Season of Creation: River Sunday

Over the month of September, we have been celebrating the Season of Creation. This is a relatively recent season of the church year, recognized as a time to focus specifically on all that God has created and our place within that creation.

Turning to Revelation 22:1-5 this week, we focus on the life-giving rivers that are a part of our world.

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We started this Season of Creation at the beginning of September with verses from the first book of the Bible. It somehow seems fitting that we should end the season with a text from the last book of the Christian Bible, Revelation. This vision attributed to John brings us a view of a new creation. 

In Genesis, the river that fed the Garden flowed from Eden. This river watered the Garden, including the Tree of Life. After watering the Garden, this river branched out to form the four most important rivers of the region where the Hebrews lived. 

In the new Jerusalem of John’s vision, the river flows from the throne of God and the Lamb. It flows down the center of the main street where it is easy for all people to receive. The Tree of Life grows on either side of the river and provides fruit and healing for the nations.

The kingdom of God that John saw in his vision is not only of a new paradise, a new Garden. It is also a critique of the injustices perpetrated by Rome across the empire. In the face of violence and bloodshed, it offers a vision of well-being and peace based in God’s love for all of us. Instead of walls cutting off the source of life and healing from the people most in need, the River of Life flows down the center of the main street where all can gain access. Instead of being hoarded and kept only for certain peoples, the tree of life has leaves that provide healing for all nations. In the face of pain and violence and despair, this glimpse into God’s kingdom offers a vision of hope for all people. And all centered around the life-giving river.

I love the imagery in this text of the river of life-giving water flowing down the center of the street. This image reminded me of San Antonio, Texas. I don’t know if any of you have had an opportunity to visit there, but in the center of the city is a natural bend in the river. Nearly 100 years ago, the city began a project to line this part of the river with walkways. People can stroll along the banks of this river that brings life and greenery to the middle of an area that is otherwise rather dry and barren. It is a beautiful sight to see if you ever get the chance, and it is an example of the vision of hope in our reading.

Rivers like this one figure prominently throughout the Bible, and they are often places of importance. Many times, rivers are places of healing and salvation. In Egypt, Moses is saved when he is placed in the Nile in a basket of reeds. The Hebrew people enter the land of Israel by crossing the Jordan River. Naaman the Syrian, a foreigner and general of an enemy army, is healed after the prophet Elisha directs him to bathe in the Jordan River. 

Rivers are also places where people encounter God. Jacob famously wrestles all through the night with God along the banks of a river. As we read last week, Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River and then visited by the Holy Spirit and God’s voice from heaven.

One of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s most frequently quoted scripture passages brings to mind a river. Part of Amos’ vision of God’s judgement, instead of festivals and offerings and songs of praise, God says that the people should “let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream” (Amos 5:24, CEB). As Dr. King reminded us, the prophet’s vision is one where the people act justly in the world as an act of praise. This vision of justice and hope flowing into the world is echoed in our reading today of the kingdom of God that is still coming into the world.

Of course, it is important for us to remember that these Biblical rivers are not just metaphorical. While Amos may be using the flowing waters as a metaphor, the other rivers are connected to real places, real rivers. The Jordan is a real river. The four rivers that flow from the Garden are real rivers in southwest Asia. The people of the Bible encountered God alongside real rivers. They depended on real rivers for life and other things just as we still do today. 

As you may recall from science class, rivers are important to God’s creation as a way of spreading nutrients from one place to another. They fertilize and provide water for farmlands. Plants and animals rely on rivers for food and water or even as a place to live. In addition to food and water, people have used water for millennia to get from one place to another. Rivers are important to our lives and our well-being.

A short distance from the church I currently serve, a life-giving river flows by. The Chattahoochee River starts up in the mountains north of Helen, GA. It fills Lake Lanier, crosses the northern part of Georgia, and continues south to eventually flow into the Gulf of Mexico as part of the Apalachicola River. The people of north Georgia enjoy the river in a variety of ways. It meanders along farmlands in the community I serve and provides water to much of the region. Like many others, I have hiked along the banks of the river nearby or gone rafting down the river on the northside of Atlanta. Others regularly go tubing on the river up near Helen or take a boat out onto one of the lakes along the river like Lake Lanier or Lake West Point. And many people spend their days fishing one part of the river or another.

