THE STEWARDSHIP OF MOTHER EARTH
Job 12:7-10, Colossians 1:15-18
Morning. After thinking a lot the past week or so about what Jason, Collin, and I are going to be talking about, I started to explore my beliefs. Well, actually, I decided to take a page from Jeff's book, and I'm not going to leave you with a lot of answers, but rather, one question to chew on for a while. After that I decided to explore, and I came up with a few things. First, I believe that there are three kinds of people in the congregation. The first are those that are excited to hear what we have to say--adding some youthful vitality; maybe a completely new point of view to Sunday worship. The second are the skeptics: those that aren't quite sure what wisdom a mere teenager can have about life. After all, I'll be the first to admit that I have a limited life experience compared to most sitting in this room. Finally, sometimes this is the largest group on Sunday mornings, the ones that find themselves in the middle. The ones that will take the next ten or twelve minutes to tune us out and fall asleep. I've been guilty of this many times. It's not necessarily a bad thing--sometimes all you need to do is just sit and think for a while. It's our choice what we do with our time. But our decisions will greatly influence our lives later on.
As everyone is well aware by now, today is Earth Day. The three of us therefore decided that it would be most appropriate to talk about God's creation. This can be a pretty touchy subject--especially the story of creation itself. Science tells us one thing; the Bible, another. I believe that God created the Universe and stepped back to watch it take off. I believe what science tells us: the age of the dinosaur; evolution; and the like. The facts are there, and we've figured out a lot of what makes us "us." Or so we think. The truth of the matter is we have barely scratched the surface of what makes us "us." Only God knows that for sure. There are subtle inner workings that we as mortals can never comprehend. Humans have become so tunnel-visioned, so focused on ourselves, that we are neglecting the rest of God's creation. And nature is desperately trying to clue us in. As Job said in the reading, "The birds, the fish, the Earth itself will tell us that everything belongs to God, and not us." All we need to know is that it's our duty to our Lord to protect and sustain all of creation.
My eyes were really opened this last Sunday, when I was in New Orleans on a band trip. In case you're wondering, I had a really good time--performing, eating all sorts of good Cajun food, listening to the music of the French Quarter festival. We also went to the Aquarium, where we saw an IMAX film titled Hurricane on the Bayou--a film describing Hurricane Katrina, and the impact neglecting our world had. In order to create a livable situation in the city, the levee systems were introduced, stopping the Mississippi River from undertaking its annual overflow. This sounds like a good thing, but the soil deposited from the overflow creates the wetlands surrounding Louisiana, protecting it from natural disasters like hurricanes, which lose power when they travel over land. The wetlands in Louisiana are disappearing faster than the Amazon rainforest, because new soil isn't being deposited as old soil erodes. Katrina could have been much less significant.
But even after this tragedy, God's creation is still being ignored and taken advantage of. We see all sorts of pollution in society today. But there is some good news. God put us in control for a reason. He must have believed we were capable of handing ourselves. That means there's hope. We do deserve some credit, I mean, the world is still here, isn't it? It's hard to believe God wouldn't step in if we were completely off. A big deal can be made about how badly we are raping the Earth. But I believe that we could be doing a lot worse. I guess that sounds kind of lame, "We could be doing a lot worse." You might think I'm just copping out, saying something to make us feel good. Maybe I am, and maybe I'm not. The great thing about us having dominion over the world, is you can ponder how accurate my statement is. But more important than deciding how right I am--you should act on how right I am. So for those of you who fell asleep, it's time to wake up and think. Could we be doing worse?
Hi. The Book of Job tells us that the animals and birds will tell us that God made this earth. Now, most people would consider me a scientist. I would consider myself a scientist. Darwinian evolution makes sense to me, as is going even further back. But I see no reason why this is mutually exclusive with God. The array of atoms that form the cells that form a person is so inexplicably complicated that it seems almost impossible that it formed in this fashion without some influence from a superior being. A computer the size of this room spends days trying to model the function of one brain cell. Science traces the Universe back some 15 billion years to the Big Bang, which created the cloud of gases from which our galaxy, the sun, and our earth were formed. But here's the $1 million question: Where'd this tiny ball of pure energy come from? Science doesn't really know. God? Maybe. Some think that the previous contents of the Universe collapsed into this. But if you trace the circle back and back, someone, something, had to start it. I don't think you can explain this any other way than it should be God. The Earth was at one point many billions of years ago a spinning ball of molten rock. As this rock cooled, the Earth as we know it began to take form. I believe God had a hand in that. This is God's earth, we are God's people. And whether are not he made us from mud with his own hands, or watched and guided as the Universe created a planet, and then us, we are still God's people on God's earth.
