Thought for Today
Genesis 1:1 In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth,
Psalm 9:7 But the LORD sits enthroned forever, he has established his throne for judgment.
Revelation 21:2 And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 and I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them; 4 he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away."
This morning, as I watched the early morning news on television, I began to think about ‘the world.’ When I use that word, I generally mean the created universe, Creation in its totality. I also, however, generally mean the physical world and my thinking is limited to the physical, material world.
In the Creation Story in Genesis, we see the oft-repeated phrase, “And God saw that it was good.” The news stories I heard and watched this morning did not reflect a ‘good’ world. Rather, those stories reminded me of Jesus’ warning to his disciples “Mark 13:7 When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed; this must take place, but the end is still to come.” They reminded me of the words of the prophet Isaiah, “29:6 you will be visited by the LORD of hosts with thunder and earthquake and great noise, with whirlwind and tempest, and the flame of a devouring fire.” I could not find the words ‘tornado’ or hurricane in the Bible, but “whirlwind and tempest” comes close enough.
Two things came to my mind this morning as I watched that news. First, I believe we tend to create in our minds and in our beliefs a false dichotomy between the physical reality in which we live and our Creator God who created this universe. Other words from scripture came to my mind, “1 Kings 19:11 Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake; 12 and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence.” I love that story about Elijah; however, I do believe that God was in the great wind, was in the earthquake, and was in the fire. Elijah just didn’t perceive that. It took that “sound of sheer silence” to get Elijah’s attention.
How often do we let all the troubles of our world, all the ‘issues’ in our lives, all the ‘stuff’ of daily living drown out our own perception of God in everything all around us? It is difficult for us to find God in the destruction wrought by tornadoes, hurricanes earthquakes and fires. It is difficult to find God in much of “the heavens and the earth” created by God. But, that does not mean that God is not there. God is there in the truth revealed in "John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” God loved and loves Creation enough to create Creation and to send Jesus to redeem Creation and all of God’s creatures . . . including each of us.
The other thing which came to mind this morning is the promise in those words from John of Patmos, the promise of a new Creation. Of course, inevitably when I think of that promise, I hear those most dreaded words from every vacation my family ever took, “Are we there yet?”
As a Christian, I know that God created everything. I know the truth of “And God saw that it was good.” I also know the sad truth that there are some things right now that are not good. When I do forget, the television news is right there to remind me. “Are we there yet?” Is the restoration of God’s ‘good Creation’ complete? This morning’s news of wars, rumors of wars, great winds, earthquakes and fires has become so ubiquitous for us all that we sometimes lose sight of the promise of the new Jerusalem, God’s home among mortals. We just need to remember Paul’s words, “Romans 8:38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Stay safe, live to hasten God’s Kingdom, trust God,
Pastor Ray