One of my favorite things about the Sabbath is how it defies man-made clocks and forces those of us who keep it to pay attention to nature’s clock, the sun. I believe God was very purposeful about the sunset-to-sunset time frame for the Sabbath not because clocks hadn’t been invented yet, but because He knew that someday they would be.
More than almost any other invention, clocks have allowed humanity to ignore the rhythms of nature. By superimposing man-made measures of time, we make it easier to forget the daily movements of the sun, the monthly movements of the moon, and the yearly progress of the stars. With these astronomical time keepers, we have the gentler reminders of the seasons as they change, adding both novelty and familiarity to the passage of time. The Sabbath is a great time to get back in touch with nature. I have a love-hate relationship with sunset calendars. While they are useful for planning purposes, if used wrong, they rob the beginning and end of the Sabbath of the romance of actually watching the sunset and acknowledging the God who went to the trouble of creating that magnificent painting. The gospels reveal that Jesus spent a good portion of His personal devotional time in nature. More than once, the Bible speaks of Him leaving the crowds to find a solitary place to pray, usually a mountaintop. In his teachings, especially the Sermon on the Mount, He spent almost as much time explaining nature’s lessons as those of the Scriptures. In the site where the Sermon on the Mount is thought to have taken place, there is now an elaborate church. When I saw that, it made me a little sad, because it obstructs the natural beauty of the place where Jesus taught about the sparrows and the lilies of the field. Even when you are stuck inside, the light shifts and changes throughout the day. If you’ve never taken the time to notice that, the Sabbath is a great time to take a good look at it. If you can get outside, do it! I hear the butterfly migration has started, and while I haven’t seen any here in LA yet, there’s a better chance of seeing them outside. Walking is a great way to slow down and notice the beautiful natural details that you miss when you drive, even in urban areas like mine: the flowers, the succulents, the birds, the dogs, and the grass. There are beautiful things God has made to be seen, even in the city. When I have a spare Sabbath afternoon, I love watching a good nature documentary. It blows my mind to see the great variety and complexity of God’s creation, even if most of the narration on these documentaries is given from an evolutionary point of view. Looking at footage of blue whales on their migrations or chicks leaving the nest in precarious situations fills me with awe and makes me wonder how the narrators could possibly think any of this happened by chance. Another way of enjoying nature is to drive through it. My parents are fond of taking drives on Sabbath afternoon past whatever beautiful vistas are nearby. While I found this a little boring as a kid (I would rather be hiking through the mountains than driving through them), I’m glad they did it because it taught me to love nature even while being raised in Los Angeles. These days they plan their routes carefully to avoid the dangers of catching or spreading coronavirus through public restrooms, but they still manage to deal with their cabin fever and enjoy the beautiful things God has made nearby. Whether you explore nature by car or by documentary, by window or by book, let it be a chance to admire God’s handiwork. He created an incredibly intricate masterpiece when He made the world, and it’s easy to take for granted. Take the time to appreciate it this Sabbath.
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AuthorJillian Lutes is the youth pastor at West Covina Hills Seventh-day Adventist Church. Archives
May 2020
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