The earth is the Lord’s | Psalm 24

“THE EARTH IS THE LORD’S AND EVERYTHING IN IT…”

PSALM 24

JULY 19, 2015

WHEN NEWLY ORDAINED MINISTERS FIRST GRADUATE FROM A PRESBYTERIAN SEMINARY THEY COME OUT READY TO TAKE ON THE WORLD, AND THE CHURCH.

THEY LIKE TO SHOW OFF THEIR NEWLY LEARNED THEOLOGIES, SKILLS, AND PROWESS WITH THE ORIGINAL LANGUAGES OF THE BIBLE – HEBREW AND GREEK, WITH A LITTLE LATIN THROWN IN FOR GOOD MEASURE.

SO FOR THE FIRST COUPLE OF YEARS, MAYBE MORE, SOMEWHERE IN THEIR SERMONS THEY WILL OFTEN STOP – APPEAR AS IF THEY ARE SNIFFING THE AIR – AND THEN SAY SOMETHING LIKE:

“OR AS IT SAYS IN THE ORIGINAL HEBREW… OR “THE GREEK TRANSLATION OF THE WORD ACTUALLY MEANS…”

PART OF THIS IS BECAUSE THROUGHOUT SEMINARY THEY HAVE BEEN TRAINED AND TESTED AND TOLD TO TRANSLATE PASSAGES FROM THE ORIGINAL LANGUAGES AS PART OF THEIR SERMON PREPARATION.

HOWEVER, AFTER A FEW MORE YEARS IN MINISTRY, THOSE SAME MINISTERS BEGIN TO REALIZE THAT SEEING PEOPLE IN THE HOSPITAL, CONTACTING VISITORS, RAISING AWARENESS ABOUT THE CHURCH BUDGET, GETTING THE VAN READY FOR THE YOUTH TRIP, AND A HOST OF OTHER THINGS ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN TRANSLATING THEIR SERMON PASSAGES FROM THE ORIGINAL LANGUAGES;

AND THAT LANGUAGE SCHOLARS HAVE ALREADY DONE THAT IN BIBLE TRANSLATIONS AND COMMENTARIES, AND MUCH BETTER THAN THE MINISTERS THEMSELVES COULD EVER DO IT;

AND QUITE FRANKLY, THAT PEOPLE REALLY DON’T MUCH CARE WHAT THE ORIGINAL HEBREW OR GREEK SAYS – JUST TELL ME WHAT IT SAYS IN PLAIN ENGLISH, AND IN A WAY THAT IS HELPFUL TO MY LIFE.

SO SOMEWHERE ALONG THE LINE MINISTERS STOP TELLING THEIR CONGREGATIONS ABOUT THE ORIGINAL HEBREW AND GREEK AND JUST USE PLAIN ENGLISH.

NOW HAVING SAID ALL OF THAT, I WANT TO MENTION TWO PHRASES FROM THEIR ORIGINAL LANGUAGES, AND I’LL TRY NOT TO DO IT WITH MY NOSE UP IN THE AIR, AND HOPEFULLY IN A WAY THAT IS HELPFUL TO ALL OF US.

FIRST IS THE IDEA THAT WHEN WE READ THE FIRST CHAPTER OF GENESIS AND ITS ACCOUNT ABOUT GOD CREATING THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH WHAT WE USUALLY SAY IS: “GOD CREATED THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH…”

“CREATED” – IN THE STATIC PAST TENSE;

BUT IN THE ORIGINAL HEBREW – THERE IT IS – THE WORD ACTUALLY READS:

“WHEN GOD BEGAN TO CREATE THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH…”

SUGGESTING THAT GOD INITIATED A CREATIVE PROCESS THAT CONTINUES EVEN TO THIS MOMENT.

WE’LL SAY MORE ABOUT THAT IN A MINUTE.

THE SECOND ORIGINAL LANGUAGE PHRASE I WANT TO MENTION THIS MORNING HAS TO DO WITH POPE FRANCIS’ RECENT ENCYCLICAL ON THE ENVIRONMENT.

WE’VE BEEN SEEING A LOT ABOUT THIS IN THE MEDIA DURING THE POPE’S VISIT TO SOUTH AMERICA.

