“You Are
Entrusted”
Sermon for MCC
New Haven
September 22,
2013
Rev. Brian
Hutchison, M.Div.
1
Tim. 2:1-4
Luke
16:10-15
Genesis 1:29, “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 them for food… And
it was so. God saw everything that [God] had made, and indeed, it was very
good.”
Evolutionary
evidence has shown us that the world did not come together in six literal days.
The creation stories are just that, stories. (Fortunately a recent attempt to
put creationism into science textbooks in Texas failed.) But that doesn’t mean
that we can’t find wisdom in our ancient scriptures. In the first chapter of
Genesis, God entrusts humanity with caring for the earth. God calls all of creation
Good and sets humanity out on a great adventure of discovering all the
wonderful things God has made.
Fast-forward
to the industrial age. Humans have made a hole in the protective ozone layer by
our carbon emissions. We have contributed significantly to global warming,
which endangers thousands of species of animals and risks our quality of life
in the future. The practice of fracking involves digging into the earth to
harvest natural gas. In too many places, fracking has resulted in people
turning on their tap water and being able to light it on fire because it is
highly contaminated. The contamination is making them ill, especially with
cancer.
The oil
spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 continues to make people living on the Gulf
sick. The spill began on April 20th 2010 and gushed for 87 days
until it was capped on July 15th. 210 million gallons of oil spilled into the ocean during
that time. Some of the oil was collected by skimming the surface. But a
chemical called Corexit was sprayed by plane over the water to disburse the
oil. This method has made it extremely difficult to collect any more of the
oil. Corexit also caused many on the Gulf to become ill, adding insult to
injury.
Even
now, legislators are pushing for the Keystone Pipeline to be built across the
United States, which would allow crude oil to be transported underground,
stretching from Canada and the Northern United States to be processed in Texas
near the Gulf of Mexico (of all places). Imagine the damage this could do to
our country’s beauty.
Nuclear
waste from the Fukushima power plant explosion in Japan on March 11th
2011 continues to pollute the Pacific Ocean.
The
industrial age has allowed humans to accomplish marvelous things. We can now
travel faster than ever around the world. Our electronics allow us to work
faster and faster in a world economy now based on information technology. We
continue to excel in knowledge in all subjects. But what good is all of our
knowledge if we don’t have the wisdom to treat the earth with reverence?
Perhaps our money should say, “In Technology We Trust.”
The
effects of war also ruin our earth. Mahatma Gandhi made the point: “An eye for
an eye until the whole world is blind.” In war, “A bomb for a bomb until the
world is gone.” In the early 1970s, Dr. William Thetford said to Dr. Helen
Schucman at Columbia University, “There must be another way, and I’m determined
to find it.” She agreed and soon began to write A Course in Miracles. Now known commonly as The Course or ACIM, A
Course in Miracles aims “at removing the blocks to the awareness of love’s
presence, which is your natural inheritance” (1).
I
would not be standing in front of you week after week doing what I do if I did
not fully believe that “There is another way” and that the way is God’s
love for all of creation.
Folks,
you are entrusted! (Repeat after me, “I am entrusted!”) You are entrusted
with the care of the earth. You are entrusted with the care of your friends and
family. And you are entrusted with the health of your church. A group of nuns
who call themselves “Green Nuns” (as in being ecologically green) sing a chant
together. I invite you to sing it with me the second time. "Sacred is the call, awesome indeed the entrustment.
Tending the Holy, Tending the Holy." You are not inconsequential on
this earth. Every one of our actions has a consequence in the world and it can
be for the building of the Reign of Divine Love on earth or for its detriment.
New
Thought Christianity teaches that even our thoughts have consequences.
Transcendentalist Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Watch your thoughts; They become
words. Watch your words; They become deeds. Watch your deeds; They become
habits. Watch your habits; They become character. Character is everything.”
So
let’s start at the thought level. Do you think that the earth is worthy of
being loved unconditionally? If so, do your deeds reflect that thought? If so,
do you have habits that support your good deeds? If so, does your personal
character reflect your habit of good deeds?
Next
think about humanity. Does God call us to love all people unconditionally? If
so, do your deeds reflect that thought? If so, do you have habits that support
your good deeds? If so, does your personal character reflect your habit of good
deeds?
