Sunday thoughts: Spring and the Hope of New Life

 

...your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.  (Colossian 3:4)

It's been a hectic and chaotic week - I haven't even posted to this blog since Tuesday.  And my comparatively trivial troubles, which only amounted to feeling overwhelmed at the number of things to do, pale in comparison to others around the world.  The world has been shocked by the invasion of the Ukraine by Russia, reminding us all that worldly peace is a fragile thing indeed.

But as I walked my daughter to school on Friday morning, it was as if the week's stresses just melted away - because Spring appeared to be around the corner!  It is amazing what a walk in nature can do to lift one's spirits.  The difference in my mood was like night and day, just because the sun was shining, daffodils and crocuses had popped their heads out, and some of the trees were adorned with blossom.

But there's a reason spring gives us so much hope - why we're almost hard-wired to have our spirits lifted when we see it.  John Calvin called creation a Theatre of God's Glory.  It reflects his glory by telling us about him, and although that reflection is distorted as creation is fallen, it is there nonetheless.

Because when we look at the world in winter, it is hard to see signs of life.  We cannot see the daffodil bulbs hiding under the ground, and if we were to dig them up to discover them we would not see a beautiful flower but a muddy brown bulb which, to the untrained observer no knowing what potential it held, would just look ugly and lifeless.  Likewise, we cannot see the tiny buds inside the branches of the trees, waiting for spring where they can burst forth in beauty.  Instead, we groan in the cold, struggling to keep warm.   The earth is frozen and desolate and it seems impossible that anything should be able to grow.  And yet, hidden away, is life waiting to emerge in glorious colour.

And each year, as Winter turns to spring, God himself is giving us a lesson, a picture, of what he is doing, and is going to do.  

We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.
Romans 8:22-25

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
Colossians 3:1-4, emphasis mine.

However bleak the world looks, the hope of God is present.  Christ will return in love and just judgement - the old will pass away and the new will come.  And God's glory will not be like that of the flowers, which will not last and will eventually die - or be uprooted by the weather, animals or passing children. God's kingdom and glory will be everlasting - a hope we can really trust in.

But the full revelation of God's glory is hidden - waiting for its appointed time.  We wait patiently for spring - in the world, in our bodies and in our very souls - when life itself bursts forth.  If we know about how creation works, then when we look at the winter world we know that all hope is not lost.  If we look carefully at the branches of the bare trees, we can tell that they are still alive - supple and green inside, rather than snapping like dead wood.  Likewise, if we look to God's promises in the Bible we see our hurting world in a different light - waiting for God's glory, and knowing that, like the hidden bulbs and buds, he will keep us safe in his promise.

And so, says Paul when he writes the passages I have quoted above (from two letters - Romans and Colossians), we must fix our eyes on him, and on that hope.  We find ourselves feeling as if we are being tossed about, pulled in all directions, and it feels as if our world is dying, but Spring is around the corner.

(Photo credits: mine)