There once was a baby who clapped her hands over most anything. Shove breakfast cereal in front of her, you got a handclap. Sit her in a circle of toys, and she broke into applause. Her parents took her to the seashore to watch the waves roll in, and she started clapping right away. Were the baby’s parents concerned? "We only worry," they said, "that some day she’ll stop" (Pulpit Digest, 11-12/99, p. 29).

Thanksgiving is an encouragement for us to look at God’s blessings and never stop clapping. This portion of the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 6 offers us some comparisons to encourage us to keep clapping.

"Look at the birds of the air," Jesus says. They don’t sow, they don’t reap or harvest, they don’t gather into barns. But God takes care of them. With tongue in cheek, someone has asked, "Have you ever seen a robin stock piling worms?" Well, maybe not, but they certainly do work hard! And certainly we can say the squirrels and other animals work hard to get ready for a long winter. But the point is that they don’t spend a lot of their time worrying about things. God takes care of them so birds can do what birds do. I’m being positive here! God takes care of the eagle so it can soar in the sky. He takes care of what we might think are such insignificant animals as birds so they can be a part of his wonderful creation.

Obviously this is not saying we need not work. In fact in 2 Thessalonians St. Paul gives this advice, "Anyone unwilling to work should not eat" (3:10). But God gives his word of assurance to creation in today’s First Reading (Joel 2:21-27): "Do not fear, O soil; be glad and rejoice, for the Lord has done great things. Do not fear, you animals of the field, for the pastures of the wilderness are green; the tree bears its fruit, the fig tree and vine give their full yield." And then the prophet continues, "O children of Zion, be glad and rejoice in the Lord your God." With that promise given to creation, don’t you suppose we as the redeemed in Christ can be assured of God’s care. Certainly we work hard, and we are concerned about budgets and retirement funds, but our awareness of God’s love and care enables us to soar as the redeemed, the forgiven, the loved.

"Consider the lilies of the field," Jesus continues. "Lilies" here can be a catchall word for "flowers." They don’t spend their time at the spinning wheel or at the mall, but they are clothed in splendor even greater than that of Solomon. First Kings 10 tells us that annually Solomon took in what The Living Bible paraphrases as $20 million. He had 300 shields that again TLB suggests were worth $1,800 each and 200 large shields (I guess today we’d call them "super-sized") worth $6,000 each. He had an ivory throne overlaid with gold, and a fleet of ships. Second Chronicles 1 adds that Solomon had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horses, and that he "made silver and gold as common in Jerusalem as stone" (verse 15). God says the flowers of creation exceed all that in splendor! Can you imagine the splendor in his eyes as he considers his people whom he not only created, like the flowers, but whom he redeemed through the death and resurrection of his Son!

Jesus uses the illustration of the flowers and the grass "which is alive today and tomorrow is throne into the oven." They tell us dried grass was used to start fires in the ovens of the day, but I guess the comparison is with the flowers that a few weeks ago were the pride of our gardens but now are out on the curb in recycling bags. Again, if that beauty a few weeks ago far surpasses the glory of even Solomon, do you see the lasting beauty God has in mind for his redeemed children? Like that little girl I told about at the beginning, keep clapping because God intends to clothe you not only with items from Carsons and Penneys and Christopher Banks, but he wants to clothe you with the garments of righteousness in Jesus. He wants to clothe you with the perfect righteousness in Jesus that will never be "thrown into the oven."

So Jesus urges us not to worry and let ourselves be riddled with anxiety, but rather to strive for the kingdom of God and his righteousness. Again, there’s a comparison for us to think about here. We know all about "striving" in our world. We strive for grades, for a better position, for a better house or car. As a congregation we strive for greater attendance, for more children in our child care ministries, for excellence in our music program, for a broader base of involvement in the work of the congregation. And all those things are fine. Without "striving" for better individually or at home or at church, we would just get "fat and lazy." But the encouragement here is to put that same kind of effort and enthusiasm into "striving" for God’s kingdom and his righteousness in Christ. Put that same kind of effort and enthusiasm into prayer, into seeking the Spirit’s guidance and strength, into Bible study, into worship, into service in the Lord’s kingdom. We do that with the assurance that God knows we need all those other things. And with that assurance we can join that little girl and "keep clapping."

Amen.