Jn 13:34-35
34 "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."
What signs of spring do you notice and enjoy the most?
April 22nd marks the 40th anniversary of Earth Day
One of challenges of preaching about environmental issues is that some, if not many, will assume that this whole green movement is the trick or the conspiracy of Democrats and Liberals who are either quoting bad science or creating pseudo-scientific claims. So some feel as if this eco-theology is a wolf in sheeps clothing, the wolf being politics.
Another of the challenges to preaching about eco-theology is that some might think that going green is a perfectly legitimate thing… but what has it to do with faith? Talking about the environment should be the task of scientists not pastors and theologians. How can preaching about the environment have any affect on the my faith?
I hope to be able to answer those questions, briefly, today.
First, a little game.
I find myself becoming more and more an advocate of the true ecologists where their recommendations are realistic. Many of these people have done us an essential service in helping us preserve and protect our green zones and our cities, our water and our air. The growing possibility of our destroying ourselves and the world with our own neglect and excess is tragic and very real.
Who said that? Take a guess.
Is Creation Care a political game? Is all of this concern with going green rooted in the work of Politicians like Al Gore and Hollywood movie stars like Leonardo DiCaprio, and therefore completely suspect suspect
I want you to look in your bulletins at the call to worship, which is based on canticle of the sun by Francis of Assisi. It was composed by Francis in 1224 and incidentally Christine, you might find it interesting that it is definitely one of the first, possibly the first work of literature written in the Italian language.
Next I want you to look at the Thought at the beginning of this week’s devotional booklet
For God brought things into being in order to communicate the divine goodness to creatures and thus be represented by them. And because God’s goodness could not be adequately represented by any single creature, God produced many and diverse creatures, that what one lacked in representing divine goodness might be supplied in another. For goodness, which exists in God simply and uniformly, exists in creatures multiply and distributively. Thus the whole universe together participates in the divine goodness more perfectly.
Thomas Aquinas
Thomas Aquinas, another Italian priest, considered by some to be the greatest of the Catholic Churches theologians. Summa Theologica and Summa Contra Gentiles is still studied in seminaries today and not just Catholic Seminaries, I studied pieces of the Summa by Aquinas at Andover Newton which is a Baptist school. Thomas Aquinas lived from 1225-1274.
Now, I’m giving you this history lesson, because I know you love history lessons.
Seriously, my point is that eco-theology is not some new fad. It is not inspired by modern politicians or movie-stars. Creation Care has been a part of the Christian Tradition and a part of our practice as disciples for hundreds and hundreds of years.
On to Love…
The question you might be asking yourself right now is…
What has this all got to do with love. Remember the passage from John we read? What is the connection between Jesus command to love one another and Environmentalism, or a term I prefer for Disciples of Christ, Creation Care?
What does the popular culture mean by love?
What does the Bible, specifically the gospel story of Christ, teach us about love?
You see it all starts with love.
I want to suggest that one way to summarize our Christian faith is to say that by following Christ we are participating in the creative love of God.
Jn 13:34-35"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you , so you must love one another. 35 By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."
Jn 15:9-12 "As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you .
Jn 15:17 This is my command: Love each other.
What Jesus has come to earth to do is to teach us how to receive God’s love, respond to God’s love and share God’s love.
But what does God love?
Us!
Yes! God loves us…
Ro 5:7-8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us .
But here is the thing…
Here is the connection.
Go to
Ge 9:12-17
12 And God said, "This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: 13 I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14 Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, 15 I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. 16 Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth."
17 So God said to Noah, "This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth."
What is a covenant?
It is a binding agreement… but more than that it is a relationship…
And at the last supper, before Jesus died, he said to the disciples…
This cup is a what?
A new covenant poured out in my blood, poured out for many…
So one way, not the only way, but one way of understanding covenant is to say that it is a loving relationship…
And we often think that this covenant… this promise of love… is for us…
But Genesis 9 tells us that God does not only love humanity…
God also loves… the earth, the creatures, the animals… Creation…
Now, a little bit more Bible hopping here… go to…
Ro 8:18-23
19 The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. 20 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.
22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.
Did you hear that?
Creation itself will be liberated from its bondage!
Now what Paul is talking about is Justification…
The new creation that we become when we are re-born in Christ…
BUT, notice that it isn’t just humanity that God justifies, that God re-creates…
It is all of creation.
You’ve gotten the point now, haven’t you…
God does not just love humanity, but also, all of creation.
Paul, we just read, echoes Genesis 2. Genesis 2 says that we were created to serve and protect the earth… and Paul sees our re-creation through Christ benefiting not just us… but all of creation… the earth…
Here is the connection you see.
Christ has commanded that we love one another as he loved, his love inspired and empowered by God’s love… And God loves all of creation!
Therefore, if we as Christ followers, as disciples of Jesus, if we want to fully participate in God’s love…
We will participate in caring for all creation.
The growing possibility of our destroying ourselves and the world with our own neglect and excess is tragic and very real.
Who said that? Take a guess.
Billy Graham
Approaching Hoofbeats (1983)
Creation Care is not some new fad, nor is it a liberal democratic conspiracy. Even Billy Graham was concerned for Creation… you can’t accuse him of being liberal!
What I hope you have learned this morning is that Creation Care is an ancient part of our Christian Tradition even if it was largely ignored for our lifetimes…
I hope you have learned that care for creation, the duty to care for it comes not from the mouths of politicians and movies stars, but from the Bible itself…
And that we are inspired to greater levels of care for creation not so much from fear, although, as Billy Graham himself said, we should fear the consequences of our cruelty to creation, but through a deepening connection to the love of God. Through loving creation, caring for it, learning to live in ways that are gentle with the environment, that are careful and not damaging, we are participating in God’s love… Loving what God loves, how God loves.
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