Today we consider the power of storms. God created this world in balance and set in motion the intricate machinery of our climate. Like the seas, we can sense the power held within a storm. It makes sense that we might equate the power and intensity of the storm with the power of God.
Looking to Psalm 29 we see how the Psalmist starts with the idea of God within the storm and then finally moves beyond that idea to the God that comforts us and strengthens us in the face of life's storms.
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I don't know about anyone else, but I love a good thunderstorm.
When I was in high school, my family had a pop-up camper trailer that sat in the yard by the house when we weren’t on a camping trip. I remember that most summers, we had a chance of storms coming through nearly everyday. Many times, the clouds would build with lots of lightning and thunder before it actually rained.
As the storms would build, I would go lay out on top of the camper and just look up at the clouds and watch the lightning jump around in the sky. Many times, it would look like fingers shooting out from one cloud to wrap around another. Or you would just see the flashes of the lightning buried deep inside the cloud, giving them an eerie glow.
Season of Creation: Fauna and Flora Sunday
Continuing the series kicked off last week, the Season of Creation, we turn this week more explicitly to our place in creation alongside the plants and the animals. Continuing to read from Psalm 104 (Psalm 104:14-23, CEB), we look at God's creation of the plants and animals, the balance that God created in this world, and our own place as a part of creation.
* * *
Last week, we kicked off a new series focused on creation and the work of our Creator. We talked about this wonderful world that God has created and placed us in. We talked about the might of God in shaping this world and providing it with structure. We talked about the oceans and the seas, waters that God has given a place, but waters which also can stray from those places. We talked about how water can be both destructive and life-giving. And we talked about our role as stewards of God’s creation.
Today we turn from the seas to the land. Specifically we consider the plants and animals that inhabit the land. In today’s text we pick up Psalm 104 again but starting in verse 14. The beginning of the Psalm relates to to the seas but then the Psalmist turns our attention to the grasses that feed the cattle and the plants that support our own life. Verse 14 here again echoes back to the story of creation in Genesis 1, so we will take a look at Genesis again in a moment. But first I want us to note what the Psalmist does next.
The Psalmist makes it clear that the plants exist for our lives, not merely our sustenance. Life for humans is meant to be about more than mere survival; life is about enjoyment. The Psalmist tells us that God has made “plants for human farming” but not just so that we may have food. We also get wine to cheer us and gladden us, oil to make our faces shine, and bread to sustain ourselves.
Now, I’m not trying to advocate going out after church, downing a bottle of wine, pouring oil all over your face, and then chowing down on a loaf of bread. But what the Psalmist is making clear is that we are meant to enjoy life and enjoy this creation that God has made us a part of. The Psalmist could simply have stopped with reminding us that God made “plants for human farming in order to get food from the ground.” This would have been in keeping with the rest of the passage which talks about the ways in which the plants provide nourishment and shelter for the animals. Instead the Psalmist makes it clear that joy and cheerfulness is also part of God’s intention for us.
From there the Psalmist goes on to point out all the ways in which God has provided for the animals. The trees provide homes for birds, the mountains provide homes for goats and badgers. God created the seasons and night and day to order our lives, to give us cycles of light and dark, cycles of growth and rest. When we read this Psalm’s take on creation, we see the balance that God has built into this world in which we live.
As we noted before, this Psalm is reflecting and retelling the creation story found in Genesis 1. The writer of this Psalm is drawing on what he finds in that first creation story and balancing it with his experience of life. It is important for us to be able to see the parallels and the way the Psalmist highlights certain elements.
We are reminded in this Psalm that God did not create us as separate from the rest of creation. In fact, God didn’t even create humans first. Looking to the first chapter of Genesis, we see that God brought forth the plants on the third day. God brought forth the creatures of the sea and the birds of the sky on the fifth day. It was on the sixth day that God created all the animals of the land. And finally on that same day, “God created humanity in God’s own image, in the divine image God created them, male and female God created them” (Genesis 1:27, CEB).
We humans were the final addition to this creation. We were the final element of balance that God placed in this world. This is evident not only as we consider the balance of plants and animals, night and day, waters and land, growth and rest that God has already created up to this point. God shows that the divine image is in balance and creates us as a reflection of that balance. “God created humanity in God’s own image...male and female God created them.” We are a reflection of God’s divine image, for that is how God has created us.
