Spring

On Sunday mornings we’ve been reading together through Matthew’s gospel. It’s not very long since we were looking at Jesus’s words, recorded in chapter 6:

‘Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these’ (Matthew 6: 26-29)

Jesus told his disciples that they should look at the birds of the air and pay attention to the lilies of the field. I suggested that we should take those words literally. We should make a point of watching the birds as they fly around our gardens. We should get out for a stroll and notice the wild flowers growing in the hedgerows or in patches of waste ground. Jesus wanted us to learn crucial lessons by observing the birds and the flowers – lessons about God’s provision for his creatures, his kindness, his trustworthiness.

Learning from the world around us

There are many other passages in the Bible where we are encouraged to look at the natural world around us and learn lessons from it. Let me give you some examples.

The book of Proverbs encouraged his readers to take note of what they might think of as insignificant creatures:

‘Four things on earth are small, but they are exceedingly wise: the ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their food in the summer; the rock badgers are a people not mighty, yet they make their homes in the cliffs; the locusts have no king, yet all of them march in rank; the lizard you can take in your hands, yet it is in kings’ palaces’ (Proverbs 30:24-28).

The writer wanted his readers to view a column of ants gathering food. They could learn from them the importance of hard work, and preparation for the future. He wanted them likewise to watch the rock badgers scurrying around the cliffs. They could learn from them to adapt to circumstances and to stay safe. He wanted them to observe the locusts working together as equals. They could learn from them the importance of co-operation and unity. He wanted them to notice the lizards which find their way into the most unexpected places – even kings’ palaces. They could learn from them to be determined and persistent.

The LORD spoke through Jeremiah:

‘Even the stork in the heavens knows her times, and the turtledove, swallow, and crane keep the time of their coming, but my people know not the rules of the Lord…’ (Jeremiah 8:7).

He wanted his people to take note of the migrating birds. The birds know instinctively when the time comes for them to arrive and when to leave again. God has ordained those times and the birds obey the laws he has laid down for them.

Why was it important for Jeremiah’s hearers to think about the birds? Answer? So that they would look at themselves and recognise their own folly. The LORD wanted each one of them to ask “if birds can obey the rules God has given to them, why am I so reluctant to obey the rules he has given to me”?

Job believed that he had the right to question God. He demanded that God should give account of himself and explain why he had brought suffering into Job’s life. How did God reply to him? God gave him a panoramic tour of the whole created world, reminding him of its vastness and complexity. God questioned Job relentlessly, forcing him to admit that he was incapable of understanding the processes at work in nature, let alone the reasons why each creature should function as it does. The interrogation stretches over four chapters of Job (38-41). Read them and try to put yourself in Job’s place, as God questions him.

Think about some of the questions God put to Job

‘Have you commanded the morning since your days began, and caused the dawn to know its place, that it might take hold of the skirts of the earth, and the wicked be shaken out of it? It is changed like clay under the seal, and its features stand out like a garment’.

‘Has the rain a father, or who has begotten the drops of dew? From whose womb did the ice come forth, and who has given birth to the frost of heaven? The waters become hard like stone, and the face of the deep is frozen…’

‘Who provides for the raven its prey, when its young ones cry to God for help, and wander about for lack of food?’

‘Is it by your understanding that the hawk soars and spreads his wings toward the south? Is it at your command that the eagle mounts up and makes his nest on high? On the rock he dwells and makes his home, on the rocky crag and stronghold. From there he spies out the prey; his eyes behold it from far away’.

The LORD wanted Job to learn lessons from the way that darkness gives way to light at dawn. He wanted him to learn from the falling rain, the dew on the grass, the ice on a pond, the frost on the rooftops. He wanted Job to learn from the ravens and the hawks.

Job had already urged his friends to learn from the world around them:

‘But ask the beasts, and they will teach you; the birds of the heavens, and they will tell you; or the bushes of the earth, and they will teach you; and the fish of the sea will declare to you. Who among all these does not know that the hand of the LORD has done this? In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind’ (Job 12:7-10).

But now Job himself had to learn the lessons he had encouraged others to learn.

The Psalmist pictures the birds that nested in the eaves of the temple.

‘Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, at your altars, O LORD of hosts, my King and my God.’ (Psalm 84:3-4).