THE ENCYCLICAL IS ENTITLED – IN LATIN – LAUDATO SI – OR IN ENGLISH – PRAISED BE.

I LOVE THAT – AN OFFICIAL CHURCH STATEMENT ON THE ENVIRONMENT, ON GOD’S GOOD CREATION SIMPLY ENTITLED – PRAISED BE.

AND THAT IS WHAT I WANT US TO THINK ABOUT THIS MORNING IN LIGHT OF OUR PASSAGE FROM PSALM 24 WHICH THE CHOIR SANG SO BEAUTIFULLY A MOMENT AGO.

“THE EARTH IS THE LORD’S AND EVERYTHING IN IT…”

PRAISED BE!

NOW I KNOW I HAVE PREACHED ON ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS BEFORE, AND WHAT IT MEANS FOR US TO BE GOOD STEWARDS OF GOD’S GOOD CREATION, SO THIS MORNING I WANT YOU TO KNOW WHAT I’M NOT GOING TO SAY, BEFORE TELLING YOU WHAT I AM GOING TO SAY.

I’M NOT GOING TO REMIND US TO USE OUR REUSABLE GROCERY BAGS INSTEAD OF HAVING TO CHOOSE BETWEEN PAPER OR PLASTIC.

I’M NOT GOING TO DROP ANY HINTS ABOUT HOW EASY SINGLE STREAM RECYCLING IS HERE IN KEY WEST AND TELL US TO DO MORE OF IT.

I’M GOING TO RESIST THE URGE TO POINT OUT HOW HOT IT HAS BEEN FOR TWO SOLID MONTHS NOW, AND HOW IT’S HARDLY RAINED IN A MONTH OF SUNDAYS, AND THEN TIE IT TO GLOBAL WARMING CONCERNS. I’M GOING TO RESIST THE URGE OF SAYING THAT.

I’M NOT GOING TO TALK ABOUT HOW EASY IT IS TO COMPOST, OR GATHER RUNOFF RAIN WATER (IF THERE WAS ANY RAIN TO GATHER), OR TALK ABOUT WAYS TO REDUCE OUR CARBON FOOTPRINT.

I’M NOT GOING TO MENTION ANY OF THOSE THINGS, THIS MORNING!

INSTEAD, I AM SIMPLY GOING TO REMIND US OF TWO THINGS:

• GOD BEGAN CREATING THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH A LONG TIME AGO AND IS STILL CREATING EVEN TO THIS MOMENT;

• AND SECONDLY, PRAISED BE!

POET EMILY DICKINSON, QUITE THE GARDENER IN HER OWN RIGHT, ONCE SAID THAT THE ONLY COMMANDMENT SHE EVER TRULY OBEYED FROM THE BIBLE WAS: “CONSIDER THE LILIES OF THE FIELD…”

THIS IS MORE THAN A SIMPLE STOP-AND-SMELL-THE-ROSES SENTIMENT, IT IS A CALL TO CULTIVATE A DEEPER SENSE OF AWARENESS AND AWE – AN APPRECIATION FOR THE BEAUTY AND MYSTERY THAT TRANSCENDS THE MUNDANE.

AT THE SAME TIME – WHEN JESUS SAID IT – “CONSIDER THE LILIES OF THE FIELD, THEY NEITHER TOIL NOR SPIN, YET I TELL YOU NOT EVEN KING SOLOMON IN ALL HIS GLORY WAS ARRAYED LIKE THEY…”

AND WHEN JESUS CONTINUES BY SPEAKING OF “THE BIRDS OF THE AIR, HOW THEY NEITHER REAP NOR SOW, YET THE LORD GOD FEEDS AND CARES FOR THEM…”

JESUS IS REMINDING US THAT THEY AND WE ARE PRECIOUS TO GOD.

THAT THEY AND WE ARE PART OF GOD’S CREATED ORDER.

THAT THEY AND WE ARE LOVED, CARED FOR, FED AND CLOTHED BY GOD.

AND THIS IS THE TRUEST AND BEST LEARNING FROM OUR PASSAGE FOR THIS MORNING:

“THE EARTH IS THE LORD’S AND EVERYTHING IN IT…” EVERYTHING!