God has set this world in motion, placed everything in its place and balanced them with one another. But sadly we know that this balance has been disrupted. We have seen the results of overfishing and overhunting. We have seen the results of habitat loss and the introduction of harmful chemicals. We have seen the results of human activity, where we can travel deep into the wilderness and find abandoned soda cans.
We have heard stories of the destruction currently taking place in the Amazon with vast sections of the rain forests being intentionally burned. These forests help to supply not only the Amazon region with food and shelter, but also supply a great deal of the earth’s oxygen, oxygen that we and the animals need to survive.
This is not the world that God envisioned. God created a world of balance and placed us in the center of it as stewards of that creation. To be a steward is to care for something. How have we cared for this world God has created? How have we cared for the plants and animals around us?
The truth is we do care. We try to do right by the world. And the good news is that it is not too late for us to help the world find balance again. It is not yet too late to make changes for the better. We have the ability to turn back the imbalances that humanity has caused. There are steps that we can take to heal the imbalance that has been created. And these steps themselves need not be destructive.
As I thought on this balance in creation this week and the things we can do to help the world find balance again, I was reminded of Thanos in the Marvel movies that we have seen over the last 10 years. Thanos is set up over many years as the greatest threat the universe has ever seen. He is cunning and strong and more or less unstoppable. As he is introduced we slowly learn what he wants. He is seeking the Infinity stones, primordial elements left over from creation that have the ability when united to control every aspect of creation. We learn that Thanos wishes to collect all of these stones because he wants to wipe out half of every living creature in the entire universe.
It is not until later that we learn why. Thanos finally explains that he has seen the results of population growth, of life expanding unchecked and unbalanced. He has seen people in need going hungry because resources cannot keep up with the numbers. And finally he saw his home planet destroyed and his people become extinct because they could not live life in balance.
Not wanting the rest of the universe to suffer the same fate, he decides that the only possible solution is to kill half of all life so that the half that is left will have all the resources they need and will be able to live in balance again.
Hopefully we can all see how horrific this solution is. With the power to control all of creation, Thanos could have simply created more resources so that all have enough. Or Thanos could have created the means for all life to share resources equitably so that life was again in balance. Instead, he chose death.
But when we read our stories of creation, we see that God created life. Not only that but God created life in balance. And while it is human actions that have brought things out of balance, it is also within our power to rebalance the world. God created us in the divine image and placed us here within creation as stewards of that creation. God did not create us separate from creation; God created us as a part of creation.
It is within our power to bring the world back into balance. With God's help we can take action to help the earth to flourish once more. We can change personal habits and push for protections for those parts of creation that cannot speak themselves. We can add to the beauty of God’s world by planting flowers and trees. We can live in companionship with those animals we encounter.
As we move through the world, I want to leave us with the reminder that God made us as part of creation not only for our sustenance but also for our joy. When we experience God’s creation, we can see the beauty of the flowers and trees that God has created. We can experience companionship with the animals that we share this creation with. We can look with awe on the birds as they soar and fly through the air. We can see the ways that all of creation honors God with its beauty and grandeur.
And so, let us take time to remember we are one piece of this world that God has created. We are one part of this world that God created in balance. And because each of us is created in the divine image, we are called to maintain this world of balance.
We share this world with the plants and animals that God also created. They provide us with food but also with joy.
They provide us with beauty.
They provide us with companionship.
They provide us with an example of how we can live in balance with one another.
They provide us with an example of how we can praise the Creator through beauty and the variety that that beauty can take.
May we learn to find the same balance in our own lives. And may we continue to praise our creator for all the beauty that surrounds us, just as all of creation displays the glory of God.
* * *
Last week, we kicked off a new series focused on creation and the work of our Creator. We talked about this wonderful world that God has created and placed us in. We talked about the might of God in shaping this world and providing it with structure. We talked about the oceans and the seas, waters that God has given a place, but waters which also can stray from those places. We talked about how water can be both destructive and life-giving. And we talked about our role as stewards of God’s creation.