Think of all that this river provides to our area. Think of all the ways in which the people of north Georgia rely on this river. It provides water, food, and even transportation. Dams along the river are used to create electricity. The river also provides us with recreational opportunities. And this is only one river in our part of the world. Rivers all over this country and this world do the same thing.

Because of all that rivers provide for us, it is important to take care of them as a part of God’s creation that we have been tasked with caring for. Beyond the Biblical mandate, we must also remember that we require fresh water for our very existence. While there are many options for food and many ways in which we can adapt to various climates and regions, water is something for which there is no other option.

And so we care for what God has provided. We care for this resource on which we rely. For many of us, this care takes place at home. We take care not to overuse water and are careful of what we add to it. When fishing or enjoying our rivers, we are careful not to throw our trash in the river.

Other times, more organization is needed. Some of you may have heard of the Chattahoochee Riverkeepers. The first group of Riverkeepers started along the Hudson River in New York state. It was a group of volunteers, mainly fishermen, who were concerned with pollution and the misuse of the area’s waterways. This grassroots organization of citizens expanded from New York, eventually becoming part of the Waterkeepers Alliance, a worldwide network of people dedicated to protecting the waterways on which we all depend for food, transportation, and clean drinking water. Here in Georgia, the Chattahoochee Riverkeeper association helps to ensure the Chattahoochee River remains clean for our present and our future.

Water is essential to our well-being in so many ways. From food to water to transportation to recreation, rivers add much to our life. And perhaps, like some of our Biblical forebears, you have had a divine encounter along the banks of a river. Maybe you have watched the power of a flowing river and imagined God’s justice flowing into our world. Or maybe rivers have provided you a place of healing and safety.

Historically, this idea of healing, protection, and salvation has been more than a metaphorical idea. From rivers used as a defensive feature of a city or a fortress, to rivers literally being a means of escape and salvation. In our nation’s history, we have at times been on the wrong side of salvation. From the colonial practice of taking land away from the peoples that were here first to the practice of enslaving others based solely on the color of their skin, we as a nation have much to atone for.

During parts of that history, rivers provided a place of gathering and a place of salvation to those who had been enslaved. Rivers became an escape route, a place to travel without leaving a scent, a place to find freedom.

The song I have chosen for reflection today likely has its origins as a slave song about escape and salvation. Slaves were known to sing songs containing coded messages for each other. It doesn’t take much imagination to hear a song about going down to the river to pray as a song about finding freedom. It is not hard to think about the starry crown of the sky overhead and the Lord God showing the way to freedom.

As this song became more common in church settings, it has also been sung during outdoor baptisms, particularly those taking place by a river. Some of you may have seen the movie, “O Brother, Where Art Thou” which contains a scene exactly like this, with a group of people going down to the water’s edge to be baptized while singing this song. 

Whether seeking physical escape from literal bondage or spiritual escape from the bonds of sin, rivers offer us a passage to salvation. Rivers offer us life, sometimes new life. Rivers are a part of God’s creation that provide for so many of our needs.

As you listen to this song, remember the importance of the many rivers in our world. Remember our dependence on all that God has provided. And remember our call to be good stewards of all that we have been given.

The one who calls us to the river offers salvation freely to us all.

Season of Creation: Wilderness Sunday

Two weeks ago, we started the Season of Creation with the book of Genesis and the trees and forests that God has surrounded us with. Last week, we saw Jesus foretelling his death and resurrection as we considered the land that God has created. This week, Matthew takes us to the beginning of Jesus’ ministry (see Matthew 3:13-4:2).

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In our text today, Jesus comes to John in order to be baptized. They have a conversation about John’s worthiness to baptize Jesus. John thinks Jesus should be baptizing him, not the other way around. Jesus tells him that in order to fulfill all righteousness, John must baptize him. So John relents and does as Jesus asks.

As Jesus comes out of the water, the heavens open and the Spirit descends like a dove. Then a voice from heaven claims Jesus as God’s son. Immediately, the Spirit drives him into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. Jesus fasted in the wilderness for forty days and forty nights.

