May Newsletter Entry: Christians and the Environmnetal (Green) Movement

John Muir, son of a Presbyterian Minister, poet and defender of creation, sits and ponders his next quotable phrase.

As Christians, we sometimes aren’t sure what to think about things like Earth Day and environmentalism and the proliferation of “Green” products and services in our society. If we join the cause, does that mean we will soon find ourselves living in a tent in Oregon, eating soy burgers and chaining ourselves to redwood trees? Maybe, but those are all things we associate with the “environmental movement.” Christians may be a part of that, but the main difference is that we are not so much concerned with “saving the Earth” as we are with caring for Creation.

We know that one day God will save the Earth and all within it, creating a new heaven and a new earth (Rev. 21:1). It is not up to us to save the creation, but to be a part of it, to care for it, and to enjoy it. The Creation is first of all something that God created, and being created by God it contains and reflects the creativity, beauty, and wisdom of its Creator. That alone is incentive for us to want to treat it with respect and even reverence, for it is not simply the background of our lives, but is a medium for God’s Word to us – “The heavens declare the glory of God” (Psalm 19:1 – Good psalm on this topic).

This isn’t hippie talk – unless you consider Jesus to be a hippie. He points our attention to the creation, “Consider the lilies of the field…” He took personal time in the mountains to pray. He often taught about God’s kingdom by pointing to things in the creation from farming and fishing to fig trees and seeds. Paul tells us in Colossians that “in [Christ] all things in heaven and on earth were created…and have been created through him and for him…and in him all things hold together” (1:16-17).

So is it up to us to save the earth? Not really. But it is our joy and blessed opportunity to care for it, to enjoy it, and to see God’s beauty in it. And if we want our children and grandchildren to be able to worship God in the many temples of forest and mountain, lake and stream, then we have reason enough to do what we can. The great environmentalist John Muir, while campaigning to preserve the redwoods of West Coast wrote: “Through all the wonderful, eventful centuries God has cared for these trees, saved them from drought, disease, avalanches, and a thousand straining, leveling tempests and floods; but he cannot save them from fools.” Let us join God in caring for these wonders that worship God with effortless obedience and simple beauty, so that, with God’s help, we might be more like them.

Another Look: "Balancing Act"

Recap
Last week through Jesus' interaction with Thomas we learned about faith and doubt.
This week (yesterday) through Jesus' interaction with Peter we learned about sin and redemption.

Peter of "three denials."
Jesus giving him three chances to express his love and faith by asking, "Peter, do you love me?"
This way, Peter gets to hear himself speak the words, "yes, I love you," one time for every time he spoke "I do not know this man" back during Jesus' passion.

the balance between the two encounters is really quite amazing and beautiful and reminds us of God's mercy - how it always gives us another chance, how it matches our sin and then goes beyond.

The Braves...

are very bad right now. But the way Bobby Cox treats his players is a nice analogy for the mercy of God.

Consider Troy Glaus (and of course the lillies of the field.. the first baseman of the field?)

Playing pretty bad right now, doesn't deserve to be on the field - but Bobby keeps giving him a chance. The other night vs. the Phillies, Glaus was having a horrible game, Bobby left him in and he hit a 2 run homerun in the 9th to begin a rally that would win the game a little later.

The reason this reminds us of God's mercy is that God does not "pull us out of the game" because of our failures, but he keeps giving us chances, keeps forgiving us, keeps giving us a way out so that we aren't prisoners to our failures and our past.

So What?

The real practical thrust of this passage and the sermon is not to let our sins make us prisoners of our past, of guilt and shame - don't hide like Peter when he jumped out of the boat when he noticed Jesus nearby. Come to God with all the weight of your sin and your past and let him take it from you and replace it with forgiveness and peace. Even if we don't come to him, like we see with Jesus going to Peter and initiating the conversation, God will call us out our darkness and into his light.

Jesus ends his redemptive encounter with Peter by giving him some direction, "follow me."

In bumper sticker form: "Don't Wallow; Just Follow"

Another Look - "Faithful Doubt"

The sermon yesterday on "Faithful Doubt" explored the notion that John's account of "doubting Thomas" has something to teach disciples of Jesus about faith - and faith's relation to doubt.

I love the doubting Thomas story because it gives us all a chance to relax a little bit and realize that doubt is okay. Thomas doubts, he's blunt about it, and Jesus meets his doubt and unbelief with just the thing he needs. The story gives us permission to voice our doubts and questions to God, and gives us reason to believe that God will, in some way, in some time, answer our doubts and questions - either with evidence (the marks of the nails in Jesus hands) or by simply strengthening our faith in such a way that we trust God's wisdom and goodness even if we cannot understand God's ways (for example, Hurricane Katrina or the earthquake in Haiti).

Key Quotes:
"Doubts are the ants in the pants of faith. They keep it awake and moving."
- Frederick Buechner, "Beyond Words"
"Faith has reasons that reason does not know."
- Heard it before but cannot find the source. The point is that faith is not unreasonable or irrational, but that faith is deeper than reason - meaning that it is not just a matter of the mind but of the heart and the soul as well.

Good Songs about Doubt:
"Doubting Thomas" by Nickel Creek on album "This Side."
"In My Bones" by Andy Gullahorn on "The Law of Gravity."
Some lyrics from "In My Bones":

I was serious as a heart attack
when I came to you with the doubts I had
I never heard an answer back,
but I feel it in my bones.

When my mind wants to see some proof
My heart knows its no use
when I feel it in my bones...

A great, theologically astute and honest album. I highly recommend.
Check it out here.

Proofs of God
As promised, here is a link to more arguments for the existence of God.I did not mean to dismiss these arguments - as arguments they are pretty good. My point was that our belief in God, or our faith, is not based on arguments and logic and reason the kind of mathematical thinking that these proofs consist of. Our faith consists in following Christ - as whole people, and loving God with heart, mind, soul, and strength.

Another Look

In this space I will re-examine the sermon from the previous Sunday. I may make clarifications of something I thought was confusing, or I may try to restate the main idea in case it got obscured among the elements. The real advantage of this blog format is that I can post pictures and videos of things that I discuss in the sermon that I can only describe with words from the pulpit. I may also include illustrations or practical applications from the sermon that I had to leave out due to length.

Posts that address the sermons will be titled, "Another Look."

Last week I was on a refreshing vacation, but the week before - Easter Sunday - I spoke about the sad, little fig tree in our yard and about its magnificent green leaves. Here is a photo of that tree: