Seeing Creation

I continue to be amazed at how the various figures of the Bible use nature to illustrate spiritual truths.  I’m reading the Book of Jeremiah now and a few days ago I came across a passage where the prophet encouraged his listeners to trust in God.  He indicates that there are benefits of trusting God but he doesn’t say exactly what these benefits are.  Instead he compares them to a tree planted by water.

The passage I’m referring to is Jeremiah 17:7-8.  It reads, “Blessed are those who trust in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord.  They shall be like a tree planted by water, sending out its roots by the stream.  It shall not fear when heat comes, and its leaves shall stay green; in the year of drought it is not anxious, and it does not cease to bear fruit.”

A similar comparison is made in Psalm 1.  There the Psalmist declares as “happy” those whose “delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law they meditate day and night.  They are like trees planted by streams of water, which yield their fruit in its season, and their leaves do not wither.” (v. 3)

Since I live in an area which has lots of creeks and rivers I see every day “trees planted by water.”  And sure enough, even in the tremendous heat we are experiencing this summer, they continue to thrive.  They have what they need most—water.

In God we find what we need most.  And Jeremiah is certainly right.  There are many benefits of putting our trust in God.  Like the tree planted by water we can endure difficult times when we remain close to God.  We can live without fear and anxiety knowing that the One who created us and everything else has promised to provide for our needs.  We can live productive lives as long as we stay close to our Maker.  This is something Jesus himself stressed in his analogy of the vine and the branches in John 15.

As a pastor I have the privilege of delivering sermons each Sunday.  Here lately the Bible has been reminding me that nature delivers sermons each and every day.  Are we listening?  We should be!

–Chuck

(The “tree planted by water” shown above was photographed at Breaks Interstate Park in southeast Kentucky.)

If you’ve read or watched the national news today you may have seen stories about the flash floods that hit Pike County, Kentucky, last night.  I got to witness these floods firsthand—in my front yard!  The bridge that leads to my house was washed away and water came very close to getting into our house.  It was a frightening experience!

From time to time nature does, in fact, remind us of its incredible power.  When it does it can be a humbling experience.  Tornados, hurricanes, earthquakes and floods have a way of showing us humans that we are not in control.  Far from it!

Although I do not believe that God directly sends natural disasters, I do believe that we see in nature’s power a reflection of God’s  even greater might and strength.  I also believe that He can use natural disasters to remind us of how small we are and just how much we need Him. 

Last night I could only stand helpless and watch the destruction unfold in front of me.  I knew, however, that I was not alone.  In fact, I was reminded of a scripture passage I had read just a few days ago.  In Isaiah 43:2 God says, “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you.”  I also recall Jesus’ promise, “surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Mt. 28:20)  It is my strong conviction that God is always with us, come what may.

Does that mean we will never suffer loss from natural disasters?  Not hardly.  Several in my county lost much last night.  Does it mean that death is not possible when storms or earthquakes come our way?  Once again, not at all.  At least two people died here last night.  But what I do believe is that though we might suffer loss, or perhaps even death, God is still there to see us through.  His power is greater than any flood or earthquake.  His power is greater than death. 

Whenever I see the awesome power of nature I am not only humbled but led to praise the God who created nature and who has promised to always be with us.  He truly is an awesome God!

–Chuck

(The top picture was taken from my neighbor’s yard.  The bottom picture was taken from my front porch.)

“Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.” Mark 6:31

In Sunday School this morning we talked about “hurry sickness.”  This isn’t a disease you hear much about today but it is both serious and incredibly prevalent.  Hurry sickness is the condition of always being in a hurry.  It comes from getting caught up in this fast paced world we live in.  Hurry sickness drains our physical energy, causes us to be irritable, and does considerable damage to our relationships (we end up being too busy or tired to give ourselves completely to those we love).  Hurry sickness can be deadly!

The antidote for hurry sickness is slowing down.  Somehow, someway, we have got to learn to slow down.  The book we’re studying suggested that one way we can do this is by practicing solitude.  We all need time away from the rat race.  This can be done in small intervals each day.  Hopefully we can also find a way to practice extended times of solitude on a weekly or monthly basis. 

