Sermon                 Genesis 1 and Psalm 24                       Theme: Global Stewardship

About this:

I prepared this sermon for the URC church in my village, for a service about Global Stewardship, in the pre-Covid world.  In thinking about which of the talks I have prepared to share first on ‘Words and Musings’ I was drawn to this because it is about how faith and our care for planet earth are intricately linked.  This is something that I feel and know at a gut level. 

The fear that a lot of us experience as we think about the future of our planet is very real.  I have tried to be honest about this.  I have also recently listened to a podcast that didn’t talk about living beyond the fear but about not being afraid of fear.  Our fear is there to teach us, and I think part of my current learning is to listen to my fear and learn from it.

The sermon has been edited so that, hopefully, it makes sense as you read it. There are links to the Bible passages in case you want to refer to them.

Please comment and share.

Links for the Readings:

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+1&version=MSG

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+24&version=NIVUK

Our theme for today is global stewardship.  Stewardship is to do with our responsibility to look after what we have been given, and in thinking about global stewardship we are focusing on the fact that God gave us this planet on which we live, and he gave us the responsibility to look after it. 

We don’t have to look too far in the news to see that we have not done a good job of this.  Unfortunately, there are many problems that we are facing because of our lack of care for the planet. 

In our Genesis reading we find that at the end of that sixth day of creation:

³¹ God looked over everything he had made;
        it was so good, so very good!

These words remind me of the tales of Narnia when the children go back with Aslan and witness the beginning of the world.  We overuse some words, but witnessing creation surely was awesome.  Seeing the beauty that God created come into being.  And even though we weren’t there we can, and do, experience that same awe.  When we look at the immensity of God’s creation – the beauty of mountains, rivers, the ocean, the stars – and when we look at the detail of God’s creation – the markings on animals, the intricate structures of flowers, the shine of a conker.  God looked over everything he made, and it was so good, so very good.

That is where we started, and this is where we have come - to the world we live in today.  A world where fires are raging; animal and plant species are becoming extinct on an alarming scale; where pollution is everywhere – in the air, the water, the land; where people suffer from the ravages of war, from natural disasters, from poverty, from the effects of climate change.  It is not good, it is not very good at all.

The story of creation in Genesis is familiar and it clearly states that God gave us responsibility for his creation.  When God created human beings, he said (in the Message version of the Bible):

“Prosper! Reproduce! Fill Earth! Take charge!
    Be responsible for fish in the sea and birds in the air,
        for every living thing that moves on the face of Earth.”

God gave humanity the responsibility to look after the creatures that he had created.  And Genesis chapter 2:15 builds on this when it says that God put man in the Garden of Eden to ‘work it and take care of it’.  God put his creation in our hands – we were put in charge.

We should remember at this point that being put in charge is not the same thing as owning.  We have a responsibility here. God didn’t give us this amazing planet and say – it’s yours, do what you like with it.  God put us in charge to look after the planet.  Psalm 24 begins:

The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it,

The world, and all who live in it.

The earth is not ours: it does not belong to us.  The earth is the Lord’s and we are stewards of this amazing place.  And unfortunately we have made a right mess of it.

It does make you think – why on earth did God put us in charge? Out of all the creatures why did he choose us?

To find the answer to this we need to go back to our Genesis passage.  When God decided to create mankind he said:

“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 reason God put us in charge is because he made us in his image and to reflect his nature.  That is how he made us: that is how we are made.  And that doesn’t just go for those of us sat here this morning, it doesn’t just go for those who call themselves Christians, that goes for every human being on the planet; those alive today and those who have lived.  Each one made in the image of God with the ability to reflect his nature.

As people of faith - people who recognise a creator God: recognise him in his creation from the smallest creature to the magnificence of the highest mountain - as people of faith we have work to do here.

