In our synthetic,
walled-in, air-conditioned existence, where can we find the things of creation?
Many of us work in climate controlled, artificially lit, cubicles. We eat a
lunch that is so processed that it probably doesn’t look much like it did when
it came out of the ground or from the feed-lot. We hurry to our dual
climate-controlled cars to drive home, pull in the garage and shut the door
behind us, so we can get into our climate-controlled homes. We don’t even take
time to notice the beauty of the roses blooming by the front sidewalk. For
either safety or convenience, we take our kids to indoor playgrounds, concrete
swimming pools, specially surfaced tracks. Unless you are a farmer, gardener,
postal carrier, or construction worker your closest connection to the weather
may be the 10 o, clock news.
Psalm 121 says “I lift up my eyes to the hills.” Often, we
lift up our eyes to see stoplights or a ceiling we have been meaning to paint.
Jesus said, “consider the lily of the field.” Do we, or do
we breeze past them on the interstate?
If that does not sound like you… good for you! I’m guessing,
however, that most of us can connect to something I said. If you can let’s make
some changes.
Beyond the
individual level, humanity has used and abused the earth.
165 million tons of plastic are floating around the ocean.
The air is polluted
The landfills overflow with material that could be recycled
I lived on the Mississippi River for 12 years and you
couldn't pay me enough to swim in Minneapolis’ and Dubuque, and Clinton’s
sewer.
Our chemicals are polluting the land and water.
I’ve seen strip mines in Tennessee and the earth will never
be the same again.
Habitats like rainforests are being pushed back for
“civilization” or precious resources, which is putting a squeeze on the species
who are becoming extinct at an alarming rate.
We kick climate change around like a political soccer ball
to meet our own agendas.
You get the picture, don’t you?
Genesis is like our ancestry DNA report. I wanted to read
the whole first chapter because we need the whole picture. (Just a note, if you
wondered where Adam and Eve were, there are 2 creation stories with different
messages for us. You will find Adam and Eve in chapter 2 of Genesis).
You heard how the creator God, whom we call father, started
with nothing and created all that there is. Out of the divine imagination, and
by God’s powerful and active word, all that we see and have was created.
Who but a wildly creative God could imagine all the kinds of
insects and fish and monkeys and every other creature and then tie them
together?
Our breathing depends on the elm trees that left drifts of
helicopters in my yard this spring.
Our eating depends on the weather and how the crops grow and
the existence of the food creatures like cows and pigs.
Without the sun exactly where it is, we would either boil or
freeze.
Without hawks who would eat the bats? Without bats what
would eat the mosquitoes? Without mosquitoes… OK, I can’t think of anything
good Mosquitoes do. But you get the idea.
That is what I mean when I say that all of creation is one
big family.
Perhaps one of the
greatest teachers for the family of all creation is St. Francis of Assisi.
St Francis lived in the 12th century, during a pretty
affluent period and he grew up in an affluent family. He was known for his
conspicuous consumption and extravagance.
In his 20’s he began to hear the call of God. “Go, Francis,
and repair my house, which as you see is falling into ruin.” Francis took this
message very literally at first and gave up all he had (including some of this
father’s possessions which he sold for funds) to repair a few churches that lay
in ruins. He wed himself to “Lady Poverty” in order to remain focused on his
ministry of rebuilding churches.
He soon realized that God’s house was actually God’s
household or oikos, from the Greek root “eco” from which we get our word
ecology.
Gradually, Francis
saw that God’s household consisted not only dilapidated church buildings, but
also included are poor brothers and homeless sisters, sister robin, brother
squirrel, the deer twins, brother fish in the pond, and mother earth beneath
our feet.
He realized that he shared this home with brother moon, sister
sun, brother stars, sister water, brother fire, sister flowers, children,
elders, and even “sister bodily death.” All who shared this home, Francis
called brother and sister.
When Francis would
come on a vast field of flowers, he would preach to them and teach them to
praise God as if they could understand his words. He would likewise preach to
cornfields, vineyards, stones, fields, springs of water, green plants in
gardens, earth, fire, and water teaching them to praise and love God our
father.
I want us to take that spirit of Saint Francis and celebrate
the family of creation with him and with all creation.
Let me tell you a
story brothers and sisters. And I’ll need your help.
1. The great
father looked around and besides the light in him. There was nothing. Darkness,
void, absence of anything. So, God said “Let there be light” and there was.
There would be dark times and light times. The dark times he called (brother
day) and the dark times he called (brother night) That was day one.
