Sunday's Sermon Part III

We are pretty much at the same place in the church today, as those Roman Christians long ago.   What do we do with those who go to scripture and say, let us show grace, mercy and compassion to our gay sisters and brothers, aunts and nephews, sons and daughters?  Did Jesus not lay down the golden rule of treating others the way we would want to be treated if we were them?  How does judgment and exclusion fit with that aspect of the gospel? 

Or what do we do with those who go back to specific prohibitions and say that same sex relationships are judged and found wanting to God?   Does the gospel not call upon us to “speak the truth in love” to one another?  Where does the call to holiness fit into all of this?

Pastor Ken Wilson’s Open Letter To My Congregation has been a very helpful resource for me.  Listen as he tries to point to a gospel oriented away of dealing with our same sex relationship debate as a disputable matter. 

“The rejection of all homosexual acts is rooted in a desire to uphold what is understood to be the meaning of the prohibitive Scriptures and the tradition of heterosexual marriage.  It is an attempt to be careful to walk in faithfulness to God. 

Wilson goes on, “The rejection of exclusionary practices aimed at gay and lesbian people is rooted in a desire to uphold Scriptures by seeking to carefully understand its meaning in the original historical context and to apply Scripture’s teaching carefully.  It is an attempt to uphold Scripture’s caution against religious zeal that unintentionally accepts harm of the neighbor or fails to love the neighbor well. 

Both positions are principled positions seeking to uphold important goods.”

Our current debate seems to always divide into two positions:

There are those who call upon the church to be “open and affirming” of all people—but especially gay and lesbian people who have been marginalized for so long in our culture and by the church.

         And on the other side there are those who espouse:

“love the sinner, hate the sin” to care enough about gay and lesbian neighbors to hold them accountable to what these Christians believe to be sinfulness in their lives.

         But I believe, along with Wilson and others, that it is time for us to lay out another way, the apostle Paul’s Third Way.   We need to accept one another as brothers and sisters in Christ who disagree, who together go back to the same scripture but who either put various passages in different buckets, or who see the scriptures in smaller or larger contexts.  Acceptance does not require us to reach consensus—it doesn’t require full moral approval on the one hand, or condemnation on the other hand, but it asks us to accept the other in the same way we ourselves have been accepted by Jesus himself.

         In this disputable matter we have the opportunity to witness to the world the gospel power of acceptance, first and foremost to one another.  But don’t kid yourselves, denominations are fracturing and dividing over this, individuals are leaving or joining congregations based on this, and of course there are all kinds of folks who are unconnected with Christ who are hanging back watching all this going on, trying to determine if there is anything to this Jesus message and the people who claim to live their lives by it. 

         Of course we can.  We are committed, more than ever, to live our lives by “this Jesus message.”  Learning to practice acceptance within the church over our divisions on gay and lesbian relationships is not a small step. It is not an inconsequential thing.  What we do with that acceptance as we look outward to our larger community—Alas, that is the subject of next week’s sermon.

Benediction:

         There is more anxiety around this issue than any other in the larger American church—at least over those issues which we have wrestled with for some time.  I have always wondered why.  Ken Wilson, the Vineyard pastor from Ann Arbor I quoted earlier offers this guess:

“Where does this anxiety come from?  Much of it comes from the fear that our relationships with people wee care about will suffer.  It comes, more precisely, from our fear that we won’t be accepted by those who disagree with us.  Our belonging will be threatened.  The gospel imperative to accept each other despite our differences over disputable matters is very good news indeed, if we walk in it.  It’s good for us.  It’s a relief to let go of all the pressure that comes with having to judge this matter correctly.  It’s a relief to know that we can hold to our own convictions without our belonging being threatened.”

         That, brothers and sisters, is the unheralded glory of the gospel.  You and I can hold our own convictions, in this church, without our belonging in this community of faith being threatened whatsoever.  That, I believe is a glimpse into the Kingdom of God that is breaking into this world.  May it break in with even greater power through us and our congregation—now and always.  Amen.

Sunday's Sermon Part II

Romans 14:1-4

Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarreling over disputable matters. 2 One person’s faith allows them to eat anything, but another, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. 3 The one who eats everything must not treat with contempt the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who does, for God has accepted them. 4 Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To their own master, servants stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand.

