God Speaks Through Nature

(needpix.com)

Creation Care has been the topic of sermons at our church this month. This topic brought to mind several verses about creation. Probably one of the most quoted is 

Luke 19:40--Jesus says "Listen—if they were silent, the very rocks would start to shout!". 

This is a popular verse but is often misquoted or misunderstood. Prior to this verse, the Pharisees are demanding that Jesus quiet His disciples and refuse to allow them to speak. It is then that Jesus lets them know that even if He told the disciples to be quiet, the rocks would speak. This has always been one of my favorite verses. It reminds me of so many other verses that talk about the creation and how it speaks about and even praises God.  

Psalm 148:1--"Praise the Eternal!

All you in the heavens, praise the Eternal;
    praise Him from the highest places!"

Some time ago my son, Christopher, and I were talking about the verse from Luke and this idea and he discovered some great YouTube videos that take this concept, of the rocks crying out or speaking, to another level. One person has taken slices of tree rings and plays them on a record player. (Voice of the Trees)  In another the energy emitted by planets and moons has been turned into sound. (Planet Sounds) I encourage you to watch these videos. Clearly the verse in Luke is more a reality than a metaphor. If you also consider the sounds made by the birds, the seas, the whales and dolphins, they all have their own way of singing and giving praise to God. In this video, Louie Giglio shows how the sounds of the stars and the cries of the whales fit perfectly into a song. The video is lengthy but interesting. If you're impatient to get to the song it is at 6.00. If you choose to skip to the marker, I'll explain that the sounds he is using to "create" the song are the sounds emitted by the stars' energy and the whale cries and he has them on a loop. (Louis Giglio)


Psalm 19:1--"The celestial realms announce God’s glory;
    the skies testify of His hands’ great work."

                                   (photo:  Kari Farnell)

Psalm 66:4--"The entire earth will bow down to worship You
    and will sing glory-songs to You;
    they will sing praises to Your name!"

I believe that as Christians we have a two-fold purpose in this world. One is to share the love of Jesus with others to help usher them into the kingdom. The second purpose we have I believe is that of praising God. If you think about it, we cannot usher someone into the kingdom without praising God. God clearly formed ALL of His creation with the ability to praise Him. It seems nature does not have to be prodded to sing His praises and proclaim His goodness. Often humans are the ones that shrink away from this mandate to praise God. 

The "Happy" Mountain-Peru
Photo: Kari Farnell

Let us not become complacent in doing the jobs for which we were created. Let us keep pace with nature and sing our praises long and loud to the One who created us. As the prophet Isaiah reminds us--" For you will go out in joy, be led home in peace.

        And as you go the land itself will break out in cheers;
    The mountains and the hills will erupt in song,
        and the trees of the field will clap their hands."  (55:12)