Job 26:13-14 God’s Spirit made the heavens beautiful, and his power pierced the gliding serpent. These are just the beginning of all that he does, merely a whisper of his power.
Isaiah 61:3 To all who mourn in Israel, the Spirit of the Sovereign Lord will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair.
1 Peter 1:2, 3:4 God the Father knew you and chose you long ago, and his Spirit has made you holy. … Clothe yourselves with the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God.
I love hiking! Nothing soothes my soul more than unhurried time in the gentle beauty of woods. Birdsong and the music of a brook, the exquisite beauty of tiny wildflowers, fleeting glimpses of deer and other woodland animals, shade and sun and breeze combine in beauty that is precious to me.
Catoctin Mountain Park, Steve Walters
I enjoyed all this last week during our family reunion, on a trail in the Catoctin Mountain Park in the lovely company of a beloved niece and nephew. They were patient with me when I needed to breathe a bit on the ascent, and the rich conversation we shared has given me food for thought ever since.
God created us to love beauty. His Spirit creates and sustains beauty both surrounding us and within us, in harmony with his own nature.
I hope that today you and I will find space to soak in the loveliness of the world and people around you. And find joy in the work of the Spirit in our own hearts.
Fairest Lord Jesus (“Beautiful Savior”) unknown writer, 1662, Stacey Sings Hymns.
But God’s Spirit participated in the creation of the world
Genesis 1:1-2 In the beginning God [plural] created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.
For the last few weeks, we’ve been looking at the fruit of the Spirit as Paul lists the qualities of agape love in Galatians 5:22-23. Since we remembered and celebrated last Sunday (Pentecost) the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the believers in Jerusalem, it seems fitting that we continue deepening our understanding of the Holy Spirit.
Also, I’m interested in this topic because of the book I’m writing for kids, hoping through story to communicate more about the Trinity than they typically learn in Sunday School. Not that I “understand” this mystery!
The Trinity is present in Scripture from the very beginning. The name for God used in the creation account in Genesis 1, Elohim, is plural. And immediately, the Spirit is singled out, hovering over formless, empty darkness (1:2). Then Elohim said, “Let there be light” …
Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844-89) heartening poem “God’s Grandeur,” referencing Genesis 1:2, could have been written today.
The world is charged with the grandeur of God.
It will flame out, like shining from shook foil;
It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil
Crushed. Why do men then now not reck his rod?
Generations have trod, have trod, have trod;
And all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared with toil;
And wears man’s smudge and shares man’s smell: the soil
Is bare now, nor can foot feel, being shod.
And for all this, nature is never spent;
There lives the dearest freshness deep down things;
And though the last lights off the black West went
Oh, morning, at the brown brink eastward, springs —
Because the Holy Ghost over the bent
World broods with warm breast and with ah! Bright wings.
God of Wonders by Steve J. Hindalong and Marc Byrd, Third Day
But God’s kingdom encompasses all he created March 28, 2024
Psalm 103:19-22 The Lord has made the heavens his throne; from there he rules over everything. … Praise the Lord, you armies of angels who serve him and do his will. Praise the Lord, everything he has created, everything in all his kingdom.
Litany of Penitence 12
For our failure to commend the faith that is in us
Lord, have mercy upon us,
For we have sinned against you.
In The Psalms, Jesus’s Prayer Book, Volume 3 Psalms 73-106, Douglas D. Webster says:
“Psalm 103 reminds us that we bow before King Jesus. The third stanza widens the circle of praise to include all of creation. All the angels and the heavenly hosts are summoned to worship before the throne of him who rules over all. Total praise. There are no spectators. Everyone is in the choir and everything is centered around the throne of the Lord. … Whatever your perspective on worship styles … in the end we’ll be worshiping together. … The key concept for the future of the human community is doxology.”
So, besides confessing our failure to “commend the faith that is in us,” how can I, how can you, share our hope with all whom we love, so they too can join this worship fest around the Throne? How can we free the River of Life to overflow from our hearts?
A beautiful hymn, based on Psalm 103, celebrates much of what we’ve been considering this Lent as we’ve worked our way through the Litany of Penitence: Praise my Soul the King of Heaven, by Henry Francis Lyte, 1834, sung by St Laurence’s Church.
This evening our church has a Maundy Thursday service. The word Maundy comes from the Latin for “commandment” – Jesus’s “new” commandment (John 13:34) to love others just as he has loved us. If you know Spanish or Portuguese, think mandamiento or mandamento. The service includes footwashing (John 13:1-17). At the end of the service, the lights will slowly dim as the altar is stripped of all ornamentation (and we remember Jesus’s arrest). As we find ourselves in total darkness, a voice reads Psalm 22. We exit in silence.
Tomorrow, we watch with Mary as her Son hangs on the cross from noon until 3:00 p.m., when he cries “It is finished.” Artists in the congregation have created pieces depicting each of the Stations of the Cross. (I featured last year’s Good Friday artwork on this blog.)
On Saturday, a quiet day of meditation, I’ll post the final prayer from the Litany of Atonement and the final line from Psalm 103.
Easter Sunday at 6:00 a.m., we enter the sanctuary in darkness, and the first half of the service is held by candlelight. Gradually, daylight filters through the stained glass, but remember, the last time we were in this space, it was stripped of all other adornment. When the lights suddenly come on, though, and the organ and trumpets and choir announce Jesus’s resurrection, we see the church filled with fragrant flowers. All of our senses are engaged in this magnificent celebration of restored Life. Once again, we can sing and say “Alleluia,” which we have not done since Lent began.
While all this is wonderful, I find it bittersweet, because Karis loved Easter so much. But in a flash I remember: all we can do is but a shadow of the incredible joy of being in the very Presence of God on his rainbow throne. We may still experience waves of grief. But for her, and for each one of our missing beloved ones and yours, all is glory.
I’ll wish you and your family now a lovely Easter.
Colossians 1:15-17 (Isaiah 40:26-31) Christ is the image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation, for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see … Everything was created through him and for him … and he holds all creation together.
It makes sense that Jesus the Creator is called Wonderful Counselor (Isaiah 9:6): the one who makes something knows best how it functions and how to care for it!
Debra Kornfield 