Changing Lenses - #SeasonofCreation2020
You can listen to this sermon here
You can watch the sermon being given here
Readings:
What I want to say:
During this Season of Creation, we are being invited to re-examine how we answer – whose are we, who are we, and what is ours to do? If God is the creator and Sustainer of all, who through the love for all creation lived in Jesus is renewing and restoring humanity and all creation – then who are we and what is ours to do?
There are many competing claims to how we answer this which constantly call us away from seeing this world as gift and our calling to live in such a way that we join God’s work of sustaining all life – Loving God by loving our neighbours – all creation – as ourselves.
What I want to happen:
People to see that living in reverence for God’s creation and all who share our common home is a core part of being a follower of Christ. In what ways do we not live this out, and what new ways of living are we being invited into.
The Sermon
1. Introduction:
One themes of last few weeks been web of life
During last week the UN published Global Biodiversity Outlook 5[1]
- 20 Aichi biodiversity targets agreed in Japan in 2010
o to stem the destruction of wildlife and life-sustaining ecosystems
- Prepared before a key UN summit on the issue later this month,
The world has failed to meet a single target
- despite progress in some areas,
- natural habitats have continued to disappear,
- vast numbers of species remain threatened by extinction from human activities,
o estimated 60% vertebrates disappeared last 100 years
- and US$500bn of environmentally damaging government subsidies have not been eliminated.
We are now paying the price for this
Covid-19 is result of destruction of biodiversity – web of life
More viruses like COVID-19 will jump the species barrier
- because of that loss of biodiversity
Last Sunday RNZ published piece about Sir David Attenborough’s latest tv programme
- makes stark warning about species extinction and consequences for us all
- says there is still time
- what happens next is up to us
2. Season of Creation
Timely reminder of the importance of Season of Creation
join churches all over the world
- Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican, Lutheran and many other denominations
- celebration of prayer and action to protect our common home.
This year with the theme of “Jubilee for the Earth”.
- Leviticus 25 – Year of Jubilee
o every 50 years
o Debts forgiven
o Slaves freed
o Land restored
- Essentially pushed restart button society
o Relationships with each other
o priorities
- need same is true today
3. Questions
Provides time for us each year to ask those core questions I keep banging on about
- Whose are we?
- Who are we?
- What is ours to do?
Reminded in this season that God is the Creator and Sustainer of all,
Readings from Paul and gospels remind us that out of God’s infinite love for all creation
- In Jesus God fulfilled covenants to restore humanity and renew creation
- Which Jesus calls Kingdom of God, or in Matthew Kingdom of Heaven
- Describes in Beatitudes and Sermon on Mount
Where he invites disciples then and now
liberated from our known world
- Ultimately only brings death
into the kingdom of heaven
- Reign of God
a world where the most important people are:
the poor in spirit,
those who mourn,
the meek,
those who hunger and thirst for God’s justice,
the pure in heart,
the merciful,
the peacemakers,
those who are persecuted for the sake of God’s justice,
a world where all flourish
Where the common good is held as paramount
A world where the needs of the poor are placed first
Where ALL,
- including brothers and sisters in creation
are treated with honour and respect
- And given what they need to thrive
Wonderful vision
Seems so hard to hang on to.
4. Exodus
See this in readings from exodus last week and this week
Often see story Red or Reed Sea as simply story of Israel being rescued
One commentator talked about it being struggle between
- Destructive powers or gods of enslavement, domination, violence
o anti- creational forces of chaos represented by Pharaoh
§ treated people and creation as tools for his use
§ including Hebrew people
§ and Egyptians soldiers
· who according to some rabbinic traditions God mourned as they drowned in the returning sea
- Creating and Sustaining God who frees and gives life
o Kind of life Jesus describes in beatitudes and sermon on mount
Each offers people different identity
- Slave or resource to be used
- People created in image of the creating and life sustaining God
This week this freed people, Israelites are invited into a new identity
- Not as slaves
- As people through whom God gives life
Too hard
- Long to be slaves once again
Story that is repeated
Hard to establish new identity
That is our story too
It is so hard to see ourselves living in world Jesus offers
- Destructive powers of enslavement, domination, violence keep calling us back
5. Matthew
See this again in reading from Matthew
Jesus offers story about “give us today our daily bread”
Story of workers who employed different times of day
- Then all get paid the same
- Many find deeply offensive
o Not all earn the same
- Others use support for view of “Orientals being basically indifferent and lazy”
o They are less deserving than us white people
- Others accuse Jesus of union busting
Story set in economy based impoverished day labourers
- Often do not make enough to feed their families
- Economy of Pharaoh
- Not too different from many economies today
- Including our own
- People and creation seen and used as cheap resource for benefit of others
In contrast to that Jesus offers vision
- Vision of lifegiving God Exodus story
- where all given what they need
- Whether they earned it or not
6. So What
Season of creation is time to consider again
- whose we are
- Who we are
- and what is ours to do
Recognise that there are many competing claims to how we answer this
- constantly call us away from vision Jesus offers in Beatitudes and Sermon on Mount
- calls us away from seeing this world as gift
- calls us away from invitation to live in such a way that we join God’s work of sustaining all life
core part of being a follower of Christ
- worshiping God as creator and Sustainer of all
- invites us into the ongoing work of restoring and renewing creation
- invites us love God by loving our neighbours – all creation – as ourselves.
- By living in reverence for God’s creation and all who share our common home
This week
- In what ways do we not live this out,
- and what new ways of living are we being invited into.
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