Bible Text:

“The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it.”                                                                            (Genesis 2:15)

Every few months some new environmental issue makes the headlines.

·         Is there global warming or is there not? Can you and I really significantly impact the earth’s temperature? Are polar bears starving because ice packs melt during feeding time in the arctic summer? Even if they only change 1 or 2 degrees?

·         Are we over-fishing the oceans? Are we depleting the world’s food supply? The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in June of this year had this comment to make: “Most people’s approach to environmental issues tends to be that we consume what is available until the situation becomes so dangerous that it cannot be ignored. What we are doing to the oceans and life within them falls into that category.”[i]

·         What about soil erosion and depletion? I have experience some of this in a very small way in my tiny square foot garden at home.

·         What about the quality of the air we breathe? I can still remember riding with my parents into downtown Pittsburgh at the noon hour about 1945, and seeing the air filled with smog from the steel mills. We simply thought the steel mills were having a bad day. Thankfully the air is cleaner today. 

The question is before us—more so with each passing year. It’s another one of those questions in search of an answer. Does life have limits? Does God’s creation have unlimited sustainability? 

The answer seems to come in the very first book of the Bible. Genesis is a much deeper and more relevant book than we know. It is more than the story of Adam and Eve. It is more than the question about whether the earth was created in six days or six million years. Marcus Borg writes, “There is a richness of meaning in the creation narratives, and no one reading can exhaust their profound message.” 

Quite simply, earth is a garden. Earth is a gift. We have to take care of this gift garden.

 So, a text: “The Lord God put us in the garden to till it and keep it.”  (See Genesis 2:15) Or another one in the same creation narrative, “God said, ‘Have dominion over every created thing.’” (See Genesis1:28) I believe this is a very important word as to who we are and what we are doing here. 

Adam Werbach wrote in a book published in 1987, “We don’t debate dominion. We’ve got it. Everyone knows dominion, but no one follows the Scripture that holds us accountable. A closer look at God’s edict shows that it calls for humanity to be environmentalists.”[ii] 

We have dominion. We are called to be environmentalists. All of humanity is called, especially all believers. To be a disciple is to be an environmentalist. 

So what’s a disciple to do? What’s a Christian to do? Does it mean we don’t burn our leaves any more? (It’s already illegal in many communities.) Does it mean we eat less fish? Does it mean we smile at the polar bears at the Pittsburgh Zoo—as an expression of sympathy for their starving relatives in the Arctic? What are some authentically Christian responses to the limited sustainability of the gift of the earth? What’s a disciple to do? 

KEEP GREED IN CHECK 

The first thing we have to do is to keep greed in check. This is not easy in a culture of consumption. 

This is exactly why I include a question about greed with every parent at the time of baptism: “Will you do everything in your power to protect your child from all forms of evil, injustice, selfishness and greed?” When parents and I talk in the pre-baptism meeting, heads begin to nod. Parents know—and we all know—that such protection is not easy. 

Deflecting greed was a key part of Jesus’ emphasis. Jesus spoke of money and possessions more than any other subject other than the Kingdom of God. In 38 recorded parables of Jesus, 16 of them are about money and possessions. What Jesus seems to say is this, “Don’t let things or greed take hold of you. It is not wrong to possess things, but don’t let things possess you.” To allow greed to dominate our lives is an easy and almost imperceptible turnaround. 

Kate Convissor writes about voluntary simple living. She’s a part of a group called “Simplifiers.” She says this, “Outwardly simple, inwardly rich is our motto. Be content with enough. A simpler lifestyle will be healthier for you and for the planet.” Jesus might have said that! 

A husband and wife in Seattle wanted to instill some core values in their three children. However, because of their jobs they rarely had time for community service. So they made time. Last year, for their family vacation, they went to Costa Rica. They went there to work with locals grooming the rainforest trails. The mother wrote of one unexpected blessing. She said, “We spent time with Costa Ricans whose happiness did not rely on material things.”[iii] 

Only you and I can know when we spill over into greed. Listen to the promptings of the Spirit here. Keep it in check. To resist greed is an earth-friendly thing to do. 