There are several connections in this story not only to creation but also to the salvation stories of the Hebrew people. Jesus' passage through the water calls to mind both the waters of creation as well as the Hebrews’ passage through the Red Sea. The descending dove calls to mind the animals that God created as well as the dove in the flood story. Jesus’ time in the wilderness calls to mind the wild places that God has created as well as the Hebrews’ forty years in the wilderness.

And though we could go any of these directions as we consider God’s creation, it is to the wilderness we will travel today.

When you hear the word wilderness, what is the first thing to come to mind for you? What does wilderness mean to you?

Regardless of how we might define wilderness, the wilderness figures prominently in many Bible stories. As already mentioned, the Hebrew people spent forty years wandering in the wilderness. The prophets Elijah and Elisha spent time wandering in the wilderness. The ministry of John the Baptizer took place in the wilderness.

For the Hebrew people we encounter in the Bible, as with many ancient cultures, wilderness would have referred to a desolate or isolated place away from settlements. While the words of C-3PO when he looks on the sands of Tatooine and utters, “What a desolate place this is” may be the first thing to come to mind, wilderness is not necessarily devoid of plant and animal life. But it would be a place sufficiently far from settlements to be beyond easy access to food and aid in the event of danger. It is a place where people might expect to become prey, either to wildlife or to criminals. It is a place that is not necessarily hospitable to human life.

In many of the Bible stories, just as we find here in Matthew, the wilderness is a place of wandering and preparation. It is a place of cleansing and of discovery. For the Hebrew people who escaped Egypt, the wilderness was a place where they were cleansed and prepared for entry into the Promised Land. For the desert mothers and fathers of the early Christian tradition, the wilderness was a place of isolation where they strengthened their faith and reliance on God. In our story today, for Jesus, the wilderness is a place of temptation and preparation for the ministry that he had been called to.

For those of us living in the world today, many of us speak of times of isolation, longing, and growth as wilderness times. Like Jesus, we still seek isolation and solitude as an avenue to “find ourselves.” We may go into times of temptation in order to strengthen ourselves for greater trials to come. For many of us today, this is not a journey into a literal wilderness, but a journey into a social or spiritual wilderness. In some cases, a silent retreat might take on this role. It becomes a time when we strive for silence even as we might be tempted to talk that teaches us to rely more heavily on God. Or, for those who practice a Lenten fast, the temptation of participating in the activity or food that is being given up teaches us to rely more heavily on God.

But in other times it may be a time for retreat into a physical wilderness. Each year, thousands of people attempt to hike the 2,000 mile Appalachian Trail. This is out of the millions that hike some portion of it each year. Across the United States, other similar trails lead hikers through isolated areas in all sorts of terrains. Speak to any of these people, and they will likely talk about the experience in spiritual language. They are places of personal and spiritual growth where the beauty of God’s creation can be at once dangerous and inspiring.

For the peoples of Europe and the native peoples of North America, wolves were a very real threat for much of history. In other parts of the world, bears, tigers, and crocodiles still pose a regular threat to people today. In Jesus’ time, an encounter with dangerous animals was a very real threat while traveling through the wilderness. The further away one gets from human settlements and regular human travel, the more dangerous it becomes.

At the same time, the idea of wilderness evokes a sense of beauty, of nature untouched and untamed by human hands. For many of us today, this may be what we think of when we hear the word wilderness. We think of places like the Cohutta wilderness here in Georgia or the Gates of the Arctic wilderness in Alaska. These are places of protected lands and creatures where development is restricted, places that are allowed to live and grow with limited human interference. These tend to be some of the most naturally beautiful places we can imagine.

We see this type of beauty as well in our protected park lands, such as Yosemite or Yellowstone National Parks. While regularly managed and controlled by humanity’s touch, these areas are still places of wild lands and wild creatures, of great beauty and a touch of danger. They are places where we can see the beauty of God’s creation first hand, in some cases thoroughly removed from the creations of people.

These wilderness areas are places where we can often leave behind the vestiges of civilization for a time. We can turn off our phones and the other distractions we carry with us on a daily basis and allow ourselves to be inspired by the beauty of God’s handiwork. They are places where we can refresh our souls and renew our spirits. They are places where the pace of life slows down from the hustle and bustle of the lives that many of us lead.

As the most significant signs of God’s handiwork left to us, it is important to preserve and protect these areas. In an age where too many people only value a place’s monetary worth, our wilderness areas are in danger of becoming polluted and broken. The search for resources such as lumber, oil, and gold put these areas at risk. But once they are destroyed, it could take millennia for them to heal.

