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Sunday Sermons
4-27-08, Easter 6
Pastor Phil Lee
Title: "Green Theology"
Text: Gen.1:1, 26-28; Ps.8
Theme: stewardship of the environment
Introduction
Last Tuesday, 4-22-08, was Earth Day. Maybe some of you participated in some kind of Earth Day activity that had to do with environmental concerns. Many of you have participated in recycling for a long time. We do it here at church. And, of course, there are many other ways that we can practice responsible stewardship of the earth.
And now TIME Magazine has gotten in on the act with its Special Environment Issue of 2-28-08, which has a symbolic green border replacing its traditional red border.
The color green has become universally symbolic for being environmentally friendly.
And, as people who believe that God is the creator of the environment, we are called to practice Green Theology.
Point
“We believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.” That is what we say virtually every Sunday that we gather in this place to worship. It’s a statement of faith based on the Scriptural revelation in Genesis, chapter one, that reminds us that this place we inhabit was brought into existence by God and belongs to God. We are not owners, God is the owner. Instead, we are stewards – managers – of this precious creation with all of its resources to sustain life on earth.
The Psalmist declares (24:1): “The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it, the world, and those who live in it…” for the Lord God is creator of heaven and earth.
We are here by God’s will and for God’s purposes, including the practice of Green Theology – treating creation with the respect it requires as God’s gift to us.
Problem
Last Tuesday, 4-22-08, was Earth Day. And there is a history to that day. In 1963, former U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin began to worry about our planet. He knew that our world was getting dirty and that many of our plants and animals were dying. He wondered why more people weren’t trying to solve these problems. He talked to other lawmakers and to President Kennedy. They decided that the President would go around the country and tell people about these concerns, which he did. Still not enough people were working on the problem. So, in September 1969, at a conference in Seattle, Senator Nelson announced that in the spring of 1970 there would be a nationwide grassroots demonstration on the environment. On April 22, 1970, the first Earth Day was held (when I was a junior at Lincoln High School in Tacoma!). People all over the country made a commitment to environmental awareness. Thousands got involved, and since then, Earth Day has spread all over the planet. People all over the world know that there are serious environmental problems we need to work on and Earth Day is a reminder for us to look at the planet and see what needs changing.
So, after all that, why is it that TIME Magazine, in its latest Special Environment Issue (4-28-08) reports a recent study that estimates that there are 46,000 floating pieces of plastic per square mile of ocean on our planet?!
And of course, there are carbon emissions and global warming, there’s deforestation and overpopulation, and there’s the increasing production of biofuels that are being produced from corn while at the same time there’s a growing and critical shortage in food production throughout many parts of the world. It’s all somewhat complicated and confusing!
Yes, the earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it, the world, and those who live in it…so we had better learn to practice Green Theology.
Power
The Lutheran Church is dominated by what is sometimes referred to as “second Person” theology, having to do with God the Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, the second Person of the Trinity.
The second article of the Apostles’ Creed, summarizing the Gospels, expresses what we believe about the second Person of the Trinity: “We believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord… conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again; he ascended into heaven, he is seated at the right hand of the Father, and he will come to judge the living and the dead.”
And Martin Luther has given us his explanation to second article of Apostles’ Creed, from his Small Catechism: “I believe that Jesus Christ, true God, begotten of the Father from eternity, and also true man, born of the virgin Mary, is my Lord, who has redeemed me, a lost and condemned creature, delivered me and freed me from all sins, from death, and from the power of the devil, not with silver and gold but with his holy and precious blood and with his innocent sufferings and death, in order that I may be his, live under him in his kingdom, and serve him in everlasting righteousness, innocence and blessedness, even as he is risen from the dead and lives and reigns to all eternity. This is most certainly true.” (Remember memorizing that in Confirmation class?)
That is the essential Gospel that shapes our faith and inspires our witness to the world.
But today, in the aftermath of Earth Day, we also remember our “first Person” theology, which comes from the same Creed: “We believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.”
This “first Person” theology is also rooted in the Scriptural revelation, where in Genesis 1: 1, 26-28 it says: In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth…Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish… the birds…and over all the wild animals of the earth...” So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over…every living thing that moves upon the earth.”
In Psalm 8:1-6 we are reminded: O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens…When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers…what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them? Yet you have made them a little lower than God, and crowned them with glory and honor. You have given them dominion over the works of your hands…
And again, Luther’s explanation to first article of Apostles’ Creed, from his Small Catechism, gives us this summary: “I believe that God has created me and all that exists; that he has given me and still sustains my body and soul, all my limbs and senses, my reason and all the faculties of my mind, together with food and clothing, house and home, family and property; that he provides me daily and abundantly with all the necessities of life, protects me from all danger, and preserves me from all evil. All this he does out of his pure, fatherly and divine goodness and mercy, without any merit or worthiness on my part. For all of this I am bound to thank, praise, serve and obey him. This is most certainly true.”
Conclusion
Our place is not to pollute and use up and disregard what God has entrusted to us. No!
Our place is to have dominion over the works of God by a stewardship that honors and preserves, respects and conserves this wonderful creation.
Yes, the earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it…so let’s practice Green Theology.
In the Name of God the Creator, Jesus the Redeemer, and the Spirit Who is the Lord, the Giver of life, let’s practice Green Theology. Amen.
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