Caring for Creation

Faithfully caring for Creation April 20th 2008 PUMC R Swenson

I thought about some ways to talk about this Celebration of God’s creation
Of course it is designed to stand along side of earth day
which ,,by the way..
is now printed on my little church calendar from Cokesbury
I hope you know.... all across the church

Catholics.... Protestants
right and left ,,conservative and liberal.
evangelicals or.. mainline
the church might actually agree on this issue !

we just might try to be eco friendly
Caring for creation is getting talked about

as a basic and essential part of Christian living and discipelship.

Its not just a little special interest for some people on the fringe
its really a core concern
... centered around the belief
that God is the creator
that somehow
this life..
whether intelligent design
or creationism..or evolution
.the methodoolgy ....is not even the point
because ..in faith...
this creation... is a gift from God

and it needs to be treated that way

as human beings we have a special responsibility for taking care of creation.

That is what the Genesis story is really saying


Christianity also teaches us that all of creation

is included in Gods healing and saving work in Jesus Christ
Paul in (2 Corinth) says
God was reconciling the world
restoring the world back to God..

God so loved the world..... ,,not just people on the world

so as ....the church
we’re trying to pay attention to how we live on the planet
and with each other


..well anyway

I thought about going on with all kind s of theological support
and Bible verses
and their really is quite abit of Biblical material for us..

But I also choose the lesson from Matthew

because so much of the injustice in world
and the waste and the environmental abuse
happens

because we are over consuming and we aren’t sharing things very well.

we are all wrapped up with our worries
and our comforts..and insecurities
about getting enough

“What shall we eat... what.. shall we wear...and so on..”

.instead of keeping our eye on God..

anxiousness \and greed
..Lack of faith feeds the environmental problems....

Worry and insecurity
feed the ecological problems.

and those are spiritual problems

Worry and insecurity

are ,not just political or social problems ..
but spiritual issues.

And as the church..
we need to say that.

faithful living
involves a more trusting and simple and balanced kind of living....

It means that we live prayerfully and gracefully on Gods earth

That’s the theology behind it.

then too
for this morning

I thought about some of the practical things that we can do


and that could be the whole sermon ....

.there are policies and practices for us to implement

again
we need to pay attention to the problems in the world

when the word is sick... the people get sick...

doesn’t that mean that we need to learn about alternative energy..

And the carbon footprint ?

and trying to be more socially and politically educated about global conditions...


Do you know about the connections between rainforest and agriculture and global markets

and pollution..

Do you know
about the deforestation and the hunger riots in Haiti


Can you make some sacrificial consumer..choices in your life..

.because for you
its an act of faithfulness


I know that many of us are trying to be more green

in our lifestyles and in our shopping...

most of us..
I think try to reduce and reuse and recycle

and I admit that I don’t do enough

Personally..this is something that I want to do more of...

.and by the way

one of the things that we haven’t gotten done here at Park church

we’re trying to use less paper.. But
we still need to get our paper recycled

.. We got the cans and bottles covered and so on.

.but we need somebody to collect the paper.. And recycle it.

Personally
I would invite you to pick one thing you can do,,,
This week even

think of one thing
you could do that would be better for the environment
and know that you are doing it as a follower of Jesus Christ.

Now
I want to tell you a story that about caring for the gifts of creation
with deeper spiritual respect.


once upon a time
long ago when the earth was still very young
there lived a women who decided to live near the water

there was also village nearby

and the people lived by planting their fields and setting out their fishing nets..

Now the woman had been born in that village

but as the years went on
she moved farther and farther a ways form the village

you see
while she was growing up

and the other children were learning their skills and trades form the teacher s and the elders

she discovered that she had a very special gift..

Instead of putting out nets to catch the fish as they went up stream

she would spend long hours looking into the water
until she could see the fish

then,,exactly at the right moment
.the fish that was going to be caught

.would come right up into her waiting hands.

She would catch the fish with her bare hands

and strangely enough.
.whatever she caught
was Always enough to feed her and her family with even a little bit left over
for someone who might be visiting.

All the villagers
soon heard about this
she tried to explain her new way of catching fish

she told her friends
then she told the elders f the tribe..

but they just laughed and made fun of her.
After all.they had been putting out the nets the same way for years and they had always gotten plenty of fish.

In fact they caught so many fish that they had enough fish to toss the leftovers to the dogs
and they could use the fish as fertilizer in the gardens and the fields
well sometimes thy just didn’t need it all. The fish would always be there!

Besides
this new way
was stupid and time consuming

what good could there be

from something that took more time
..waiting
and wasting endless hours ............
watching the water ?

so they decided that the young woman didn’t have any special gift

she was just lazy
or slow witted..or strange

And the people just mocked her
more and more
so ,,
sadly
she moved farther and farther away from the village

and she spent more and more time..watching the water.

