The Third Sunday of Lent
Practicing Our Faith: Caring for Creation
Rev. Lee Ann Bryce
Community Christian Church
March 11, 2012
Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, “As for me, I am establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you, and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the domestic animals, and every animal of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark. I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.”
God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: I have set my bow in the clouds, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth.” Genesis 9:8-17
{Watch excerpt from video, “God’s Covenant With Creation,” by Dr. Dan Spencer, Professor of Environmental Studies, University of Montana) http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=dan+spencer+God%27s+covenenat+with+creation&oq=dan+spencer+God%27s+covenenat+with+creation&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&gs_sm=3&gs_upl=5170l16754l0l16924l42l37l4l0l0l0l350l4802l0.12.12.1l25l0
We commonly think of the Bible as the story of God’s relationship with humanity. Funny how we tend to limit the scope of what is actually in the biblical narrative. God’s love for all of creation is demonstrated throughout the Bible. In the creation story, God creates great sea monsters and every living thing that moved and called them good. According to Noah’s story (which we should understand as an ancient story told around camp fires to explain why things are the way they are, rather than a factual news account) animals were valued enough to preserve in all their varied forms. Following the flood, God makes a covenant and provides an occurrence in nature, a rainbow, as a sacred symbol. In a great story from the Old Testament in the book of Numbers, God gets the attention of Balaam when he’s acting badly because his donkey opens his mouth and speaks to him (Numbers 22). God is entwined with all of creation. The Psalms tell us that the very rocks would shout out God’s glory even if humans couldn’t and elsewhere in the Bible God is manifest not only in human speech and action but though wind and fire.
Humans are not the only creatures spoken of in the Scriptures. Far from it. God created a vast and highly complex world. But we often become narrow-minded when we study the Bible and talk about our faith. We assume that it’s all about us and we lessen the importance of all the parts of God’s creation that are not human. When we minimize the rest of creation we fail to realize our interdependence.
It’s true, the Genesis story of creation says that humans were created in God’s image. No other part of creation was given that distinction. And in one of the creation stories, humans are put in charge of caring for the rest of creation. Some read this to say that humans are superior; that humans are more important.
There are competing messages in scripture. On the one hand, God created all that is and called it good and according to Genesis 9, God is even in covenant with all living things. But on the other, God created humans and set them apart; gave them responsibility over the rest of creation. And so, we are in conflict with ourselves. On the one hand we try to be good stewards of God’s creation, but we also, at times, go after what we want even if creation is harmed because, well, God put us in charge, right?
Look again at this covenant from Genesis 9 and this time as I read it, count the number of times the text says that God’s covenant is broader than with humanity.
Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, “As for me, I am establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you, and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the domestic animals, and every animal of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark. I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.”
God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: I have set my bow in the clouds, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth.”
Doesn’t that make you want to say, “Okay! Okay! I get it! Enough already!” God repeats six times in this short passage that the covenant includes not only humans, but is very wide reaching. God is the creator, redeemer, and sustainer of all that God made. That should impact how we view and interact with all of creation. If God values it enough to make a covenant with it, then we should not be so quick to abuse and destroy it, should we?
Think for a moment. What are some of the ways that human action has caused harm for other parts of God’s creation? The list is long – global warming/climate change, water contamination, overpopulation, deforestation, extinction of animals, etc. Last week I saw a news piece about the so-called plastic ocean – a collection of bits and pieces of plastic from landfills floating in the middle of the North Pacific that measures 7 million tons, twice the size of Texas. (And it’s not the only plastic ocean. Several exists in the world’s oceans.) Of course, fish become entangled or poisoned; some of the fish we eat are affected.
Human action has harmed the earth in huge and small ways. In some cases, humans have acted with full knowledge of the harmful implications. In others, we’ve acted in ignorance or without fully understanding the extent of the damage. Thinking about oceans of plastic that are twice the size of Texas can get overwhelming pretty quick. The problems seem so huge that it often leaves us feeling paralyzed because of the sheer magnitude of the problems. We don’t think there’s anything we can do that will make any difference and so we do nothing.
But God calls us to resist this illusion of powerlessness. As Christians, we are in covenant with God. That means we have promised God that we will care for creation; we understand ourselves as a people as having the job of taking care of the earth and its creatures
Of course, I’m fully aware that this is asking a lot. It’s hard enough to get humans to consider every person on earth as a brother, a sister. It’s something else to also consider every living thing, animals, nature, oceans, forests, bugs, cows, and snakes as part of the family? Is it even possible to encounter every living thing as my brother and sister?
Yes, I think it is. I’ve known people who set this as their goal and who are much, much farther along in this practice of caring for creation than I and their example inspires me. If we are to do a better job in holding up our end of this covenant of caring for God’s creation corporate actions and personal actions are necessary. As a church we’re trying to do a better job. For example, we now use only fair trade coffee in our coffee hours (thanks to a couple of members who purchase it and donate it for the church’s use.) We rarely use disposable paper products for church meals and we wash plastic utensils so they can be reused. We recycle bulletins and office paper. And when Palm Sunday rolls around in a few weeks, we’ll be waving eco-palms which means that they are sustainably harvested and fairly traded and that they money we spend on them directly benefits the communities where they’re harvested. And so the extra nickel per palm spent can send young girls to school, employ women, and build community centers and forests won’t be clear cut in Guatemala just so we can wave palms one Sunday a year.
There’s so much more that we can do on a personal level. We are all forced to make value judgments every day. We, as Christ’s followers, are called to think and value things differently than the culture at large. We are called to value things the way God does, not always as fellow human beings do.
You’ll find an insert in your bulletin titled, “My Commitment to God’s Creation,” that will give you some ideas about things we can do to more fully hold up our end of the bargain in caring for creation. Remember: you needn’t take an “all or nothing” approach. Work toward doing these things by gradually making changes in your life; changes you feel you can sustain. Even a small change can make a significant difference. Start somewhere and see where the new direction takes you.
Let us pray. Loving God, our well-being is tied to the well-being of all creatures. Help us to recognize our dependence on all of creation left in our care even as we accept its dependence on us. Help us to practice our role as gentle, compassionate, humane caretakers of all creatures and their environments. Amen.
My Commitment to God’s Creation
Ideas to consider:
· Wash clothes in cold water to save on energy.
· Use cloth napkins instead of paper ones.
· Eat less meat. Start by eliminating one meat based meal a week.
· Plan for your household to observe one “lazy day” a month on which you walk, take public transit, or carpool rather than driving your car.
· Buy fair trade items.
· Shop at stores that sell fair trade items or request them if not offered.
· Conduct an energy audit of your home to evaluate your heating system’s efficiency and determine where heat loss may occur. You can even perform your own home energy audit by going to the Department of Energy’s Website: www.homeenergysaver.lbl.gov.
· Run washing machine and dishwasher only when full.
· When washing dishes by hand, don’t let the water run while rinsing. Fill one sink with wash water and the other with rinse water.
· Wash fruits and vegetables in a pan of water instead of running water from the tap.
· Have your car tuned regularly and keep tires properly inflated.
· Carry a water bottle with you instead of buying water.
· Eat locally and organically whenever possible.
· Teach children to turn off faucets tightly after each use.
· Turn off water while brushing your teeth.
· Wash pets outdoors in an area of your lawn that needs water.
· Reuse towels.
· When washing your hands, don’t let the water run while you lather.
Remember: you needn’t take an “all or nothing” approach.
Work toward doing these things by gradually making changes in your life.
Even a small change can make a significant difference.
Start somewhere and see where the new direction takes you!
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