Romans 14:10-14

10 You, then, why do you judge your brother or sister? Or why do you treat them with contempt? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat. 11 It is written:

“‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord,


‘every knee will bow before me;
    

every tongue will acknowledge God.’”

12 So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God.

13 Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister. 14 I am convinced, being fully persuaded in the Lord Jesus, that nothing is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for that person it is unclean.

Romans 15:5-7

5 May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, 6 so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

7 Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.

      Paul’s letter to the Church at Rome reveals growing tension within the church—a tension between Christians who were born and raised Jews before coming to Christ, and Gentiles who have come to Jesus without the benefit of Jewish law and ritual.  There are at least two issues that threaten to create serious division in the church.  And we find out in Chapters 14 and 15 Paul’s pastoral response to those issues.

The Jewish Christians are labeled as “weak” but in a way “weak” is an awkward translation.  They are not so much weak as they simply feel compelled to honor specific religious laws and principles, and have developed sensitive consciences around several beliefs of their Jewish faith.

The Gentile or New Christians are labeled as “strong” but again it isn’t that they are stronger in their faith as much as they are able to see the bigger picture behind religious practices.  They are the spirit not the letter of the law kind of folks—who have untroubled consciences about what they see as Jewish beliefs and practices that have been superseded by the death and resurrection of Jesus.

         Many scholars concur that what threatens the unity of the church at Rome are:  eating meat offered to idols, and honoring the Sabbath. 

        The Jewish Christians are certain that eating meat that is offered up to a Roman God or goddess is to get caught up—even indirectly—in idolatry.  Unfortunately, in that culture all cows, sheep, and goats were offered up to one god or another.  It was their version of the USDA—their way of insuring the healthiness of the meat. They also believed that honoring the Jewish Sabbath is part of God’s universal moral law, tied to creation itself.  For them, this was not something that allegiance to Christ put on the back burner.

          The Gentile Christians say, there is only One God—the God of Jesus Christ—and the butcher who sells sacrificial meat has nothing to do with idolatry—he’s just a businessman.  It’s nothing more than misinformed superstition and therefore a good steak is just a good steak.  And when it comes to the Sabbath it seemed to them that Jesus did what he needed to do on the Sabbath.  He made the point of saying that the Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath.  They saw it of secondary importance, if important at all. If there is any day that should be holy to Christians it is the Lord’s Day, Sunday, not the Sabbath.      

          The former Jews thought the Gentile Christians were playing fast and loose with scripture, and the Gentile Christians thought the former Jews were narrow-minded and missing the point of the gospel entirely.  (This should begin to sound vaguely familiar.)

So Paul does something that would have been controversial in his day: he creates a category for these issues which he calls “disputed matters”—areas of disagreement which do not undermine the gospel and do not threaten our salvation either way.  It’s not that they aren’t important—Paul, a former Jew and Christ’s ambassador to the Gentiles knows full well how important these issues are—but Paul is also certain that there are bigger, more important, issues at stake.

Look at the word he brings to both groups: “Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.”  He doesn’t call for tolerance, he doesn’t demand that this be ‘settled once and for all;’  he doesn’t minimize their differences or pretend they aren't a big deal.  Instead he harkens back to the gospel of Jesus and says: accept each other as Christ has accepted you.  And then he says, “If others are doing their best to follow their conscience as they love God and love others then, “Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To their own master, servants stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand.”  In other words, if your fellow Christians are living unto the Lord, then let the Lord sort it out with them.  The gospel isn’t an excuse to be your sister or brother’s judge and jury—it is instead the freedom to love them and accept them for who they are.

Give up the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil already!  Head back to the Tree of Life: love and depend upon your God, and God will lead you where you need to go.  Give your sister or brother the freedom to do the same!

We Interrupt Our Quote-athon to bring You Last Week's Sermon In Three Parts

       Right before second service last Sunday I was struck with a horrible kidney stone attack.  At least that's what the Urgent Care Doctors think.  I think I was shot in the small of my back.  It was a nightmare.  Hats off to Pat and Dave for keeping things rolling for the last two worship services.  Unfortunately it means that a large number of St. Andrew folks didn't get a chance to hear the second sermon on Same Sex Relationships.  Because these last three sermons build on one another, I will be excerpting a written text of the sermon today, Tuesday and Wednesday.  I would encourage you to watch the sermon via the web page--though I know that is not possible for everyone.  So in an effort to keep everyone on the same page, let me offer you Part 1 of "Disputable Matters."

Romans 14:1-4, 10-14; 15:5-7

                    Disputable Matters

We are wrapping up our Sermon Series on Making Sense of the Bible.  We’ve looked at what the Bible has to say about everything from creation/evolution, to the status of women, and the End Times (Book of Revelation). 

Last week we looked at key passages in the Bible that prohibit same sex physical relationships—trying to flesh out their original context and application.  We came to the conclusion that though the Bible has deep suspicion of—and yes, condemnation for homosexual practice—a great deal of that condemnation appears to be tied to pagan/idolatrous religion as well as abusive Greco-Roman practices.  The conclusion I came to was that it isn’t really apples to apples if we try to apply what is described in big three prohibitive passages to a contemporary understanding of same sex monogamous, life long relationships.  Yet we also came to the conclusion that this continues to be passionately disputed among people of genuine faith today.

This week I’d like to spend our time together talking about just that:  can we find a biblical model for dealing with serious disagreement among those who love God and follow Jesus?

Next week we will wrap up the series by looking at the teaching of our United Methodist denomination, the instructions sent out by our Bishop, and to be fair and transparent—where I come out in my own life both as a pastor and as a follower of Jesus on this issue.

         But let me start by telling you a story.  Once upon a time there was a man and a woman in a beautiful garden.  The man and woman were naked and vulnerable but there were no threats and so there was no fear.  The woman and the man lived in harmony with God and with all the plants and creatures of the garden and it was a good as good can be.

         God gave the man and the woman many delicious fruit trees, and among them were two very special trees.  The Tree of Life, from which hung fruit that gave and preserved life—fruit that allowed the woman and man to live as children, depending upon and enjoying God and each other.  The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil produced fruit that would allow them to decide for themselves what is right and wrong—to approve and condemn—to judge and decide what was good and what was evil.  God forbade his children from eating of this second tree.  For eating of this tree would lead them to believe that they no longer needed God--and would they would be forever separated from the Tree of Life.

         For how long the woman and man enjoyed their Creator in that garden we do not know, but in the end, the temptation was just too great.  They wanted to be like God.  They thought that they could weigh and judge every bit as well as God--if only given the chance, and if only they ate from the forbidden tree.  And so they did.  And they saw that they were naked and defenseless and they were filled with fear.  And life in the garden as they had known it up to that point was gone forever.

I’ve been reading an author recently who suggests that we descendants of Adam and Eve have gotten ourselves in trouble by going back again and again to the wrong tree.  Despite the opportunity to get back to the Tree of Life--our original created purpose—we have gotten stuck in a kind of feedback loop where our desire for knowledge and control never quite produces the wisdom we need to judge in the way God judges.

         Do you remember what Samuel learns in trying to figure which of Jesse’s sons would be Israel’s new king?  “The Lord sees not as man sees; man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”

         Or consider the hope that Isaiah offered that God will one day raise up a King who will finally be able to judge “the weak with integrity and give a fair sentence for the humblest in the land.”  The implication being that no King or Queen had managed to do either up to that point.

         Or consider the Pharisees, who were so wrapped up in separating good from bad—so committed to avoiding God’s judgment—that they misjudged the new thing God was doing through the presence of Jesus Christ.

         Go no further than Holier-Than-Thou-Christians who make it a point of judging others and finding them all wanting one way or another so that they may feel somehow more smug and secure in their self-righteousness.

         We should be focusing on the fullness of life that Jesus has brought to us—enjoying our Creator God—and tuning our hearts to His heart—but instead we keep gathering the fruit of the forbidden tree, thinking we can think a little more clearly, judge a little more wisely, believe a little more precisely than we have before.  We know we are doing more harm than good, but we just cannot seem to stop ourselves.

July 13 Quote

"Some luck lies in not getting what you thought you wanted but getting what you have, which once you have it you may be smart enough to see is what you would have wanted had you known.”   
              Garrison Keillor, Lake Wobegon Days

    Someone once said that true contentment comes from learning to want what you have already been given.  Keillor is saying something along those lines.  We live in a new, improved world in which billions of dollars are spent every year to make us dissatisfied with what we have and who we are so that will buy the next new thing.  Contentment may take a little luck under the circumstances.
      Or I suppose faith might not hurt either.  The apostle Paul figured it out, as he suggests in the fourth chapter of Philippians:  "I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength."