I think many people would benefit from spending time alone in God’s Creation.  As a general rule, the pace of things seems so much slower in nature.  The plants and animals we see there do not tend to get in a hurry.  Here God’s Creation can serve as our teacher.

Yesterday I took my friend, Steve Ausmus, over to Breaks Interstate Park.  We hiked in the Center Creek area.  After walking a while we both made our way down to the river.  Soon we separated and both of us found rocks to sit on.  This gave us each a chance to experience a bit of solitude in a very beautiful location.  Personally, I find such experiences most refreshing and satisfying to the soul. 

Periodically Jesus would call his disciples to “come apart” for a while.  He realized that his followers did not always need to be busy or doing something.  Things have changed a lot since that time.  Our lives are busier and more hectic than ever.  The need to “come apart” and slow down, however, has not changed.    As a wise person once noted, “if we don’t ‘come apart’ we will come apart.”  If you are suffering from hurry sickness, this would be a great time for you to find some solitude in God’ healing Creation.

–Chuck

(The image above was taken yesterday at Breaks Interstate Park in Kentucky.)

Tomorrow is the one year anniversary of this blog’s first posting.  That being the case, I’d like to say thanks to all of you who take the time to read what Rob and I write.  The things we share with you truly are important to us. 

Long ago Jesus said the “greatest commandment” is to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength.”  I remain convinced that it is impossible to fully love God without also loving and caring for His Creation.  As we have been noting for the past year, the Bible makes it clear that God makes Himself known through what He has made.  Through Creation we personally encounter the God revealed in the Scriptures.  His love, power, majesty and grace are on display everywhere we look.  Seeing Creation leads me to love and worship God.  It makes me cry out with the Psalmist, “O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!”

The more I become aware of the connection between the Creator and the Creation the more I become committed to caring for what God has made.  I understand that by working to preserve and protect the environment that I am actually loving God.  The Bible reveals God’s love for what He has made.  If He loves the earth, so must I.  Some may see the preservation of man as the primary reason for working to “save the planet.”  I think that love for God should be the foremost cause.  If we are going to fulfill the greatest commandment it will include caring for the earth.

It is important that we all take the “greatest commandment” seriously. Obviously I realize that loving God with everything that we’ve got will involve far more than just caring for Creation.  We must also do things like spread the gospel, care for the poor, and practice justice.  I just hope that Christians will not fail to see that being good stewards of the earth and its resources is, in fact, a wonderful way to show their love for God.

–Chuck

(The top image was taken at Angel Falls Overlook in the Big South Fork National River & Recreation Area.  The bottom image is a lady slipper.)

Earlier this spring Rob wrote a blog about dogwoods and noted the legend that associates the dogwood bloom with Jesus’ crucifixion.  Did you realize that there is another beautiful spring tree that also has a legend associated with Jesus’ Passion?  It is the redbud tree.

The redbud tree, which is putting on a magnificent display in the mountains of Kentucky right now, is also known as the Judas tree.  According to the legend, Judas Iscariot used an Old World relative of the redbud to hang himself after betraying Jesus.  The story goes that this is why the tree is now so weak-wooded; it refuses to grow branches strong enough to hang another person.  Another part of the legend says Judas’ act of betrayal caused the tree to blush with embarrassment, turning the normally white flowers to pink.

I love redbud trees and look forward to their blossoms every spring.  For that reason, I don’t like its other name—the Judas tree.  Why should something so beautiful be associated with such a dastardly character?  Of course, I’ve often wondered the same thing when I’ve visited gorgeous examples of God’s Creation and seen names like “Devil’s Tower,” “Dirty Devil River,” and “Devil’s Canyon” attributed to natural features that are actually quite divine. 

I guess the only thing I like about the Judas tree legend is that it reminds us that God can make something beautiful out of an ugly situation.  That, in fact, seems to be God’s specialty.  This glorious truth is nowhere presented more clearly than in the death and resurrection of Jesus.  God took the worst thing that could ever have happened and turned it into the best thing that could ever happen.

