Caring for the Earth
Psalm 24:1-6
Earth Day Celebration
April 29, 2007
Have you ever borrowed something from someone else? As I thought about this question
in my own life, I realized that since my good German heritage taught me at a very early
age, "never to be beholden to anyone" and since I grew up with the adage "neither a
lender nor a borrower be," I am not inclined borrow things. Rather, if I need or want
something, I buy it or rent it. Never-the-less I have from time to time been a borrower. I
remember a time when some friends insisted that rather than renting a car while mine was
in the shop, I should use their extra one. Occasionally someone will loan me a book to
read, saying "You just have to read this." When I am going on a long road trip, I do go to
the library and get books on tape or now CD. When we were preparing for Godspell, I
asked a friend from Milwaukee if she could make me a copy of the video of the production
of Godspell that she had directed for the local community theater. She sent me her original!
Psalm 24:1-6
Earth Day Celebration
April 29, 2007
Have you ever borrowed something from someone else? As I thought about this question
in my own life, I realized that since my good German heritage taught me at a very early
age, "never to be beholden to anyone" and since I grew up with the adage "neither a
lender nor a borrower be," I am not inclined borrow things. Rather, if I need or want
something, I buy it or rent it. Never-the-less I have from time to time been a borrower. I
remember a time when some friends insisted that rather than renting a car while mine was
in the shop, I should use their extra one. Occasionally someone will loan me a book to
read, saying "You just have to read this." When I am going on a long road trip, I do go to
the library and get books on tape or now CD. When we were preparing for Godspell, I
asked a friend from Milwaukee if she could make me a copy of the video of the production
of Godspell that she had directed for the local community theater. She sent me her original!
Yes, from time to time I have been a borrower and whenever I am, I know that I take
extra care of that which I borrow, so that when I return what I have borrowed it will be
just as good, if not better, than it was when I received it.
But, as I was thinking about it, I realized that I borrow more often than I realized. You
see, it occurred to me that I borrow other people's time and talent when I ask for help
doing thinks I cannot do; like last week when I asked Jeff to drive to Mokena to replace a
connection in my sump pump that was leaking water all over my basement.
Then I remembered the time when I was on my sabbatical and I lived in my friend
Yolanda's home for the ten months I was in school; I most certainly borrowed the room I
slept in and the use of the house. Or the many times I have used spaces that belong to
others to lead dance groups, hold workshops or facilitate retreats. Even though there may
be some financial reimbursement, it rarely actually covers the cost of using the space, so
indeed am I not borrowing what someone else owns? When I do, I make it a practice, if I
can, to leave the space not only as good as I found it, but even better than it was when I
arrived.
How about you? Have you ever borrowed anything? If you have, I'm guessing that
maybe you, too, take extra care, trying to return what you borrowed in the same or better
condition than it was when you received it.
"The earth and everything on it belong to the LORD. The world and its people belong to
him." [Psalm 24:1] The earth and everything on it BELONG to the LORD. The world and its
people BELONG to God! How about you? Have you ever borrowed anything? Have you
ever used something that you did not own?
In our worship planning meeting this week Jeff asked "Why is it that we are celebrating
Earth Day this Sunday? Wasn't Earth Day last Sunday?"
O:\Sermons\Sermons 2007\04-29-07 psalm 24-1-6 earth day.doc Last printed 6/11/2007 1:09:00 PM - 2 -
"Yes," I replied, "on the calendar Earth Day is April 22nd, but we had already scheduled
FRB kick-off for last Sunday and the best night on the church calendar for the Stewards
LIGHT Team Earth Celebration was this Sunday evening. So I decided to make this Sunday
Earth Day. Beside," I added, "shouldn't every day be an earth day? I mean, shouldn't we
care for the earth every day?"
The earth and everything on it BELONG to the LORD. The world and its people
BELONG to God!
The earth and everything on it - every flower, every plant, every drop of water, every
blade of grass, every molecule of air, every particle of soil, every creature -those that crawl
on the earth, those that swim in the water, those that fly in the sky, those that walk on
four legs or swing from the trees and those that walk on two legs- all BELONG to God!
According to our scripture for today -and many other places in the Bible we don't own
anything. God owns it all. Thus, we are all borrowers, all the time! Even our lives are
borrowed -given to us to use for a time; given to us to use in partnership with God. The
Biblical concept of this reality is that we are to be stewards; that is caretakers or managers
of all that exists; not its owners! As good and faith-filled stewards, as reliable borrowers,
as trustworthy care-takers, we shouldn't we seek to live in harmony with the earth and all
its inhabitants so that we return our borrowed earth, our borrowed time, our borrowed
lives to God better than they were when we received them?
