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.
* * *
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.