Sermon: God is Green: Trust God, Restore the Earth

Texts: Genesis 3:17-19, Romans 8:18-23, and Revelation 22:1-5

Date: August 3 , 2008

Rev. Emily Tanis-Likkel, Eagle Harbor Congregational Church

                      Come on, Day, Let's go in the house, I nagged my one-year-old, my hands on my hips, foot tapping, in a hurry for no particular reason. Day was crouched down in the driveway, Bug, bug, bug! He cried over and over, enthralled to be up close to a little creature he shares the world with. The same day, my five-year-old Eva tugged at me to stop for a moment when we were outside, because she needed to stop and pick up a food wrapper someone else had carelessly tossed on the ground. She saw what i had missed. Bill Edmonds just sent me an article about having a stay-cation. the author decided to vacation in his own town of New York City, which allowed him to leisurely explore the sights and sounds he usually took for granted. He slowed down and savored daily activities with his family. He wrote, "By experiencing reality, rather than escaping it, I feel more connected to everything around me, both aggravations and delights." He saw kindness in the city streets, but also rudeness, bad parnting, and self-centeredness. He warns the reader of the disruption of a stay-cation: "When you see home more deeply, you see beauty, grace , and charm; but you also see greed, arrogance and laziness. Things look different when you see them as they are."1 It is difficult to care for the earth when we are too hurried to notice the creation. It is easy to overlook our impact on the environment when we are caught up in consumption without mindfulness. we need to see home more deeply.

                        This will be my second sermon in the God is Green series. The growing awareness today about the need to take better care of the earth, to live a green life-style, is a hopeful one. It is a trend that actually intersects with one of the Bible's major themes. Last week I spoke about how we are to be green as God is green, that we are God's gardeners. The human vocation spelled out in Genesis to have dominion over creation has the connotation of serving. Dominion refers to what is higher on the root of a plant. As part of the created world, we humans are dependent on that which is under us. We are to serve that which sustains us. Unfortunately, we in the developed world are generally not serving well. Today we will talk about what is wrong – and ways to make it right. A pretty big topic.

                       One of the books that I read by a Christian eco-theologian in preparation for this sermon was very interesting, but was I disappointed to discover that she does not see much point in looking at the Biblical creation story. Do the opening pages of Genesis have any bearing on today? Does a non-literal understanding of the Adam and Eve story mean that we must throw it out? I believe that this story is crucial for understanding why creation is groaning, and the hope we have of restoring it. In my study of Genesis 3, I am struck by the concept of the brokenness in the world as a result from mistrust of God. 

                      “When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves. They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?” He said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.”

                       The desire Eve had for that fruit, for that knowledge, may be like the desire to go to the mall just to buy something new, just to get that rush. The longing and discontent that advertising instills makes people trust in consumption, like the serpent's whispers to Eve. 

                       God said to Adam, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten of the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” 

                       The tilling of the ground became toil for humanity, relationship with the earth no longer shalom. If they had been content with their gift from God, instead of aching for more, harmony would not have broken into disharmony. Their lack of trust that God had provided them with all that they needed led Adam and Eve to give up their freedom from anxiety. Yet God didn't leave them to die. After expelling them from the Garden of Eden, God instructed them to continue caring for creation. Despite disharmony, all is not lost. Genesis 3:23 reads, “therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken.” Humanity's vocation was to continue, with God's support.

                       The discontent felt by so many in our privileged nation leads us to buy more, eat more, flit from activity to activity, and put our own needs before that of our neighbors -- all at the earth's expense. Presbyterian minister Dr. Carol Johnston wrote, “When we don't trust God, we also don't trust the natural processes of God's creation, and so instead of learning from them and working with them, we try to control them or ignore them.”2 Much of the environmental degradation is a consequence of human greed. Doctor J. Matthew Sleeth, a former emergency room director, saw first-hand how the toxins in the environment were making people sick. He now teaches and writes full-time as a Christian environmentalist. He says that we all need to ask whether we find ourselves saying that our life is too hard. He says, “If the answer is yes, the solution may be not to work more or 'smarter' but to change bosses.”3 When we put our trust in God, our bodies, minds and spirits are contented. No longer are we continually reaching for more. That is what the Psalmist meant by, The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.