God’s ability to bring good from bad situations offers hope to us all.  The apostle Paul once said, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him…” (Romans 8:28)  Even in the bad situations of our life we have the assurance  that God will do all He can to bring good from them.  That might be something to think about the next time you see a redbud tree.

–Chuck

(The redbud images included here were taken this week here in Pikeville.)

Robert Frost has a poem called A Prayer in Spring.  Here’s the first stanza:

Oh, give us pleasure in the flowers to-day;

And give us not to think so far away

As the uncertain harvest; keep us here

All simply in the springing of the year.

As Rob and I have both noted recently, this is a wonderful time of the year to take pleasure in the flowers.  In the mountains of my area one can now find trillium, bloodroot, trout lilies, hepatica, and scores of other wildflower species.  Of course, many domestic species are also currently blooming. 

The flowers are there but are we seeing and taking pleasure in them?  The fact that Frost feels the need to pray that we will indicates that this does not come automatically.  God gives us the flowers to enjoy but there are things that can keep us from experiencing the enjoyment intended.

If I read his poem correctly, Frost seems to be pointing to worry over the future as something that can keep us from the pleasures of God’s Creation today.  For the farmer the worry might be over an “uncertain harvest.”  For the rest of us it could be any number of things.  There is no shortage of things to cause us anxiety about the future.

Frost prays that God would “keep us here, all simply in the springing of the year.”  To me this is a reminder of how important it is to live in the present moment.  If we’re always worrying about what might happen down the road there’s a good chance we will miss the blessings of today.

In the same sermon where Jesus encouraged us to “consider the lilies” and to “look at the birds” he said, “Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own.” (Mt. 6:33-34)  In telling us this, his point was that we can trust God to take care of us each day.  There’s no need to be fretting about the future.  If we remain anxious, we will miss the blessings of today—blessings like the beautiful flowers all around us.

–Chuck

(The trillium and phacelia pictured here are common southern Appalachian wildflowers.)

“He is not here; he has risen, just as he said.”  Matthew 28:6

Today is Easter Sunday, undoubtedly the most important day in the Christian year.  On this day Christians worldwide celebrate the resurrection of Jesus.  This past Friday was Good Friday.  On that day we paused to remember Jesus’ death on the cross.   The cross, of course, has pretty much become the universal symbol of Christianity.  It would seem to me that the empty tomb would be a better symbol but I guess it presents a bigger challenge graphically.

There is, however, a symbol of the resurrection taken from nature that is popular with some.  It is the butterfly.  For many years people have marveled at how the lowly caterpillar creates a cocoon and then emerges as a beautiful butterfly.  In this metamorphosis one can easily find parallels to Jesus’ Passion.  The cocoon appears to be a tomb for the caterpillar; it would seem that the caterpillar no longer exists.  But then the cocoon splits and out comes the butterfly full of life.

I realize that this is not a perfect parallel but I still like the symbolism.  Even if the caterpillar doesn’t really die there is nonetheless a wonderful transformation that takes place.  Because of Jesus’ death and resurrection there is also a wonderful transformation available for those who place their faith in Christ.  That transformation is just as dramatic as the one where the caterpillar turns into a butterfly!

For me Easter is good news.  Because of Jesus’ resurrection we know that sin and death do not have the final word.  Because of the empty tomb we know that there is a power greater than these; that power is God’s love.  It is this love I think about whenever I see a beautiful butterfly.  It is this love I give thanks for today and every other day.  Happy Easter!

–Chuck

(The butterfly image above was taken at Shenandoah National Park.)

Today is Palm Sunday.  In churches all around the world one likely found the presence of palm branches this morning.  Palm trees are common out where Rob lives but not here in Kentucky.  Still, we made sure to have palms available for our service.  Why?  On Palm Sunday we remember Jesus’ dramatic entry into Jerusalem long ago and how the crowds grabbed palm branches to lay on the ground before him in order to show the anticipated Messiah honor and respect.  The display of palm branches was accompanied by shouts of “Hosanna!” and “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.”

