Christ, the Author of Order
Mr. Kent Bartel

Tycho Brahe was a Danish astronomer who lived from 1546 to 1601. While studying alchemy in Copenhagen he became interested in astronomy and likewise became convinced that the key to astronomical advancement rested in accurate observations. He then made it his life's goal to follow the stars and planets and record their positions as they passed through the heavens. In 1576, Brahe received the island of Hven located between Denmark and Sweden from King Fredrik II of Denmark. He built a castle, Uraniborg, and a nearby observatory, Stjerneborg, Castle of the Stars, in which instruments were place in dug-out crypts for stability.

At the entrance to the observatory, Brahe placed this quote:

Consecrated to the all-good, great God and Posterity. Tycho Brahe, Son of Otto, who realized that Astronomy, the oldest and most distinguished of all sciences, had indeed been studied for a long time and to a great extent, but still had not obtained sufficient firmness or had been purified of errors, in order to reform it and raise it to perfection, invented and with incredible labour, industry, and expenditure constructed various exact instruments suitable for all kinds of observations of the celestial bodies, and placed them partly in the neighbouring castle of Uraniborg, which was built for the same purpose, partly in these subterranean rooms for a more constant and useful application, and recommending, hallowing, and consecrating this very rare and costly treasure to you, you glorious Posterity, who will live for ever and ever, he, who has both begun and finished everything on this island, after erecting this monument, beseeches and adjures you that in honour of the eternal God, creator of the wonderful clockwork of the heavens, and for the propagation of the divine science and for the celebrity of the fatherland, you will constantly preserve it and not let it decay with old age or any other injury or be removed to any other place or in any way be molested, if for no other reason, at any rate out of reverence to the Creator's eye, which watches over the universe.

Greetings to you who read this and act accordingly. Farewell!"

As a side note, Brahe is also known for a distinctive nose. It seems that he lost a good portion out of the middle of his nose in a duel of rapiers. A friend fashioned a cover for his nose out of a gold and silver alloy, and Brahe wore it over the missing part of his nose for the rest of his life.

A year before his death, Brahe employed Johannes Kepler to help him calculate orbits, and when Brahe died in 1601, it was Kepler who inherited the observations for further analysis. As a young man Kepler had studied theology at a Protestant seminary in Germany. Later he taught subjects such as arithmetic, geometry, Virgil, and rhetoric. He also published a book which established the year of Christ's birth as 4 B.C., a date that is still used today.

Kepler's analysis of Brahe's data led to three rules which are collectively known as Kepler's Laws of Planetary Motion. We can have a more detailed discussion of them another time, but Kepler correctly describes the orbits of planets as ellipses with the sun at one of the two foci. Previous thought had tried to force the planets into systems of circular orbits under the notion that only a circle was perfect enough to describe the motion of heavenly bodies.

Kepler described the geometry of planetary motion, but it was Isaac Newton who correctly formulated the Law of Gravitation which along with Newton's Laws of Motion establishes the basis for our contemporary understanding of celestial mechanics. When he was young, Newton's parents had hoped that he would take over the family farm, but his aptitude for academics was quickly recognized, and he was sent to Oxford to study theology. Newton, however, was drawn to science and math. He is by all accounts one of the greatest minds to wrestle with the physics of the created world and his accomplishments are too great to list in a short time.

Foundational to Newton's philosophy of science and math was a deep conviction that it is God who orders the universe. His theological views are characterized by his belief that the beauty and regularity of the natural world could only "proceed from the counsel and dominion of an intelligent and powerful Being."

All three of these great scientists understood that there is an inherent consistency to creation which is bound up in the character of God and in the reflection of His character in the world around us. God doesn't change or act capriciously, and therefore we know that physical phenomena are governed by consistent and knowable laws which we describe with mathematics.

This is the so-called "toothpaste proof" of the existence of God. Every morning when I wake up, I go to the bathroom sink and squeeze the tube of toothpaste, and then the toothpaste globs out onto my toothbrush. Of course we take this event for granted, but without an immutable governance to the universe, there is no certainty of even the most trivially common cause and effect.

The faith of scientists in the 16th and 17th centuries stands in sharp contrast to contemporary academics who, though they acknowledge physical order, deny any such things as moral absolutes. In fact it seems as though the dominant scientific community of our time has disregarded the example set by the brilliant men of the past. Today's experimentation now attempts to discredit the Christian understanding of creation instead of relying upon it.

