Caryn Rivadeneira, Director of Care & Worship Planning
Caryn Rivadeneira: 0:08
Welcome to Elmhurst CRC's daily dose of the word of God. It's Thursday, June 30 and Sunday is coming. This is Caryn Rivadeneira. I serve as Director of Care and Worship Planning and I'll be reading Psalm 66, 4 through 5.
Caryn Rivadeneira: 0:21
All the earth bows down to you. They sing praises to you. They sing the praises of your name. Come and see what God has done - his awesome deeds for humankind.
Caryn Rivadeneira: 0:33
The other night, my son opened the back door and yelled, "Mom! Cicadas!". My son knows well, my deep love cicadas. In fact, in my very first book, I wrote a short theology of the 17 year cicada and what they tell us about God. I consider their songs the best sound of summer, so I jumped off my chair and headed outside. Though these early summer cicadas are fewer and quieter than they'll become, I could not contain my joy. As I've mentioned in other devotions, I feel God strongly out in nature. It's a combination of my mystical inclination, and our reformed theologies of general revelation and sphere sovereignty. That is, we reformed folks believe God reveals God's self to everyone in and through the created world, and that God is the God of every last sphere or area of life. Therefore, it's impossible to engage with or in anything here on earth without the presence or the rule of God. And God is the God of cicadas. Though in my head, I know that their summer song is about finding a mate, in my mystical spirit, I believe otherwise - or at least, I believe it both and. But here's the thing about cicadas - not everybody appreciates the sound or sight of these bugs. Where it is easy for me to apply these cicadas, as part of the earth that sings their praise to God as they give thanks for God's good gifts- which for the cicada, I imagined beings means being back above ground and the prospect of a mate - plenty of us find them creepy to look at and their alien buzzing sound unsettling. This is esepcially true for folks who are just visiting the Midwest and wonder what on earth that sound is.
Caryn Rivadeneira: 2:12
But here's the thing about praising God: all the earth doesn't do it in the same way. All creation and every person bows and sings and worships God, and even shows love in their own God ordained ways. Even you, even me, and frankly, some of it annoys us. But God receives it, just as God received the cicada praise. And that's such good news. So I hope that today or in the days ahead, you're able to do a couple things: One, notice and appreciate a different kind of praise. Maybe from your neighbors, maybe from people at church, maybe from nature all around you. Two: heed what this verse says and go and see. Go and notice the good deeds, those miracles of God. These are happening all around us in this world, in your community, in our church and in your life. I invite you to join with me, the cicadas and all the earth in praising our Creator