Gardeners of Creation
Scripture: In the day that the Lord God made the earth
and the heavens, when no plant of the field was yet in the earth and no herb of
the field had yet sprung up-for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the
earth, and there was no one to till the ground; but a stream would rise from
the earth, and water the whole face of the ground- then the Lord God formed man
from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life;
and the man became a living being. And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden,
in the east; and there he put the man whom he had formed. Out of the ground the
Lord God made to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for
food, the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil.
A river flows out of
Eden to water the garden, and from there it divides and becomes four branches.
The name of the first is Pishon; it is the one that flows around the whole land
of Havilah, where there is gold; and the gold of that land is good; bdellium
and onyx stone are there. The name of the second river is Gihon; it is the one
that flows around the whole land of Cush. The name of the third river is
Tigris, which flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.
The Lord God took the
man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it. Genesis 2:4-15
Sermon Meditation :
Every Spring, I feel like wanting to be a gardener. Because
planting is exciting! Weeding on the other hand - well, not so much. That's
where I usually fail... There is something ironic about the fact that I need to
fight weed and pest to make salad. I know many will deem this is completely
innocent. But it reveals something about the world we live in. That we need to
kill to survive. We push out other creatures, beings that breathe as well, in
order to establish and expand our habitat.
Recently I read the scary statistic that in a stunningly
short time a fourth of all species have vanished from our planet. Birds,
critters, fish, mammals, as well as plants. Old species of fruit and grain are
extinct. I find this loss of the diversity troubling. But one of the terrifying
things is the destruction of whole habitats. It's been more than six years
since the the Deepwater Horizon exploded and sank. Through live stream, we
could follow how billions of barrels of oil gushed unhindered into the Gulf of
Mexico, leaving death for oceans, fish, beaches and wetlands...
This image reminds me of a scene from The Black Spider, a
novel every Swiss pupil read in middle school:
A legendary lethal black spider is trapped behind a window post, until
one day a foolish farmhand removes the plug, releasing the spider and
unleashing the black plague which kills almost the entire village.
When we see destruction of epic proportion going on, singing
psalms may seem a little naive. Nature is a battle field where the strongest
survive. And from the perspective of a gardener of the world, I imagine the
human race must appear like a pest...
The world is not a harmonious paradise. Why are things this
way? Where that black spider comes from?
There's no simple answer. Even the creation stories in the Bible don't
give much explanation. But they invite us to ask ourselves, who we are.
They are really two stories: The first tells us the
beginning of life in the universe: How the creator brings order in the chaos,
shines light into darkness, dries swamps and waters deserts - and life abounds!
It is the spring fever version of creation. Everything was good. And the
creation of the humans on the sixth day even: very good.
The second story begins with a garden - in Persian
'paradise'. God takes Adam and Eve and puts them in the garden - to till it and
keep it. I imagine they didn't have to put up with critters or weeds... But we
know things didn't stay that way. That's what the second story eventually talks
about: Another character appears, a creepy creature. The snake engages Eve in a
conversation and promotes this very special fruit: it is supposed to offer so
much more nutritional value, but even more enjoyment. It will awaken within the
human beings their full potential to attain wisdom. The prospects are too
tempting! And so Eve and Adam eat from the fruit - and immediately, this miracle
food has consequences. It is as if someone had pulled the plug, and hidden
things burst out to light. Yes: They recognize good and evil, and for the first
time experience shame. Eventually, the owner of the garden appears and sets the
food down: No more admittance to the paradise, but instead painful labor, no
more equality, but work by the sweat of your face. The lecture is long and
hard, but ends somewhat conciliatory, when the God expresses care by making
them their first garments.
These first stories of the Bible don't explain things. They
tell a story. Much remains unresolved. And yet, we see who we really are: On
one hand God-like - and yet, deeply divided. No day goes by that we are not
confronted with this conflict - within us, in relationships to loved and not so
loved ones... and in our relationship with the world around us. And the other
thing is true, too: there's no easy a way back. The way back to paradise is
closed. We are not vegan. Being human means to be violent. We don't need a
Bible to realize that. But there is more in it: We're reminded of our true
identity. And that's why we talk about these stories. There's a reason the
Bible doesn't start with the Fall. It begins with a light. A beam of light that
doesn't come out of me, but falls upon me. There's a spark in me that
understands the will of the creator. When we pray: Thy will be done, then we
pray to overcome this conflict, we pray for deliverance from evil. I can only
pray like this because God's Word, like a lantern, enlightens and sanctifies
our innate urge for survival, and we realize instead: that's not who we truly
are. We do not want to kill. We want to live and let live, we want to support
and care, and create and reconcile. We feel sorry for the suffering we have
caused, just as we are sorry for the harm humanity brings about God's beautiful
garden.
Our generation is facing incredible environmental
challenges. If we don't find the plug soon, we risk to desert the very garden
that nourishes us. But we change ourselves with flaming appeals with shoulds
and don'ts. I found powerful what Gus
Speth, US professor of environmental law said:
"I used to think that top environmental problems were biodiversity
loss, ecosystem collapse and climate change.
I thought that thirty years of good science could address these
problems. I was wrong. The top
environmental problems are selfishness, greed and apathy, and to deal with
these we need a cultural and spiritual transformation. And we scientists don't
know how to do that."
What we need is a cultural and spiritual transformation! In
other words: We need to be renewed in our thinking and our feeling and our
living by the very same Creator Spirit who has created us in the first place
who breathes in everything that has breath, who suffers with us and rejoices
with us, who prays with us and praises with us.
God's Holy Spirit: who is the lover of life.
And therefore, I don't want to stop gardening: Because that
is what we are called to be: gardeners,
called to "till it and keep", to take care of this piece of land: of
this community, of this congregation, of our home.
We are gardeners, hoping for new beginnings. And so I pray
that God give us strength and wisdom, to plug the holes where the thick pitch
is gushing out and black spiders are slipping through. When I pray: Thy will be
done, I want to practice non-violence, as good as I can.
When I pray: Your Kingdom come, I will still hope for people
who have a spark of common sense. I won't stop singing under the shower and
humming when I walk through the neighborhood, because despite everything I see
God's hand at work. Some may find this naive, but that doesn't bother me. Because in the end, even ants, drain flies
and mosquitoes in their very own way are praising their creator. And someday we, too, will come to this
conclusion: "It was very good."
(Sermon held on 9/18/2018)
Prayer: Creator of all things seen and unseen, you blew the
Spirit of Christ into apostles and disciple senslaved by sin, freeing your
people from death and captivating us with your steadfast love. In your Spirit,
let us show the peace of Christ to a world of violence, share the bread of
heaven with a world of hunger, offer springs of living water to a world of
pollution, and lead the way of truth and life with the gifts of faith, hope,
and love until you bring the fullness of your new creation. Amen
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