[Propertalk] Fwd: [propertalk.topic] Sermon for Trinity Sunda

[Joe Parrish]

Forwarded:



-----Original Message-----
From: Judy <judy_boli at ecunet.org>
To: propertalk.topic <propertalk.topic at ecunet.org>
Sent: Sat, Jun 14, 2014 4:19 pm
Subject: [propertalk.topic] Sermon for Trinity Sunda



Dear Friends,
 
This Sunday’s sermon is entitled “Get Your Hands Off My Dirt!” anddeals with the Old Testament lesson (Genesis 1:1- 2:4a).  Here it is:
 
Todayis Trinity Sunday, the day in the church year when we honor God- Father, Son,and Holy Spirit.  Since we heard thestory of creation from Genesis (1:1- 2:4a) as our Old Testament lesson, we’regoing to do that this morning by focusing on the mind-blowing creation that ourGod has created and our responsibility in caring for it.  So- you know I’m a retired schoolteacher-test time: how are you doing in accepting that responsibility and caring forGod’s creation?
 
FIRST THE FACTS: did you notice when God createdhumans, he gave us authority over the whole planet, especially the livingthings?  Now, some people assume thatauthority means we can do whatever we want with God’s beautiful creation.  You can easily identify these kinds ofpeople- they throw litter out of their car windows, drop candy or gum wrappersas they unwrap the goodies, spread pesticide over their yards without checkingthe directions on the container.  If theyown a factory, they pollute the air and increase the incidence of asthma, lungcancer, and God-only knows what else. That’s not how God intends for us to exercise authority over hisEarth.  Think how God expects us toexercise authority over the children he has loaned us.  We are to exercise authority over the Earthexactly as we exercise authority over our children.  With our children- we love and nurture them,keep them clean, watch over them, and provide for their every need.  God expects us to care for his Earth, nurtureit, keep it clean, watch over it, and provide for its needs so it will behealthy, fruitful, and beautiful for our children and grandchildren.  How do we do this?
 
NOW TO DERIVE THE WISDOM FROM THE FACTS: Do youknow where to start to test yourself? Look at your yard.  Does it looklike you care about it, or is it full of junk, litter, overgrown grass, andbare spots where flowers or grass should be growing?  I can just hear you now- “It’s not mylawn!  It’s not my back yard!  I rent, and I’m not doing anything for thatcheap landlord!”  Or- if you own your ownhome, it’s easy to say- “This land is mine. I can do with it as I choose!” Wait a minute.  Did your landlordcreate that front yard?  If you own yourown home, did you create your back yard? I think not.  Your landlorddoesn’t own that land; you don’t own that land; God owns that land and we’rethe managers taking care of it for God. Can people look at your front yard, your back yard, the roads youtravel- and tell you love God by how carefully you care for his art work?  If not, you’re flunking one of your spiritualtests- so far.  What to do?  When you get home, take a hard look at whereyou live, especially the outside area. What’s ugly?  Fix it.  Put some grass and flower seeds down, pick upthe junk, teach our children to care for God’s earth- starting with their ownyard.  And for those of us who still havea good back and a little bit of time- look around at your neighbors’property.  Are any of your neighbors tooold or sickly to keep up with the yard work? Help them.  Do you see junk on thesidewalk or in the parking lot?  Pick itup.  I know you didn’t throw it down, Iknow people will look at you as if you’re crazy- but love God enough to takecare of his stuff, his creation.  
 
Do you recall the story of the scientists whochallenged God to a person-making contest? One day a group of scientists got together and decided that human beingshad come a long way and no longer needed God. They picked one scientist to goand tell God that they were done with Him. The scientist walked up to God andsaid, “God, we've decided that we no longer need you. We're to the point thatwe can clone people and do many miraculous things, so why don't you just go onand get lost.” God listened patiently and kindly to the man and after thescientist was done talking, God said, “Very well! How about this? Let's have aman-making contest.”   To which the manreplied, “OK, great!”   But God added,“Now we're going to do this just like I did back in the old days with Adam.”   The scientist said, “Sure, no problem,” andbent down and grabbed himself a handful of dirt.  God just looked at him and said, “No, no, no!Get your hands off my dirt!” It’s not your back yard; it’s not my front yard;this beautiful planet doesn’t belong to us. It’s God’s world on loan to us.
 