Our collect this day reads, "Grant, O Lord, we beseech thee, that the course of this world may be so peaceably ordered by thy governance, that thy Church may joyfully serve thee in all godly quietness; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen." In this prayer we have the same understanding of God as the divine organizer of creation that men such as Brahe, Kepler, and Newton knew. In this prayer we also see God's order extended to the social/religious sphere.

As a practical example of this I do not think it is mere coincidence that the British are known for their reservation and order. The British Isles have been shaped for centuries by protestant theology and by the liturgy with which we are currently engaged. One of our parish's strengths is the dignity and reverence and order of our worship, and it is not by accident that the Eucharist is referred to as "The Order of Holy Communion" in the prayer book.

Of course we cannot discuss creation without including what we know of the Fall. When Adam and Eve sinned the order of creation, both spiritual and physical, was harmed. Not only are we born into this world as fallen and sinful creatures, but our bodies grow old and feeble, and we eventually will know physical death just as God warned Adam and Eve in Genesis.

The exact effect of the Fall on creation is difficult to know. We have no experience in a perfectly ordered world to compare. We do know, however, what it is to fight weeds in our gardens. We know what it is to be sick. We know what it is to struggle every day at work or school, and it is very tiring and often painful both to body and soul. "For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body" (Romans 8:22, 23). Our world tends to chaos, and if the story ended there, what a futile existence. Yet this is what those who do not know Christ are up against.

Thanks be to God that this story continues for along with the curse of the Fall, God sets in motion the drama of redemption. The Lord God says to the serpent, "I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel" (Gen. 3:15). This is the first prophecy concerning Christ's incarnation, passion, resurrection and the subsequent restoration of creation. Christ was intimately connected with creation (St. John 1:1-10) and now also with the redemption of His creation. It is Christ that restores order both in our lives and in our world. The parable of the mustard seeds describes this re-ordering process through the growth of Christ's Kingdom, the Church. The seed starts as little more than a speck. "But when it is sown, it groweth up, and becometh greater than all herbs, and shooteth out great branches; so that the fowls of the air may lodge under the shadow of it" (St. Mark 4:32).

Our Gospel story dramatically demonstrates that Christ is the author of good order. After fishing through the night without catching a single fish, Jesus asks Simon Peter to push out into the lake and let down his net. Peter was a fisherman; fishing was how he made his living so we should expect that if there were fish to catch, Peter would know how to do this. Fishing with net or pole is not an easy task. Like all vocations it takes practiced skill and hard work - this is the nature of our fallen world. "... nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net" (St. Luke 5:5). Of course the result is beyond Peter's wildest expectation. There are so many fish, that he needs James and John to help him haul the fish into the boat.

This might be how fishing is conducted in the restored world, but not in our decaying world. We must also note that this cannot be a random event. Fish do not swim to nets anymore than flies choose to leave our homes when we open the door. Tending to disorganization is the rule for the physical world. In fact in the study of thermodynamics this tendency is called entropy, and it has a specific definition. Peter knows who caused the catch. "When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord."

The extension of Christ's Church is the means by which order will be restored to creation. This is where we must understand our role, for Christ chooses His redeemed as ambassadors of his Church. Christ works through us to grow his Kingdom and bring order to the disordered realms of the world. We are light and salt, and if we are not about Christ's business than we are failing in our primary task. Do we live orderly lives? Do we bring stability and peace where ever we go? Notice that today's collect makes the connection between order and "Godly quietness."

If we consider our Epistle lesson we see how we are to behave in the midst of a world that rebels against God's order. Immediately before our lesson begins, the apostle Peter instructs believing wives of ungodly men how they ought to behave. These are not easy words, and only through God's grace and strength can a woman truly obey them.

The apostle continues that we ought to have compassion for each other, and that we should not seek to "get even" with those who mistreat us, but that we should seek peace. We are happy if we suffer for righteousness sake for we serve the sovereign God. And last we need to be prepared to answer for our faith with meekness and fear when asked the reason for our hope. These are means by which our obedience is used to call the fallen world to repentance and thereby spread God's Kingdom.

So this is what we seek in our lives. Not an orderly existence for order's sake, but the proper exercise of dominion in our behavior and surroundings so that our lives point to God's wondrous created order. Contemporary America is full of anger and offense. Our senses are attacked in so many different ways. You feel it like I do, and don't our hearts long for rest? Here and now we get to experience yet again the peaceful order of creation in the Eucharist. Afterwards we take the Kingdom of God out to a topsy-turvy world where the battle rages fiercely. Always though, we look forward to the final day of glorification when we will have our nature perfected in Christ, the author of good order.

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