The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands.

That was some storm we just went through; quite a storm that we are still feeling the effects of- just try driving on a side street that isn’t plowed, try getting restarted in some spots or in my case, keeping control on an icy rutted road. Mankind often thinks we are really something- the top of the evolutionary heap - but it is amazing what nature can do to the best laid plans and boasts of men.

Last Tuesday everything was clear and blue, a little chilly by afternoon but this storm they kept predicting hadn’t arrived. Maybe this was another oversell by the media. Even Wednesday morning at 5:00 a.m. we only had a skiff of snow, and then it started. By late afternoon traffic was brought to a standstill. Being taken down a notch or two hasn’t just happened here, in the northwest up in Washington and Oregon they were pounded by fierce storms that have dumped buckets of rain that caused flooding. Fierce winds left a million plus people without power. Down south they will be years rebuilding from hurricane Katrina. Occurrences in nature have a way of showing us how little and powerless we really are. We can build sprawling highways, stupendous bridges, and mammoth airports, and nature can bring them to a standstill, shut them down, and even wash them away with just a storm. Storms like this last one show us just how quickly the power we think we have can be taken from us.

Sometimes it is physical storms that batter us but believe me there are other storms of heartache, illness, addiction and bad decisions that leave us just as powerless.

Even though we are often battered by storms, nature and life have a rhythm to them. The sun comes up, the sun goes down, seasons come and go and sometimes a really big storm wallops us, but none-the-less there is somewhat of a rhythm. The rhythm is imperfect because we live in a world that was and is corrupted by sin- because of that disrupted rhythm we sometimes get hit with incredible storms.

Today the writer of our Psalm declares, The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His Hands. Truly, we can watch the forces of nature and be awed by its power but might we be better off to be awed by, to search after, the One who created nature and sustains it? The One of whom it says in Colossians was before all things and In Him all things hold together. (Col 1.17) If there were someone who could stop a storm, freeze frame it like we see done with special effects in the movies, someone who could pass right through it, that would be incredible and that would be someone we might want to respect, listen to and worship- worshiping not the creation but the One who created it and sustains it.

Much of nature is wonderful. Many of us truly marvel at the complexity of nature even in a fallen world. At times, we may envy the eagle for its ability to fly, but remember it has a sharp eye and even sharper talons to kill. Others romanticize the wolf but it survives by preying on the weak and vulnerable. The majestic redwoods stand as sentinels but even after hundreds of years they die, fall to the ground, and rot away. We can stand in awe of nature but we shouldn’t let that awe replace spending quality time with the One who created it. St. Paul tells the Romans there is a danger out there when we begin revering the creation over the creator- thinking it has more to teach us than the one who created it. He writes, For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise they exchanged the glory of the immortal God for other images- (Rms 1.21-23) “Other images” means they made gods of other things. Sadly, we often continue the practice today.

Some of us who worship don’t get caught up in outright worship of nature but we worship the nature of our own thinking. Others of us listen to men of this world, whose teachings and utterances may at times be profound and thought provoking but are they really on par with someone, who by and through His Word and touch opened the eyes of the blind, cleansed the lepers, calmed the raging storm and raised the dead. Truly, He was accredited to us through those signs, wonders and miracles and those who saw them first hand. (Acts 2.22) Shouldn’t we listen first and most intently to Him?

Truly the heavens declare the glory of God but even that isn’t the whole story. In creation we can glimpse some of the mysteries of God; we can most definitely see the power of God, but where do we see the mercy of God?

Apart from the revelation of God we cannot really know Him nor His mercy. We must look to His Word, there He has chosen to reveal Himself more fully. Yes, the heavens proclaim the power of God but in His Word we find the justice of God and the mercy of God.

Remember All Scripture is God-breathed. It never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. Because of its origin Scripture is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness. (2Tim 3.16-17 & 2 Peter 1.21) All Scripture has been written that we might know of the One- the great “I AM”, the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last. The One who with just a Word created the universe and all that is in it, and even now maintains that we might know of His justice, love and mercy.

We see the love of God in that He sent His only Son, Jesus, the second member of the trinity. He came and taught us the things and thinking of God- what He loves and what He hates. What He desires of us and for us. He could explain God as no one else could because He was and is the same as the Father. He could teach with a power and authority that others could not for the teachings of men always revolve around the Law- what we think we must do to please God or merit our own salvation. Such thinking is a spider’s web which entangles us and sets us up for Satan’s kill.

Jesus came to redeem all of us entangled by the web of sin and living under the curse of death. You see in a fallen world, death is what comes to all of us. It is a shroud that is waiting to cover us all. Jesus came to rescue us from the web of sin and death.

We see the justice of God in that Jesus freed us from sin by taking that sin upon Himself. And if we say we or anyone else born in a natural way, has not sinned we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. (1st John 1.8) Still for reasons that defy our thinking, Jesus took up our sins when we were most sinful, not after we had made a move toward Him but when we were dead in our sins and fighting against Him and chasing after all manner of false gods, He took our sins- He who knew no sin became sin for us. (2nd Cor 5.21) He took those sins to the cross and there He paid the full measure required to atone for those sins- He died. The full measure of the raging storm of God’s wrath against sin descended upon Him. He was battered and crushed for our iniquities- He who didn’t have to die, died for us.

He died and was buried, and three days later just as had been prophesized and foretold, He rose again, fully alive, not some visiting Spirit, but flesh and blood alive. He rose up that we might know the full measure of God’s mercy- His mercy. He arose proclaiming, Peace be with you. Your sins are forgiven!

He rose saying, come, know and worship not a corrupt creation but the creator who can lay down His life and take it up again. Come and worship the One who has dominion over all of nature. Come and receive the Holy Spirit that you might be led to know and believe the things of God. Come and listen to My Words as set down for you in Holy Scripture, allow them to order your lives. Come and know the power of my sacraments to create and sustain faith. Come and know the One who will come again in glory. Come and know the one to whom and before whom every knee will bow in heaven and beneath the earth.

Now storms will come and go. Some of those storms will be of a physical nature and others will be of a personal nature. We need to be reminded of the one who will see us through those storms, sometimes calming the storm and other times calming us. We will see many wonders in nature but we need to remember not to worship nature but rather to worship the One who has proven His command over nature. It is Him that we ought to follow after, study, listen to and worship.