Today we turn from the seas to the land. Specifically we consider the plants and animals that inhabit the land. In today’s text we pick up Psalm 104 again but starting in verse 14. The beginning of the Psalm relates to to the seas but then the Psalmist turns our attention to the grasses that feed the cattle and the plants that support our own life. Verse 14 here again echoes back to the story of creation in Genesis 1, so we will take a look at Genesis again in a moment. But first I want us to note what the Psalmist does next.
The Psalmist makes it clear that the plants exist for our lives, not merely our sustenance. Life for humans is meant to be about more than mere survival; life is about enjoyment. The Psalmist tells us that God has made “plants for human farming” but not just so that we may have food. We also get wine to cheer us and gladden us, oil to make our faces shine, and bread to sustain ourselves.
Now, I’m not trying to advocate going out after church, downing a bottle of wine, pouring oil all over your face, and then chowing down on a loaf of bread. But what the Psalmist is making clear is that we are meant to enjoy life and enjoy this creation that God has made us a part of. The Psalmist could simply have stopped with reminding us that God made “plants for human farming in order to get food from the ground.” This would have been in keeping with the rest of the passage which talks about the ways in which the plants provide nourishment and shelter for the animals. Instead the Psalmist makes it clear that joy and cheerfulness is also part of God’s intention for us.
From there the Psalmist goes on to point out all the ways in which God has provided for the animals. The trees provide homes for birds, the mountains provide homes for goats and badgers. God created the seasons and night and day to order our lives, to give us cycles of light and dark, cycles of growth and rest. When we read this Psalm’s take on creation, we see the balance that God has built into this world in which we live.
As we noted before, this Psalm is reflecting and retelling the creation story found in Genesis 1. The writer of this Psalm is drawing on what he finds in that first creation story and balancing it with his experience of life. It is important for us to be able to see the parallels and the way the Psalmist highlights certain elements.
We are reminded in this Psalm that God did not create us as separate from the rest of creation. In fact, God didn’t even create humans first. Looking to the first chapter of Genesis, we see that God brought forth the plants on the third day. God brought forth the creatures of the sea and the birds of the sky on the fifth day. It was on the sixth day that God created all the animals of the land. And finally on that same day, “God created humanity in God’s own image, in the divine image God created them, male and female God created them” (Genesis 1:27, CEB).
We humans were the final addition to this creation. We were the final element of balance that God placed in this world. This is evident not only as we consider the balance of plants and animals, night and day, waters and land, growth and rest that God has already created up to this point. God shows that the divine image is in balance and creates us as a reflection of that balance. “God created humanity in God’s own image...male and female God created them.” We are a reflection of God’s divine image, for that is how God has created us.
God has set this world in motion, placed everything in its place and balanced them with one another. But sadly we know that this balance has been disrupted. We have seen the results of overfishing and overhunting. We have seen the results of habitat loss and the introduction of harmful chemicals. We have seen the results of human activity, where we can travel deep into the wilderness and find abandoned soda cans.
We have heard stories of the destruction currently taking place in the Amazon with vast sections of the rain forests being intentionally burned. These forests help to supply not only the Amazon region with food and shelter, but also supply a great deal of the earth’s oxygen, oxygen that we and the animals need to survive.
This is not the world that God envisioned. God created a world of balance and placed us in the center of it as stewards of that creation. To be a steward is to care for something. How have we cared for this world God has created? How have we cared for the plants and animals around us?
The truth is we do care. We try to do right by the world. And the good news is that it is not too late for us to help the world find balance again. It is not yet too late to make changes for the better. We have the ability to turn back the imbalances that humanity has caused. There are steps that we can take to heal the imbalance that has been created. And these steps themselves need not be destructive.
As I thought on this balance in creation this week and the things we can do to help the world find balance again, I was reminded of Thanos in the Marvel movies that we have seen over the last 10 years. Thanos is set up over many years as the greatest threat the universe has ever seen. He is cunning and strong and more or less unstoppable. As he is introduced we slowly learn what he wants. He is seeking the Infinity stones, primordial elements left over from creation that have the ability when united to control every aspect of creation. We learn that Thanos wishes to collect all of these stones because he wants to wipe out half of every living creature in the entire universe.
