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Last Sunday's Sermon. I had more notes than usual (tired body, weary mind, sorrowful spirit), so this is close to what I said. I haven't expanded all the shorthand, and from the lovely comments I got afterwards, I trust my presentation was more lyrical than these on-screen words.
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Genesis 1:9-13
Responsive Prayer
For the fruit of all creation,
thanks be to God.
In the help we give our neighbor,
thanks be to God.
For the plowing, sowing, reaping,
silent growth while we are sleeping,
thanks be to God.
For the harvests of the Spirit,
thanks be to God.
Most of all, that love has found us,
thanks be to God.
Amen!
Fred Pratt Green, 1970. Stanzas combined in the same order as the original.
• Grace, peace, and love to you…
Continuing today in Season of Creation, etc..
We have an annual emphasis on God's gifts of creation and our stewardship of creation because with the stories and histories we read in scripture throughout the year, it's important to remember God always acts where we are and how we are. Natural and humanly built environments always are integral to God's action, God's presence, and our response.
The physical and material isn't optional or accidental. The spiritual isn't optional or accidental. They come together and interact together.
verse 9 announces, "And God said, 'Let the waters under the sky be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.' And it was so."
Genesis 1, the first chapter of the bible, shows us the living structure of planet earth, the whole panorama of creation as God's dwelling place. Genesis 1 also bring us God's spoken Word that creates, orders, tames – redeems, renews, and reforms. Let's remember how God saves and redeems not only human creatures, but the land, the skies, flowers, seas, and all assorted creatures that make those places home.
Last week we especially celebrated the gift of water. Today features earth. Despite the nearby Pacific Ocean, most of us function as mostly land creatures. We're basically earthlings.
If you grew up on a farm or with a backyard garden, if you have a plot in Central's community garden, if you've visited a farmer's market, even if you've never done those things but only buy your veggies at a nearby stand or supermarket, you probably can relate to today's celebration of vegetation, plants, seeds, and trees.
When we read and interpret scripture, we seek to understand the broad sweep of God's presence and action in history and to place ourselves in the story of all God's people, yet finding guidelines for our own situation is a primary goal.
If you've studied the OT, you probably remember Moses acting as God's agent to free God's people Israel from slavery in Egypt. Although in some ways being in Egypt, the breadbasket of the world, had helped them survive, the brutal empire with its death-dealing demands wasn't God's preferred place for them.
After they departed physical, geographical Egypt, Israel's exodus or departure (exodus is the same word as exit) they spent forty years s making a way toward the land God promised – Abraham! The desert also wasn't God's preferred place for them. In the shifting sand with water in short supply, they couldn't plant and nurture, wouldn't be staying long enough to wait for harvest (etc.), but the desert became a place of trusting God.
As God's people trekked through the hot dry desert, the supply of water and food was precarious. But God knew their needs and surprisingly supplied water from the rock, manna from the sky, quails from the ground…
During that time they also received the gracious gift of God's Ten Words – decalogue – or Commandments. This Sinai covenant that brought together God and people, people and people in trusting agreement would become the working papers for their life together when they reached that place of promise God first promised to … Abraham!
They finally crossed the Jordan River. As it turned out, the land of Canaan on the other side of the Jordan River
was God's preferred place for the people of God, with rich earth, rivers and streams of clean clear water. This was the place God had promised to Abraham!
God meeting Israel's needs became evidence that God was with the people all the time. Although the journey was rough, tough and uneven, although they complained a lot, later on they told everyone about the God who was with them, fed them, watered their thirst.
Most of us have had times we weren't sure where our next meal would come from. We may have gone a day of more without eating anything.
Although we sometimes think of serious hunger as a big problem mostly in less developed countries, food insecurity remains a major concern in the neighborhoods that border Central here in Van Nuys. As one of quite a few food distribution programs across the city, ours has gifted many meals to many appreciative families.
As we study the creation narrative from its start in Genesis to the end of the bible in Revelation, we see the interdependence of every part of creation. Quite a few of us gather most weeks to get fresh and other ingredients into the hands and carts, into the homes and onto our neighbors' tables, but it's not only about those few dozen individuals.
Before those veggies, fruits, beans, and soups are ready to hand out, a farmer has grown them, workers harvested them, trains and trucks have hauled them. Somewhere along the way they've been packaged, canned, and bagged… Individuals, businesses, and other organizations have contributed the $$$ that help us purchase the food we donate. Every aspect of distributing and receiving nutrition relies on every other moving part.
Your own life experiences and the gratitude of our neighbors help us realize what a gift any food program is and how deeply it resonates with water, earth, and all aspects of creation.
Scripture and experience show us God always meets us in this community, on this plot of land, wherever that may be. You may have heard the late Speaker of the House Tip O'Neill's reminder, "all politics is local." Theology is local, too!
Two weeks ago the denomination observed another God's Work / Our Hands day. (Every day is God's Work, Our Hands). God's people Israel learned to recognize and trust that God really was with them because of the way God provided for their actual needs.
Placing ourselves in the story of all God's people helps us notice and trust in God's presence and supply for ourselves and the planet's future.
Will our neighbors recognize God's presence in their lives with the food we provide with our hands and feet doing God's work, acting as God's presence, God's here and now in their lives?
Whether harvested from the earth or built in a factory, the material stuff in our world isn't accidental or optional. God's Spirit that fills all creation isn't an accident or an afterthought. It all comes together to help build a world. When we live as faithful caretakers and stewards of the earth, much of what we do interacts to help God rebuild and restore a healthy world.
We've taken a brief overview of God's good gifts of light, water, and earth…land, sod, soil, turf, dirt, terrain, heaven under our feet.
Again today Jesus invites us to the table of grace. This feast of reconciliation of all creation depends on healthy waters and a healthy earth.
To offer this Holy Communion requires the well-being of all creation.
This festival of thanksgiving brings us a preview of the new creation …
What better way to keep celebrating this season of creation in 2023?!
Thanks be to God!
