This summer, we have been hearing about a variety of faith practices in our worship services. We have heard about prayer, silence, testifying to our faith, sharing our resources, healing, and sabbath taking. Each faith practice is a strategy we can use to both deepen our faith and express our faith in tangible ways. Our work as Christians is life-long – we are challenged and called to deepen our faith in God and to live out our faith in a variety of ways throughout our lives.
This morning we are going to focus on caring for God’s creation as a faith practice. Christians believe God created the earth and all who dwell within it. Some of us hold tight to the creation stories in the Book of Genesis…others of us believe in “intelligent design” – that everything was created and inspired by God, but may have developed over a longer period than the 6 days of creation.
Either way, Christians believe we have a special role to play in caring for God’s creation and the natural world. Listen to some scriptures that reflect this:
First, let’s turn to Genesis chapter 1:
24 And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so.
25 God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.
26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
27 So God created mankind in his own image,
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.
28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”
29 Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food.
30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so.
And, now to read a snippet from Genesis 2:
Scripture Genesis 2: 15
15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.
Here ends this reading of the Word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God Amen.
Let us pray….
Message Caring for Creation
Caring for creation is a spiritual practice. God made the created world to be diverse, and beautiful, and awe-inspiring. Animals and insects, birds and trees, flowers and bushes… .everything was created to fill our senses with wonderful sights, smells, tastes and songs. Yet, we can always do more to care for God’s created world and we can also do more to engage with the created world.
It has been very hot over the past few months, so many of us have adjusted our time outdoors to the cooler times of the day. But, each season of the year, and each time of the day provides opportunities for us to take in the beauty of the earth and the glories of the skies.
In our scriptures, we are told that God created us, the human beings, with the responsibility to care for the earth and all the creatures who dwell here. When we pick up trash on the side of a trail, or pull weeds in the garden, or feed the birds, we are taking a small part in our spiritual work to care for creation.
When we engage in caring for the natural world, we are working to become more and more like Jesus – becoming more humble, more patient, more joyful, more aware.
When we spend time doing work in the natural world, we become more and more aware of how interdependent everything is and how dependent we are on each other and creation. We need to drink clean water. We need to eat a variety of healthy foods. We eat animals for food who drink the water and eat grains and grasses. If the air is polluted or the soil is contaminated, we all lose out. Therefore, we must do our part to not waste resources and reduce our dependence on things that can damage the natural world.
This summer, I started small with my vegetable gardening. I planted only 4 tomato plants and two pepper plants. Every morning, the baby and I take the dog for a walk and check on the progress of our little garden. It is almost magical to watch little plants grow bigger and stronger each day. All of a sudden a plant that was three inches tall when it was planted is a three-feet tall gangly vine falling out of it’s raised beds. And, with tomato and pepper plants, we see little blossoms that all of sudden sprout little fruits that grow and ripen as they are watered by the rain and showered with the sunlight.
Human beings take a long time to physically grow and change – when we plant little gardens, we see the entire lifespan of a plant play out quickly. Yet, plants don’t always grow alone – When we grow food-bearing plants, we need to place them in fertile soil, add the right combination for fertilizer and water, and make sure they are exposed to enough sunlight. On hotter days, they need more water. On rainy days, they need no water. We nudge them along in their growth, just as God nudges us along in our growth.
We are deeply connected to God’s creation. We are entirely dependent on God’s creation. So, when we witness stark landscapes that are devoid of plants or trees, we feel adrift. We need the natural world to be visible – to see trees and plants, to hear birds chirping and dogs barking, to feel the rain on our faces and the wind blowing against us.
As caregivers for God’s creation, we are called to tend to the earth….to pick up litter…to participate in stream clean-ups..to grow plants for pollinators and butterflies… to feed birds in the winter….to reduce our dependence on chemicals that are harmful for the environment…to take time outdoors and revel in the glories of God’s created world.
God calls upon us to care for God’s creation. Let us not forget that we are part of that creation. It is our work to tend to the earth and repair the broken places. It is our calling to work to preserve and heal the earth. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment