The Splendor of Creation

It is summer, and for me summer has always meant outdoor activities. The summers of my youth were spent going on canoeing trips in Canada, hiking trips in New Mexico and Colorado, and trips to my Boy Scout Summer Camp in Ohio. I learned a lot on these trips – the importance of being self-reliant, the importance of being prepared, and just how great a blessing air conditioning is. Most importantly, though, I learned to marvel at the beauty of God’s Creation.

Creation is beautiful. High mountains, green valleys, and grassy plains cover our land, filled with an abundance of wildlife. Lakes and ponds dot the landscape, nourishing and sustaining life by providing life-giving water. We see these great gifts that we have been given and can’t help but marvel that God the Father spoke all things into existence from nothing. It is the Lord who sustains His Creation and watches over it, who knows when every tree falls in the forest and who looks after the needs of every sparrow. It is the Lord who makes the sun rise every day, who upholds the stars and planets in their orbits, who gives us signs and seasons to mark the passage of years.
What is more wonderful is that He does all this for us. The created world is not good for its own sake, but has been made for

our provision and enjoyment. The creation of mankind was the final act of God’s creative activity, the crowning jewel of His world. He did not call it complete until Adam and Eve had been formed. God made all that is for us, to provide for us. Even in our fallen state, cast out of the perfect Eden, God still uses His Creation to provide for us. He gives us plants and animals for food, He waters the ground with rain so that these plants would grow and that we would have water to drink.

As you go about your summer plans, don’t forget the work that God continues to do for you. Don’t forget to come to church, where God provides for our souls as well as our bodies. God nourishes and sustains us through with His holy Word, with His Absolution, and His Sacrament of the Altar. God reminds us that He sent His Son to die for us, the God-man giving His life to atone for our sins. God reminds us that He has forgiven us for Christ’s sake, the precious blood of the all-atoning Sacrifice covering the multitude of our sins. So this summer, spend time marveling at Creation. Spend time marveling at God’s mighty works, which He has accomplished for you.

-Pastor Pope