July 12 Quote

"An easy conscience requires a life of extraordinary virtue, frequent and profound repentance, or absolute insensitivity."
 Charlotte Pitt, character in a novel by Anne Perry

      Our choice if we want a clean or 'easy' conscience:  extra ordinary virtue, frequent repentance (with a willingness to make amends), or a sociopathic way of relating to the people around you.  Wow.  I aspire to but fail to be nearly that virtuous, and thank God I have escaped sociopathy, so I guess I'm stuck apologizing, changing direction, and leaning on the grace of God if I want to sleep well at night.  Sounds about right, I guess.  Not perfect, just forgiven in order leave more and more of my imperfection behind.

July 9 Quote

Oops!  Forgot to post this yesterday....
     
I love Brennan Manning's Ragamuffin Gospel.  I offer a quote from his book without comment today.  I hope it is as convicting and thought-provoking for you as it has been for me over the years.

    "There is an ancient Christian legend that goes this way: 

     'When the son of God was nailed to the cross and gave up His Spirit, He went straight down to hell from the cross and set free all the sinners who were there in torment. And the devil wept and mourned for he thought he would get no more sinners for hell.

      "Then God said to him, 'Do not weep, for I shall send you all those holy people who have become self-complacent in the consciousness of their goodness and self-righteous in their condemnation of sinners. And hell shall be filled up once more for generations until I come again.' "

     How long will it be before we discover we cannot dazzle God with our accomplishments?

      When will we acknowledge that we need not and cannot buy God's favor?

     When will we acknowledge that we don't have it all together and happily accept the gift of grace? When will we grasp the thrilling truth of Paul: "[We know] that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ" (Galatians 2:16, NKJV).

From “Counterfeit Grace” by Brennan Manning

July 10 Quote

"You can’t serve God and be liked by his enemies.”
 The actual verbatim quote: “We can’t expect to faithfully serve God and be liked by his enemies.”  Gary Thomas.

     One of my favorite quotes, which of course, I felt the need to paraphrase.  It's a great reminder when you are a pastor that you can't make everybody happy all of the time.  In fact, if you could manage to make everyone happy all of the time it is almost guaranteed that you are not faithfully serving God.
     It  is easy to forget that God has enemies.  Maybe because almost nobody thinks of themselves as enemies of God.  But the gospel is provocative.  The gospel is unsettling.  The gospel is a threat to the status quo.  I often say that we didn't crucify Jesus because of his overall charm, kindness and good looks.  We crucified Jesus because he brought the light of God into our lives and illumined the dark corners we'd been keeping from others, from God, and in some instances, even to ourselves.  We put out the light because we'd grown rather accustomed to the darkness.  To be human is to be--at one time or another--an enemy of God.
    It is Jesus who has allowed us to "make up" with God, to drop our rebellious attitude, and be reconciled with God--to become God's friends--to be restored as God's children.  In a way, part of my role as a Christian leader is to do what I can to invite God's enemies into friendship with their Creator.  (It is the role of all of us who follow Jesus and care about the people around us who are out of step with God.) This quote reminds me that I can't always do that.  In fact, if I am really persistent and faithful I run the real risk of making personal enemies out of God's enemies.  Sad, I know, but the cost of courage and the price of love.
    I love to be liked or I like to be loved--probably both.  So this is always a hard one for me.  I supposed that's why I wrote this down ten or so years ago and come back to it again and again.  I want to be liked by God and share his love more than I need to be liked by those who may or may not love my God.  I wish I could do both.  Alas, I will always take the first over the second.

July 8 Quote

      "Whatever its ancient critics had to say about early Christianity, they never accused it of being boring.  Back then, the Church stirred such emotions that some wanted to kill it, while others were ready to die to be a part of it."   

             Will Willimon and Tony Campolo

      If you had a emory board that was just right for shaping and shaving off the rough edges of your fingernails you'd find a special place for it in your purse or desk.  For many women long, well manicured fingernails are part and parcel of "their look," a mark of beauty.  I would assume, over time, that your preference for this most excellent emory board would slowly but surely wear down its rough surface.  There would come a time when it would no longer have enough texture to deliver a manicured 'look.'  It would get worn down enough that it no longer worked.

    There are those who think the same has happened to the church of Jesus Christ over the years.  We began as a bold, wildly counter-cultural movement of unparalleled grace.  As Willimon and Campolo assert, there were those who wanted to kill the church and there were those who were willing to die for it, but there were very few who were indifferent to it.  I wonder sometimes if we haven't been rubbing up against "the grain" of Jesus so long that we've worn it down, or developed an insensitivity to it.  There are lots of folks today who are indifferent to the Kingdom Movement and it seems as if there are fewer and fewer willing to die for it.  (In other places in the world there are still those who are doing their best to kill it, but that fact is often lost on North American Christians.) 

      Most days I don't mind being pastor of a domesticated church.  Life is predictable, our mission is achievable, and whatever may be "rocking the boat" might make me a little sea-sick at times, but it poses no danger of capsizing the ship.  Then I come across a quote like this one and I am convicted and I am inspired and I want to be a part of something that asks everything of me and offers me the opportunity to join forces with the wild, unpredictable God of Jesus Christ.  I intuitively know that if I let him, Jesus will take me where I can make the most difference rather than where I can be the most comfortable. Today is one of those days.

     I get tired sometimes of all the study that goes with  biblical interpretation, the deep thinking of theological debate, and the need to always be the authority relating to all things religious.  Days like today I just want to do the one thing.  I want to love like Jesus loved.  I want to love like God loves me--throwing it all out there without regard to how it may or may not be received.  I may get some of the details wrong, but I would know that I've got the bigger picture right.  Loving God, Loving people, loving myself, and loving the incredible gift of creation that's been entrusted to me--that would be more than enough.  I want the bold abandon to do what Jesus does and go where Jesus goes even if it kills me.  I want to be a pastor of a church filled with people who are ready to do the same. 

     After all, Jesus had only 12 and they changed the world.

July 7 Quote

      "By perseverance the snail reached the ark."  Charles Spurgeon

      Funny how I never really thought about Noah's assignment to gather in all the world's creatures as pertaining to slugs and snails.  I haven't yet seen the new Hollywood version of Noah, but I doubt they spend a lot of time on it either.   We live in a world that doesn't have a whole lot of time for creatures like snails (unless you're trying your hand at gardening).  They are small and inconsequential and even though they might be delicious with garlic butter and white wine, they are just too slow for us to get very excited about.
      One of the hidden truths of scripture is that those who were closest to God, those who were able to do great things on God's behalf--they were almost all part snail.  What I mean to say is that they were perseverant and patient people.  Sarah comes to mind with her long wait for Motherhood.  Joseph seemed to wait and work forever before his strange dreams came true.  It must have seemed as if Saul would be King forever from David's perspective.  And Israel waited something like 400 years for God to send God's Anointed One to His chosen people.  Being strong in the faith goes hand and hand with waiting on the Lord.  The trick is to keep busy doing whatever we can--in the best way we can--while God puts the pieces in place or until the time is just right.
      Snail-like persistence is not something any of us aspire to and yet, like the proverbial tortoise, it is the very slow and steady that often win the race.  In a 24/7 instant society it is nice to think that God still works with snails, that they matter to him.  It's incredibly encouraging to remember that no matter how far ahead the people around us might go, our quiet perseverance is one gift God never gets enough of!

July 6th Quote of the Day

“I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody."  Bill Cosby

         One of the most difficult lessons to unlearn is the sheer joy of pleasing others.  From infancy on up we are rewarded when we smile for others, when we wave, play Hide-n-seek, and so on.  Making our parents happy; pleasing our teachers and coaches in school; getting on the right side of our peers and “going along to get along” with our friends is ingrained into us early and often.  And honestly, there is nothing inherently wrong in any of that.  In fact, our ability to please others and rather than always trying to please ourselves is a sign of growing maturity and character.

         But it is easy to get stuck in “people pleasing mode” in such a way that we find it nearly impossible to stand up for ourselves or our principles when it means disappointing others.  In fact, if we make pleasing others our goal in life we may well attain our goal only to discover that we have given up everything of real value to make it ours.  The apostle Paul says in Romans 2:29 that if it is our desire to be a woman or man after God’s own heart we need to recognize that our truest praise cannot be from other people, but must have its source in God Himself.

         Bill Cosby summarizes this so well.  ‘I may not be able to tell you how to be successful in all endeavors, but I can tell you how you fail miserably—make pleasing others your highest priority.’  Jesus loved the people around him deeply and indiscriminately.  Yet how different his life and ministry would have been if he had tried to please others instead of pleasing God!

