First Sunday Sermon

Someone said, ‘I would rather see a sermon than to hear one.’

Behold there were squirrels sitting up straight with curled tails. Wrens blended in the left over leaves while birds with pumpkin colored breast stood out. One chipmunk moved under cover only to emerge with its find. And two shinny black birds with iridescent feathers swooped down and went in separate directions. That was the prelude to the sermon I saw as I opened my front window blinds. It was a first on the first day and first Sunday of this New Year.

It was like someone said, breakfast is being served. The front lawn was the buffet table and the fowls of the air and other fury and short tailed creatures came to feast. The main dish was a medley of nuts under a bed of dried leaves garnished with grass. They all seem to savor their meal. It seemed no thought was given as to how much the other had at their disposal; unlike crabs in a barrel. Interestingly enough, only one bird helped itself to a beverage. It drank from the overflow saucer of my planter filled with pansies. As they all scampered around, instinctively they knew there was more than enough. That struck a chord in me and served as confirmation to what I believe. When they all had their fill they left quietly and contented one by one.

I may never again see such a convergence on my front lawn for breakfast but I will always remember the sermon I saw in that fine dining experience. Plainly stated in Matthew 6:25-26, “Be not anxious for your life, what you shall eat or what ye shall drink…. Behold the fowls of the air; for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?”