Sermons from Mission Hills UCC San Diego, California Rev. Dr. David Bahr [email protected] April 23, 2023 “Our Majestic Earth” Psalm 8 – Common English Bible Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name throughout the earth! You made your glory higher than heaven![b] 2 From the mouths of nursing babies you have laid a strong foundation because of your foes, in order to stop vengeful enemies. 3 When I look up at your skies, at what your fingers made-- the moon and the stars that you set firmly in place-- 4 what are human beings that you think about them; what are human beings that you pay attention to them? 5 You’ve made them only slightly less than divine, crowning them with glory and grandeur. 6 You’ve let them rule over your handiwork, putting everything under their feet-- 7 all sheep and all cattle, the wild animals too, 8 the birds in the sky, the fish of the ocean, everything that travels the pathways of the sea. 9 Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name throughout the earth! Before there was anything, there was God, a few angels, and a huge swirling glob of rocks and water, in no particular order. The angels asked God, “Why don’t you clean up this mess?” So, God collected rocks from the huge swirling glob, put them together in clumps and said, “Some of these clumps will be planets, and some will be stars, and some of these rocks will be… just rocks.” Then God collected water from the huge swirling glob and put it together in pools of water and said, “Some of these pools of water will be oceans, and some will be clouds, and some of this water will be… just water.” The angels said, “Well, God… it’s neater now. But is it done yet?” God said, “Nope.” On some of the rocks God placed growing things and creeping things, and things only God knows what they are. And when God had finished doing all this, the angels asked, “Is it done yet?” “Nope.” God made some animals for the rocks and some swimming things for the water and then some humans by combining some water and stardust and told them, “I’m done. Please finish up the world for me. Really, it’s almost done.” But the humans protested: “You have the plans. We can’t do this alone.” “Yes, you can,” said God, “but I’ll agree to this. You keep working on it and I’ll be your partner.” The humans asked, “What’s a partner?” God explained, “A partner is someone you work with on a big thing that neither of you can do alone. If you have a partner, it means you can never give up because your partner is depending on you. On the days you think I’m not doing enough and on the days I think you’re not doing enough, we commit to keep working together. That’s my offer.” And they all agreed to the deal. The next time the angels asked God, “Is it done yet?” God answered, “I don’t know. Go ask my partners.”[1] How is our side of the deal going? For Earth Day, I thought we should ask the question. But first, why? The God question. The theological answer seems obvious to me. In Christian terms, “all things bright and beautiful, all creatures great and small, all things wise and wonderful, the Lord God gave them all.” And we are to be the careful stewards. It’s simply stewardship. Or as Muslims call it – Khalifah: we are trustees. “We are not masters of this Earth; it does not belong to us to do with as we wish. It belongs to Allah who has entrusted us with its safekeeping.” Buddhists speak of the interconnectedness of human beings, society, and Nature. But the Dalai Lama added, “taking care of the earth is nothing special, nothing sacred, and nothing holy. It’s like taking care of our own house. We can’t just pick up and move to another planet.” Hindu tradition also understands that “humans are not separate from nature. We are linked by spiritual, psychological, and physical bonds with the elements around us.” Poetically, I love how His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew 1 of the Eastern Orthodox Church puts it: “The whole world is a sacrament. And humankind stands as a priest before the altar of creation, as microcosm and mediator.” Humans are like priests at the altar of creation – mediating for its good. Wow! From our different perspectives, these traditions come to the same place of care and protection for the earth as an act of our various faiths.[2] And yet a careless attitude toward the environment is often an appeal to the Bible – for example, we are only slightly less than divine and we have dominion over the earth to do as we please. To me, Christians or any person of faith should be at the forefront of protecting God’s handiwork. So, why are so many Christians the biggest climate change deniers, or object to the idea that is human caused and do something? Well, for some, the earth is a sinking ship. It’s going down so the role of the church is to give people life vests. Saving souls. To get us off of here. Think of the images from books and movies of the saved being taken up in a rapture, leaving a despoiled earth behind for the heathen. Yet, 500 years ago Martin Luther is said to have remarked, "If I knew Jesus would return tomorrow, I’d still plant a tree today." Verse 6 of Psalm 8 says, “You’ve let them rule over your handiwork.” But better said, it’s not that God’s lets us “rule over” but that God lets us, or entrusts us to, “care for” God’s handiwork. And we’ve been lousy partners – focused more on how humans are “slightly less than divine” as an excuse. At the top of the food chain. Though some Christians are the forefront of climate change as a hoax, I’m grateful for how many young evangelicals are bucking this trend – changing this attitude – who understand that human activity is in fact punishing our majestic earth. You heard Devin read the familiar text from Matthew about “the least of these.” Or as The Message puts it: the overlooked and ignored. To me, not protecting the earth is the same as not feeding the hungry. In both, we reject Jesus. When you pollute the water, you pollute me. When you cut down the forests, you cut me down. When you disbelieve the havoc of a warming planet, you disbelieve me. When Samoans flee their islands because of rising seas, you are displacing Jesus. Doubting Thomases might demand, “Prove it.” Thomas said, “Unless I see the nail holes in his hands, and stick my hand in his side, I won’t believe it.” And yet, instead of complaining about his lack of faith and saying “Get behind me Satan,” Jesus simply said, “Here. Take your hand and stick it in my side. Take your finger and examine my hands.” If that’s what it takes, ok. It was with patience and understanding from Jesus that Thomas then exclaimed, “My master. My God.” And from there Thomas spread the faith and is considered the founder of Christianity in India. Thomas demonstrates that it’s never too late for those who don’t believe now to get on board and accomplish amazing things. And that’s like Scott Rodin. Scott was an ardent Christian climate change doubter who has been born again and now calls himself an “evangelical environmentalist.” He had been taught to be afraid of environmentalists because they’re all left-wing, socialist, former hippies who have no job and hate those who do. They’re all alarmist, scare-mongering activists who chain themselves to trees and, annoyingly, always claim the world is coming to an end. They’re all shame peddlers, always wanting to make everyone feel guilty for the way we live and for not caring about the rain forest, polar bears, and spotted owls. And worst of all, they’re all atheists who worship nature and hate Christians. And, he said, if that’s what you’ve been taught, then don’t be surprised if Christians don’t want to partner up. But he’s been converted. How is a longer story, but he now drops off his recycling on the way to Bible study. And he uses electricity generated from solar panels to show films about Jesus. And he proudly displays a Save the Whales bumper sticker next to the emblem of a Jesus fish on his car. It starts small and grows. He’s having an impact on his skeptical neighbors and church members. Although, really, to make a dent in the problem, it has to be done on a scale such as companies and governments have. I love stories like how a Kentucky coal company is refurbishing an old mining site with a massive solar farm, generating 5 to 10 times more than the next biggest site in Appalachia.[3] And generating clean energy jobs. As a church we have:
We can always question what more can we do to be good partners with God for the sake of our majestic earth, the gift of God entrusted to us lowly humans for care and protection. Because when we express love for our earth, we express love for Jesus. When we care about rain forests and polar bears and spotted owls, we can about Jesus. Congratulations on the steps you’ve already taken and keep asking what else we can do together? [1] Rabbi Marc Gelman, “Partners” from Does God Have a Big Toe, Harper Collins, 1989 [2] For excerpts of these statements and more, see www.greenfaith.org [3] https://thinkprogress.org/kentucky-coal-mine-solar-farm-a5d10d6526bb
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