How many of the worshippers ever noticed the sparrows? Very few, maybe. But the psalmist did and learnt the lesson: ‘Blessed are those who dwell in your house, ever singing your praise!’ As he meditated on what he saw, he was moved to desire for himself what the birds enjoyed.

And later in the same psalm, he remembers the astonishing way in which a wilderness place that has been parched and barren can suddenly become a place of springs when the early rain falls:

‘As they go through the Valley of Baca they make it a place of springs; the early rain also covers it with pools’.

He remembers how swiftly the dry ground could become fresh and green again. And what lesson could he learn from that? It was the reminder he needed that Yahweh could renew the strength of his people at the time of his choosing.

Let’s get started!

Well, I’ve quoted a few passages. I could have quoted scores more. Wherever you turn in the Bible, you’ll find the Bible writers taking note of the natural world around them, learning lessons from it, and urging us to do the same.

So, let’s do it! Let’s make a point of noticing what’s happening in our gardens, in the local parks, in the fields. And especially as we move into spring time. Let’s notice the colours changing, the early flowers budding, the leaves covering the branches of the trees. Let’s watch out for the return of the migrant birds – swallows, housemartins, and many more. (who’ll be the first to hear a cuckoo?). And then, let’s learn the lessons God wants us to learn from all these things. Let’s get out of town and see the newborn lambs in the fields.

For some of us, it just means keeping our eyes open. I suspect that folk in our society see less of what’s around them than ever before. Why? Because our eyes are glued to screens so constantly. We’re so absorbed in scrolling through endless irrelevancies that we miss what God is doing in the world around us. Put your phone away and actually look around you – and be filled with wonder at God’s ways.

Let me quote a famous poem:

What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare?

No time to stand beneath the boughs
And stare as long as sheep or cows:

No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass:

 No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night…

 A poor life this if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare’.

The author of that poem, W H Davies, was not a Christian. But he was right about this. It’s a poor life if we have no time to look at the amazing world that God our heavenly Father has made for his children to enjoy.

John Newton’s spring time

And here is a hymn by John Newton for you to read and savour – a hymn for spring time. Newton was really looking at the world around him – and rejoicing in all he saw. Trees blossoming, fields becoming green, flowers clustering in his garden, the bleakness of winter giving way to the joys of spring.

But as he rejoiced in the transformation he could see all around him, it brought home to him the fact that his own heart seemed lifeless and frozen. How little joy or peace he felt within! How little he knew of warm fellowship with the Lord Jesus!

Could he ever experience renewal? Could he ever feel alive again spiritually? Could the Lord who was bringing spring time to the world bring spring time to his heart?

For Newton, what he saw around him was the great assurance that the Lord could yet bring fresh life to his barren soul – that he could experience again the warmth of Christ’s presence and love. Here’s his song. If you feel as he felt, that it’s been a long winter in your soul, you can make it your own prayer. But don’t forget to do what he did – do step outside and learn from what the Lord is doing in the world around us.

Pleasing spring again is here!
Trees and fields in bloom appear!
Hark! the birds, with artless lays,
Warble their Creator’s praise!
Where, in winter, all was snow,
Now the flowers in clusters grow;
And the corn, in green array,
Promises a harvest-day.

What a change has taken place!
Emblem of the spring of grace;
How the soul, in winter, mourns
Till the Lord, the Sun, returns;
Till the Spirit’s gentle rain,
Bids the heart revive again;
Then the stone is turned to flesh,
And each grace springs forth afresh.

Lord, afford a spring to me!
Let me feel like what I see;
Ah! my winter has been long,
Chilled my hopes, and stopped my song!
Winter threatened to destroy
Faith and love, and every joy;
If thy life was in the root,
Still I could not yield thee fruit.

Speak, and by thy gracious voice
Make my drooping soul rejoice;
O beloved Saviour, haste,
Tell me all the storms are past:
On thy garden deign to smile,
Raise the plants, enrich the soil;
Soon thy presence will restore
Life to what seemed dead before.

Lord, I long to be at home,
Where these changes never come!
Where the saints no winter fear,
Where ’tis spring throughout the year:
How unlike this state below!
There the flowers unwithering blow;
There no chilling blasts annoy;
All is love, and bloom, and joy.

All Bible quotations in this article are taken from the Holy Bible, English Standard Version, published by HarperCollins Publishers © 2001.