2. On the
next day, God created something wet that was necessary for all living things we
call that (sister water), and he separated the water into two parts the upper
and the lower waters and between was the stuff we breathe that we call.
(Brother air) and that was the second day.
3. On day
three God gathered sister water together into the biggest bodies of water in
the world that we call (brother sea and sister ocean) When he did that the
great creator could see some solid stuff on which we stand the build our
houses. It was all shaped like a ball and we call that ball (sister earth). God
sat back and looked at what he had done and laughed, “it is good!”
God decided he was
having so much fun making the family of creation to work overtime that day and
he made plants and trees like (brother/sister…) And that was the third day.
4. Then God
looked at the day and the night and put two great big balls in the sky one
ruled the day her name was (sister sun) and the other ruled the night. We call
him (brother moon). Finally, God sprinkled all the twinkling things in the
night sky which we call (brothers and sisters stars)It just kept getting better
and better and God was very pleased and he said: “It is good!” That was the 4th
day.
5. In the
morning God said “let there be things that swim in the water like (brother
fish) and let there be things that fly in the air like…(sister birds) That was
enough for that day which was day 4.
6. The next
day God got up very early and started making things to walk, hop, gallop,
slither, run, prance and stand the earth like (brother of sister name animals)
God laughed at the platypus and the giraffe and wondered at all the amazing
animals and said “This is what I wanted… it is good but something is missing.”
He thought and thought…
Then he realized…
there were lots of creatures to love, but none could love him back. So, God
said, let’s make people-- kind of like me… people who can love me as much as I
love them. So, God created people like (brother and sister sitting in the
congregation) God put them in charge of taking care of creation and walked all
the way around looking at creation from every side and said… yes… this is very
cool. That was day 6
7. On the 7th
day, God looked at creation and it seemed complete. The home he had created was
full and IT WAS GOOD. And he was tired… so he said today is my sabbath and I am
not doing any more work. He took a walk around creation, took a nap on a cloud,
and enjoyed delicious fruit with his new family of creation.
YOU… AND YOU… AND YOU… AND I are all part of the family of
creation as is that tree and that lake and this grass, and the grasshopper over
there, and the deer secretly watching us from the woods. We are all part of
God’s creation.
The challenge in our lives is twofold
First, How do we
reconnect with our creation family? In an urbanized, computerized, fast pace
lifestyle; It has to be on purpose. Here are some ideas.
• Tonight,
step outside and stare at the sky — even a tiny patch of sky … that is one of
my favorite things.
• Instead of
watching Netflix or scrolling through Facebook tomorrow afternoon, load up the
family, pack a snack, and take a walk!
• Get a
birding book and keep track of the birds you see. Or plants or trees or
whatever you like.
• Small
children love nature. Learn to love it from them.
• Dig in the
mud.
• Watch an
anthill.
• Hold a
snail in your hand.
• Lie on a
blanket and watch clouds float past.
• Notice
seasonal changes.
• Watch
flowers bloom, flourish, fade, and develop seeds.
• Read Job
39, then visit a zoo to appreciate the wide range of animals God created
• Consider
gardening at some level.
• Plan a
vacation that includes a natural wonder you rarely see — geysers, hot springs,
caves, mountains, waterfalls, canyons, icebergs, or oceans.
• Install a
birdbath or hang a bird feeder and keep it filled.
• Admire
your family, both the family of creation and your children, siblings, parents,
partners and especially if there is a baby in the house. How precious they are.
The second challenge
is how do we care for this creation God has given us?
Pollution, chemical runoff, erosion, groundwater
contamination, antibiotics showing up in rivers and lakes.
But balance that against the value of the goods produced,
the crops that are grown, the habitat we create, the lives antibiotics save.
Look at climate change… whether you believe it is a natural
cycle or man-made we have to deal with the weather extremes, the flooding,
melting polar caps and all the rest.
Consider your own footprint. How can you have less of an
impact on the environment?
Can you walk more and drive less?
Can you recycle more?
Can you learn about soil conservation?
Can you grow some of your own food
Plant a tree
Can we cut down on Styrofoam at the church… oops, now I’ve
gone to meddling haven’t I. I’ll quit there.
If we are seriously going to be part of God’s family of
creation with both the bees and the buffalo, don’t we have a responsibility to
do something... So do something… do anything.
anything to reconnect with creation
Anything to care for creation.
Start at least one thing this week and try to keep it going
for the whole summer and you will have taken a big step in being a great brother
or sister in this amazing family of creation.
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