Trinity Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

Sermons 

Title: "Indeed, It Was Very Good"

Text: Genesis 1:1 – 2:4a

Well, last year when we did this,

it was excessively windy and a little bit chilly …

This year, we’re on track to hit another record high temperature

this afternoon, hopefully after we have our lunch and leave!

That’s the thing about nature …

it reminds us that we aren’t completely in charge,

and we hate to be reminded of that!

So much of human history can be seen as

an attempt on our part to manage the creation,

to control it, to get it to do our bidding.

That’s not all bad!

In verse 26, God does say that the humans are to have "dominion"

over fish, and birds, and cattle, and wild animals, and the "creeping things" –

incidentally, the Hebrew word that is translated as "cattle"

really means any domesticated animal,

and "creeping things" refers to everything from bugs to lizards.

The challenge is,

that as humankind has multiplied and filled the earth,

and dreamt up ever more interesting technology,

we’ve altered the notion of "dominion."

It once meant a kind of stewardship:

that is, humans are given a certain managerial role over the creation,

to use what we need, and to tend and keep it.

But just like a manager in any setting,

we manage not for our own benefit, or profit, or plunder,

but on behalf of whomever is the owner.

In the older notion of "dominion,"

we were managers, but not the CEO!

Today, though, it seems like

we’ve tried to amend the meaning.

Really, it only requires the addition of two little letters,

to turn "dominion" into "domination."

Today we hear, far too often,

that the creation is ours to do with as we wish.

And frankly, the worst thing is that way too many Christians are arguing this!

"God made the earth for us to use," they say.

"So that means we can use it in any way we want."

If we clear-cut all the forests,

drive multiple species to extinction,

turn the air brown and the waters stinking …

well, God said we could.

No, God didn’t.

I shudder to think what will happen

when God calls each of us to account

for our own, personal, management of the creation.

And even that seems far removed, doesn’t it?

Those of us who are city-dwellers, especially,

have very little opportunity to manage God’s creation first-hand.

We keep our lawns nicely tended, perhaps …

plant flowers for beauty …

care for the domestic animals who share our homes …

If we want to take it a step further,

perhaps we use organic fertilizers and pesticides,

recycle as much of our trash as we can,

keep a compost pile going …

But in many respects we are far removed from the creation,

much more so than the Hebrew people

who were first pastoralists, tending their flocks

and wandering in search of food and water;

then, gradually, farmers and agriculturalists,

settled and owning land of their own.

We don’t hunt or grow our own food,

we don’t spin and weave our own cloth;

we own land, but it’s for living space, not for cultivating.

Most of the time,

we live at least a couple of degrees of separation

from nature and the creation.

Often, we don’t get to manage it directly,

or to be hands-on stewards of what God has made, and called good.

So it’s good to have "church in the park" at least occasionally,

to remind us of what’s out here,

that we usually only see through the tinted windows

of our air-conditioned cars!

So … if God’s creation was indeed "very good"

long before we started tinkering with it …

and yet, we are somewhat removed from nature and creation,

more so than most generations of our ancestors …

what does that suggest about how we exercise our "dominion,"

our stewardship, of God’s good creation?

Well, I think that there are personal responses and commitments we can make,

that are comparatively easier …

and there are corporate or community problems to be solved,

that are relatively much more difficult.

So let’s start with the easier ones.

Did you know that there’s a website called "What Would Jesus Drive"?!

It’s an attempt by evangelical Christians

to get people to think about stewardship of creation

in terms of the choices we make about vehicles.

Actually, it’s pretty much an anti-SUV argument.

There was an editorial a couple of days ago in the Dallas Morning News,

asking, in essence, once all the SUVs are hybrids,

then what will the tree-huggers find to whine about?

I personally will still whine about SUVs,

at least, when I see them on the road with exactly one person inside.

My 13-year-old Mazda gets better gas mileage

than any hybrid SUV on the market or planned for the market!

To say nothing of Chuck’s diesel VW, or Van’s Civic hybrid.

To be sure, there are times when families in particular

may need a large vehicle for hauling people and "stuff."

But in our present-day culture of excess,

too often, a large vehicle represents nothing more than following a trend,

or a statement of "ha ha, see what I can afford and you can’t."

Maybe the better question is not,

"what would Jesus drive?" … after all, he would just as likely walk,

or ride a bicycle, or take the bus …

but rather, "what would Jesus want me to drive?"

