Looking at Birds and Considering Lilies: Learning Life Lessons from What Jesus Taught about Nature

About the only things Jesus told us to do that I perform faithfully and passionately are looking at birds and considering flowers. Ever since my childhood, when I helped Grandpa Schwein in his greenhouse, I have loved working in a garden. As a result of my grandfather’s mentoring, I planted store-bought flowers in every bare space around my first parsonage. At my second church, I decided to start flower seeds in the winter. At every church since, my goal was to make the parsonage yard look better than when we came.
When I was a teen-ager, I became a life member of the Indiana Audubon Society. I’ve watched them, fed them, counted them, studied them. Just in our own back yard (wooded, near a creek), we’ve counted nearly 50 species. They entertain and enlighten us daily.
Jesus spent a lot of time outside. Not surprising then, many of his parables were agrarian, horticultural and ornithological. Jesus didn’t mean for us all to become botanists or bird-watchers. He simply taught that there were profound theological insights to be gained from paying attention to what was in the ground and in the air. To counteract the worries of those who listened to him, he used birds and fields of wildflowers as illustrations of how God provides.
This book grew out of two series of sermons: “Considering the Birds of the Air” and “In the Garden.” I pray that what I’ve learned might provide a few life lessons for you.