26 April 2015, “The Good Earth” (Earth Day)
And every animal that moves on the face of
Earth.”
Art Buchwald, back in 1970, wrote these
words: “And Man created the plastic bag and the
tin and aluminum can and the cellophane wrapper
and the paper plate, and this was good because Man
could then take his automobile and buy all his food
in one place and He could save that which was good
to eat in the refrigerator and throw away that which
had no further use. And soon the earth was covered
with plastic bags and aluminum cans and paper
plates and disposable bottles and there was
nowhere to sit down or walk, and Man shook his
head and cried, “Look at this Godawful mess.”
Now let’s contrast that with these words from
the book of Genesis:
God spoke, “Earth, generate life--Every sort and
kind:
Cattle and reptiles and wild animals—all kinds.
And there it was:
Wild animals of every kind,
Cattle of all kinds, every sort of reptile and bug
God saw that it was good.
God looked over everything that had been made;
It was good, so very good!
It was evening; it was morning—
Day six.
Need I say more? The two versions of creation
are markedly different. The one from the Bible
rejoices in the wonderful elements of creation, and
God calls it all good, very good. Furthermore, we
humans are given the responsibility of taking good
care of the planet both for our well-being and for
that of future generations.
However, that’s not so true of the version of
Art Buchwald offer, and yet the message is clear.
We are blessed with this beautiful planet on which
we live, and we are slowly but surely destroying it,
and sometimes it isn’t quite so slowly.
All we have to do is to look at some of the ways
in which our lack of knowledge and understanding
and our greed for comfort and convenience have
overridden our care for the earth. For instance,
rainforests once covered 14% of the earth’s surface,
and today they cover over 6%, and could well
disappear in less than 40 years. Every single day,
we are losing 137 plant, animal and insect species.
Every year, U.S. factories alone release tons of toxic
chemicals into the land, air and water. As Jeremy
Rifkin put is, “We’re finally going to get the bill for
the Industrial Age. If the projections are right, it’s
God spoke: “Let us make human beings in our
image; make
them reflecting our nature.
So they can be responsible for the fish in the sea,
The birds in the air, the cattle,
And yes, Earth itself,
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going to be a big one: the ecological collapse of the
planet.” That is a dire consequence of our actions.
How did this all come to be? How did we allow
the earth to get in such bad shape? Believe it or not,
some believe that Christianity is partly to blame, or
maybe I shouldn’t say “Christianity” in general, but
a particular way of expressing a version of Christian
theology has been assigned some of the blame.
In some branches of Christianity, there is a
misunderstood theology of what is called
“eschatology,” meaning the end times, that says
what matters most in this world is what happens
when we die—often referred to as our salvation.
There’s no attention paid to how we live our lives in
the here and now. Combine that with a deep
suspicion of modern science that exists in some
parts of the faith spectrum as evidenced by the
battles about creationism versus evolution, and we
have a recipe for disaster, and that’s most assuredly
what we’re getting.
However, not all of the faith is like that. You
probably are aware that that isn’t our brand here at
The Garden. Instead, we believe that we are to care
for and heal the earth, and that it is God’s desire that
we preserve and conserve this planet for the wellbeing of future generations. In fact, it may well be a
big part of what the United Methodist Church’s
“slogan” of “making disciples of Jesus” should be
about—about caring for creation! We’re here to
cultivate a spirit of wonder and gratitude for this
planet, which I think has some roots in Celtic
thought and practice.
The desire to call attention to the needs of the
planet is part of the reason that Earth Day came into
being in 1970—to serve as a reminder for us to live
up to our responsibility and take care of the planet.
While this day originally began in the U.S., it is now
observed by more than 175 countries worldwide,
and it’s begun to make a difference. More and more
people and countries are practicing recycling, and
we have alternative and efficient forms of energy.
Acid rain levels have decreased by 65+% since
1970, and depletion of the ozone layer is being
controlled, to name just a few of the improvements.