Finally,
think about your church. Does God call you to give all you can of your Time,
Talent, and Treasure for the building of God’s Commonwealth here and now? If
so, do your deeds reflect that thought? If so, do you have habits that support
your good deeds? If so, does your personal character reflect your habit of good
deeds?
Today
is Harvest Sunday, as it is the first day of Fall, also known as the Autumnal
Equinox. As followers of Jesus Christ, we are called during this season to
discern what the fruits of our labor are. Jesus tells us in today’s Gospel
reading from Luke that no matter how much you have or what gifts you have to
give the world, your faithfulness is what counts. He says, “Whoever is
faithful in a very little is faithful also in much; and whoever is dishonest in
a very little is dishonest also in much.” Jesus continues, saying, if you
haven’t been faithful with what the world gives you, then who will trust you
with what God gives you? You can’t serve two lords. You cannot serve both God
and wealth.
Greed
is what is rotting both our earth and our hearts. Greed for oil pollutes our
world. Greed for wealth takes our spirits’ focus away from doing God’s work of
love in the world and focuses it on the fear of lack. A scarcity mentality
is a distrust in God. This is the prophetic word of the Spirit today: A
scarcity mentality is a distrust in God. When we live with a scarcity
mentality, we are putting wealth as a priority over God.
How
many of us have said, “If I only won the lottery, I would be happy.” Is that
really true? I know that I would be happy to wipe out my student loans and pay
off some other things, but luxury does not promise happiness. Remember the
words of Jesus in Luke 6:20, “Blessed are the poor, for theirs is the
Commonwealth of God.”
I
am stunned to be quoting a sitting Pope of the Roman Catholic Church, but I can
this week. He said in his sermon this past week, “Money sickens our minds,
poisons our thoughts, even poisons our faith, leading us down the path of
jealousy, quarrels, suspicion and conflict. It drives to idle words and
pointless discussions. It also corrupts the mind of some people that see
religion as a source of profit. … “But, Father, I read the Ten Commandments and
they say nothing about the evils of money. Against which Commandment do you sin
when you do something for money? Against the first one! You worship a false
idol. And this is the reason: because money becomes an idol and you worship it.
And that's why Jesus tells us that you cannot serve money and the living God:
either one or the other.” I’m really starting to like this Pope Francis! He is
the first Pope in history to take his name after St. Francis of Assisi, and he
seems to be speaking in accord with the voluntary poverty that St. Francis
lived and taught.
Suffering
is not required of us from God. God does not require us to nearly starve if we
are to follow Christ. But what God does require of us comes from Micah 6:8, “to do what is just, to show constant love, and to live in
humble fellowship with our God” (TEV). I cannot tell
you what is just, loving, or humble about Christian CEOs making seven-figure
salaries while their companies pay less than a living wage. And I certainly
cannot understand how Congress (which is made up of many who call themselves
“Christian”) just a couple days ago cut $40 Billion from the Food Stamps
program for 2014. What would Jesus say to 3.8 million Americans losing benefits
and possibly going hungry or malnourished because of the greedy actions of
Congress? What I know of the Gospel tells me that these things are a shame and
a terrible sin.
Lebanese
Mystic Christian Kahlil Gibran wrote, “Work is love made visible. And if you
cannot work with love but only with distaste, it is better that you should
leave your work and sit at the gate of the temple and take alms of those who
work with joy. For if you bake bread with indifference, you bake a bitter bread
that feeds but half [people’s] hunger. And if you grudge the crushing of the
grapes, your grudge distils a poison in the wine. And if you sing though as
angels, and love not the singing, you muffle [people’s] ears to the voices of
the day and the voices of the night.”
Do
you labor with the Love of God or just for the paycheck? Do you seek to climb
up on others’ shoulders or do you seek to bring the hierarchy to justice? And
finally at a level very close to you, do you seek to build up your church in
every way you can or do you only give when you are certain you will receive
something? We have a choice each day of choosing the Economy of God or the
Economy of Ego. In the Economy of God, when we “seek first the Commonwealth of
God and right relationship with God and others, THEN blessings will be given to
you.” In the Economy of Ego, “The one who dies with the most toys wins.”
I
advise you as the reading today from First Timothy advises the church: “Pray
for EVERYONE so that we may lead peaceful lives in being like God, retaining
our dignity.” Prayers are like boomerangs. Throw them out far and wide and they
shall return a blessing to you. May peace and economic justice prevail on
earth! Amen.
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