neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly DIVINE PROVIDENCE Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? 27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? 28 Pr. William P. Terjesen And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: 29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not We begin the Apostles' Creed by saying, "I believe in God the arrayed like one of these. 30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth." Dr. Martin Luther, of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, in his explanation of this article, says, "I believe that God has made shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? 31 There- me and all creatures; that He has given me my body and soul, eyes, fore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we ears, and all my members, my reason and all my senses, and still drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? 32 (For after all these preserves them..." God's preservation and governance of the uni- things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth verse He created is called Divine Providence. Christians, in accor- that ye have need of all these things. 33 But seek ye first the dance with Holy Scripture, believe that God continues to preserve kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall and govern the universe and everything in it. We do not worship a be added unto you. 34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: "clockmaker god" who creates the world, gets it going, and then for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient leaves it to work on its own. We do not worship an "absentee unto the day is the evil thereof." These words concerning Divine landlord god" who sets up autonomous Laws of Nature and then Providence serve to encourage believers to trust in the presence lets things take care of themselves. Christians are not naturalists or and help of the Lord in every place and situation. While God is materialists, we are supernaturalists who believe that God who transcendent, He is not absent or disconnected from the world and made the world is still very much involved in it. creatures He made. It is fitting that God care for the creation He made. In Colossians 1.16-17, St. Paul, speaking of Christ, says, "16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are The world knows nothing of this. For the unbeliever the in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or domin- material world and its processes are all that there is. Or if there is ions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, room for a god in their thinking it is usually a limited and unin- and for him: 17 And he is before all things, and by him all things volved god, a god of the gaps. Thus, the meaning and purpose of consist." He is saying very clearly that God made all things and life eludes them, and they must search for it endlessly. For the every thing; not creation in some general, vague sense, but in the Christian believer, however, the doctrine of Divine Providence fullest possible sense. points us away from the world's blindness and error. By the Word of God we see that God is near and involved everywhere. Paul told We further learn from St. Peter in 2 Peter 3.5, that "by the the Athenians (Acts 17.28) "For in Him we live, and move, and word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of have our being." The purpose of existance, the meaning of life is a the water and in the water". The universe was created by means of given, and it is not secular but sacred. We are here in God's world the Word, not some naturalistic, materialistic process. to worship and serve God, not to live for self-fulfillment. We don't The author of the Letter to the Hebrews (1.2-3), speaking of have all the answers yet, but the Word of the Lord answers enough the Son of God, tells us, "...whom he hath appointed heir of all questions to sustain faith and comfort hearts until we leave this things, by whom also he made the worlds; 3 Who being the vale of tears and stand before the Lord in Paradise. brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and Now, while the reality of Divine Providence includes all upholding all things by the word of his power..." The triune God creatures and operations, it centers in the Holy Christian Church. who made the universe also upholds or preserves it by the Word of To be a member of the Church through faith in Christ is to be the His power. The universe, every creature, and every process is object of the Lord's special care. In Romans 8.28, St. Paul says, "28 included in God's governance. And we know that all things work together for good to them that In Ephesians 1.22 St. Paul speaks of Christ's governance of all love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." things: "22 And [the Father] hath put all things under his [Christ's] This is a revolutionary statement, the import of which is often feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church." missed because it is so familiar. What it says is that every event in the universe must in some way serve for the good of the Church This headship extends to the minutest of things. In Luke (the called). Every event and creature in some way serves God's 12.6-7 Jesus tells us: "6 Are not five sparrows sold for two far- purposes for His people. When we get to heaven, we will delight things, and not one of them is forgotten before God? 7 But even in discovering how all this worked out. For now, we walk by faith, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye not by sight. are of more value than many sparrows." Despite the comparative worthlessness of sparrows, God keeps each one of them in mind. Another astonishing Word comes to us from the lips of Jesus He even knows the number of hairs on your head. What we value (Matthew 24.14): "14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be we count. preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come." Most of the time, this verse is used to assure Jesus further says concerning Divine Providence (Matthew Christians that the Gospel message will reach to the ends of the 6.25ff.), "25 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your earth, and this is so. However, not often noticed is what it further life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, says: When the Gospel has finished its work, the end of the world what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body will come. That is, when the last person to be converted to the than raiment? 26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, Christian faith is converted, human history will end with the 1 Second Coming of Christ. The world continues to exist solely for sustain a man without means, but it also tells us that bread's power the Christian Church. God's plan of salvation in Christ, and the to nourish does not exist independently from the Word that created welfare of the Holy Christian Church are ultimately what human it and gave it power to nourish. If God were to withdraw His Word history is all about. from the bread it would no longer nourish even if we were stuffed full of it. Man is not healed through medicine alone, but through The gods of this world are useless, "trot 'em out on holidays" the Word of God which originally gave the herbs, etc. their healing kind of gods. This is not so for the Christian believer. The Triune properties and maintains them day by day. God heals and the God is transcendent, but He is not absent or uninvolved. He is medicine (second cause) heals, yet not as two actions, but as one present, preserving and governing all things, and this has particular action. The operation of the second cause is the result of an meaning for those who are members of the church which is the uninterrupted operation of God on the creatures and through the special object of His Providential care. So do not be anxious; do creatures. not give in to secularized thinking. The Lord your God is with you wherever you go. He is able to deliver you. He is a very present Luther (Small Catechism) "I believe that God has made me help in trouble. and all creatures, has given me my body and soul, eyes, ears, and all my members, my reason and all my senses, and still preserves them." We receive our body and soul with all their members from ----------------------------------- Part 2 ----------------------------------- our parents as second causes, and at the same time we know that God is our Creator and Father.