As we learned two weeks ago as we looked at the creation of the Garden, God values beauty. God created all the beautiful trees. God wants us to enjoy that beauty as well. There is a value in beauty, in wilderness, that no price tag can ever capture.

This is one of the reasons why still today, people go out into the wilderness. They go into the wilderness seeking beauty. And in the process, many people return from the wilderness with a better understanding of themselves.

It is this idea of journeying through the wilderness searching for ourselves that inspires the song choice this week. In the song, “A Horse With No Name,” the band America considers a man on a journey to find himself. He finds a land full of life and other things even as it is a place of isolation. It is a place where one can finally hear themselves without the interruptions and distractions of life we find in the center of civilization.

And it is easy to hear this song in connection with the scripture today and imagine the changes that Jesus went through on his own journey in the wilderness. Yes, Jesus went seeking spiritual growth, but there would have been physical consequences as well. In the song, we see the physical changes that the narrator goes through over nine days. 

First he takes notice of the wildlife that exists; this place is not empty. But he also notes the heat and the lack of clouds in the sky. By the second day, his skin has begun to burn under the onslaught of the sun. On the third day he discovers a river bed that has long been dry that brings to mind the death that all will experience eventually. By the ninth day, it sounds as if the narrator has begun to hallucinate, whether from heat or exhaustion we can’t be sure. Nine days in the wilderness and this man is burned by the sun, reminded of death, and begins to hallucinate.

And then we look to Jesus’ story and realize he spent forty days in the wilderness. What would this have been like? How would he have been changed by that experience? While we know the three temptations that concluded Jesus’ journey in the wilderness, we don’t know what the daily temptations looked like. All we really know is that the text says after forty days and nights, he was hungry

As you listen to the song below, consider what the wilderness means to us today. What is to become of the remaining areas of unspoiled beauty? What is to become of these reminders of God’s work in the world? Where are those places in our world today that you can go to refresh your soul and renew yourself for the call that God has placed on your life?

Season of Creation: Land Sunday

This week we continue our look at God's creation. God has provided us with beauty and abundance. God has provided us with beautiful and fruitful trees. And God has provided us with the land beneath our feet.

While we opened with a text from Genesis last week, today we find a much different scripture. In the Gospel of Matthew, we find Jesus foretelling his death and resurrection and speaking of the earth in which he will lie for three days (see Matthew 12:28-40).

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At first, this seems like an odd scripture for us to continue our conversation about Creation and our place in it. After all, last week, we took our text from the beginning of creation, from the book of Genesis and the creation of humans and the Garden, as we thought about the trees and forests that are a part of the world that God has placed us in. This week we turn to land, to soil, to the very earth on which we walk, and we find Jesus foreshadowing his death and resurrection.

This twelfth chapter of Matthew sees Jesus and his disciples doing what needs to be done, even as they run afoul of the religious authorities for ignoring certain parts of the religious Law. At the start of the chapter, Jesus’ disciples are hungry, so they gather grains from the field. It happens to be the Sabbath day, so they are chided for working on the Sabbath. 

Following this, Jesus entered the synagogue and the Pharisees brought a man with a withered hand to Jesus. They questioned Jesus about whether or not it is lawful to heal someone on the Sabbath, again showing more concern for the Law than for the needs of those around them. Of course, Jesus knows full well what they are doing. After making the point that anyone is allowed to do what is good on the Sabbath, he heals the man.

Jesus then went out amongst the crowds and began to heal all who were in need. At this point, the Pharisees accuse him of being in league with Satan, for who else could command the demons that Jesus is casting out.

Maybe you are beginning to sense a pattern here. The Pharisees cannot believe that one who flaunts the religious Law could possibly be from God. Finally, they demand a sign. If you are truly who you say you are, show us a sign that will prove it beyond a shadow of a doubt. But Jesus knows as well as you do at this point that there is nothing he can do that will satisfy them. He has been among them, performing signs and miracles, healing those who are in need. And yet they do not believe. If they do not already believe after all he has already done, what sign could he show them that they would believe?