It is not until later that we learn why. Thanos finally explains that he has seen the results of population growth, of life expanding unchecked and unbalanced. He has seen people in need going hungry because resources cannot keep up with the numbers. And finally he saw his home planet destroyed and his people become extinct because they could not live life in balance.
Not wanting the rest of the universe to suffer the same fate, he decides that the only possible solution is to kill half of all life so that the half that is left will have all the resources they need and will be able to live in balance again.
Hopefully we can all see how horrific this solution is. With the power to control all of creation, Thanos could have simply created more resources so that all have enough. Or Thanos could have created the means for all life to share resources equitably so that life was again in balance. Instead, he chose death.
But when we read our stories of creation, we see that God created life. Not only that but God created life in balance. And while it is human actions that have brought things out of balance, it is also within our power to rebalance the world. God created us in the divine image and placed us here within creation as stewards of that creation. God did not create us separate from creation; God created us as a part of creation.
It is within our power to bring the world back into balance. With God's help we can take action to help the earth to flourish once more. We can change personal habits and push for protections for those parts of creation that cannot speak themselves. We can add to the beauty of God’s world by planting flowers and trees. We can live in companionship with those animals we encounter.
As we move through the world, I want to leave us with the reminder that God made us as part of creation not only for our sustenance but also for our joy. When we experience God’s creation, we can see the beauty of the flowers and trees that God has created. We can experience companionship with the animals that we share this creation with. We can look with awe on the birds as they soar and fly through the air. We can see the ways that all of creation honors God with its beauty and grandeur.
And so, let us take time to remember we are one piece of this world that God has created. We are one part of this world that God created in balance. And because each of us is created in the divine image, we are called to maintain this world of balance.
We share this world with the plants and animals that God also created. They provide us with food but also with joy.
They provide us with beauty.
They provide us with companionship.
They provide us with an example of how we can live in balance with one another.
They provide us with an example of how we can praise the Creator through beauty and the variety that that beauty can take.
May we learn to find the same balance in our own lives. And may we continue to praise our creator for all the beauty that surrounds us, just as all of creation displays the glory of God.
[Image description: Image of a golden stylized tree with blue and red birds in the branches. White letters are superimposed over the image with the quote: "Once upon a time...there was the simple understanding that to sing at dawn and to sing at dusk was to heal the world through joy. The birds still remember what we have forgotten, that the world is meant to be celebrated. - Terry Tempest Williams"]
Season of Creation: Ocean Sunday
Today we enter into the Season of Creation, a season focused on God as creator and the many aspects of God's creation. Through the next few weeks, we will take our cue from the Psalms as we honor God and think about our own place and role as a part of creation. What does it mean to be a part of this created world? What does it mean to be stewards of all God has created?
On this first Sunday, we look to part of Psalm 104 as we remember the oceans and seas that cover large portions of the Earth (see Psalm 104:1-9, 24-26). This Psalm summarizes parts of Genesis in regards to creation and the seas and serves as a good place to start this season together.
* * *
Now some of us may be familiar with the more traditional seasons of the church year. We know something about Advent and Lent, our seasons of preparation for the big celebrations of Christmas and Easter. And of course, Christmas and Easter exist as seasons in the church as well, extending beyond the single day celebrations our culture might suggest. And then we can't forget Ordinary time, a season split in two that covers over half of the calendar year. Technically it is one big broken up season though it is sometimes treated as a season of Epiphany and a season of Pentecost.
On this first Sunday, we look to part of Psalm 104 as we remember the oceans and seas that cover large portions of the Earth (see Psalm 104:1-9, 24-26). This Psalm summarizes parts of Genesis in regards to creation and the seas and serves as a good place to start this season together.
* * *
Now some of us may be familiar with the more traditional seasons of the church year. We know something about Advent and Lent, our seasons of preparation for the big celebrations of Christmas and Easter. And of course, Christmas and Easter exist as seasons in the church as well, extending beyond the single day celebrations our culture might suggest. And then we can't forget Ordinary time, a season split in two that covers over half of the calendar year. Technically it is one big broken up season though it is sometimes treated as a season of Epiphany and a season of Pentecost.