Do you remember in the Easter story, Jesus comes into Jerusalem riding a donkey? People are shouting and singing, "Hosanna in the highest ... blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord." The leaders want Jesus to quiet the crowd, but Jesus says, "If they (the people) keep quiet, the stones along the road would burst into cheers (Luke 19:40)."
There has always been a connection of reverence between God and His creation. Job best states this, as he responds to critical people saying, "But ask the animals and they will teach you, or the birds in the sky and they will tell you; or speak to the earth and it will teach you, or let the fish in the sea inform you. Which of all of these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this? In His hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind (Job 12:7-10)!" Paul, in Romans 8:21-22, reflects "the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God. We know that the creation itself has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time."
Is Jesus suggesting that His creation is filled with life and love of its creator? Is Job suggesting that even simple animals know the power and majesty of their creator? Is Paul saying that the entire creation is a living thing, expectant for the new and beautiful thing God is doing? I believe the answer to all of these questions is ... "YES!"
Two points to these questions. First, there is a bigger picture than we are often willing to see. We are trudging through the mud and muck of life, world events, national politics and just trying to find our daily bread, and we fail to see past these temporal distractions. But God is doing big and great things. If you don't believe this, read the unveiled hope in the Revelation ... God and good prevails. God cares for His creation and loves the people He calls His "treasured possession (Exodus 19:6)". God loves us with extravagance! That is how we should love each other and the things God has given us to experience and enjoy.
Second, never forget that every event of every day ... every beautiful sunset ... every powerful storm ... every soft breeze ... every ray of warm sunlight ... every majestic tree or fragile sapling ... is calling out the beautiful name of the creator. Isaiah 55:12 expresses God's intent in beautiful poetry, as he announces the Word of the Lord ... "You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands!"
Sunday I am hoping we can do one of my all-time favorite songs. ... "Calling Out Your Name" by Rich Mullins. The song is an expression of God's great majesty embedded in nature and in our participation with the created world. Every line of the song is filled with images that show a God fully in control of the "big picture." One of my favorite lines says this ... "There is still a faith that can make the mountains move ... and a love that can make the heavens ring ... I've seen love make heaven ring!"
Do you believe in that God that is so vividly documented in Scripture? Do you affirm, with your life and witness (how you pray, how you are present in the life of God's church/people, how you shout God's majesty by trusting God with your giving of time and resources, how you witness with boldness) that you are part of His creation, telling the "Old, old Story, of Jesus and His love!" Are you living inside the story He is writing, giving with a faith that can move mountains and loving in a way that makes heaven ring? Are you, like ALL the trees in the field, clapping your hands? Randy
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