And so he answers them that they will receive one certain sign, and here he makes his comparison to Jonah. As you may know, Jonah had received a calling from God to go to Nineveh to proclaim God’s judgement on them. Instead, Jonah tried to run away. He boarded a ship bound for a far off shore. But the ship became mired in bad weather, and Jonah eventually wound up in the belly of a great fish for three days, before he was spat back out onto the land. In the same way, Jesus says, the Son of Man will reside in the belly of the earth for three days before coming forth again.

Of course, the Pharisees that are questioning Jesus have no idea what this means, but we can look back and see that he is telling them what sign to watch for. Watch for the one who is buried and rises again. That is the only sign you will receive.

Now I could go on in this vein for a while, but that is not really the focus for us this week. Our focus is on the land, and so we look at what it is that Jesus foretold, the time between his death and his resurrection. We begin our conversation today with the time that Jesus spent in the belly of the earth.

Because Jesus compares this time to the time that Jonah spent in the belly of the fish, that is where we start as well. What do these two things have in common? As I considered this link, my first thought was that both of these things constitute a pause. It is a pause that ultimately brings the person in the story to their destination. It is a necessary pause even as it is an unwelcome one. Who wants to be swallowed by a fish and live three days in its belly? Who wants to die and spend three days in the ground, even if resurrection is on the other side? It reminds me of talking with my boys about some of the spiders and snakes that live around our home. Just because it won’t kill me doesn’t mean I want to get bit.

But even as it may be unwelcome or unwanted, we find that these pauses that Jonah and Jesus experience lead to something greater. For Jonah, his time in the whale gave him the opportunity to grow, to consider what it was he was called to do, and to emerge ready to follow the path placed before him. In the same way, Jesus was planted in the ground, he spent a time in the earth sufficient to overcome death, and then he arose renewed from the land. He rose from the ground with renewed purpose. He rose from the ground ready to complete the task that God had placed before him.

Perhaps now we can begin to make the connection here to the land that God has created. The ground supports us. It is in the soil that we plant our crops and grow our food. Last week, my wife, April, planted some seeds in our garden at home, and within three days some of the seeds had already sprouted, bursting forth from the earth and ready to fulfill their purpose.

In the Gospel of John, Jesus even tells a parable about seeds that sounds eerily similar. He tells how the seed must fall into the ground and die in order to grow into the stalk of wheat. He is using a process that would have been familiar to the agrarian society he was speaking to to make a point about our relationship with God. At the same time, he is also highlighting the importance of the land in that process. The wheat will not grow if it does not go into the soil. The fish may have accomplished what was needed for Jonah, but Jesus had to go into the earth for three days to accomplish what was needed.

So many things grow in the ground. For this reason, the land is important to us. God created the earth on which we walk, the land on which we live, the soil in which we plant our crops. Our lives are intimately tied to the land.

 

And yet, as with most of our relationships, our relationship with the land is complicated. If you were to ask people where hell is located, most of them would likely point down to the ground. The ground is where we plant our crops, but it is also where we bury our dead. Many people have a fear of going into the ground.

In our mythologies and fairy tales, there are always realms beneath the ground, and they are often sources of danger. For those of you who are familiar with Tolkien, you may recall Gandalf’s search for a path over the mountains so that he would not have to go through the deeps of Moria. He fears what lies under the ground. Even as the ground, the land that we thrive on, provides for us, it can also be a source of fear.

To complicate this relationship with the land even further, our modern day culture tends to drive us away from the land. In many ways, our common notions of status are measured by our distance from the land. We tend to value those members of society or those cultures in our world that are further removed from the land on which we rely, while those that live most closely with the land, from farmers to migrant workers to native cultures, are looked down upon or considered less worthy in our culture. 

But Jesus’ words and actions show us that he does not shy away from the land. He spends time among farmers and fishermen. He follows the route that leads him to three days in the earth. He accepts this as part of his ministry. He knows that God created the earth, the land, and made all the things that grow from it. The land is important to us, even if our general culture has lost sight of that at times. This land, that God has provided us, gives us all that we might need. This land that God created provides enough for all of God’s people and creatures.

As I reflected on the topic this week, I was struck by the different ways we talk about land. Sometimes when we speak of the land, we mean the ground, the earth, the soil, the place where we plant our crops and grow our food. But other times we mean a homeland, a country or a nation. We use land as a sign of belonging and security. And sometimes when we talk about land, it is difficult to tell which of these notions we have in mind.

