To Live With Respect in Creation
Easter 3 - April
19/2015
In 1968 something happened to change the world. Well the world did not actually change, how
we perceived the world changed. What shifted
was how we looked at the world – up until then we saw the earth as an infinite object
that could continue to provide new resources to fuel our human
consumption. Our culture, especially viewed
the earth as a vast resource to use as we saw fit to meet whatever needs we
had. But something changed that year and
the beginning of the idea that the earth was finite and that resources could
run out began to enter into our consciousness.
What caused the change in the way we saw the world was a photograph, it
was taken by Bill Anders who was an astronaut on Apollo 8. I am sure you have all seen it. It is the one
the photo of earth, floating there against a deep blue sea of stars - It
was the first time human beings had seen the earth from space, the first time
we had seen earth as it is - a smallish, marbled globe, floating in space, holding
all that we know and will ever know here. That one photo changed the way human
beings understood the earth and because of that understanding it changed how we
live on the earth. The first Earth Day was one of the direct results, in 1970.
Anders said, “We came all this way to explore the moon, and the most important
thing is that we discovered the Earth."
The earth that we inhabit, this creation that we live on is
a remarkable incredible thing – it is completely unique and even after years
and years of scientists staring out into the galaxy, with high power telescopes,
no one has ever seen a planet like this one that can support life, what is
found instead are giant gas balls and floating rocks at temperatures too hot or
too cold for life or planets without any atmosphere at all. This unique planet that we inhabit is also a
closed system, that is to say that everything that we are, everything about
every living creature, from mammals to bugs to fish to microscopic organism,
everything exists only on this planet – and all the air that we need to breath,
and all the water that we need to drink, and all the resources that we need for
food and shelter – it is all here, there is no other place, no other resource
that supplies this planet. And it is a
closed system right from the beginning so the air that we breathe is the same
air that was around when the dinosaurs were and the same air that Jesus and
Peter and Mary and James breathed and also breathed by Queen Victoria, Adolf
Hitler and Mahatma Gandhi, you and me our children and all who come after us as
well.
There is a reason our Bible begins with the story of God
breathing across the void creating the heavens and the earth, breathing across
the earth calling into life the night and the day, plants and animals;
breathing to life humankind imprinted with the image of the Creator. There is a
reason that Creation is the first story and in it we witness the love that God
has for the earth as each of it intricate parts are being born – and it was
morning and it was evening and God saw that it was good, very good - it was good
and it is good this amazing, incredible earth, our fragile complex, connected home.
“Scripture will go on to explain to us that we cannot be in right relationship with God unless we are in right relationship with the land. In the Hebrew, the “land” means all that is: the ground, the trees and plants, the rivers and seas, the animals and all other human beings, even the air we breathe. All of it. God imagined an astonishing world of beauty and plenty for all of us; it is our gift.”[1]
So what does it mean to not love this earth as God loves it, what does it mean to squander this gift of creation to take advantage of this gift – a fellow preacher shared her struggle with the groaning of creation as she reflected on the thought that one day creation would have an opportunity to tell us how it feels to be treated so thoughtlessly. And she writes:
“Scripture will go on to explain to us that we cannot be in right relationship with God unless we are in right relationship with the land. In the Hebrew, the “land” means all that is: the ground, the trees and plants, the rivers and seas, the animals and all other human beings, even the air we breathe. All of it. God imagined an astonishing world of beauty and plenty for all of us; it is our gift.”[1]
So what does it mean to not love this earth as God loves it, what does it mean to squander this gift of creation to take advantage of this gift – a fellow preacher shared her struggle with the groaning of creation as she reflected on the thought that one day creation would have an opportunity to tell us how it feels to be treated so thoughtlessly. And she writes:
“I imagined hearing the ocean weeping as it was clogged with
billions, literally billions of pounds of trash I had helped dump into it; the
air choked with pollution I had pumped out; I would hear the pain of trees
being clear-cut and mountains being reduced to sludge; I would hear icebergs
melting, ground water rotting and I would have to hear the cries of animals
being eaten into extinction. I would hear the hunger of mothers and fathers and
the thirst of small children, 5000 who die every day for want of clean water
while I let the tap run just so the water I drink will be colder. I was
devastated.
Truthfully, I was also completely overwhelmed. How could I do anything about this, I wondered? Was I being asked to change my whole life? And anyway, what could one person like me really do that would make any difference at all?”[2] I like her find it difficult to get my head around the issues which plague our planet in 2015, I have seen the pictures of poisoned waters and air filled with so much smog the people where masks when they are outside. I have heard the statistics about raising temperatures and melting sea ice. I know that are many, many species of animals and birds and fish and bugs that are on an endangered species list. Every day I drive to work I pass through areas of land that used to be used for growing food that now houses a new subdivision. The irony of the names of the new subdivisions does not escape me: Riverwood, Hawksview, and Deer Run Estates. I hear stories about droughts in California that have lasted for four years and some people no longer have running water in their homes. Rivers are damned for hydro electric power, and whole ecosystems are forever changed. The hole is the ozone layer is growing that we are now putting SPF 50 on our children to protect them from the sun’s damaging rays. The list goes on and on and on and I find myself overwhelmed with the enormity of the problem – not even sure what to do, where to start, how to respond to such overwhelming issues.
