And Every Living Creature
Genesis 9: 8 – 17
Today, I want you to join me in reading the
scripture lesson from Genesis—but in this particular way. I want
you all to read the phrase “every living creature” each and every time
it appears in this text. (Read)
You did great! Four separate times God affirms
that a new divine covenant is being made not just with Noah and his
family, but also with “every living creature.” Before you put
away your insert, I want you to look back at this passage and note how
many times the phrases “all flesh” and “the earth” appear—eleven times
in all! So in the course of these ten verses, God affirms a
covenant is being established with every living creature, all flesh, in
the earth fifteen times!
Of all the sins and shortcomings worthy of
contemplation during this season of Lent, probably one that doesn’t
appear on your list is the sin of speciesism, also called
homocentrism—the belief that it’s “all about us humans.” This
passage from Genesis startles us by its clear assertion that God’s
covenant is made with ALL of creation, not just with people.
Plants, animals, the entire earth itself, joins humanity in its journey
towards a spiritual homecoming.
Actually, humanity, because we have, through our
actions and choices, fallen so far away from a true relationship with
God--we bear the responsibility for the abuse and misuse of the rest of
creation, which has not made an intentional choice to move away from a
relationship with the divine. Remember, Genesis 1 teaches us that
God had a relationship with animals and birds and even plants before
God had a relationship with humans. Maybe instead of being at the
top of the heap, the way we ordinarily think of ourselves, we’re the
afterthought—the “lower life forms” that were created last!
Humanity’s most prevalent current attitude, at least
within developed countries, is to see nature as resource, tool, and
commodity, provided by God for human use. Rarely do we think of all of
creation—the soil, the rocks, the plants, the trees, the animals in all
their diversity, even the insects and amphibians--as our brother and
sister, parent and ancestor, which simply speaks with a different voice
than ours.
The creation story in Genesis 1 portrays God
delightedly weaving together the various fabrics of God’s imagination
into the complex network of a living, breathing planet. Each and
every phase of this creative activity bears the personal expression of
the divine nature. The human beings God creates on the sixth day
of the Genesis 1 story reside in the same relationship to God as does
the rest of creation: complete dependence upon God for their very
existence, and continued dependence upon their fellow creatures for
sustaining their existence.
There is no hint that the relationship between God
and non-human creation is diminished in any way because of the presence
of this new human order of life. Indeed, the text from Genesis 9
indicates that God still perceives creation as a holistic unit of life,
which is why God’s wrath and the flood waters had been poured out on
both human and non-human creation alike. Paul Tillich commented upon
this idea once: “[Humanity] and nature belong together in their
created glory—in their tragedy and in their salvation.”
If all the earth has suffered along with humanity in
the deluge of punishment meted out in the flood, then, this week’s text
teaches us that it is with all created things that God re-establishes
an enduring covenantal relationship. The gospel message echoes
this—the gospel is not simply good news of our human redemption from
the world. The gospel promises redemption of the world. The
gospel of John sums this up in Chapter 3, verse 17: “Indeed, God
did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order
that the world might be saved through him.”
There are some very special things to note about the
covenant established by God after the Flood. First, it is an
unconditional covenant—where in a traditional covenant, each party has
responsibilities, and if one fails in those responsibilities the
covenant is voided—this is an unconditional covenant. Here, there
are no conditions set for the second parties, the earth and the
creatures upon it, to fulfill—God establishes this covenant
unilaterally. Secondly, it is an “everlasting covenant,” which is
established once and forever. God allows for no exit from this
covenantal relationship. No matter the sinfulness of humanity, or
the aging of the world, God’s promised covenant will abide.
We need to see our place in God’s creation
holistically—and then remember our assigned task: to care for the earth
and all the creatures that share this earth with us. And we have
to quit thinking that there is an unlimited supply of natural resources
just waiting for human use. Since our focus is stewardship during
March and April, I’d like to help you see how your stewardship of
natural resources is an important faith issue—not just a political or
economic issue. Since the image of water is one of the most
prevalent within scripture—we read of the waters of creation, the
flood, the waters of baptism and so on—let’s look at how we use water.
