Sermon No. 2

Pass It On

Before there was anything, there was God, a few angels and a huge swirling glob of rocks and water with no place to go. An angel asked God, "Why don't you clean up this mess?' so God collected the rocks, put them together and said, 'some of these rocks will be planets, some stars, and some . . . well, just rocks."

Then God collected the water, put it in pools and said, 'some of these will be oceans, some lakes, some rivers, some clouds and some . . . well, just water."

Then the angel asked, "God, is it finished now?"

"Nope."

Then God placed growing things, creeping things, and things that only God knows what they are. And the angel asked, "Is it finished now?"

"Nope."

So God made man and woman and said, "I'm tired. Please finish the world. It's almost done."

Man said, "We can't finish it. You have the plans."

God said, "OK, let's be partners."

"What are partners?"

God answered, "A partner is someone you work with on a big thing that neither of you can do alone. If you have a partner, it means you can't give up, because your partner is counting on you. There will be days when you don't think I'm doing enough, and days when I don't think you are doing enough, but even on those days we are still partners. Is it a deal? 'they all agreed.

Sometime later the angel asked God, "Is it finished now?"

God answered, "I don't know. Go ask my partners." (Story adapted)

April 22, was the 25th anniversary of Earth Day, a celebration once considered by many to be the interest of the lunatic fringe. I still hear an occasional preacher talk disparagingly of the "religion of environmentalism." We need to consider what kind of world we will pass on to our children.

The earth is a vibrant but fragile planet. Our world population grows by 250,000 persons every day! By 1800 the world reached a population of 1 billion. It took 120 years to reach 2 billion, another 40 years to reach 3 billion, then 14 years to reach 4 billion. It is estimated that we will reach 8.5 billion within 30 years! Food production is not keeping pace with that growth. "An ecologically destructive technology combined with relentless consumer expectations clouds our future as we bulldoze rain forests, dump toxic wastes in our rivers..."

The world spends $600,000,000,000 a year on military. Even tho the "cold war" has ended, our US "defense" budget of $280,000,000,000 (yes, that's billion) is almost equal to the rest of the world combined ...and the 104th congress wants to increase it!

The General Accounting Office says that the Department of Defense produces more toxic waste than the top 5 chemical companies. The Army Corps of Engineers labeled Colorado's Rocky Mountain Arsenal (where for 30 years they have dumped chemicals during the production of nerve gas and pesticides) "the most contaminated square mile on earth."

World War II produced destruction during half a decade which was unprecedented. Yet in the half century since, United States, Soviet Union, China, Britain and France have produced 128,000 nuclear warheads, 250 tons of weapons-grade plutonium, about 1800 tons of highly-enriched uranium. Some of that remains today ...1600 times as much as was used in all of World War II!

David Suzuki says, ''the issues ultimately are spiritual. They have to do with what we are, what is our place, how we were meant to live, and the future of our children."

Earth Day! - the future of our children."What kind of earth will we leave our children? Yes, it is indeed a spiritual problem.

Theologian Sallie McFague says, "We think of God metaphorically as the spirit that is the breath, the life of the universe, a universe that comes from God and could be seen as the body of God."We are the body of Christ!

Easter Island is a little mote of land in the middle of the widest marine solitude in the world. It was discovered by a Dutch ship on Easter Day, 1722. Huge monoliths with elongated ears stand on the shore. No one knows when or how they got there.

There were about 4000 people on the island. The population grew to about 8000, but by 1877 there were only about 100! Why the decline? They cut down the trees to sell the wood to passing ships. With no trees to protect the environment, the wind and rain erosion scarred the landscape. The land became less fertile. The people had destroyed their habitat . . . and subsequently themselves.

Today the population is again growing. Hard work, good stewardship, land management and intelligent planning has changed the landscape. The island's accidental name may turn out to be prophetic. Let's hope so!

The whole earth is like a little island isolated in the vast seas of space. We can revitalize it. Will we?

We who believe in the literal Second Coming of Jesus are tempted to be careless as environmentalists. After all, Jesus will come before we can destroy our earth.

Today's reading from Revelation is the good news that Jesus is coming. "Look, he is coming . . . and every eye shall see him."(Revelation 1:7)

We need to remember that there were many who tho't Jesus would come during the year 1000. There were many who tho't Jesus would come before 1800. There were some who sold all their possessions and looked for him in 1844. My Dad was sure World War I was Armageddon. And I was sure World War II was Armageddon!

