Creekside Church Sermon of August 5, 2001 "What a Wonderful World" Matthew 6:25-34	Rev. David Bibbee
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Do you know what famous musician was born 100 years ago this week? Many of you will know the answer if I played the song, "Hello Dolly". During the latter years of his musical career, this song became the theme of the famous jazz trumpeter Louis Armstrong. Though he has been gone for almost 30 years, there is another signature song by Louis Armstrong that is heard in a variety of venues. It's called "What a Wonderful World."

I see trees of green, red roses too,
I watch them bloom for me and for you,
And I think to myself, what a wonderful world.

I see skies of blue, clouds of white,
The bright blessed day, and the dark sacred night,
And I think to myself, what a wonderful world.

What is the lure of this song and why does it seem just as popular today as when it was first released? Maybe one reason is that more people are waking up to the damage we have done to the environment and the resulting harm that comes to us. Maybe it's because we should also wake up to the fact that this life we live in this world, despite all its pains and problems, is a beautiful, blessed thing, and a precious gift of God.

One of my college professors described the sights he saw one day on a drive to Fort Wayne. Everything appeared so vivid that day. As he left the house he heard the delightful laughter of the kids playing outside next door. Never had the sky seemed more blue or the cotton ball clouds so white. He watched birds and was struck by the wonder of how they fly. He felt overwhelmed by the thought that in that moment he was surrounded and supported by people who cared for him. Never before had he felt such gushes of praise and gratitude welling up within him for the goodness of that precious moment and the life that had been given him. He was experiencing all this while riding in an ambulance, hovering between life and death from a severe heart attack.

We could all afford to take more time to ponder the wonder of the world and praise God who gives us life and breath and the senses to absorb it. We preachers get so caught up in the weightier matters of sin, salvation, suffering and Christian responsibility that we neglect the importance of thanking God for the sun that rises each morning, and the bounty that sustains us.

We spend lots of time wandering from place to place and problem to problem, and little time wonder-ing about the marvel of creation. A contemporary poet, Jeanette Struchen has written an appeal for us to think to ourselves…what a wonderful world. She writes:

"Lord, most of us could use a wonder drug.
The only time I feel wonder is when someone snaps the back of the moon
Or when autumn settles up for her annual show.
Maybe wonder is scarce because it is old-fashioned like charity and going the second mile.
All I know is that my house is full of gadgets, and the office is full of computers, but nothing is cracking my sound barrier.
I think a little wonder might do it."

When we slow down enough to wonder over the wonders of nature, gratitude is our natural response. Do you know how to drive an atheist crazy? Put them on the shore of a pristine lake before a breathtaking pink and purple sunset. Tie them to a bench on the rim of the Grand Canyon. You'll see them squirm as they try to stifle the urge to say, "Thank you." Why is there such an urge if there is no one to thank? Can you thank the big bang or random processes? What a terrible existence it would be to live in a world of such wonder and beauty with no one to thank.

But let's hold on a minute. Just as it is wrong to conclude there is no God at the helm of creation, it is also wrong to worship nature's God instead of the God who is over nature. Christians can't leave their faith in the great outdoors. The howl of a wolf won't compel you to live a better life. The song of a meadowlark won't challenge you to let go of old loyalties and take on new commitments. The babble of a brook won't convince you to minister to the needs of your neighbor. Nature is vast in its beauty, mystery, and complexity, but it is limited at revealing God.

There is nothing in nature that reveals God as a God of love. Those who know about nature are not sentimental about it. The sun is not your brother and the moon is not your sister. The gentle rain, which you find relaxing, can without warning turn into a torrent that swallows your home and sweeps it away. Those cuddly, cute furry animals of the forest become a tasty meal for larger furred animals of the forest.

I remember a summer evening when a flock of blue jays was creating a commotion in a tree across the street. The sun was setting behind the tree which created shafts of light around the circumference of the red maple. The jays were flying frantically in and out of the tree. Then, flying toward me from the foliage was a Cooper's hawk. The sight of the hawk flying from the sunbeams was breathtaking. Then I saw why the jays were in a frenzy. Clutched in the talons of the hawk was a fellow jay, perhaps a parent or sibling to the others. It was a beautiful sight, but there was death written all over it. It is a jungle out there.

Nature doesn't reveal God as a loving father. The processes of nature aren't personal. Cancer is indiscriminate. It can't distinguish between Billy Graham and Billy the Kid. Somebody said, "Nature doesn't have arms." Nature provides for us. Nature inspires us, but it can't enfold us when we hurt. It can't counsel us when we are confused. There is nothing about it which says God loves you. There is nothing I enjoy more than times spent on a lake or traipsing in the woods among the flora and the fauna. But you can't look to nature and conclude that God is a God of love anymore than someone can look at an addition your father put on the house and conclude, "He must love you very much." When I see God, I don't consult Mother Nature. I turn to prayer, the Bible, and God's people…the church.