July 5th Quote

Mohandas Gandi once warned against the internal forces that could destroy a nation with his “seven deadly social sins”

Politics without principle

Wealth without work

Commerce without morality

Pleasure without conscience

Education without character

Science without humanity

And worship without sacrifice.

As our Fourth of July celebrations continue through the weekend, I invite you to join with me in praying that we Americans might avoid these deadly sins.

         

Lord, let me find a way, today and every day, to value:

   principle over partisan politics;

   the dignity of work over conspicuous consumption;

   morality over a profit-driven “bottom line” mindset;

   a clear conscience over ease and comfort;

   substantive character over achievement & expertise;

   human relationships in the face of technology;

   a devoted, repentant heart instead of a religious resume.

Help me follow the example of Jesus Christ in all things.  Amen.

July 4th Quote

"It is not bigotry to be certain we are right; but it is bigotry to be unable to imagine how we might possibly have gone wrong."

        G. K. Chesterton

    Today is Independence Day and it is the time when we celebrate the struggle that has given us our freedom and the democratic government to guard the threats to and restrain the excesses of that freedom.  It is the best time in the world to take satisfaction what America has done right in its history, which is plenty.  It is the best time in the world to offer gratitude to those who sacrifice so much to lead us and defend us.  Patriotism—pride in our national achievements and potential—it is a wonderful thing to embrace on the 4^th of July.

      But Chesterton’s quote above should also give us pause and prevent us from complacency.  Despite whatever we have done in the past and whatever we might become in the future, we are currently in an unhealthy and dysfunctional place as a nation.  Too many of us are unable to imagine how we might possibly be wrong.  Those who disagree with us are like people from another planet.  How can they not see what I see or believe what I believe?  It is the most obvious thing in the world!  It’s not just that we are certain that we are right, it is that we cannot imagine that our partisan position might possibly “have gone wrong” somewhere along the way.

     Many of you have heard me out as I have decried the acrimonious partisan polarization that has gone so far as to infect the Body of Christ.  It is choking the life out of everyday civility.  It is undermining the ability of our leaders to tackle pressing problems before us.  It threatens to leave a scar on our proud history as a “can do”  “pull together” people.

     Even as I rail against it, I too succumb to partisanship from time to time.  I’ve been discouraged, then angry, and have dismissed national leaders who I neither know or fully understand.  But over time I have learned to end all my political assumptions and beliefs with one or two sets of four word phrases:  “I may be wrong,” or “You may be right.”  It’s not always easy to do.  Sometimes I say when I don’t honestly feel it.  But I do believe it makes a difference—in me if nowhere else.  Using Chesterton as my guide, let me just say it’s my feeble attempt to quash bigotry—if only in myself.

July 2, Quote 2

“Our salvation is in loving and cherishing his creation,

in so living that others may have life.”  Gerald Hughes

      I had a friend many years ago who talked about "sustainability" all the time.  Frankly, I wrote him off as a bit of a left-leaning worry-wart.  Then, slowly but surely, I began to understand what the fuss (and his interest) was all about.  To love God is to do more than simply love our neighbor as ourselves.  To love God is to appreciate and care for God’s gift of creation.  After all, we are His designated gardeners and caretakers.  He trusts us to use what we need and conserve/preserve the rest.
       Unfortunately, we Americans are short term thinkers.  We always have been.  How do we do the best we can for ourselves and our families here and now?  How do we maximize profits for the next quarter?  How do we create or maintain jobs for our neighbors today?  We rarely take the time to look more deeply at what will bless our families a generation or two down the line.  We almost never weigh share-holder value against employee or community value.  We see natural resources as something to be harvested and exploited for our employment needs right now without asking what those resources might do if left in their pristine, non polluted state for future tourism, etc.  
   It is the human condition: We want what we want and we want it now.  But where is the voice of restraint when it comes to tending God's creation?  Whose job is it to ask the hard questions about sharing fairly what God has given His children?  Is that not part and parcel of our call as Christians?

   It’s too bad that we have absorbed so little of the biblical world view in which blessings and curses were understood to be passed down from generation to generation to generation.  God has given us more than we need and more than we deserve.  It may well be that our salvation lies in learning to love and cherish it.  
   There is a public service radio spot which signs off with the phrase, "Remember, earth is an island.”  Sobering, but true.  How about we start off with the reminder, "Earth is God's garden and He wants us to tend and cherish it always."