The point is simply that we do not know when Jesus will come. We believe it is soon. But we don't know how ''soon" soon is! In the meantime, we are responsible for the care of this wonderful earth. We owe it to our children to work for "peace and justice" in the name of the Prince of Peace.

Shalom is the call of the day, and especially on this celebration of Earth Day. Shalom includes peace, justice and the integrity of creation.

Justice is not just what happens in courts of law. Current events seem to indicate that has very little to do with it. Justice has to do with society. As long as a poor man, especially if he's black, is treated more harshly than a rich man, especially if he's white, we better use the word justice very carefully. As long as we continue to kill people to show that killing people is wrong, as in war and capital punishment, we better use the word justice very carefully.

Anyone who is knowledgeable in our criminal justice system knows that the color of skin and the size of one's bank account are far more relevant to the outcome of trials than is "justice."

Anyone who has served on a jury knows that the outcome of a trial depends more on the eloquence and expertise of the lawyers than on facts.

Police decide whom to arrest. District attorneys decide whom to prosecute. Judges decide whom to sentence, and how severely to sentence them. Blind justice? No way!

There is a lot of injustice even in our economic system. Plato wrote: "When there is an income tax, the just man will pay more than the unjust on the same amount of income." Plato might just as well have written today as in the 4th century B.C.

There is injustice in the world society, As governments challenge each other in war, they reflect not a logical approach to relationships, but a "bully" approach. As Christians, we must reflect the Jesus mentality, and as in most other areas, that is most surely not in harmony with this world's mentality.

Representative Marcy Kaptur, who is from Ohio, described war as ''the ultimate abandonment of reason and of love." Jesus, the pacifist, would surely say Amen to that.

High in the Andes, on the boundary between Chile and Argentina, there stands a bronze statue of Jesus. Below it are inscribed these words: ''sooner shall these mountains crumble into dust than Argentines and Chileans break the peace sworn at the feet of Christ the Redeemer."

For many years the two countries had fought bitterly. In 1900 some citizens asked King Edward VII to mediate the dispute. On May 28, 1903 the two governments signed a treaty. Senora de Costa, a noble lady of Argentina, who had been instrumental in the negotiations, had the statue shaped from the very cannons which had been used to fight each other.

At the dedication of the statue, Senora de Costa knelt and prayed, "Protect, O Lord, our native land. Ever give us faith and hope. May fruitful peace be our first patrimony and good example its greatest glory."

We are not so naive as to think our government will build a statue of Jesus between us and Iraq or Cuba or any other country with whom we are at odds. But as Christians we are obligated to reflect the Christ of the Resurrection, the Light of the world. We may not significantly change the world, but we must never let the world change us.

One of the pictures in my office is of Abraham Muste, who was in his 70's when he was picketing a war plant. A reporter asked, ''Mr. Muste, do you really think you can change the world?" His answer was, "No, but I can not let the world change me."

Let's look at the Gospel story for today. It is evening of ''that first day of the week." Evening can mean any time after noon. The disciples were scared. Maybe the Jews would come get them and hang them also?

Peter and John had seen the empty tomb that morning. Mary had told them of meeting Jesus, but they weren't sure she was all that coherent. It was all too much to comprehend. So they met, perhaps in the same room where they had shared the passover supper with Jesus, and they locked the doors. Can't you just imagine what they must have talked about!

Suddenly, Jesus was there! The doors were still locked, but Jesus was right there with them.

"Peace be with you."

What a beautiful lesson for this Earth Day celebration. Peace. Jesus proclaimed peace. "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. You heard me say, 'I am going away and I am coming back to you.'"
(John 14:27, 28)

Let us pray for peace, live at peace, work for peace.

The next interfaith Thanksgiving Eve service will center on the theme of What are we to pass on to our children and our grandchildren? Will we leave a society of prejudice and suspicion and distrust? Or will we have learned to go beyond tolerance, and have learned to respect and love each other?

What kind of earth will we pass on to the next generation? Since we don't know when Jesus is coming, we must diligently care for the earth. The best way to change the world is to change our little corner of the earth. We can do that by renewing, reducing, reusing, recycling, repairing, refurbishing . . . then we can rejoice in a new and better earth to come.

