From the rising of the sun to where it sets,
God, the Lord God, speaks,
calling out to the earth.
From Zion, perfect in beauty,
God shines brightly. – Psalm 50:1-2 (CEB)
In this past Sunday’s sermon, I included several quotes from Martin Luther’s sermons about seeing God present in the world. I’m going to include them here so that you can look at them a bit more closely.
- “We have become deaf to what Pythagoras aptly terms this wonderful and most lovely music coming from the harmony of the motions that are in the celestial spheres.” (Luther’s Works Vol. 1 page 126)
In this one we might also be reminded of the hymn “This is My Father’s World,” where the first verse reads
This is my Father’s world
And to my listening ears
All nature sings and round me rings the music of the spheres (ELW 824)
- “in a single kernel [of wheat] there are many, many miraculous works, …”
Luther mentions this a few times. He is actually paraphrasing St. Augustine.
- “Now if I believe in God’s son and bear in mind that He became man, all creatures will appear a hundred times more beautiful to me than before. Then I will properly appreciate the sun, the moon, the stars, trees, apples, pears, as I reflect that he is Lord over and the center of all things.” (Luther’s Works Vol. 22 page 496)
What we can see from these quotations is that it was a common theme in Luther’s preaching to recognize that there is another dimension to this physical world. That dimension is a spiritual dimension, where God is deeply present. We cannot see this dimension because of the effect of sin on us is to not be able to recognize the presence of God without God opening our eyes, but our inability to see it does not negate its reality. This sense of spiritual depth to the world is something that I think is essential to recapture for our spiritual health today.