his days and nights in the tomb, Jesus was actually down in Hades in the Spirit, preaching to all those who had died in the centuries past. Artists have always loved this image—often painting Adam and Eve reaching up for Jesus’ hand as he leads them out of Hell into paradise. The Good News was for everyone in every age and every possible place, even the place of the dead.

John 19:30 When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.”

John 13:14 Now that I, your Lord and teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet.

There are very few things that Jesus just plainly tells us to do, and this is one of them. Washing the feet of our brothers and sisters is a visible and tangible sign that we are here to serve them, that we are willing to stoop down and do the work we have been called to do. It is also the visible and tangible sign of our love. It was the sign of His love, as well.