As I thought about this, a song immediately came to mind. Originally written and recorded in the 1940s by Woody Guthrie, this song has been sung by multiple artists over the years. It appears in collections of folk songs and music for kids. “This Land Is Your Land” is a song that probably all of us are familiar with. Some of us may only know the more common verses, and some of us may know all of them. In this song, Woody talks about how the land unites us together, how the land provides for us. He tells a story of beauty, and he challenges some of the disparities that exist in our world in relation to the land. 

As he sings about the land, the meanings wind together, and we can’t always be certain if he is singing of homeland, of nation, or simply the land on which we live and move and depend from day to day. But it is clear that he has an appreciation for the creation that surrounds us, for the bounty that it provides, and for the ways in which we are all united by it.

I invite you to listen to the recording below that blends the voices of Woody and his son, Arlo. As you do, I want you to think about the land that God has created. I want you to think about the land that God has placed you on. And I want you to remember the importance of this land for you, for me, and for all of God’s children that we share this world with.

Season of Creation: Forest Sunday

 This week begins the Season of Creation for 2020. This season began to be recommended by the World Council of Churches starting in 2008. It is an ecumenical celebration of God as creator, of this beautiful creation that God has made us a part of, and of our call as stewards of that creation.

On this first Sunday, we look at the second telling of the creation story.  In Genesis 2, we hear about the creation of the first human as well as the creation of the Garden in which the human was replaced (see Genesis 2:4b-9 and 15-17). In this Garden, God created trees of beauty and fruitfulness. 

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I am guessing that many of you may be familiar with the more traditional seasons of the church year. After all, I’ve noticed that your bulletins before I came here often included a short note about the liturgical seasons and colors. I would guess that most of you know at least something about Advent and Lent, our seasons of preparation for the big celebrations of Christmas and Easter. And, of course, everyone knows Christmas and Easter, though some may not know that they are seasons in the church year as well, extending beyond the single day celebrations our culture often suggests. The rest of the year is given over to 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.

If we were gathered together in person today, I would ask if anyone knows why it is called Ordinary time. I am certain that you have your own ideas and thoughts about the meaning of the word ordinary. Maybe you’re wondering what in the world that has to do with the church year.

As it turns out, the word ordinary originally meant ordered or numbered. If you’ve ever heard of ordinal numbers, it is the same root. Ordinary time gets its name from the way the Sundays are numbered in a series. Ironically, our current understanding of ordinary as commonplace or even uninteresting probably grows out of people’s experience of ordinary time in the church. 

But I digress just a little. You may have noticed that the Season of Creation was not named as one of the traditional seasons of the church year. That is because it is a relatively recent optional addition to the church year.

In the calendar of the saints that is followed by many Christians in the Western world, the feast day of St. Francis of Assissi falls on October 4 each year. Among other things, St. Francis is the patron saint of animals and ecology. Due to his purported love for nature and God's creatures, his feast day has been used as a time for the blessing of animals and to remember our call to care for all of creation.

In the Eastern Christian tradition, the church year begins on September 1 with a commemoration of God’s creation of the world. During the heightened awareness of our need to care for the environment in the late-80s, September 1 was also declared a day of prayer for the environment in the Eastern church.

In 2008, the World Council of Churches began to encourage all denominations to celebrate the period from September 1 to October 4 as a “Time for Creation.” During this season we focus on God as creator and on this wonderful world that God has created and made us a part of. We also consider our place in this world and our call to be stewards of all that God has created.

As we begin our conversation about creation, there is no better place to start than the book of Genesis. In our reading today from the second telling of the creation of the world, God creates the first human.  God formed the human from the fertile land and breathed life into him. Then God planted a garden full of every beautiful tree with edible fruit. Afterward, God placed the man in the garden to both farm it and to take care of it.

Even though we read only a few verses, there is much here to draw on. Our theme for this first week is the forests, and there are a few obvious connections here to the trees that God planted and made to grow. God created a garden full of trees, beautiful trees, fruitful trees, trees full of edible fruit.

From the very beginning, God has provided for us. God has surrounded us with plenty. God fills the garden with edible fruit, and when God places the man in the garden, the man is commanded to “eat your fill from all the garden’s trees” except for the one that is forbidden. Humanity is surrounded by trees full of edible fruit.