Jesus knows the things that I need a car for,

and what I don’t need a car for …

He knows about air pollution and oil shortages …

so given that information, what would he suggest for me?

Personal matters … you know, the thing I’m most likely going to be called to account for

is heating my house in the winter.

Summer is no problem;

I’m generally comfortable at around 80 degrees,

so my electric usage is comparatively low in the hot months.

But look out when winter hits.

I don’t heat the house to 80 degrees, to be sure,

but the suggestion to keep the thermostat at 68 seems to me the equivalent of

exile to Siberia!

It’s something I continue to work on …

except that I have noticed that, as we grow older,

we become less tolerant of extremes of both heat and cold.

When I was a teenager,

I could go out in the middle of the afternoon on a day like this,

and play a couple of sets of tennis,

and think nothing of it.

The mere thought of that, today, gives me the vapors!

So again,

what might change if I asked, if we asked,

given what Jesus knows about our lives and our needs,

"where would Jesus set the thermostat?"

Well, okay, it can be kind of fun to ask that question about lots of areas of life:

What would Jesus eat?

Where would Jesus shop? (if, indeed, he shopped at all)

Would Jesus xeriscape his yard, to use less water?

(or would he even have a yard?)

Where would Jesus choose to live?

Would Jesus wear a Rolex?

(Sorry, that’s a silly song from several years ago.)

But even more importantly,

what does Jesus want me to do about all those things?

Okay, maybe asking the personal questions isn’t exactly easy,

but making those changes would be simple enough,

if and when we decided we were going to do it.

What’s much harder is figuring out how we address

the macro-level ways in which humanity

has dominated the creation for short-term gain

at the expense of its – and our – long-term health.

What are we going to do with tons of nuclear waste

that can’t really be safely stored anywhere?

We were perfectly happy to have the electricity it produced,

but we still haven’t figured out how to deal with the consequences.

How do we feel about the industrial mode of farming

that has pretty much conquered the market?

Are we mostly glad, because it means that our food remains cheap?

Or are we worried about the tons of pesticide and fertilizer used,

and the family farmers who have been displaced in this country and others?

How is God’s good creation honored

by the factory-farming of animals?

-- veal calves in stalls so small they can’t move?

-- chickens in tiny cages with their beaks removed so they can’t peck themselves and one another to death?

-- huge hog farms that pollute streams with their runoff?

Only a "domination" view of humankind’s relationship to the creation

would allow us to treat other living creatures in the way we do.

How do we feel about the strip-mining of coal,

and drilling for oil in wildlife refuge areas,

and the potential dangers of nuclear power?

Do we feel strongly enough about any of those things

to cut back on our electric usage?

Did you know, there is a power company operating in Texas

that draws on only renewable energy sources:

hydroelectric power, and wind?

And they actually don’t cost any more than TXU.

Not much less, to be certain, but never any more.

Talk to me later if you want to know more.

That seems to me to be one area where maybe, just maybe,

an individual can make a least a little difference in the big picture.

If enough people changed,

what message would that send to the big power companies,

and our elected officials, and so on?

How do we feel about a body of law

which rules that corporate boards’ primary responsibility

is to ensure profit for the shareholders …

even if it comes at the expense of company employees,

and/or the creation?

I confess that I find it easy to be sentimental about creation …

about fields of bluebonnets in the spring,

birds nesting in my ivy plant,

puppy-dogs needing homes.

I find it a simple enough matter to be awed by creation …

the immensity of the universe,

the minuscule weirdness of quantum physics,

the power of wind and water and sea.

But it’s much more difficult to acknowledge

my responsibility toward creation,

my role as a keeper and steward.

And yet, that is the job description God gave me, and you,

at the very beginning.

God declared that the creation was "very good"

before the humans ever got hold of it!

Is it still "very good"?

Do we appreciate it, and thank God for it?

(Yes, even when the mercury hits 99 degrees!)

Have we contributed in any way to harming it?

What will we do to help restore its goodness?

Can we commit ourselves to some changes,

and ask forgiveness for the ones we aren’t willing to make?

The world belongs to God …

we only get to borrow it for our lifetimes.

And not just "borrow" it to use, it,

but to manage it wisely.

May we be worthy

of the trust God has placed in us.

Amen.

© 2005 Julie Adkins (e-mail: DrJAdkins@trinitypresdallas.org)