I like the idea that palm branches were used to cushion Jesus’ path as he rode the donkey into Jerusalem.  It seems appropriate.  After all, Creation’s primary purpose is to bring glory to God.  Although there is a sense in which all created things honor God solely by their existence, in this instance the palm branches were collected and used to worship the One who made the heavens and the earth.

 I think we should include elements of nature in our worship more often.  Many churches use flowers to help decorate the sanctuary.   In the southern Appalachians there is a lovely tree that blooms in late March or early April called the Serviceberry.  It usually is pronounced “SAR VIS” but the name goes back to the fact that churches in the mountains would gather branches each spring to brighten their worship “service.”

In a lot of churches there is almost no visible connection between God and nature.  Little emphasis is placed on God as Creator.  I think the writers of both the Old and New Testaments would have trouble with this.  Both Testaments give great honor to the God of Creation.

I’d like to see more churches make proper use of God’s various gifts in Creation as elements of worship.  Doing so could help us remember our vital role as stewards of Creation.  Doing so might very well help lead us into more meaningful worship.

–Chuck

(The image above was taken at Highlands Hammock State Park in Florida.)

Next week I’ll be preaching at one of our community Holy Week services here in Pikeville.  The text I was assigned is John 12:20-36.  In this passage Jesus speaks of his impending death and draws an analogy from nature to do so.  He says in verse 24, “I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed.  But if it dies, it produces many seeds.”

For many reasons, this is an interesting verse to me.  On the one hand the seed imagery reminds me that all the new growth I’ll see around me this spring came at a cost.  In a sense seeds had to “die” in order for there to be new life.  The cold and darkness of winter were necessary to bring about the bounty of spring. 

On the other hand, the seed comparison reveals to me something of the mystery of Jesus’ death.  Over the centuries there have been many attempts to explain the meaning of the crucifixion–theologians refer to these as theories of the atonement.  Obviously this is not the place to discuss these but I do find it fascinating that in the Fourth Gospel Jesus uses the analogy of the life/death/life cycle of the seed to explain his mission.

In a little over a week Christians will observe Good Friday and pause to remember the death of our Savior.  Perhaps on that day we ought to look around and take note of the new growth spring has brought us and remember Jesus’ words—“unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies it remains only a single seed.  But if it dies, it produces many seeds.”  John boldly declares that Jesus willingly gave up his life (died on the cross) so that there might be an abundant harvest.  That harvest includes all those who follow Jesus. 

I’m glad that Good Friday and Easter always come in the spring.  There’s a powerful connection there.  There truly is!

–Chuck

(The seed pod above was photographed at Grayson Lake State Park in northern Kentucky.)

In a number of instances we are told that Jesus went off by himself to pray.  The one who “came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many,” realized that he could not do what he was supposed to without time alone with God.  This is something we should all recognize.

In observing wildlife over the years I’ve noticed that frequently you will find animals that are typically found in groups or packs all alone.  I’m sure there is some pragmatic reason for them doing so.  We have a pragmatic reason as well; our souls need solitude.  We may have been created social creatures but we still need time away from others and time alone with our Maker.

Today is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the season of Lent.  We start today a 40 day (not counting Sundays) journey to Easter.  For centuries Christians have been encouraged to use this time for introspection.  We are called to remember our sins and our need for a Savior.  Most of us would prefer to forget our sins, and  many don’t like to be reminded that they can’t save themselves, but the season of Lent demands that we do so.  

Someone once said, “We must come apart or we will come apart.”  The season of Lent is a good time for us to make time for solitude.  It’s a  good time for us to slow down and look within.  The discipline of examining one’s sins is not meant to be a demoralizing experience; it is meant to bring us closer to the One who died for our sins and rose again the first Easter.

I would suggest you consider using the Psalmist’s prayer in the coming weeks: “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.  See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” (Ps. 139:23-24)  Find some time alone each day to offer this prayer and to enjoy being in the presence of the One who made you (and the rest of Creation) and loves you most.

  –Chuck

  (The images above were made on my recent trip to Yellowstone.)