Truthfully, I was also completely overwhelmed. How could I do anything about this, I wondered? Was I being asked to change my whole life? And anyway, what could one person like me really do that would make any difference at all?”[2] I like her find it difficult to get my head around the issues which plague our planet in 2015, I have seen the pictures of poisoned waters and air filled with so much smog the people where masks when they are outside. I have heard the statistics about raising temperatures and melting sea ice. I know that are many, many species of animals and birds and fish and bugs that are on an endangered species list. Every day I drive to work I pass through areas of land that used to be used for growing food that now houses a new subdivision. The irony of the names of the new subdivisions does not escape me: Riverwood, Hawksview, and Deer Run Estates. I hear stories about droughts in California that have lasted for four years and some people no longer have running water in their homes. Rivers are damned for hydro electric power, and whole ecosystems are forever changed. The hole is the ozone layer is growing that we are now putting SPF 50 on our children to protect them from the sun’s damaging rays. The list goes on and on and on and I find myself overwhelmed with the enormity of the problem – not even sure what to do, where to start, how to respond to such overwhelming issues.
“Maybe the first step is to really wrap our heads around the
reality that we are all connected; everything is connected, all of it. What I
do matters to people I will never meet; the choices we make will affect
countries we may never visit; the chemicals we pour down our kitchen sink will
sour our neighbors water years from now. Simply waking up to the ways that each
of us affects just the ground around our own homes is a start. And I
believe that actually, we can do something and that something can make a
difference.” and as people of faith, the
place to start is with God, the Creator.
Because just when things seem like all is lost, just when it seems like
there is no hope – just when it feels like it is over – God gets in,
resurrection happens and the world is transformed. Take this morning’s story for instance.
We never can know fully what God is going to do next – the
disciples think they know – they think that God is done with their story –
because didn’t they just witness not 36 hours ago – the death of their friend,
the death of the Christ on the cross, and as all rational human beings – they
know that things end with death. Even
though the woman had witnessed the empty tomb, even though the woman had told
them about their encounter a few hours ago with risen Christ – it is still too
hard to believe – and as they speculate, and wonder about what is going on I
bet you a large part of them are refusing
to believe the signs… and then Cleopas and his friend who had gone to Emmaus
just that morning have returned with this amazing story of their encounter with
the risen Christ – first the woman and then now the two men who went to Emmaus
– sharing these stories that seem so farfetched, so unreal, so unbelievable –
but then into this moment of disbelieve and confusion, into this time of
speculations and hope – the Christ comes – the Christ comes to the disciples
and they are transformed – the Christ comes into their midst and nothing is the
same again. And the wonderful thing that
Jesus does in this time is he reminds them of how it all worked – that the
signs were there that God had this in mind.
And he shared food – isn’t it interesting that Luke thought that the
very act of Jesus eating fish was important to report – it seems at first glance
as a small insignificant moment and yet when you really thing about it reminds
you just how truly human the risen Christ was.
And from this place and from this time – where it seemed like there was
no hope – where it felt like all was lost – from that place after the Christ
comes and God got in – the church began – this moment 2000 years ago is part of
what we are doing here this morning, our gathering here is thanks in part to
that group of mixed up men and woman in that room being transformed because
they encountered the risen Christ.
And this story gives me hope – for is these people, these
ordinary people who were probably a lot like you and me, and they were
transformed by an encounter with the risen Christ, so can we. And if the feeling of helplessness and not
knowing what to do can shift after an encounter with the Christ – well it can
for us too! And if their situation
seemed hopeless and overwhelming to those first disciples and the Christ
appeared and they were transformed, like our situations as well, the risen
Christ can transform it too!
And it gives me hope that this story is that it marks a
shift in thinking, and a shift in understanding for the disciples about who
they are and what they are about. When
Jesus appeared to this group of people, they came to a new understanding about
how they were to live in the world and what their life purpose was. And it was with this newly enlivened group of
disciples that the Christian movement began.
And it gives me hope to know that it took some time – the disciples did
not form the Christian church in a couple of days after Jesus appeared – nor a
couple of months, not even a couple of years – forming the Christian movement
that leads us to the church of today took decades, and centuries to create and
it is still shifting and changing today.
It is amazing what a small group of people who have had an encounter
with the Risen Christ can do! It is
amazing what a group of highly motivated cohesive group of people can do
together! So what do we do? How are we called to face the challenges of
the generation? How are we called to
care for Creation? What is our responsibility
to the earth and all its creatures?
I think that as complex as the issues are as complex as the
response is – but just because it is a big issue does not give us the pass on
the response. I think that we are at
another shift in human conscious, much like the one in 1968 – where we realize
that the choices that we make today, from the simple things such as what
shampoo to use, to what fresh produce we place in our grocery cart and the
complex choices about fracking and wind energy and nuclear power and urban
development– these choices matter now more than they have ever mattered before –
because if we do not change how we live and how we treat this earth, we may
create a planet that is no longer able to sustain life and this beautiful,
glorious, amazing creation that we live upon may cease to exist in the form
that we know it.
And our hope – well you are the hope – we are the hope –
each of us have the opportunity to allow the risen Christ to come into our
lives, come into this time and this place and enliven and mobilize us. There is enough people in this room to change
the world. We have enough resources here
in our midst to make a difference. The people
that are needed in this time to save the planet are right here, they are you
and they are me – and when we allow the Risen Christ to enter in and transform
us we can transform the world. Amen.