June 30, 2024 Traditional | The Glory of God

In the past, I've written about this in

my weekly commentary. So if you subscribe, you

may know it already. But my wife whitney

me and I, have this quest that we're

pursuing with our 2 sons. Our our goal

is to visit all 50 states with them

together as a family

to actually have a meaningful experience in each

state because ours

is an amazing country, as you know,

And it turns out that we're actually doing

pretty well on this quest of ours. Now,

I'm from Dallas.

But we moved to Maryland when I was

7 years old, and my mom's whole family

was still in Dallas. My Step father's family

was in Indiana,

So pretty much all of our travel when

I was a kid was to 1 of

those 2 places to visit family, which was

wonderful, of course.

But when I got older,

and then when I served an active duty

in the navy, I had the chance to

visit a bunch of interesting

places, and I... I kind of became obsessed

with travel.

By the time, Whitney and I had kids

of our own, we made it a goal

to travel with him as much. As we

can eventually turning it into this quest of

visiting

all 50 states. And,

this summer, right after school ended

But before it got super busy with all

of our programming here at the church, we

actually had a chance to check 5 states

off the list.

We started out in rhode Island,

which

no offense any native rhode islanders here. Let's

just say, that we saw enough of it

on our short overnight stay in providence, fancy

yachts and big,

New england mansions or just not not my

thing.

And then we spent a night in stove

vermont, which was absolutely beautiful. It's on our

list, to go back to someday if you've

been to vermont, you know exactly what I'm

talking about.

And then it was off to

Mount Washington in New Hampshire to Now Believe

it or not, and I had to, like,

double check this a few times when I

heard it. But because of the geography,

and the converging weather patterns, this is the

location

with the highest recorded wind speed ever by

a human being on earth

ever. It was back in 19 34, they

recorded 231

miles an hour at the top of Mount

Washer

while we were there. The sustained winds were

66 miles an hour, with a set with

a 77 mile an hour gust. That's the

wind place Ever been. It literally

blew over the guy who was taken our

picture in front of the mount Washington sign,

and he was a big guy I've and

so,

New Hampshire New Hampshire was was cool for

sure.

But the majority of our trip was spent

in Maine and

Massachusetts, both of which are really fantastic. I

had been stationed in Maine when I was

in, the navy right after college,

and it's always been a place that I

love. We spent a couple of nights in

bar harbor. We explored a Aca National Park,

which is absolutely gorgeous. We took a a

lobster tour, and then a puff and lighthouse

tour on the bay. The people were just

just as kind and hospitable

as I remember all these years. Later. And

then we spent 3 nights in Boston,

which did my my history nerd soul good

with all the revolutionary war

sites and memorabilia and all that.

The most surprising thing believe it or not

was how friendly everyone was.

That's not exactly their reputation.

This was right before the the Nba finals,

and my boys were of course, proudly flying

their m colors.

I fully expected to get heck by the

notoriously enthusiastic

Celtic fans. We went to a Red sox.

About game, and they had their

mad gear on. I thought I would dear.

But everyone we met was great.

They were pretty confident

accurately so as it turns out that their

team is gonna do well.

But the thing that that struck me most

of all when we were in Boston, was

this,

display in the oldest park in the Us.

Our... On Boston common,

There was a a po and moving reminder,

they put it up every year, memorial Day,

about our common heritage.

Our common humanity, are common values

and sacrifices,

emblem

by a display of of American flags, our

more than 37000

of them. In fact,

representing every

Massachusetts citizen who has given their lives in

defense of our country over the year. Years

And the thing is

it's not just destinations in the Us that

bring out our common humanity in our common

values.

Our youth group experienced some of that, some

of that sense of unity

in Costa Rica a couple of years, a

couple of weeks ago or rather, our mission

trips, as fellow children

of God, whatever differences we may have with

with with others,

we have our a lot more in common

than we think.

That sense of of connectedness that we can

that we can can find through travel

is our subject for today.

This is the final week of our and

series summer vibes in which we've been exploring

the diversion of summer.

So far, in June, we talked about summer

musical, summer movies, summer camps.

So and some are reading. Now we've talked

about how these these pop culture references can

reveal important matters of theology

and faith.

Today, we're wrapping up a series with the

summer diversion that is for me 1 of

the great blessings of life.

Summer are travel can can give us a

perspective on God's world that we might otherwise

miss.

So with all that by way of direction,

turn to our text for today. We're gonna

read the first 6 verses of Psalm 19.

I'm gonna read the first 4 now. And

we'll come back to the rest later. So

listen for. Lord of God as it is

proclaimed by God servant, the psalm.

The Heavens are telling the glory of God,

but

and the firm pro proclaimed his hand work.

Day to day, pours forth speech and night

to tonight

declares knowledge.

There is no speech nor are their words.

Their voice is not heard yet Their voice

goes out through all the earth.

And their words to the ends of the

world.

This is the word of God for the

people of God.

Thanks, Peter God.

Psalm 19 is 1 of those interesting psalms

because it's

divided into 2 distinct reflections on God's work

in the world. So the second half of

Psalm 19

in versus 07:14

is about the law. It's on about the

torah,

which is certainly an essential part of our

salvation history, but we're not reading that part

because that's not our subject for today. The

first part of the song saw versus 1

to 6

is about the creation of God, the majesty

of God.

The the majesty of God's wonders in the

in the world, the glory of God displayed

in the incredible creation of God.

