The Trees of the Forest Sing for Joy

Posted on December 13, 2013 by Todd D. Nystrom

Psalm 96:11-13 – Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; let the sea roar, and all that fills it; ¹² let the field exult, and everything in it! Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy ¹³ before the LORD, for he comes, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness, and the peoples in his faithfulness.

The giant sequoias of Mariposa Grove. Yosemite National Park, California.

I have walked through many forests over the years and have always enjoyed the cathedral like feeling of an old-growth pine forest with little underbrush and a soft carpet of needles. The giant sequoias of Mariposa Grove take that feeling to a whole new level. God’s power and magnificence are clearly on display in this grove of ancient giants!

As with so many of the Psalms, Psalm 96 reminds us once again that all of creation celebrates and glorifies the Lord. The earth rejoices, the sea roars, the fields exult, and “the trees of the forest sing for joy.” What I find most noteworthy about the celebration described in today’s passage, though, is that it is a celebration of God’s judgment. In today’s culture the word judgment often carries a negative connotation. Many equate it with intolerance and bigotry, which is an unfortunate perversion resulting from our fallen and sinful condition. But we all understand and appreciate judgment when we see a criminal punished justly for their crime, don’t we?

The thing we must always remember about God’s judgment, is that it is fully righteous. His punishment meted out for our sins is fully deserved. What we don’t deserve is the forgiveness that God has granted us in grace, through faith, made possible only by the blood Christ shed on the cross. We have done nothing, nor can we, to earn his forgiveness, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 3:23-24)

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The Bear Shall Graze

Posted on December 9, 2013 by Todd D. Nystrom

Isaiah 11:6-7 – ⁶ The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them. ⁷ The cow and the bear shall graze; their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.

Grizzly bear along the trail to Iceberg Lake. Glacier National Park, Montana.

(Not my best photography, I’ll admit, but when you are thirty yards from a grizzly bear in the wild, you tend to forget about swapping lenses and adjusting camera settings)

Today’s passage from Isaiah sounds rather absurd to anyone who has hiked in grizzly country, even to those who have not, for that matter. I suspect that a fear of large predators keeps many people from venturing very far into the wilderness of places like Glacier National Park. This fear is not totally irrational, just read some of the precautions that hikers and backcountry campers are told to follow.

As beautiful as God’s creation and creatures are, most people understand that there are risks in the outdoors. And, whether or not a person is aware of the Judeo-Christian concept of the fall, I think everyone will at least acknowledge there are dangers, suffering, and even death in our world. We live in a fallen world, where everything is corrupted by sin. As Romans 8:22 tells us, “we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.”

Faced with an understanding of the effects of the fall, the scenario described by Isaiah seems strange to us in two ways. First, there is the very unusual behavior of the animals, not something you typically see on nature programs. And, second there is this seemingly odd notion that “a little child shall lead them.” Even for Christians it all sounds rather foreign, because we, too, know well the realities of life here on earth. But, as Christians we are blessed to know who this little child is. It is the same child, the predicted Messiah, written about in yesterday’s passage from Isaiah 9.

It is the Messiah whose coming we celebrate on Christmas, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It is only through his birth, perfect life, and undeserved death on the cross that these impossible sounding things become possible. It is only through his innocent blood shed on the cross that we will some-day be able to experience what we read about in Revelation 21:4, “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

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For to Us a Child is Born

Posted on December 8, 2013 by Todd D. Nystrom

2^nd Sunday in Advent

Isaiah 9:6-7 – For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. ⁷ Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.

Anticipating the sunrise on a cold March morning in the hills of eastern Ohio. Pathfinder School property, near Jackson, Ohio.

If you have ever camped out in cold weather you know a little something about anticipation. The dark hours of early morning, before even the faintest rays of sunshine begin to grace the eastern sky, seem endless. There is certainly some trepidation knowing that you have to climb out of a warm sleeping bag into the freezing morning air. But, there is also excitement for those good things you know await you, stoking the smoldering embers of last night’s fire back to a blaze by which to warm yourself, that first steaming cup of coffee, and, perhaps, a hot cinnamon roll baked in a Dutch oven over the coals.

Those in Isaiah’s time knew a lot about anticipation. In fact, it would be many generations before the promised Messiah arrived. Fortunately for us, we have the advantage of knowing how the story of the Messiah unfolds. Advent is a time of waiting for Christmas, that day we have set aside to celebrate the birth of Christ. But, as Christians, our real anticipation is for the coming of God’s eternal kingdom, that time when we can celebrate the “marriage supper of the lamb” (Revelation 19:9) with our Lord and Savior in heaven. If a warm campfire, a steaming cup of coffee, and a hot cinnamon roll on a cold morning sound good, try to imagine what awaits us in heaven!

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He Hurls Down His Crystals of Ice

Posted on December 7, 2013 by Todd D. Nystrom

Psalm 147:15-18 – He sends out his command to the earth; his word runs swiftly. ¹⁶ He gives snow like wool; he scatters frost like ashes. ¹⁷ He hurls down his crystals of ice like crumbs; who can stand before his cold? ¹⁸ He sends out his word, and melts them; he makes his wind blow and the waters flow.

Water, ice, and snow cover the spillway at Caesar Creek Lake after our first big storm of the winter. Caesar Creek State Park, Waynesville, Ohio.

When it is 16 °F outside and the ground is covered with snow and ice most of us prefer to stay indoors. It is an easy decision to stay inside, warm and protected from the elements, if you have no reason to go outside and brave the cold. Likewise, as Christians, we often find ourselves staying within the protective walls of our churches. We are comfortable and safe among our brothers and sisters in Christ. It is easy for us to fall into a routine that isolates us from the world and the people outside the doors of our church.

Even if it is cold and harsh out there we need to remember the mission to which Jesus calls us in Matthew 28:19-20, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Christ promises to always be with us; and, fortunately for us, the protection he offers is much more certain than that offered by the winter clothing we don to venture out on a cold winter’s eve.

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