Let us pray . . .


	Pass It On
	Before there was anything, there was God, a few angels and a huge swirling glob of rocks and water with no place to go. An angel asked God, "Why don't you clean up this mess?' so God collected the rocks, put them together and said, 'some of these rocks will be planets, some stars, and some . . . well, just rocks." Then God collected the water, put it in pools and said, 'some of these will be oceans, some lakes, some rivers, some clouds and some . . . well, just water." Then the angel asked, "God, is it finished now?" "Nope." Then God placed growing things, creeping things, and things that only God knows what they are. And the angel asked, "Is it finished now?" "Nope." So God made man and woman and said, "I'm tired. Please finish the world. It's almost done." Man said, "We can't finish it. You have the plans." God said, "OK, let's be partners." "What are partners?" God answered, "A partner is someone you work with on a big thing that neither of you can do alone. If you have a partner, it means you can't give up, because your partner is counting on you. There will be days when you don't think I'm doing enough, and days when I don't think you are doing enough, but even on those days we are still partners. Is it a deal? 'they all agreed. Sometime later the angel asked God, "Is it finished now?" God answered, "I don't know. Go ask my partners." (Story adapted) April 22, was the 25th anniversary of Earth Day, a celebration once considered by many to be the interest of the lunatic fringe. I still hear an occasional preacher talk disparagingly of the "religion of environmentalism." We need to consider what kind of world we will pass on to our children. The earth is a vibrant but fragile planet. Our world population grows by 250,000 persons every day! By 1800 the world reached a population of 1 billion. It took 120 years to reach 2 billion, another 40 years to reach 3 billion, then 14 years to reach 4 billion. It is estimated that we will reach 8.5 billion within 30 years! Food production is not keeping pace with that growth. "An ecologically destructive technology combined with relentless consumer expectations clouds our future as we bulldoze rain forests, dump toxic wastes in our rivers..." The world spends $600,000,000,000 a year on military. Even tho the "cold war" has ended, our US "defense" budget of $280,000,000,000 (yes, that's billion) is almost equal to the rest of the world combined ...and the 104th congress wants to increase it! The General Accounting Office says that the Department of Defense produces more toxic waste than the top 5 chemical companies. The Army Corps of Engineers labeled Colorado's Rocky Mountain Arsenal (where for 30 years they have dumped chemicals during the production of nerve gas and pesticides) "the most contaminated square mile on earth." World War II produced destruction during half a decade which was unprecedented. Yet in the half century since, United States, Soviet Union, China, Britain and France have produced 128,000 nuclear warheads, 250 tons of weapons-grade plutonium, about 1800 tons of highly-enriched uranium. Some of that remains today ...1600 times as much as was used in all of World War II! David Suzuki says, ''the issues ultimately are spiritual. They have to do with what we are, what is our place, how we were meant to live, and the future of our children." Earth Day! - the future of our children."What kind of earth will we leave our children? Yes, it is indeed a spiritual problem. Theologian Sallie McFague says, "We think of God metaphorically as the spirit that is the breath, the life of the universe, a universe that comes from God and could be seen as the body of God."We are the body of Christ! Easter Island is a little mote of land in the middle of the widest marine solitude in the world. It was discovered by a Dutch ship on Easter Day, 1722. Huge monoliths with elongated ears stand on the shore. No one knows when or how they got there. There were about 4000 people on the island. The population grew to about 8000, but by 1877 there were only about 100! Why the decline? They cut down the trees to sell the wood to passing ships. With no trees to protect the environment, the wind and rain erosion scarred the landscape. The land became less fertile. The people had destroyed their habitat . . . and subsequently themselves. Today the population is again growing. Hard work, good stewardship, land management and intelligent planning has changed the landscape. The island's accidental name may turn out to be prophetic. Let's hope so! The whole earth is like a little island isolated in the vast seas of space. We can revitalize it. Will we? We who believe in the literal Second Coming of Jesus are tempted to be careless as environmentalists. After all, Jesus will come before we can destroy our earth. Today's reading from Revelation is the good news that Jesus is coming. "Look, he is coming . . . and every eye shall see him."