GOD IS IN ALL OF IT; AND ALL OF IT IS IN GOD.

THIS IS NOT THE AGE OLD IDEA OF PANTHEISM – THAT GOD IS EVERYTHING AND EVERYTHING IS GOD; BUT RATHER PANENTHEISM – GOD IS IN ALL, AND ALL IS IN GOD.

RALPH WALDO EMERSON SAID IT LIKE THIS;

NEVER LOSE AN OPPORTUNITY OF SEEING ANYTHING THAT IS

BEAUTIFUL, FOR BEAUTY IS GOD’S HANDWRITING – A WAYSIDE SACRAMENT.

WELCOME IT IN EVERY FAIR FACE, EVERY FAIR SKY, IN EVERY FAIR FLOWER, AND THANK GOD FOR IT AS A CUP OF BLESSING.

PRAISED BE!

MUCH HAS BEEN MADE OF POPE FRANCIS’ ENCYCLICAL ON THE ENVIRONMENT;

HOW REVOLUTIONARY HIS THOUGHTS AND IDEAS ARE; YET IN READING EXCERPTS FROM IT WHAT I HAVE FOUND IS THAT IT IS MUCH OF WHAT MORE PROGRESSIVE CHRISTIANS HAVE BEEN SAYING FOR A LONG TIME.

TO BE SURE THERE ARE THE ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES OF GLOBAL WARMING, AN OVER-RELIANCE ON FOSSIL FUELS, AND OUR PENCHANT FOR CHOOSING ECONOMICS OVER ENVIRONMENT, PROFIT OVER PROTECTION IN IT.

THERE IS LANGUAGE WHICH ANY STUDENT IN A PROTESTANT SEMINARY MIGHT SPEAK ABOUT THE PROPER UNDERSTANDING OF THE IDEAS FROM GENESIS ABOUT HUMAN BEINGS “HAVING DOMINION OVER THE EARTH: AND HOW WE ARE TO “DRESS, TILL, AND KEEP IT;”

NOTHING REALLY REMARKABLE HERE, EXCEPT THAT IT COMES FROM THE MOUTH (THE PEN) OF THE LEADER OF ROMAN CATHOLICISM. LISTEN:

“ALTHOUGH IT IS TRUE THAT WE CHRISTIANS HAVE AT TIMES INCORRECTLY INTERPRETED THE SCRIPTURES, NOWADAYS WE MUST FORCEFULLY REJECT THE NOTION THAT OUR BEING CREATED IN GOD’S IMAGE AND GIVEN DOMINION OVER THE EARTH JUSTIFIES ABSOLUTE DOMINATION OVER OTHER CREATURES. THE BIBLICAL TEXTS ARE TO BE READ IN THEIR CONTEXT, WITH AN APPROPRIATE HERMENEUTIC, RECOGNIZING THAT THEY TELL US TO ‘TILL AND KEEP’ THE GARDEN OF THE WORLD. ‘TILLING’ REFERS TO CULTIVATING, PLOWING OR WORKING, WHILE ‘KEEPING’ MEANS CARING, PROTECTING, OVERSEEING AND PRESERVING. THIS IMPLIES A RELATIONSHIP OF MUTUAL RESPONSIBILITY BETWEEN HUMAN BEINGS AND NATURE.”

YOU SEE, IT IS THE THEOLOGY OF THIS ENCYCLICAL THAT SHOULD STIR OUR CHRISTIAN HEARTS AND MINDS; AGAIN, MUCH OF IT NOT NEW, BUT SIMPLY REINFORCED BY THE LEADER OF THE LARGEST OF CHRISTIAN BODIES.

IN IT THERE IS MORE THAN A NOD TOWARD THE IDEA OF CREATION AND EVOLUTION; OF GOD AND SCIENCE;

AND OF A LESS LITERAL INTERPRETATION OF THE GENESIS ACCOUNTS OF CREATION;

AND A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF ITS “SYMBOLIC AND NARRATIVE LANGUAGE.”

THERE IS IN THIS ENCYCLICAL AN AFFIRMATION THAT HUMAN LIFE IS GROUNDED IN THREE FUNDAMENTAL AND CLOSELY INTERTWINED RELATIONSHIPS: WITH GOD, WITH OUR NEIGHBOR, AND WITH THE EARTH ITSELF.