We have individual spiritual work to do.  Because God has made you and me in his image: we have a piece of God inside us and we have the potential to reflect his very nature.  And do we do that?  Do people know you are a Christian by your love?  The honest truth is that we fall short.  Love is not something that you can manufacture; it is not something that you can pretend to have.  We need to do that deep spiritual work so that we can reflect God’s love which will never come back empty.

I am struck by how Psalm 24 develops, going from:

“The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it, the world and all who live in it”

To:

“Who may ascend the hill of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart…”

The earth is the Lord’s and if we are to fulfil our responsibility to care for it we need to work on our spiritual lives.  We need to seek God’s face.  We need to come to him with clean hands and a pure heart, so that we can reflect his love.

But please don’t stop there, and please don’t think that your first responsibility is your spiritual health and until you have that sorted out you can’t tackle the other problems that we face.  Because, ironically, in order to come to God with clean hands we may have to get our hands very dirty.

Life is very complicated, everything is tied together, and as much as we want to be able to separate things out and deal with them one by one, that is just not the way things are.

Our spiritual life and our spiritual health are tied up with our everyday life.  And our everyday life is tied up with the everyday lives of every single creature on this planet, every human being, and the future of the planet itself.

So as I work on my spiritual health I also need to actively engage with my God-given responsibility to care for this planet and all who live on it.  As my relationship with God deepens my care for the planet will grow, as my care for the planet grows my relationship with God will deepen.  The two things are intricately tied together.

The responsibility we have is overwhelming, especially in the light of the current state of our planet.  I think that’s the reason why many of us shy away from thinking about it too much, from taking on what it really means, from making the changes that we need to make.  But as people of faith we need to grapple with these issues if we are serious about wanting to reflect God’s love.

I don’t know how much you know and understand about the climate emergency that we face – I don’t want to assume knowledge or lack of knowledge, so let me talk briefly from a personal perspective.

The future that we face on our planet earth scares me.  I do my best to not live in that fear, but it does scare me.  And when I listen to the news – which to be honest I do less and less – it makes my heart break to hear of the destruction, pollution, extinction of the natural world, and to hear of desperate lives – people in slavery, in poverty, in conflict.  It is bleak.

And yet I know deeper within me that God is love, and God lives in me.  And perfect love drives out all fear.  My deep desire is to live beyond the fear, to live in God’s love and to act in order to bring that love into the world.

I’m not in that place so I am working on myself spiritually – I know I need that work – to understand myself better and to nurture the kingdom of God which is inside me.

And I am doing my best to not turn my back on the news and to take action where and when I can, be it: joining a demonstration; changing my shopping habits; having a difficult conversation; writing to my MP.  I am aware that we need to be acting locally and on a global level.  I am aware that there are things I can do as an individual and times I need to join with bigger groups of people.

I cannot believe that God – who is love – likes what is going on in our world.  I cannot believe that God would wish us to carry on regardless, whilst other humans suffer, whilst the planet burns and creation groans.  I believe that God calls us to reflect his nature, to reflect love and to act to manifest his love.

This is a hard message but please don’t ignore it.  Please don’t think it’s all too much and it’s all too frightening.  Because God loves you, God is at work in you and he wants you to take this seriously.  Because in doing so you will not just be making an impact on the world around you, you will be making an impact on your own spiritual health.

We are made in the image and likeness of God – let’s do the honest spiritual work to nurture that likeness.  We are given responsibility for this planet and the whole of creation – let’s take our responsibility seriously.

The end of Psalm 24 says:

Lift up your heads, O you gates; Lift them up you ancient doors, that the King of Glory may come in.  Who is he, this king of glory?  The Lord almighty – he is the king of glory.

Lift up your heads, open your ancient doors – let the king of glory in.  Reflect his love.  Take on the responsibility he has given you.

The spiritual work that needs to happen in you, you need to do.  Please don’t forget that challenge – don’t put it to one side – it is so important.

But hopefully you’ve seen that that work is tied up with the way we live day by day, in a way that takes responsibility for our planet.  That can be overwhelming, but can also start with small steps: is there a small step you can take today?