Remember the parable of Jesus that we often call the parable of the talents. Three
stewards were called to the master and each was given a portion of the estate to manage
while the master was away. When the master returned those who had used what they
were given wisely were praised and the one who buried the treasure and out of fear
refused to use it was reprimanded. All that exists, is entrusted to our care and we are
expected to use it wisely, not bury it, not abuse it, but use it wisely care-fully, lovingly.
Among our Native American sisters and brothers it is said that of all the creatures the
Great Spirit created only the human ones have forgotten who they are.
How differently we might live if we really understood, really believed that we are simply
borrowing, using, managing, caring for what actually belongs to God! It is, I believe, our
illusion of ownership that is one of the things that has gotten us and our world into the
mess in which we find ourselves.
In his book Tomorrow's God, the Holy One speaking to humanity through the hand of
Neale Donald Walsch says:
The Old Spirituality encourages you to have dominion over the earth. You
have interpreted this to mean domination. And so, you have imagined that
ownership of, or power over, people, places, and things is an asset -or part of
what you call wealth.
According to this paradigm, the more things you owned... the wealthier you
were...
In the days of the New Spirituality wealth will be defined not as possessions
and power, but as access and happiness...
O:\Sermons\Sermons 2007\04-29-07 psalm 24-1-6 earth day.doc Last printed 6/11/2007 1:09:00 PM - 3 -
We are talking about use of, rather than ownership of, the stuff of life...
Not everyone needs their own vacuum cleaner. They simply need the use of
one. Not everyone needs a washing machine. They simply need the use of one.
What would happen if four families, living in close proximity to each other
decided to share one vacuum cleaner? Do you think their carpets would be any
less clean?
Perhaps if we truly understood that everything we are and everything that exists is on
loan from the Creator we would be more willing to share with one another. Perhaps if we
truly embraced the truth that we are stewards, caretakers, managers of God's creation, we
might begin to find ways to live so that God's compassion and mercy and love and care
sine through everything we do -from our decisions about whether or not we recycle to how
we use our time; from what kind of fertilizer or cleaning products we buy to how much of
our wealth of things such as vacuum cleaners or washing machines we would be willing to
share with others.
A youth group at a mission workcamp on the tiny island of Nauru in the South Pacific
wrote a paraphrase of our scripture today. These youth said it this way:
Hey man! Everything belongs to God,
And don't you dare go around abusing it.
For you are responsible and accountable
For all that has been created.
Hey man! You are expected to live right
With all that has been created.
That means, being sensible and responsible
In everything you do.
Hey man! Rejoice and be happy in the
Fellowship with God the Almighty!
How about you? Have you ever borrowed anything?
Please join me in the unison prayer:
When we are unkind to people, and forget they are your children, O God;
When we are careless with the beasts and forget they are your creation, O God;
When we ill-treat the land and forget it is you splendor, O God;
Forgive us, O God of Love and reconcile us to you, to one another and to the whole of your
creation.
Teach us, that the earth and all its fullness is yours, the world and those who dwell in it.
Remind us that your son too enjoyed the fruits of harvest in Galilee and joins us now as we
celebrate your good gifts together.
Call us yet again to safeguard the gift of life, now and forever. Amen.
extra care of that which I borrow, so that when I return what I have borrowed it will be
just as good, if not better, than it was when I received it.
But, as I was thinking about it, I realized that I borrow more often than I realized. You
see, it occurred to me that I borrow other people's time and talent when I ask for help
doing thinks I cannot do; like last week when I asked Jeff to drive to Mokena to replace a
connection in my sump pump that was leaking water all over my basement.
Then I remembered the time when I was on my sabbatical and I lived in my friend
Yolanda's home for the ten months I was in school; I most certainly borrowed the room I
slept in and the use of the house. Or the many times I have used spaces that belong to
others to lead dance groups, hold workshops or facilitate retreats. Even though there may
be some financial reimbursement, it rarely actually covers the cost of using the space, so
indeed am I not borrowing what someone else owns? When I do, I make it a practice, if I
can, to leave the space not only as good as I found it, but even better than it was when I
arrived.
How about you? Have you ever borrowed anything? If you have, I'm guessing that
maybe you, too, take extra care, trying to return what you borrowed in the same or better
condition than it was when you received it.
"The earth and everything on it belong to the LORD. The world and its people belong to
him." [Psalm 24:1] The earth and everything on it BELONG to the LORD. The world and its
people BELONG to God! How about you? Have you ever borrowed anything? Have you
ever used something that you did not own?
In our worship planning meeting this week Jeff asked "Why is it that we are celebrating
Earth Day this Sunday? Wasn't Earth Day last Sunday?"
