Grits and the Gospel - July 19, 2026

Hello friends and welcome to this week's episode of grits in the gospel My name is Reverend Katie Griffiths and it is good to be with you Here on this 8th Sunday after Pentecost We are in July and we are at my church. We're doing submissions from the congregation for their favorite Scriptures for some scriptures that are challenging that they want to hear more about for Things that move them that they've never heard preached before so it is good to be in this Sermon series it is a beautiful thing to get to know my congregation in this way and also for them to get to Participate in worship in a different way that I have never done before so I think it's a been a great series And today we are Talking about the natural world in two different scriptures the original text that was submitted as Isaiah 5512 so we will be focusing there It is good to be with you today It is good to be in worship and many new and different ways Let us come together now in a time of worship the Lord be with you and also with you Today's psalm is the 96th psalm verses 1 through 2 and then skipping down verses to verses 11 through 12 Here now the word of the Lord Oh sing to the Lord a new song Sing to the Lord all the earth sing to the Lord and bless his name Tell of his salvation from day to day Let the heavens be glad and let the earth rejoice Let the sea roar and all that fills it let the field exalt and everything in it Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy before the Lord for he is coming For he is coming To judge the earth he will judge the world with righteousness and the people with his truth Thus ends the first reading Let us come together now and say those tenets of our faith as things that we believe friends. What do we believe? I? believe in God the Father Almighty Maker of heaven and earth and in Jesus Christ his only son our Lord who was conceived by the Holy Spirit Born of the Virgin Mary Suffered under Pontius Pilate was crucified dead and buried the third day He rose from the dead and ascended into heaven and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead I believe in the Holy Spirit the holy Catholic Church the communion of saints the forgiveness of sins The resurrection of the body and the life everlasting Amen Let us pray dear Lord. We just come to you today humbled Thankful in all of this world that you created Help us to be good stewards of it help us to be admirers of it and help us to hear it sing Hear us now as we pray those words that your son our Lord and Savior taught us to pray Our Father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name Thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us And lead us not into temptation But deliver us from evil for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen today's Old Testament lesson is From the book of Isaiah We're in the 55th chapter verses 10 through 13 Hear now the word of the Lord For the rain and snow come down from heaven and do not return there until they have watered the earth Making it bring forth and sprout giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater So shall my word be that goes out from my mouth It shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish That which I propose and succeed in the thing for which I send it For you shall go out and joy and be led back in peace The mountains and the hills before you shall burst into song and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands Instead of the thorn instead the thorn shall come up the cypress Instead of the briar shall come up the myrtle I shall be to the Lord for a memorial for an everlasting sign That shall not be cut off The word of God for us the people of God. Thanks be to God Mary Oliver Is one of my favorite naturalist poets her book devotions has many beautiful poetic tributes to her faith Today as we look into the scriptures that personify and celebrate the natural world that God created We'll be looking at the text of the lens of a couple of her poems. They will be woven throughout the service It is my hope that her words will inspire you as much as they speak to my own heart When I am among the trees by Mary Oliver When I'm among the trees, especially the willows and the honey locust Equally the beach the oaks and the pines they give off such hints of gladness I would almost say that they save me and daily I'm so distant from the hope of myself in which I have goodness and discernment and never hurry through the world But walk slowly and bow often Around me the trees stir in their leaves and call out stay a while The light flows from their branches and they call again It's simple they say and you too have come into the world to do this To go easy To be filled with light and to shine I've told the story many times now when I first got the opportunity to move to Viana the first thing I Did was make sure I knew the proper way to pronounce Viana The second thing I had to do was answer the same question over and over again Are you sure you want to move out of Atlanta to gasp the country? The answer was always a resounding yes Atlanta is great for a lot of things, but peace and quiet is not one of them And after living in Atlanta for three years, I wanted rest and peace There's no better place to find peace than in the woods There's no better place to find sabbath or to worship or to listen for god to speak to you than in the woods I love the passage that was submitted for today. Isaiah speaks of how creation Continues to create and grow and is a living thing But the first line of verse 12 Really speaks to me For you shall go out in joy and be led back in peace When I'm away from the woods when I'm in the busyness of the city I feel joy coming home because I know that I'm going to be able to do that Because I know I'm going to find peace I feel joy because the earth sings of joy. I feel peace because the earth brings peace But it's even deeper than that If we look at the actions of that part of the verse we see that it begins with us Going and ends with god