Our Path to the Cross - 40 Days of Lenten Reflection | April 19
By Kirk Larsen
Psalm: 24, 29, 8, 84
Old Testament: Jeremiah 1:1-10
Epistle: 1 Corinthians 3:11-23
Gospel: Mark 3:31-4:9
“And [Jesus] began to teach beside the sea.” (Mark 4:1)
“O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! When I look at your heavens, the work of your hands,…what are human beings that you are mindful of them?” (Psalm 8:1, 3-4)
“How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts! My soul longs, indeed it faints for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God. Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young.” (Psalm 84:1-3)
“The earth is the LORD’S and all that is in it, the world, and those who live in it.” (Psalm 24:1)
Today is the first day of spring! After a long, cold and snowy winter, the days are finally getting longer and warmer, and life is beginning to be reborn. I love getting outside on these first warm days and taking a walk, listening to the excitement of creation and seeing new life emerging after the harsh winter.
Jesus also took walks outside, often to get places where He would teach, but also to “get away” to commune with His father in heaven. Although He taught in the synagogues and temple, Jesus also regularly taught on a mountainside, in a field, while walking along a road, or as in one of today’s texts, by the sea. Not only did He teach by the sea, He then climbed into a boat and taught while floating on that sea. As a field biologist and a teacher, I drag my students outside, and we get to explore God’s creation on a regular basis. Like Jesus, I’ve also taught lessons by the sea and even on boats, although I know my biology lessons aren’t anywhere near as important as the spiritual lessons He taught.
So what and why did Jesus teach us “by the sea”? In His teaching, Jesus often refers to creation such as the lilies of the field, or the birds of the air. What better place than the edge of the sea for a hands-on-lesson about plant growth and how it relates to our own spiritual growth than referring to seeds and the soil the people were sitting and standing on?
What happens when we go outside into God’s creation? Maybe it is the fresh air that helps us focus, but I think as we observe the plants and animals, we refocus on the “simple” yet important things in life, basic realities such as birth, obtaining food, being clothed, and even death. If we watch creation closely, food, shelter, and reproducing are the needs much of creation is focused on. Yet God reminds us that he will provide for those needs.
Often it is in the still quietness along a cool stream, watching the beauty of a sunset over a lake, or the almost deafening noise of creatures in the rainforest, that I feel most aware of God’s presence and His awesome provision for us. How can we “consider the works of His hands” if we never get outside into His creation?
In this time of Lent, when we reflect on the suffering, death, and resurrection of our Lord, Savior and Creator Jesus Christ, I’d like to encourage you to join in me going outside into God’s creation. Leave your ipod, cell phone, and other distractions behind, and take a walk in one of the many natural areas in the Decorah area. Listen to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field as they glorify their Creator. One of my favorite hymns says, God “speaks to me everywhere”. Are we listening? What lesson does He want each of us to hear today?
