Sermon: God is Green: Creation Reveals God
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Sermon: God is Green: Creation Reveals God Texts: Psalms 19:1-6 Romans 1:16-23 Date: August 10 , 2008 Rev. Emily Tanis-Likkel, Eagle Harbor Congregational Church
There is a something that I think of as the jean jacket phenomenon. If I have been shopping for a particular item, say, a jean jacket, suddenly it seems that every third person that I pass in the street is wearing one. If I am trying to decide how to style my hair, suddenly I notice hair-styles like never before. If I am thinking about the beauty of creation, I notice it a whole lot more. Colors pop, flowers I may have passed by previously now delight my senses, the magnificent towering trees and rushing water cause me to stop and take it all in. I decided to write this entire sermon while sitting outside. I didn't meet my goal, but I wrote more outside than I usually do. The amazing weather we had helped. I wrote some at Fay Bainbridge, and a peaceful spot on a bench at the pea patch. You don't have to go far around here to enjoy creation, but some of us still need to be intentional about experiencing green space. Many of the Psalms sing of the glory of God that is revealed in creation, but we are not tied to earth as much as people of the past or in under-developed nations – many of us are so often inside. Dr. Oz has reminded me that because I don't have to go out and fetch buckets of water in the morning, I really should lift weights. The conveniences in my home that keep me from hard labor, also keep me more insulated from creation. If I am taking in the beauty around me, being mindful of creation as God's on-going creative work, suddenly I see God's brush-strokes everywhere. The last couple of weeks I have talked about humanity's vocation as steward's of God's garden, and that the brokenness of the earth is often a consequence of mistrust of God. Today we hear the words of the Psalmist, that the creation itself speaks of God's glory, that God is revealed in what God has made. We can understand something about an artist by studying the art they have created. Psalm 19 reads, “The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night declares knowledge.” The non-verbal messages by creation bears witness to God – it pours forth in abundance. Romans 1 reads, “The basic reality of God is plain enough. Open your eyes and there it is! By taking a long and thoughtful look at what God has created, people have always been able to see what their eyes as such can't see: eternal power, for instance, and the mystery of his divine being.” God is revealed in creation. In the world of theology, this is called General revelation. It is God-revealed to everyone, everywhere, in all time. St. Augustine taught that Scripture is not the only avenue for encountering God. He wrote that creation itself is like a book, “Look above you! Look below you! Read it. God, whom you want to discover, never wrote that book with ink. Instead, He set before your eyes the things that He had made. Can you ask for a louder voice than that?” Creation's speech is all around us, telling of God's artistry. Psalm 19 reads, “In the heavens he has set a tent for the sun, which comes out like a bridegroom from his wedding canopy, and like a strong man runs its course with joy.” The sun is compared to a bridegroom emerging from a wedding tent – glowing mightily! The rising sun signifies the continual new life that God brings in creation. The runner signifies the rhythm of creation, the order and planning involved in the intricacies and magnificence of it. Poem The Sun Never Says by Hafiz, a fourteenth-century Persian mystic. “Even after all this time the sun never says to the earth, 'You owe me.' Look what happens with a love like that--it lights the whole world.” The unconditional love of God is like the sun, it never leaves, it never keeps a record of how much more God has done for us than what we have done for God. The revelation of God through creation does not merely tell us that God exists, but also describes God's character. Psalm 19 says that The heavens and the earth speak of God's glory. The Bible is full of references comparing God's love to beauty in creation. We learn from observing creation the God is incredibly creative, complex, interesting, multi-dimensional, multi-sensory, mighty and powerful, interested in both the microscopic and immense. Yet, because of the lack of trust of humanity, God and creation are also wounded, weeping, ignored, used, grieved, and groaning. When God's gift of creation goes unappreciated, it hurts. We talk in our house about treating our possessions with respect. And those are only human-made materials. It goes even more so for creation. Job 38:27 references the care God places in providing rain in places where no human lives. Creation has intrinsic worth apart from humanity. Creation speaks praise to God. Yet, we are instructed not to worship the creation, which is idolatry. (Romans 1) Creation is not God, but is God's handiwork. Instead, we are to worship along with the rest of creation. From creation we learn that God is a planner. Genesis 2:8 reads, “God planted a garden.” Before a garden is planted, it is planned. God does not control the outcome of God's creatures, any more than we can control how tall our flowers grow. But as a gardener envisions where the tomatoes will grow best, and how much space to leave between the rosemary and sage, God plans the unfolding of creation. John Calvin wrote, the “skillful ordering of the universe is for us a sort of mirror in which we can contemplate God.” 1 God sows seeds in hope, wanting the best for creation. God plans rhythms in creation, demonstrated so beautifully by the changing seasons. Other rhythms are seen by the movement of animals. Migrating birds find their way home by listening to the music of the earth. We have inner rhythms too, that clue us in to when we should work and when we should rest. Times of dormancy are needed by all living things God is revealed in Jesus Christ, flesh and Spirit. Jesus used