But our verses show us that God cares about more than mere sustenance. God filled the garden with beautiful trees. Have you ever taken time to simply wander through a forest? This weekend, my family and I have been staying in a cabin up in the mountains. The cabin is surrounded by trees, and everyday we pick a different mountain trail to follow. Sometimes on the trail, I simply stop and stare around at the beauty around us.

Now even though this reference to the trees in the garden is the most obvious connection between today’s scripture and our creation theme today, there is another connection that we might easily miss. After God formed the first human, God “blew life’s breath into his nostrils” (Genesis 2:7, CEB). It is the granting of God’s breath that creates life. God has breathed into us the breath of life. In ancient Hebrew, the word for breath and the word for Spirit are the same. It is the blessing of God’s Spirit breathed into us that grants us life.

In a similar way, we rely on our forests today for the air that we breathe. The earth’s forests have been referred to as the planet’s lungs. The forests of the world take in carbon dioxide and release the oxygen that animals need to survive back into the atmosphere. God gave humanity a start with the life-giving breath in our nostrils, and the forests of our world continue to provide us with the life-giving air that we breathe and need to survive.

Through forests, God grants us beauty and food and even the breath of life. In return, God tells us to farm the land and take care of it. For some of us, we may literally farm the land around us. From small raised-bed gardens to multi-acre plantings, we are familiar with the notion of farming the land around us. And those that live close to the land know all about caring for the soil and the plants that they grow. But we also know that our care for God’s creation doesn’t end at the edge of our crop-producing plot of land.

Back in the middle of the twentieth century, the US Forest Service began to take a greater interest in forest fires. They had seen the devastation to life and property that could be caused by a bit of carelessness. After the success of Disney’s Bambi and the portrayal of the fire in that movie, the Forest Service developed their own cartoon character. Smokey Bear has been an institution for over 70 years. All of us know the slogan by heart. “Only you can prevent forest fires.” It’s a catchy reminder that we are the ones called to care for the forests that surround us.

For those of us who are Christian, we shouldn’t need the extra reminder. It doesn’t hurt, but we have our reminder right here in Genesis. God settled us in the garden and told us to farm it and to take care of it. Perhaps the place we find ourselves today is not the literal Eden. But we are still surrounded by God’s beauty. We are still surrounded by the abundance of God’s creation. Whether it is the literal Eden or not, we have an obligation to care for it.

As we go forward into this season of creation, a season in which we honor the creator of all that exists and remember our connection to all that God has created, I am reminded of the places in Scripture where we are told that all of creation glorifies God. Sometimes when we hear this, we think of the beauty and majesty of creation as an example of God’s magnificence. At other times, Scripture tells us that all of creation literally sings praise to God. In Isaiah 44 we read, “Sing, heavens, for the Lord has acted; shout, depths of the earth! Burst out with a ringing cry, you mountains, forest, and every tree in it.” In Isaiah 55 we read, “all the trees of the field will clap their hands.” Perhaps today we can think of ourselves as worshiping our Creator alongside the rest of creation. Like the forests we can burst out with a ringing cry. Like the trees, we can clap our hands with joy. We can join together with all that has been created in honoring our God, for God created the rest of creation as surely as God created us.

But we must also remember that God created all of humanity as well. In the beginning, we were created, and God blew the breath of life into us. Then God placed us in a garden surrounded by beauty and plenty to eat.  From that first human, all of us are descended, not just those of us here in this place. Not just those that look and think and believe as we do. God created all that is, and it is our place in creation that unites us all to one another. We all live under the same sky, drink the same water, enjoy the same beauty and resources that God has provided. This world is our home, the garden that God has placed us in. God has provided all of this to feed us and nurture us. And God has asked us to both enjoy it and to care for it.

While it doesn’t exactly speak of forests, one of my favorite hymns speaks to our place in God’s creation. It speaks of our connection to what God has created as well as our connection to each other. “This Is My Song” is found in The United Methodist Hymnal, and it is one I have loved for years. As we listen to this song today, I want us to be reminded of the beauty and plenty that God has surrounded us with, I want us to be reminded of our connection to one another, and I want us to remember our call to care for all that God has created.