God's God's wonders is all around us really,

our task is to look for it. Sometimes

we overlook it. And the more I've been

blessed

to travel the more I'm in awe

of the God who made it all.

Now I need to say I have never

been on a trip.

When I've not been happy to return home.

I'm always happy to get home. I'm always

ready to come home because I love where

we live. I love the incredible opportunities. My

children have growing up here. I love my

church family and my friends. I I couldn't

be more grateful to call

our community home,

but my goodness.

God is an artist

in the midst of this incredible world

that God created.

This is looking out over bryce Canyon in

Utah a few years ago, it's Bryce Canyon,

you may know is 1 of 5 incredible

national parks

in a state full of this a unique

kind of beauty.

This is office the off the

a sunset off the coast of Me, an

Island in Greece from the church trip that

we took in the spring of 20 23.

Here we're looking out over the Ag g,

which is 1 of the blues and most

beautiful bodies of water you will ever see.

20

this is a top mend hall glacier in

Alaska, a truly incredible natural wonder which has

up a color and clarity of ice

that I'd never seen before.

This is sunset from the top of Monica

on the island of Hawaii. When you measure

M from its base at the bottom of

the ocean to the the peak here where

I took this picture, the it's a tallest

mountain on earth.

It's taller even than than mount everest.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the United

States, this is... From the top of Cadillac

Mountain in Aca National Park in Maine, not

nearly as high. It's actually the the biggest

peak on the Us East coast from looking

it out over bar harbor towards Canada.

And this 1,

well, this is a picture of our youth

group in Costa Rica a couple weeks ago

at La fort Waterfall.

After a a full week of really challenging

missions work in the name of our congregation,

our group

had the chance to visit this incredibly beautiful

place,

which is near the base of a volcano.

The first time that I truly fell in

love with God's creation, and I mean truly

fell in love that was during my navy

year.

I was on that that brand new destroyer

that had been built in Maine, and we

were on the Atlantic. We were headed

to our Home port in Norfolk, Virginia

Now the rules on an navy ship are

pretty strict as you might imagine, if you

wanna get some fresh air after sunset, the

exterior of the ship must remain

dark.

You can't let any enemy that's out there

see exactly where you are. And so 1

night,

after a particularly

super stressful day,

I went tops side after sunset

to clear my head.

Now, on this particular night, it was a

quarter moon.

There were clear skies.

There were no other ships

anywhere on the horizon. I mean, it's like

we were the only people on earth that

night.

The stars were as bright as you could

imagine.

With no light pollution, no air pollution, nothing

to obscure the the work of the heavens

and the vast of the see, I was

the only 1 top side.

It was me,

the ocean,

the sky.

And God.

And in that moment,

I felt a connection with God,

unlike any I'd ever had before.

I mean, I I personally do not understand

how anyone can think

or believe that God does not exist. I

don't. I don't get that. For me, all

it takes is standing in the dark.

I'm a ship at sea with just you,

the moon, the stars,

and the ocean.

And in that in that moment, I became

entirely captivated

by the handy of God, which has enchanted

me ever since.

This is a magnificent

creation with a diversity of people and a

diversity

of natural beauty that, for me, anyway, is

just impossible to wrap my head around.

And since that evening 30 years ago now

every time I I have the blessing

to to see a new part of God's

korea. Something that I haven't seen before. I

am.

I'm just moved

in the deepest parts of my soul, whether

that's issue on a mountain or looking out

over a canyon or, being out on the

sea or standing on an iceberg or at

the base of a waterfall on in the

shadow of the canyon.

All of it

all of it is a reminder of the

brilliance

and the grace of god. All of it

is worth the effort and the resources and

the time that it takes

to see it. I am so grateful every

time

that I get the chance to.

And so is this all? Lost.

Here's the rest of that

part of the text on 19.

In the heavens, he has set a tent

for the sun,

which comes out like a bride groom from

his wedding canopy and like a strong man

runs its course with joy.

Its rising is from the end of the

heavens and its circuit

to the end of them.

And nothing

is hid from its heat.

The heavens

are telling the glory of god and the

firm

pro claims his hand work.

In my Wesley Study Bible, these 6 verses

of Psalm 19 are called called God's glory

in

creation

to that, I say, amen.

And what better time of the year to

to discover some of it.

Than in the summer,

when when many of us have some time

off

Last spring, as our family

prepared to check off another state from our

list from our quest.

I decided to read

some some of John Mu. I I knew

who John Mir was historically speaking, but I

never read anything by him. And he was

a great natural list. He was a very

prolific rider. He came to be known as

the father of the National parks, and I

love the national parks.

Over the decade, he wrote

16 books.

1 of them chronic his thousand mile walk

to the Gulf of next go. I mean,

this is a guy who seriously loved being

outside. Then he also wrote more than 20

essays, many of them being about some of

the most beautiful places

in the Us. Now he was not

a theologian like the Psalm,

but he shared some of that same discerning

eye for the work of the glory of

God, and if you like that kind of

writing, it's well worth your time

Mere

once wrote,

the world is big,

and I wanna have a good look at

it

before it gets dark.

I love that. The world is big, and

I wanna have a good look at it

before it gets dark.

As the the people of God whose faith

and hope and trust

is in the God who made all of

this for us

we should have a good look at it

too.

Friends,

however, we spend our time,

this season, whatever may be our our most

favorite diversion

in the lazy days of summer.

Maybe we look for God there.

Because god surely is.

I'm amen.