Give Praise

           As I write this the temperatures are still cold, there is snow on the ground and the trees are bare. It is hard to believe that Easter is already over, but I know that it will not be long before the wondrous beauty of spring will burst forth. Soon my perennials will peek through the ground, the splotchy grass will become a thick green lawn and the maples will have foliage to rival the pines. Birds and squirrels will again play in the yard and a host of insects will be busy with their work. It may seem afar off, but a few weeks will make all the difference.

         We live in a beautiful place. I am sure many people believe that their towns and cities are beautiful places as well. That is likely one of the reasons why they live there. But you simply cannot deny that this region of the northeast is filled with beauty. There is such diversity in the natural world around us. The beauty of farmland, the uniqueness of the escarpment, and the awe inspiring spectacle of Niagara Falls represent the numerous environmental wonders that exist near our homes.

         Such beauty and diversity declare the praise of God and inspire us to do the same. Throughout Scripture, the excellence and wonder of creation points to the Creator. From the very opening words of Genesis, we are asked to see beyond the visible and appreciate the God who glories in such splendor and shares that splendor with us. So powerful is the witness of creation that the Apostle Paul says that no one has an excuse for not believing in God. “Since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.” (Romans 1:19-20)

         God reveals His invisible qualities; his power and very nature, in what He creates. We can understand much about the heart of God and God’s purposes by looking carefully at creation. What amazes me most is that the deeper you look into all the God forms, the more you can see of God. Peer into the vastness of the heavens and you find planets and moons, galaxies and nebulae. Gaze into the workings of ecosystems and you discover the wonder of complex, yet beautiful systems and balance. Focus at the molecular level, and the excellence of creation is not diminished, but rather it is multiplied, revealing even more of the power and nature of the Creator. Even when we pay attention to chaos, we find the order of fractals and the unity of the creation in things like the butterfly effect that shows how the movement of a butterfly in South America can change the weather patterns in Western New York.

       When God finished making all that was made, God saw what He had done and declared it, “very good,” and indeed it is. So, as blades of grass push through the dirt, buds form on barren tree limbs, and leaves begin to form, ponder their revelation. As birds return from their winter vacation, insects begin their work, and animals awaken from their hibernation, remember God’s power. As spring returns in all its splendor, don’t forget the One whose splendor it is, and let your spirit and your mouth declare God’s praise.

Peace,
Pastor Chuck