(Revelation 1:7) We need to remember that there were many who tho't Jesus would come during the year 1000. There were many who tho't Jesus would come before 1800. There were some who sold all their possessions and looked for him in 1844. My Dad was sure World War I was Armageddon. And I was sure World War II was Armageddon! The point is simply that we do not know when Jesus will come. We believe it is soon. But we don't know how ''soon" soon is! In the meantime, we are responsible for the care of this wonderful earth. We owe it to our children to work for "peace and justice" in the name of the Prince of Peace. Shalom is the call of the day, and especially on this celebration of Earth Day. Shalom includes peace, justice and the integrity of creation. Justice is not just what happens in courts of law. Current events seem to indicate that has very little to do with it. Justice has to do with society. As long as a poor man, especially if he's black, is treated more harshly than a rich man, especially if he's white, we better use the word justice very carefully. As long as we continue to kill people to show that killing people is wrong, as in war and capital punishment, we better use the word justice very carefully. Anyone who is knowledgeable in our criminal justice system knows that the color of skin and the size of one's bank account are far more relevant to the outcome of trials than is "justice." Anyone who has served on a jury knows that the outcome of a trial depends more on the eloquence and expertise of the lawyers than on facts. Police decide whom to arrest. District attorneys decide whom to prosecute. Judges decide whom to sentence, and how severely to sentence them. Blind justice? No way! There is a lot of injustice even in our economic system. Plato wrote: "When there is an income tax, the just man will pay more than the unjust on the same amount of income." Plato might just as well have written today as in the 4th century B.C. There is injustice in the world society, As governments challenge each other in war, they reflect not a logical approach to relationships, but a "bully" approach. As Christians, we must reflect the Jesus mentality, and as in most other areas, that is most surely not in harmony with this world's mentality. Representative Marcy Kaptur, who is from Ohio, described war as ''the ultimate abandonment of reason and of love." Jesus, the pacifist, would surely say Amen to that. High in the Andes, on the boundary between Chile and Argentina, there stands a bronze statue of Jesus. Below it are inscribed these words: ''sooner shall these mountains crumble into dust than Argentines and Chileans break the peace sworn at the feet of Christ the Redeemer." For many years the two countries had fought bitterly. In 1900 some citizens asked King Edward VII to mediate the dispute. On May 28, 1903 the two governments signed a treaty. Senora de Costa, a noble lady of Argentina, who had been instrumental in the negotiations, had the statue shaped from the very cannons which had been used to fight each other. At the dedication of the statue, Senora de Costa knelt and prayed, "Protect, O Lord, our native land. Ever give us faith and hope. May fruitful peace be our first patrimony and good example its greatest glory." We are not so naive as to think our government will build a statue of Jesus between us and Iraq or Cuba or any other country with whom we are at odds. But as Christians we are obligated to reflect the Christ of the Resurrection, the Light of the world. We may not significantly change the world, but we must never let the world change us. One of the pictures in my office is of Abraham Muste, who was in his 70's when he was picketing a war plant. A reporter asked, ''Mr. Muste, do you really think you can change the world?" His answer was, "No, but I can not let the world change me." Let's look at the Gospel story for today. It is evening of ''that first day of the week." Evening can mean any time after noon. The disciples were scared. Maybe the Jews would come get them and hang them also? Peter and John had seen the empty tomb that morning. Mary had told them of meeting Jesus, but they weren't sure she was all that coherent. It was all too much to comprehend. So they met, perhaps in the same room where they had shared the passover supper with Jesus, and they locked the doors. Can't you just imagine what they must have talked about! Suddenly, Jesus was there! The doors were still locked, but Jesus was right there with them. "Peace be with you." What a beautiful lesson for this Earth Day celebration. Peace. Jesus proclaimed peace. "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. You heard me say, 'I am going away and I am coming back to you.'" (John 14:27, 28) Let us pray for peace, live at peace, work for peace. The next interfaith Thanksgiving Eve service will center on the theme of What are we to pass on to our children and our grandchildren? Will we leave a society of prejudice and suspicion and distrust? Or will we have learned to go beyond tolerance, and have learned to respect and love each other? What kind of earth will we pass on to the next generation? Since we don't know when Jesus is coming, we must diligently care for the earth. The best way to change the world is to change our little corner of the earth. We can do that by renewing, reducing, reusing, recycling, repairing, refurbishing . . . then we can rejoice in a new and better earth to come. Let us pray . . .