Nonetheless, challenges remain, and we are
the ones who are to be responsible. That’s exactly
what our Bible passage says:
God spoke: “Let us make human beings in our
image; make
them reflecting our nature.
So they can be responsible for the fish in the sea,
The birds in the air, the cattle,
And yes, Earth itself,
And every animal that moves on the face of
Earth.”
The word that’s often used to indicate
responsibility is the word “steward,” and to be a
steward means that we take good care of that which
has been entrusted to us. God has entrusted the
care of the earth to us, and it’s time we lived up to
that responsibility. We’re not just responsible for
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the welfare of all humanity, but for all living things,
and for the entire planet that lives and breathes.
To be a good steward has a lot to do with our
attitude and behaviors toward the earth. The Dalai
Lama insists that we should all treat the earth with
respect, honoring our deepest values and behaving
in an ethical and loving way toward creation. And
it’s not someone else’s responsibility to do that; it’s
ours—every single one of us is to be a steward of
the earth, no exceptions.
Back in 1988, William Ruckelshaus, former
EPA administrator was quoted in the New York
Times as saying: “You go into a community and
they will vote 80 percent to 20 percent in favor of a
tougher Clean Air Act, but if you ask them to devote
20 minutes to having their car emissions inspected,
they will vote 80 to 20 against it. We are a long way
in this country from taking individual responsibility
for the environmental problem.” We have to be
willing to take individual responsibility and let our
actions be in line with our words if this is going to
improve for our children and grandchildren.
For that to happen, we need to examine our
deepest values. What do we cherish most highly?
Is it material gain at any cost, or is there something
more precious to us? Are we willing to pay the price
of being inconvenienced to make a difference that
will last into the future?
Instead of denying that climate change and
destruction of our planet exist, or becoming
desperate and hopeless about it, we need to take
things into our own hands, and make even the
smallest change which could make a big difference.
Even the smallest shift can make a bigger
impact than we could imagine. Let me give you a
tiny example.
I don’t know about you, but
sometimes when I brush my teeth, I kind of
daydream, and all the while the water is still
running. It may not seem like much, but how about
turning the water off between rinsing our brush and
our cleaning our teeth? There are people in the
world who are craving clean, fresh water, and
maybe our focus could be on how we can conserve
and then work to help others have been water
health.
There are some other simple things that can
make a difference. If we have a leaky faucet, we need
to fix it. Whenever possible, we can save energy by
using cold water in the laundry. When we go out to
run errands, we can try to combine them into one
trip instead of several, and if possible, we can walk
or ride our bikes. We can certainly recycle, and
recycle bins are everywhere for our convenience.
There’s no excuse to miss out on that one. Many are
getting into composting, which helps our
overflowing landfills and makes great fertilizer for
spring planting.
The list could go on and on, but you get the
point—you and I have been given the responsibility
by God to care for this planet—for all living things—
humans, plants, animals—all. The question we
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need to ask ourselves is “What am I doing to live up
to this responsibility?”
If we take it seriously, maybe this pledge will
help us commit to giving loving care to the earth.
Would you join me in reading the first line of each
stanza together, and I’ll read the following three
lines, as we pledge ourselves to caring for the earth.
We join with the Earth and with each other.
To bring new life to the land
To restore the waters
To refresh the air
We join with the Earth and with each other
To renew the forests
To care for the plants
To protect the creatures
We join with the Earth and with each other
To celebrate the seas
To rejoice in the sunlight
To sing the song of the stars
We join with the Earth and with each other
To recreate the human community
To promote justice and peace
To remember our children
We join with the Earth and with each other
We join together as many and diverse
expression of one loving mystery for the
healing of the Earth and the renewal of all
life.
Quoted in Prayers for Healing edited by
Maggie Oman
Showing respect for the earth is something
that 89-year-old Buddhist, Thich Nhat Hanh
emphasizes with these words: “We have to walk in
a way that we only print peace and serenity on the
Earth. Walk as if you are kissing the Earth with your
feet.”
Have a good Sunday, and go in peace. Amen.
U.N. Environmental Sabbath Program
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