Guiding For you shall go out in joy The phrase go out or yatsa Is the same one used for the Israelites in the exodus We are called to leave behind Just like the Israelites The things that are harmful and keep us from god When we ourselves rejoice and go forth toward god and with god We are then led back by god in peace It takes us rejoicing and praising and accepting to then be led by god to the peace he brings The hebrew word there is yatval It means to lead away or conduct God leads us away From the harmful things in life and toward the peace that comes when living in relationship with him I love the way oliver phrases this similar idea in her poem when she is among the trees They give off hints of gladness That gladness she said saves her daily And I cannot agree more Being under the canopy of trees not only saves me from the sun But saves my spirit It gives me a chance to be renewed every day when I walk these roads When I walk away from the harmful things and toward god through the trees I am at peace I'm glad to be with god. I am glad to see her creation And just like the mountains sing in the isaiah passage the trees speak to oliver in her poem The glorious thing about the natural world is that it has a symphony of song waiting for us to hear The wind rustling through the trees the birds singing and calling to each other the deer blowing their bellows of warning The running water through the rocks of our creek Right here at the campground Just here in this one place there is a unique symphony of prayer and praise From the natural world I love the idea of the trees singing in the psalm from today as well It says then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy before the lord For he is coming It is almost like the trees are reminding us that the lord is near Here we come to the woods to hear the earth rejoice To find peace And to be reminded of the lord's presence Do y'all know what music is the one gift I wish I had I think that's why i'm so drawn to it why I surround myself with people who have that talent So dare we take this verse from this week even one step further Not only do the trees praise and sound the joyous songs of god, but maybe god uses The natural world to be his voice for us Maybe the isaiah verse of the mountains bursting in the song and the trees clapping their hands Maybe the psalmist using the trees to sing for joy All take us back to the zephaniah text that we started with this summer Maybe when the prophet says god will rejoice over you with singing That song is given to us in nature Maybe the rejoicing and the clapping and the music making goes both ways Maybe the rushing waters and the roaring oceans are god's god being exuberant God being exuberant in his songs about us just as much as the natural world is rejoicing over their creator And just maybe She uses this music not just to sing about us But to lead us out toward peace The gladness we feel when we see these beautiful parts of creation and hear the sounds of nature are her beckoning to us To come from the harshness of the world To the joy and gladness of god's care When we are in the midst of hard things and trials we can listen for that song of nature Those beautiful notes of heavenly music to guide us through God doesn't just sing about us But for us He sings because of us She sings to save us so that we can hear that there is a constant presence in our lives That loves and cares for us As I was reading through oliver's poems. I came across a stanza from on thy wondrous works I will meditate that is based on psalm 145 155 I couldn't help but giggle at the reference to melons since we are situated right in the middle of watermelon country It made me think of all of the vegetarian roadkill we find around here this time of year It made me love this place even more thinking of the red and even golden hues Of the watermelon crops we get to enjoy It made me glad that I get to live here in this place That sings in so many ways the praises of god And where god finds ways to joyfully remind me Of the love and peace That is given so freely Oliver's eight stanza of the work says this Every morning I want to kneel down on the golden cloth of the sand and say some kind of musical Thanks for the world that is happening again another day From the shawl of wind coming out of the west to the firm green To the firm green flesh of the melon Lately sliced open and eating It's chill and ample body flavored with mercy I want to be worthy of of what glory. Yes unimaginable glory Oh lord of melons of mercy though. I am not ready nor worthy I am climbing toward you The psalm of praise according to a watermelon What a beautiful way for us in particular To find god Here in the fields filled with fruit We are not worthy of god's grace But he gives it freely we are not worthy to behold the unimaginable Glory of god's world, but we are shown her love through it daily The simple pleasure of eating a freshly picked watermelon or a summer tomato and maya sandwich Or a hand-shelled pecan or a stroll through the trees or the glorious sound of a hawk Calling for his mate are made in part for us They are a reminder of how much god loves us He loves us so much that he created the beauty and majesty and simplicity of the earth To simply give us peace I think we can learn from the mountains and the trees I think we can clap and sing shouts of glory and find peace in the natural world World It is my hope for myself that I will do what mary oliver suggests my hope is her hope And I hope it's yours, too I'm so distant from the hope of myself. She says in which I have goodness and discernment And never Hurry through the world But walk slowly And bow often Let us bow often and say Amen As you go throughout this week It is my hope that you find wonder again in the natural world The images that you drive by daily and take for granted Let them be renewed and refreshed for you that you can see god in all you do because in life And death and life beyond death god is with us We are not alone in his world Thanks be to god Amen