Then one day

after thinking about this for quite awhile

she decided to break with her tradition
she would even move down stream
and go to another village
maybe these other people would understand
and they would take her in.
And so she moved on.
Settled into the next village
worked in the fields
taught the children
lived like everyone else

but always she would go back to the edge of the water
dangling her feet in the water
watching the water

sometimes she would be there very early when the sun was barely up..
sometimes she would come out and watch the mist and the fog over the water
before the sunlight melted it away


sometimes
she would just go out and watch how the wind

would make its ripples and waves,,,


or sometimes at night

she would come and see how the stars reflected on a clam night on the water
sometimes it was so dark
with no moon at all..
no stars
but she could hear and smell the water in the darkness.

Through all of this
she knew the water
almost everything about it.
.and when the fish came rushing up stream

or when they came just to swirl around in the sunlight or the shade

they would look at the women there along the shore


and sometimes they would jump out of the water and into the air.
And the women knew exactly which ones she was supposed to catch
..and which ones belonged to another village and which ones needed to be safe so they could spawn and keep the species strong
And whenever her village set out the nets,,

she cringed inside...
such unnecessary..

indiscriminate death.
Finally she had to speak out.
She told them about this other way to fish..
.standing still..watching..

Taking only what you need,
,carefully thoughtfully.


But again...
just as they did back home in her other village..they just laughed,

they told her to leave them alone..


And so she did.

.and she went like that from village to village

always the same old story

finally she came back to the village of her childhood,

she had changed..and so had they

They didn’t remember her days when she was a young woman with them

but there was another change in the people as well.

They were tired
and slow moving..
They were hungry and there was no laughter.
Strangers were not welcome anymore because
They were just another mouth to feed
and their was barely enough food to go around.
She went back down the path to the old house down by the water. Where she used to live
No one had been there.. All those years..

But she could still here the water calling to her..
.. and so
obedient to the call
she went down to the water
and looked deep into the water,,
for a long time a very long time.

But she now she could se that the water had also changed..

It was murky ,slow, stale and lifeless.
She felt this ache in her heart,she had lost her gift..of water watching...
and she could not see though the water.
Worse than that,,, she had also lost the fish

their were no fish in the water.

And she began to weep
well now

she understood why her village was lifeless

and she knew that this was going to be the fate of all the villages that she had visited, o


now she was weeping for her people

who had lost so much because of their carelessness
..and their ignorance.

Even she, herself

had not seen how important her own gift had been,

and how she had to insist on teaching this wisdom to others.

Now she needed to learn to feel as much tenderness and appreciation

for the people
as she had felt for the fish and the water
and the gift for catching them.

And so she cried,,

for the villagers as well as all that happened,

and as she bent over and cried,,
she could not stop her tears,
they fell into the water at there feet
and then something so mysterious happened,
as the tears entered the water

they darted away

flashing for a moment before swimming away as fish.
The tears streamed from her eyes
dripping into the water.. Turning into fish
and the fish multiplied.

Until the villagers,,, hungry and desperate
saw the gleaming of the fish
leaping once again in the water.

But this time they remembered the strange words of that young woman
who lived in the village long ago

so They watched the fish and went to the water
with patience and gracefulness and newness
they sat still with waiting hands and the fish came to their hands now
just as they had come long ago
to the hands of that waiting young woman,
They say that this woman is still there.
By the edge of the water..
Alone and weeping still keeping her people alive..
Learning the truth of her gifts.
And so it is said. In the old sayings
The old wisdom..
What you catch and take for your own..
Can be returned by compassion alone.

So it is today that we sit..at the edge of the water..
With the res to the village.
Watching.. And leaning to se and to be in true compassion and wisdom.. not to abuse or to hoard or to waste..
So My friends remember the woman who caught fish with her hands..
As you think about the story of the woman whose compassionate tears
continue to give life

its not that far fetched of a story....it’s a sacrificial picture
isn’t it.?.. based on love..

Don’t we also talk about being saved...... and fed
by the sacrifice of Jesus ..
the suffering servant
..his sacrifice is the bread of life..
(A Fish was also the ancient symbol for Jesus and the church ...)..

don’t we talk about a compassionate savior
who gives his life for us
and
that his sacrificial love is still

giving life to this wounded world.....

not just for the people but for the world
..
Life depends on compassion

For God so loved the world
Perhaps we need to love it as well
that the gift we have been give..and it must be taught


Adapted From Keepers of the Story by McKenna and Conan p. 103 Orbis Books 1997