                        I read a sign on the wall of a local Martial Arts Academy on Choices: 1. Making every decision carefully. 2. Thinking everything through responsibly. 3. Exercising your freedom to choose. 4. Deciding what is right and doing it. Choosing to trust in God brings harmony to the earth. Sin is pervasive. “Although we think we know good and evil, we continually make wrong choices that increase social injustice and end up damaging ecosystems.” The restoration of trust brought about by the redemptive work of Jesus Christ offers the hope in the restoration of the cosmos. It is not a distant promise, it is already happening, it is happening when we exercise our freedom to choose to care for the earth. It happens when we take a stand against blindly consuming a fast-food way of life with it's pre-packaged convenience, feigned nutrition, with plastic toys to clog earth's arteries and fat to clog our own. I'm loving it, the ads lie - but the earth isn't. Restoration is happening when we trust that we have enough. It is happening when we decide what is right and we do it. Before making a choice, we can ask whether an option will bring us closer to God, or farther away. Whether it would be a choice made that demonstrates love or hate, if it builds up or tears down. 

                       The story of humanity in the Bible begins with the image of a tree, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, the tree that represents choice. At the end of the Bible is another tree image. It is the tree of life, under the shade of which all will be brought together in peace. The restoration of the cosmos promised by God in Jesus Christ is imaged in Revelation 22:2, “and the leaves of the trees are for the healing of the nations. Picture of reconciliation between humanity, God, and the earth, and renewal of the cosmos. Incarnation – God made flesh, affirms the goodness that God sees in the created world, God's marvelous handiwork. Resurrection of Christ affirms the goodness of flesh, of matter, of the sacredness of life itself. The restoration of the heavens and earth is only partly about the salvation of humankind, it is about all of life. As it says in the book of Romans, “We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains.” The whole creation is ready for new life to be born.

                       It is interesting that mistrust in the Adam and Eve story lead to shame. When they turned against God, it put a barrier between them and God, between each other, between them and the rest of creation, and made them self-conscious. It lead to an anxiety where there was previously no anxiety at all. 

                       Richard Foster wrote, “Freedom from anxiety is characterized by three inner attitudes. If what we have we receive as a gift, and if what we have is to be cared for by God, and if what we have is available to others, then we will possess freedom from anxiety. This is the inward reality of simplicity.” 

                       Receiving all we have as a gift is being grateful for what we have, instead of always reaching for the fruit. It is being content, living in the moment. Not feeling entitled, but graced. Trusting God to protect our lives, and trusting God to help us tend the garden. Remembering that we are co-creators with God. We have the freedom to trust that God will restore the earth, and the freedom to choose to take responsibility for our part in restoring the earth. Hoarding what we have, instead of giving freely to others, is a way of choosing to live in fear and distrust. Instead, let us choose to trust in God by sharing resources. We give, trusting that God will see to it that our needs are met.

                       Studying eco-justice has been a wakeup call to me. Does my life reflect the importance I place on earthcare? Do I trust in God, or do I put myself at the center of the universe? Do I see home deeply?

                       Joseph Had a Little Overcoat by Simms Taback. Joseph had a little overcoat. It became old and worn, so he made a jacket out of it. His jacket got old and worn, so he made a vest out of it. When that became worn, he made a scarf out of it. That he eventually turned into a a necktie, then a handkerchief and then a button. When he lost the button, he had nothing left, so he made a book about it that showed to always make something out of nothing. Reminds me of the line: Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without!

                       Many areas to put our energies in earth-care . . . What are your ideas? 

                                             Prayer written by my Dad:

                                            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! 

                                            If a tree falls in the forest, and there is no one around to hear it, does it make a sound? Many creatures probably do in fact hear it. The squirrels, the rabbits, the birds. And if there are none left, God hears it. God hears that tree fall, even when humans remain oblivious. But we can listen more closely, open our eyes wider and be more attentive to all of that which is being created around us. We can join with God, ever trusting, to restore the earth.

1 Tom Ehrich, “Seeing Home,” 08/02/2008, www.onajourney.org And the Leaves of the Trees are for the Healing of the Nations, p. 1

2 And the Leaves of the Trees are for the Healing of the Nations, p. 10.

3 Serve God, Save the Planet, p. 7.