John Cobb is a professor emeritus at Claremont Seminary in California. He preached a sermon not too long ago called “Greedbusters”—probably a takeoff on the movie “Ghostbusters” a few years ago.[iv] His point was that disciples are greedbusters. It’s part of taking care of this limited earth garden. 

TREAT THE EARTH GENTLY 

The second thing we can do is learn to treat the earth gently. I may not be able to stop some earth damaging corporate action. I may not be able to force legislation in Congress that protects creation. But I can treat the earth gently myself. 

The first car I ever owned was when I was a senior in high school. It was a 1949 Chevrolet. After I had paid $200 of my own money for it, I found out by looking at the title that I was the 6^th owner! Then I found out why: the car burned almost as much oil as it did gasoline. I thought I would have great fun with the car. It smoked so badly it smoked out the cars behind me. One of my favorite tricks was to coast down the hill out of Mt. Lebanon toward the intersection of what is now Painters run and Connor Road. I’d get to the bottom of the hill and start up the other side toward Bethel Park. I would step on the gas and shoot a huge cloud of black smoke out the back of the car. I thought it was fun. But neither the burning of the oil nor the smoke was earth-gentle! 

Treat the earth gently. Recycling was once a pain; it is now an act of discipleship. Shredding some of your leaves and composting them in the garden is sometimes labor-intensive, but it is an act of discipleship. Using paper cups instead of Styrofoam is an act of discipleship. Paying attention to what I throw away or what I give to Goodwill is an act of discipleship. There was an editorial in this week’s Post-Gazette which said, “Decisions made now about how to fuel, feed, clothe and transport ourselves leave pretty big and deep tracks on the planet.”[v] 

Treat the earth gently. Genesis says that earth is a fragile but beautiful gift. We need to believe that and act upon it. 

Carl Sagan was not a believer. But he was passionate about the earth. In 1990 he spoke at the graduation at Lehigh University. This is part of what he said. 

Embody what you know about the environment. Don’t sit this one out. Do something. You are by an accident of fate alive at an absolutely critical moment in the history of our planet. Do something. 

We are not here as an accident of fate. But it is a critical time. The Bible teaches this. I affirm it. 

Peter Illyn is a Christian minister in the northwest. He says this. 

We’ve got a message. The message is simple. The Bible says taking care of the earth is the right thing to do. If there is only one thing I can say, only one conversation I can have with someone, if I’m going to leave an impression, that’s it. 

Illyn wants to make the natural world precious to our hearts. He clearly implies that by honoring creation, faith is strengthened. 

ONE MORE RESPONSE 

There is probably at least one more response we can make to this issue. We can vote for persons who have a world view. This is probably as close as I can get to a political statement without stepping over certain boundaries. 

We will elect a president in 2004. Listen to all of the candidates including the incumbent. Listen for the one who sees us as a world community. Listen to the one who seeks the link between humanity and environment. Listen to the one who recognizes that we are economically linked to all others. Listen for the one who sees nations and people as interdependent for all time ahead. 

So far I have only heard one person address this issue. It’s early. But it’s also critical. We are environmentally and economically interdependent. This has not always been so in the history of the world, but it is true now. We are one nation under God. We are also one world under God. “And God so loved the whole world…” 

I will vote for those persons who openly, even reverently, represent a sense of the fragile and beautiful gift of creation. 

William Sloane Coffin, now retired, is one of the most prophetic voices of today. Coffin says: 

The new survival unit is no longer an individual nation; it’s the entire human race and its environment. Unity is not something we are called to create; it’s something we are called to recognize. 

Someone recently wrote, 

If our hearts are not 25,000 miles in circumference, they are too small. If our arms do not embrace the whole world, they are too short.

Listen again to the powerful words from the first chapter of the Bible. “God blessed them, and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.’ God said, ‘See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.’ And it was so. God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning, the sixth day.” (Genesis 1:28-31) 

I think that word speaks volumes to this moment in history. 

Amen.