IN OTHER WORDS, HOW WE RELATE TO ONE, IS HOW WE RELATE TO THE OTHERS.

FINALLY, BEGINNING WITH HIS NAMESAKE, ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISI, WHO FOUND SPIRITUAL COMMUNION NOT ONLY IN CATHEDRALS BUT ALSO IN FORESTS, POPE FRANCIS COMES BACK TO THE IDEA OF BOTH THE MYSTERY OF GOD IN ALL THINGS AND ALL THINGS BEING IN GOD:

“THE UNIVERSE UNFOLDS IN GOD, WHO FILLS IT COMPLETELY. HENCE, THERE IS A MYSTICAL MEANING TO BE FOUND IN A LEAF, IN A MOUNTAIN TRAIL, IN A DEWDROP, IN A POOR PERSON’S FACE. THE IDEAL IS NOT ONLY TO PASS FROM THE EXTERIOR TO THE INTERIOR TO DISCOVER THE ACTION OF GOD IN THE SOUL, BUT ALSO TO DISCOVER GOD IN ALL THINGS.”

PRAISED BE!

“THE EARTH IS THE LORD’S AND EVERYTHING IN IT; THE WORLD, AND THOSE WHO LIVE IN IT; FOR GOD HAS FOUNDED IT ON THE SEAS, AND ESTABLISHED IT ON THE RIVERS.”

SO MY QUESTION FOR ALL OF US HERE THIS MORNING IS:

WHERE DO WE BEST SEE GOD IN ALL THINGS, AND ALL THINGS IN GOD?

HOW DO WE SEE GOD “BEGINNING TO CREATE THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH AND STILL CREATING EVEN TO THIS MOMENT?”

IS IT IN THE FACE OF OUR CHILDREN? IN THE STARS ABOVE? IS IT ON THE REEF OFF OUR SOUTHERNMOST SHORES?

IS IT IN TRYING TO FATHOM HOW THE SPACE CRAFT – NEW HORIZONS HAS JUST TAKEN A NINE YEAR, 310 BILLION MILE JOURNEY PAST PLUTO? YES, YOU HEARD ME CORRECTLY – A 310 BILLION MILE JOURNEY INTO SPACE!

IS IT IN THE FACT THAT I SAW IN THE NEWS THIS WEEK THAT THE COUNTRY OF DENMARK’S PRODUCTION OF WIND GENERATED POWER JUST EXCEEDED THE ENTIRE COUNTRY’S POWER DEMAND, AND THAT THEY ARE NOW SELLING OFF EXCESS POWER TO THE NATIONS AROUND THEM?

BY THE WAY, IF YOU’VE BEEN WATCHING ANY OF THE TOUR DE FRANCE, SEVERAL TIMES NOW YOU’VE SEEN THE WIND FARMS OF LUXEMBURG AND FRANCE IN THE BACKGROUND.

DO WE SEE THE FACE OF GOD IN, AS THE BELOVED HYMN SINGS:

“ALL THINGS BRIGHT AND BEAUTIFUL, ALL CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL…”

IN THE SEA? IN THE MOUNTAINS? IN A SUNRISE OR SUNSET?

CONSIDER THE LILIES OF THE FIELD OR THE PORPOISES ON THE SEA, THE TIDE POOL AND THE STARS.

BEING AWESTRUCK BY THE MYSTERY OF GOD IN CREATION, BY BOTH ITS BEAUTY AND IT POWER IS ONE THING;

IN FACT, IT IS ONE OF THE MORE IMPORTANT THINGS, ONE OF THE INTEGRAL THINGS TO A SPIRITUAL LIFE – BUT IT PLEADS FOR A RESPONSE FROM US.

A RESPONSE WHICH INCLUDES ALL OF THOSE THINGS I TOLD YOU I WASN’T GOING TO TALK ABOUT HERE THIS MORNING AND I WON’T;

BUT I DON’T REALLY HAVE TO, DO I?

WE KNOW…

“THE EARTH IS THE LORD’S AND EVERYTHING IN IT…”

PRAISED BE!