The human race has, for hundreds, thousands, or more years, used the resources of the earth. This is OK; the earth was given to us by God. But we haven't done as much as clean up the mess we make. This is apparent; just look around outside. From people throwing their garbage on the ground, to companies that clear-cut forests, we've made a mess that we're not cleaning up. At this point the recovery--and we need to recover, if we intend to last long as a species--can be split in two parts: making it better, and not making it worse--to fix it, and prevent it from being broken again. Many of the wounds we have created will take time to mend, and some will leave a permanent scar. A rain forest, given a few lifetimes, will grow back, but a strip-mined mountain won't. I'm not trying to say we should all go out and plant trees, but if you see a piece of garbage on the ground please, help the earth, and pick it up. One plastic bag, picked up, is one less bird or sea animal that chokes on that plastic bag. Now, not making it worse is going to require laws, and these are in the works. The conservationists have been fighting an uphill battle for the last 20 or 30 years or more. That battle is now nearing the top of the hill. More and more of the things that wreak havoc on the environment are being banned. One thing that I thought was just amazing was something I saw at several of the too many colleges I visited in the last year. Students, sitting on the quad or somewhere, holding signs saying, "Save the Environment" or, "Step Up Congress! Cut carbon 80% by 2050." Now they could have been studying or watching a sports game, but they weren't. They did this of their own accord, because they cared. Because they have a respect for God's earth. Because they want their children to grow up on a cleaner, healthier planet than they did. I, we, are asking you to help. If everyone in the world was to simply think about what they are doing that affects the environment, the world would be in a better condition. I'm not asking you to give up hours, and I'm certainly not asking for money. All I'm asking is that you just don't throw garbage on the ground. Reduce, reuse, and recycle. Carpool or ride a bike. Simple things that aren't a huge inconvenience can make a huge change if enough people help out. So please, help us save God's earth.
Well said, Jason. Help us save God's earth. What does that mean, "Help us save God's earth"? I mean, the word earth is such a big word; it encompasses so much. Literally it means this big ball of iron and nickel we're standing on right now, but to me it's more than that. It's where we were born. It's where we will live, and it's where we will die. On it is that Chinese restaurant which you really hate. It's that ice rink, where you managed to fall twice in one minute. It's that clothing store which has those really cool jeans, which are never in your size. But is that it? Is that still all the earth is? Just a collection of these places and things? What about the guy at Acme who accidentally shortchanged you? What about the band you saw play in some concert the other night? What about your best friends. Are all these people part of this earth? If you look at it scientifically, we are. I mean, technically, you and all of your body mass come from things which you eat. Well, the wheat, which found it's way into your toast this morning is directly composed from nutrients of the earth and energy of the sun. God's soil is energy. Does that make you part of the earth? A conscious extension of the soil?
Well, as Jason said before, "Help us save God's earth." Help us save us. If I do say so myself, we are worth saving. "Save" is another small word with another big meaning. How many ways can you save us? Can you pick up litter, and carpool? That will help; it is saving. But people are part of this earth, too. How can you save them? Is there any good in saving a dying relationship? Any help in befriending the new neighbor? These things, relationships and friendships, they cannot be held, they cannot be touched, but they are part of this earth. God created all visible and invisible. They are still worth saving. And there's one way to save the guy you met while grocery shopping last week. One way to save the person that you work with who you absolutely detest. One way to save your friends, and there's one way to save your family. One universal concept--that's love. Help us love us. And if we are able to do that then maybe, maybe, we can save the world.
April 22, 2007
David Lewin, Jason Meyers, Collin Scangarella
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