Psalm 104

Genesis 1:20-31

O Lord, how manifold are your works! In wisdom you have made them all; the earth is full of your creatures. Ps. 104:24

When I was a child, my parents and I visited my Aunt Martha and Uncle Mac on many summer evenings. They had a small house on six acres of land that bordered a forest. Much of their land was open field and woodlands, with small crops of apple trees dotting the acreage. Years ago, the land was part of farm pasture and an apple farm. My parents and aunt and uncle would sit outside and talk until dark. I was usually running around, climbing trees, investigating under rocks, and laying in the grass looking up at the clouds listening to the birds sing. I remember the song: Whip-poor-will, whip-poor will! The whip-poor-will is associated in my memory with gentle times of summer as a youth. How many of you have heard a whip-poor-will? I have not heard one since my youth.

Thanks to the research of Dr. Rich Eakin, UNE professor of biology and member of our church, the whip-poor-will is not an endangered species. The whip-poor-will has a wide range and is not restricted to certain habitats like some other species of birds and animals. It is an adaptable bird frequenting a variety of forest types and open woodlands, both arid and humid, from lowlands to higher elevations. In New England, it is rarer most likely because of land development and the use of pesticides which has impacted its insect food supply. “Populations of the whip-poor-will, which live in dry, open woodlands, near fields, are known to fluctuate dramatically in response to the cutting and regeneration of forests.” We know longer hear them because they have lost their habitat among us and moved on.

You may have seen the article in Saturday’s Portland Press Herald stating how the Endangered Species Act of 1973 helped to protect species that were declining by reestablishing habitats. It is not a perfect bill, but attempts to redefine its specifications through the Critical Habitat Enhancement Act now introduced into the House of Representatives will only serve to weaken the protection of habitats. It will not be an improvement, but a step backward toward the decline of some species. (April 23, 2005)

For sermon preparation, I have not studied the proposals and all the points and counterpoints. I think my task today, as we reflect upon the integrity of creation as our gift and responsibility, is to offer theological perspective as you rejoice with gratitude for the good gift and discover your responsibility as God’s steward.

It is no coincidence that the root word for both ecology and economy is the Greek word oikos. This Greek word appears many times in the New Testament in reference to “house” and all who dwell within the “house.” Ecology references the house of creation within which we all dwell. Economics with the root words oikos and nomos, means house and wise, natural laws, or the ordering of the house for a livelihood. In feudal societies it was the way in which people were fed, protected, and interrelated. If the house of the creation was destroyed, the household was neither fed nor protected.

In his essay, The Idea of Local Economy, Wendell Berry wrote: “The ‘environmental crisis’ has happened because the human household or economy is in conflict with the household of nature. We have built our household on the assumption that the natural household is simple and can be simply used. We have assumed increasingly…that nature is merely a supply of ‘raw materials,’ and that we may safely possess those materials merely by taking them. This taking, as our technical means have increased, has involved always less reverence or respect, less gratitude, less local knowledge, and less skill.”

A question for us is, from where does this idea that human beings can just take from the earth come? This question leads us to our Genesis reading:

Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air; and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth…the passage continues with humanity being created in the image of God, male and female…there is more language about subdue and dominion over and then in verse 29 God said, “See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have these for food.”

In the Garden of Eden, before the Fall and the Flood, human beings were vegetarians, so what does dominion over creation mean in that context?

Dr. Jayapaul Azariah, head of the zoology department with the University of Madras, India, points out that the Hebrew word for dominion is RADAH. It can mean tread to pieces, crumble, prevail against, rule, and take. Most often it has been translated to mean rule over. But, if we go back to what it means to be made in the image of God who said let us make humankind in our image, image is not a superior quality humans possess but the ability to be in relationship, a relationship with the Creator and creation that is lived as vocation in creation. Dr. Azariah argues that RADAH means to take over God’s work in creation. “…and let them have dominion over…” It is the vocation of the steward.

Until Thomas Aquinas (1225-1275), Christianity lived in harmony with creation. Economics and ecology were not polarized. When Aquinas coupled rationalism with Aristotle’s philosophy of the uniqueness and superiority of humanity because of our intellect it was a turning point. Animals had no moral status in creation where humans reigned superior. With the enlightenment came the value of unlimited progress and havoc was unleashed on the environment.

For too long we have polarized ecology and economic development believing we cannot take care of both the earth house and provide jobs and living wages for our households. It is time to respect both houses. The Greek translation of the Hebrew word for “save” literally means to give room to. What a beautiful image within the house of creation and our own households – to give room. Think what happens in a garden when there is no room for plants to grow as they get choked out by weeds. The same is true with cancer cells that grow so large there is no room left for the healthy cells. In our ecology and economics, we can no longer afford the adversarial relationship, but must find ways of giving room to life that will indeed provide for our future.

Among the worse polluters of water, air, and soil are the factory farms that are limited to one animal raised in an area that cannot sustain the amount of waste produced. The soil is ruined, the streams are polluted and the air smells. I remember when Greg and I drove through Kansas and approaching some towns we noticed brown smog in the air. Coming closer, the air had a terrible odor. Entering the town we noticed the cattle stock yards where the cattle were fed and corralled in small areas before slaughter. North Carolina struggles with Smithfield hog farms.

In Third World countries where poverty is the standard of living, corporations seduce farmers to one crop. In Honduras we saw the devastation of Hurricane Mitch exacerbated by the clear cutting of trees on the mountains to grow coffee in the sun. When the rains came, mud rolled down the mountains with no roots to hold the soil in place. Those at the bottom were buried.

Natural disasters are devastating and costly, but little by little, we have taken our gifts from the earth thoughtlessly and carelessly. This is not a time to be sentimental about nature’s beauty, but to take over responsibility as our Christian vocation to care for God’s earth.