It is a wonderful world we live in. we must be thankful for it and care for it, yet wonderful as it is, it cannot take the place of Jesus. He occupies a unique niche in nature. Let's sing a hymn which conveys Jesus' place in nature's scheme. (Sing "Fairest Lord Jesus"). "Fairest Lord Jesus, ruler of all nature…fair are the meadows, fairer still the woodlands, robed in the blooming garb of spring. Jesus is fairer, Jesus is purer who makes the woeful heart to sing." In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus uses nature as a window to see the deeper dimensions of life. We live in an anxious age. We worry about many things. But listen to Jesus' remedy.

"Look at the birds. They don't work themselves into an early grave. They don't keep a stash of seeds for the winter. They are not constantly checking the performance of their investments, yet God feeds them. Don't you think you matter more to God than a flock of sparrows?"

"Consider the lilies of the field, " Jesus said. I don't think he would mind if we would consider the orchids. There is an amazing species of orchid which has an ingenious way of propagating itself. This orchid has a cup on it something like a lady slipper that holds a sweet fluid. This flower is coated with a slick substance, which, when a bee lands on it, causes it to slip on it and fall into the cup. The bee struggles to crawl out of the fluid, and when it does it goes through the only exit which is the flower's throat. As the bee crawls through the passageway, there is an apparatus which constricts on the bee. With great effort the bee escapes, but attached to its back is a pod of pollen. Bees don't have a good memory. Immediately it is attracted to the scent of a female orchid and the process starts all over. The bee falls in, swims out at the nectar and crawls into the orchid's throat. Again it constricts and the bee struggles to escape. This time, however, the pollen sack sticks to a protrusion in the orchid's throat. The fertilization process is complete and the bee flies away, having done its job. That is one smart flower!

"Consider the lilies. They don't toil, fuss and fret; yet nothing in Solomon's wardrobe looked better. If Jesus cares for the grass that grows today and is mowed tomorrow, think how much he cares for you." Jesus said, "consider" the birds and the lilies. He didn't say to worship them. Consider them, protect them, ponder them for all of their beauty, but when you do, make the big leap and know that God loves you infinitely more. Jesus told us God knows when a single sparrow falls from a tree. When we all take our turn drinking from the cup of pain and suffering, God is not only aware, but God shares it with us, and he went to the cross to tell us so. When this truth grabs you there is no end to your praising God and singing, "What a wonderful world."

Mother Nature inspires no commitments. There is nothing in the rocks, the trees, the skies or seas that can make a new creation of us. It takes someone over nature to do that. The life cycle of plants is governed by day and night, sunlight and rain, and the cycle of the seasons. It has been that way for millions of years. I recall a Far Side cartoon in which a Tyrannosaurs Rex is filling in things to do on a daily planner. "Monday: Kill something and eat it. Tuesday: Kill something and eat it. Wednesday: Kill something and eat it." Left to ourselves we would live like other creatures in the web of life…our lives governed by urges and instincts.

But Jesus elevates us above doing what comes naturally. Nature is governed by the law of the survival of the fittest. Jesus said when we look after those who are least we are caring for him. He said you find your life by giving away your life. The law said, "An eye for an eye…love your neighbor. Hate your enemy." Jesus turned that upside down with, "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you." Someone says of someone else, "It's no use. She'll never change." But Jesus violated this law with forgiveness, acceptance, and an infusion of grace which enables that "old" person to walk into a new day as a new creation. Nature operates according to the cycles of birth, life, death, and decay. Jesus threw a wrench in the spokes of that cycle when he announced, "I am the resurrection and the life, and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die, but have everlasting life."

One of my prized books is a personally autographed copy of President Jimmy Carter's "Outdoor Journal", which Sandy Gordon got while in Plaines, Georgia a few years ago. There is a sentence in it with which I resonate:

"I have never been happier, more exhilarated, at peace, rested, inspired and aware of the grandeur of the universe and the greatness of God than when I find myself in a natural setting not much changed from the way God made it."

Creation is something to cheer for. We should always thank God for it, enjoy it and protect it for the future from those who only want to drill it, mine it, develop it, and make a profit from it. But let's not let our praise stop with nature. Our full and final praise is to the ruler of all nature whose presence and promise truly makes ours a wonderful life in this wonder-full world.

This sermon was inspired by the sermon "Praise God for the Morning and More" by Rev. Bruce Porter.

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