images from creation, comparing the Kingdom of God to a mustard seed, a fig tree, yeast, a pearl. He taught that God is like a sower and a vine-grower. The miracles Jesus performed were down-to-earth healings, using mud to give a blind man sight, water to cleanse people of leprosy, and simple touch to stop a woman's bleeding. Jesus washed the feet of his disciples, such an earthy and sacred act, we learn that God intends for us to connect with the Spirit through the things of this earth. Paul Tillich in The Shaking of the Foundations suggested that the farther removed humanity becomes from nature, the more difficult it becomes to understand the meaning of sacrament. He says, “Bread and wine, water and light, and all the great elements of nature become the bearers of spiritual meaning and saving power.” He urged the reader to commune with nature to connect with the holy. He wrote, “Become reconciled with nature after your estrangement from it. Listen to nature in quietness, and you will find its heart. It will sound forth the glory of its divine ground. It will sigh with us in the bondage of tragedy. It will speak of the indestructible hope of salvation!” 2 Our spiritual lives are enriched by connecting with creation. By taking our shoes off and feeling the moist soil, damp grass between your toes. Getting grass stains. Walking mindfully on the earth, and being reminded that we walk on holy ground. Ann Russ, a fifth grade teacher in Minnesota, wrote about how in the fall and spring, her class begins each day by taking a five minute walk in silence from school to the nearby woods. They explore the world around them on their walk, and once they arrive in the woods, they each find their favorite spot to read a book of their choosing, or write or draw in their journals. She wrote, “The children have learned that when they are silent and still, they hear and see everything.” Sometimes she gives them each a length of string that they lay in the ground in any shape, ends touching, then get down on the ground and take in their miniature world. I wish she had been my fifth grade teacher! But it makes me think, maybe I can be that kind of teacher. I can do that with my own kids in my backyard. I do not consider myself a gardener, but I am in charge of the rose bush at our house, so I guess in that very limited role, I could say that I garden. Just taking care of that one plant has taught me something important. Several weeks ago I noticed that it had gotten diseased, and it was in pretty bad shape. I asked my neighbor's advice, and she advised me to cut it back until all of the diseased leaves were gone. She said it looked pretty bad, but it wouldn't hurt to try that since I didn't want to use chemicals. I followed her recommendation, and when I was finished there were maybe two or three leaves left, and no flower buds. I noticed a few days ago that it was beautiful again, with no sign of disease, and new buds appeared. What hope is demonstrated by a restored plant. God is revealed in creation as a sustaining God. God is not watching from a distance, but God's Spirit is present among us and within us. God is a careful gardener: pruning, weeding, watering, .enjoying. My kids and I made a going away gift for a neighbor who will be teaching in Russia for two years. We put together a little book of photos, drawings and poems to let her know how much she means to us. When my daughter Eva handed her the book that was green construction paper fastened together with string, Judi handled it like she had just been given a delicate and priceless tapestry. She quieted her voice, pulled the kids close, and opened the book. She pored over it, taking it in and relishing every word and picture. She looked up often, into the eyes of each one of us, and expressed how special and wonderful the gift was. Her eyes welled with tears as she read the blessing on the last page. Some people live particularly mindfully, and graciously. I think that is how God would like us to receive the gift of creation, to treat it delicately, to take it in and love it, to thank the artist and designer of it, to express how wonderful it is. See the tiny insect and Mt. Rainier, hear birds and flow of water, feel the breeze, warmth and rain, feel textures, ground beneath feet, breathe in smells. Do you have a place you go where you get a sense of the holy, what the Celts called a thin place? In my mind, I sit on a bench at Pilgrim Firs, watching the lake, the trees, feeling the breeze. Close your eyes, and imagine a place in nature that you have been when you have felt at peace. How is your body positioned? Your breathing? What do you see? What do you hear? What do you smell? Imagine meeting the Spirit in that place. God is great, God is green Thank-you, God, for all I've seen: Trees and flowers, earth and sky, Honey bees and birds that fly, Rivers, lakes and oceans blue, Dogs and cows and me and you! 3
When we are looking for vivid colors, wonderful textures, sweet scents, amazing sounds, delicious tastes of God's creation, we may suddenly experience them everywhere. We may stop in wonder at the sight of a butterfly – or even a slug. We may notice God still speaking through creation. This noticing leads to praise. It leads to prayer. It leads to caring for creation, being grateful for the garden in our trust. “Sonnet for Creation” by Judine King speaks of the importance of noticing the beauty of creation during this short life. “If Life's missed loves surround me at its close, O let not one of them be Wisdom's boon/That brings to light the wonder of the moon/And interplay of galaxies God chose/To grace the deep blue of a summer night; Or rainbow's hues to savor after pain/And gentle winds in tune with healing rain, Or trees in flower when Spring is at its height. O let not hues of autumn's red and gold/And aura of its fire go by unseen, Nor usage blind me to a snowflake's sheen/That graces field and tree in winter's cold. Let reverence be mine while time shall last: I kneel in awe where Beauty holds me fast.” 4
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