ONCE AGAIN, FIRST THE FACTS: I’d like to call yourattention to one more way we flunk our spiritual test.  Look at the first lesson again, Genesis 1:29-30 (p.4).  What did God give us to eatwhen we were first created?  (Takeanswers.)  Sure- plants- fruits, grain,greens.  At that time, did God give humanspermission to eat animals?  No.  After the fall, God expected Adam and Eve tokill animals to cover their nakedness. Humankind was expected to sacrifice alamb or other animal so its blood could cover their sins. However, it was onlyafter the flood that we were given permission to take animal life for our ownfood.  Relax- I’m not trying to turn usall into vegetarians.  If we want to, wecan all go home after church today and have our Fathers’ Day picnic and eat ourbarbecue!  After all- we constantly heardof Jesus eating fish and performing miracles with them; and many of hisdisciples were fisherman.  But there is amessage, a principle for us in this.  TheIsraelites respected all forms of life. Their practices were very much like those of the American Indians.  Any animal life they killed, especiallydomesticated animals, was considered a sacrifice.  The blood was drained (like orthodox Jews dotoday and then mark the meat as “kosher”), and what they considered the bestpart- the fat- was offered to God at the altar. That’s why we read in the Bible of a “sweet-smelling sacrifice”- a smelllike the outside of McDonalds or Kentucky Fried Chicken wafting up to God.  Only the rich gorged themselves day after dayon huge amounts of animal meat- and the prophets scorned them in God’s name asbeing wasteful.  The common people atemeat sparingly- a little meat and a lot of fruits, vegetables, and grains.  What amazes me is this- doctors havediscovered that is the healthiest way to eat- it’s the way our digestive tractmust have been designed by our Master Creator.
 
ONCE AGAIN, NOW TO DERIVE THE WISDOM FROM THEFACTS: What about you?  Do you respectall animal life like God taught the Israelites? Do you buy more meat than you can possible use and then let it spoil, ordo you give away what you cannot use?  Doyou gorge yourself day after day on meat? When your meal includes meat or fish, do you remember to thank God forthe animal life that was sacrificed so you can have health and energyyourself?  If you hunt or fish, do youkill as quickly and painlessly as possible and then only kill what you caneat?  Have you ever seen someonepurposely aim their car to hit a squirrel, a cat, or another of God’screatures?  If so, do you speak up- evenif it costs you a friend or makes you look stupid in someone’s eyes?  Do you speak up against cruelty in all itsforms?  If you own a pet, do you care forit well even if doing so is inconvenient? Do you let your dog run wild to run in traffic and possibly attack childrenor animals?  Do you speak up against dogand rooster fights?
 
Iknow you’re about to say- Rev. Judy, you’re expecting a lot.  No, I’m not- GOD is expecting a lot.  Did you notice the thought for the week onthe back page of the bulletin…“People maydoubt what you say, but they will believe what you do” (Anonymous).  So don’t just talk about loving and honoringGod. Start today to grow a little more spiritually by obeying God.  Check out your yard.  Plant some flowers.  Pick up some paper.  Take care of all of God’s creatures.  May God- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit blessus all as we nourish and care for God’s beautiful planet Earth.
 
For anyone who is interested, this sermon and updatedAfrican-American wisdom statements are posted on our parish’s NEW WEB SITEunder “Sermons & Stuff”. The address is: http://www.stpaulsepisag.org .
 
Blessed preaching,
Judy Boli
St. Paul's Episcopal Church
Saginaw, Michigan

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