O:\Sermons\Sermons 2007\04-29-07 psalm 24-1-6 earth day.doc Last printed 6/11/2007 1:09:00 PM - 2 -
"Yes," I replied, "on the calendar Earth Day is April 22nd, but we had already scheduled
FRB kick-off for last Sunday and the best night on the church calendar for the Stewards
LIGHT Team Earth Celebration was this Sunday evening. So I decided to make this Sunday
Earth Day. Beside," I added, "shouldn't every day be an earth day? I mean, shouldn't we
care for the earth every day?"
The earth and everything on it BELONG to the LORD. The world and its people
BELONG to God!
The earth and everything on it - every flower, every plant, every drop of water, every
blade of grass, every molecule of air, every particle of soil, every creature -those that crawl
on the earth, those that swim in the water, those that fly in the sky, those that walk on
four legs or swing from the trees and those that walk on two legs- all BELONG to God!
According to our scripture for today -and many other places in the Bible we don't own
anything. God owns it all. Thus, we are all borrowers, all the time! Even our lives are
borrowed -given to us to use for a time; given to us to use in partnership with God. The
Biblical concept of this reality is that we are to be stewards; that is caretakers or managers
of all that exists; not its owners! As good and faith-filled stewards, as reliable borrowers,
as trustworthy care-takers, we shouldn't we seek to live in harmony with the earth and all
its inhabitants so that we return our borrowed earth, our borrowed time, our borrowed
lives to God better than they were when we received them?
Remember the parable of Jesus that we often call the parable of the talents. Three
stewards were called to the master and each was given a portion of the estate to manage
while the master was away. When the master returned those who had used what they
were given wisely were praised and the one who buried the treasure and out of fear
refused to use it was reprimanded. All that exists, is entrusted to our care and we are
expected to use it wisely, not bury it, not abuse it, but use it wisely care-fully, lovingly.
Among our Native American sisters and brothers it is said that of all the creatures the
Great Spirit created only the human ones have forgotten who they are.
How differently we might live if we really understood, really believed that we are simply
borrowing, using, managing, caring for what actually belongs to God! It is, I believe, our
illusion of ownership that is one of the things that has gotten us and our world into the
mess in which we find ourselves.
In his book Tomorrow's God, the Holy One speaking to humanity through the hand of
Neale Donald Walsch says:
The Old Spirituality encourages you to have dominion over the earth. You
have interpreted this to mean domination. And so, you have imagined that
ownership of, or power over, people, places, and things is an asset -or part of
what you call wealth.
According to this paradigm, the more things you owned... the wealthier you
were...
In the days of the New Spirituality wealth will be defined not as possessions
and power, but as access and happiness...
O:\Sermons\Sermons 2007\04-29-07 psalm 24-1-6 earth day.doc Last printed 6/11/2007 1:09:00 PM - 3 -
We are talking about use of, rather than ownership of, the stuff of life...
Not everyone needs their own vacuum cleaner. They simply need the use of
one. Not everyone needs a washing machine. They simply need the use of one.
What would happen if four families, living in close proximity to each other
decided to share one vacuum cleaner? Do you think their carpets would be any
less clean?
Perhaps if we truly understood that everything we are and everything that exists is on
loan from the Creator we would be more willing to share with one another. Perhaps if we
truly embraced the truth that we are stewards, caretakers, managers of God's creation, we
might begin to find ways to live so that God's compassion and mercy and love and care
sine through everything we do -from our decisions about whether or not we recycle to how
we use our time; from what kind of fertilizer or cleaning products we buy to how much of
our wealth of things such as vacuum cleaners or washing machines we would be willing to
share with others.
A youth group at a mission workcamp on the tiny island of Nauru in the South Pacific
wrote a paraphrase of our scripture today. These youth said it this way:
Hey man! Everything belongs to God,
And don't you dare go around abusing it.
For you are responsible and accountable
For all that has been created.
Hey man! You are expected to live right
With all that has been created.
That means, being sensible and responsible
In everything you do.
Hey man! Rejoice and be happy in the
Fellowship with God the Almighty!
How about you? Have you ever borrowed anything?
Please join me in the unison prayer:
When we are unkind to people, and forget they are your children, O God;
When we are careless with the beasts and forget they are your creation, O God;
When we ill-treat the land and forget it is you splendor, O God;
Forgive us, O God of Love and reconcile us to you, to one another and to the whole of your
creation.
Teach us, that the earth and all its fullness is yours, the world and those who dwell in it.
Remind us that your son too enjoyed the fruits of harvest in Galilee and joins us now as we
celebrate your good gifts together.
Call us yet again to safeguard the gift of life, now and forever. Amen.