How many of you remember those science lessons
that taught you the water cycle? The clouds carry the water vapor
until it becomes too heavy, and then it rains, soaks into the ground or
flows into the rivers, out to the oceans, which are the largest body of
water that evaporates releasing water vapor back into the air. It
is a closed system. No water is created—the water that we have
now has been recycled millions of times. Someone once commented
that the water of the river Jordan in which Jesus was baptized is still
here; and the waters that the dinosaurs waded in are the same waters we
splash in when we go to the lake. You might remember too the
science lesson that pointed out that the human body is mostly water—we
can go without food for many days in a disaster, but we can’t go for
long without water.
God has blessed the earth with life-giving water;
how are we using this gift? I became sensitized to this issue
several years ago, when I happened to stop at Vista del Lago, that
visitors center for the State Water Project overlooking Pyramid Lake,
on the way to LA. I was hooked from the moment I discovered that it
takes 15 gallons of water to produce the two slices of whole wheat
bread I use for toast in the morning. So here are a few facts to
catch your interest too. In the year 1900, Americans used
an average of 95 gallons of water per day per person. By 1985,
the national per capita fresh water use was about 1600 gallons per
day. You wonder how in the world you could be using that
much? What is the use that’s most important? Drinking
water, of course, yet only 5 percent of our water use is for
drinking. Do you know what the biggest percentage of our fresh
water is used for? Flushing—41 % of our water use is flushing our
toilets. Another 37 % is used for bathing—only 6 % is used in the
kitchen, 4 % for washing clothes, 3% in cleaning house, 3% in the
garden and on the lawns, and 1 percent washing your cars. These
are the ways we use up those 1600 gallons a day—can you think of a few
ways to reduce how much of this precious resource you’re consuming. so
that you can become a more faithful steward of this precious gift of
God? I’m sure you can.
Yet, these are just the most obvious uses of
water. Most of our water use is hidden. For example, how
many of you are planning to go out to lunch and have a burger and
fries? To get that hamburger, fries and a coke to your table
requires about 1500 gallons of water—because water is necessary to
raise the wheat for the bun, to grow hay and corn to feed and water the
cattle, and to process that grain and beef. That’s enough water
to fill a small swimming pool—and that’s just one combo meal from In
and Out. How about the clothes you’re wearing to church
today? To grow the pound of cotton in your jeans or slacks takes
as much as 1300 gallons of water; your shirt is another 400
gallons. To produce enough finished steel to build the car you
drove to church in today took another 32,000 gallons of water.
The water resources folks who study this kind of thing tell us that it
takes 1000 gallons of water per pound to produce the food we Americans
eat—and we each eat about 1500 pounds of food a year. If I did my
math correctly that means that we EACH require 1.5 million gallons of
water a year to produce the food we eat.
Of course, a lot of rain falls each year too—and
each inch of rain is the equivalent of 17.4 million gallons of water
per square mile. However, more than 99 percent of the world’s
water is in the oceans. The remaining 1 percent is not always
easily accessible, and right now, we are using up what is accessible
faster than it can be replaced naturally. It only takes 10 years
to pump 1200 years of natural accumulation out of our underground
aquifers—and in many places in America, water tables are falling six to
36 inches per year because water consumption is faster than nature can
annually replenish the supply. By the year 2000, it was estimated that
17 of the 21 water resource regions in the US now have inadequate
surface and groundwater supplies, and much of the existing supply faces
sedimentation and pollution problems. Take a moment to think
about all this when you’re holding that next glass of water in your
hands.
[statistics were drawn from two reports: “Hydrology: The
Study of Water and Water Problems, A Challenge for Today and Tomorrow,”
from the Universities Council on Water Resources, found on the
Chehalis River Council website, October, 1997, newsletter, and the
Blackstone, Massachusetts, Municipal Water Department website]
We have grown out of touch with the way in which we
are a part, and a partner with God’s creation. We have become
consumers rather than cooperators with the natural balance of the
earth’s delicate systems. We seem to have little regard for the
impact of our human activities, and turn a blind eye to the
consequences of our actions. We act as though we don’t care, as
long as we have right now what we want, even if it’s nothing we really
need. We plead ignorance when faced with the catastrophic changes
that are already happening due to global warming, the result of our
love of fossil fuels and our elimination of 50 percent of the “lungs”
of our earth—the rain forests of the tropics and the hardwood forests
of the north.
No longer can we ignore the message of Genesis—that
we humans are a part of all of God’s creation, and that a divine
covenant has been made with every living creature, not just
humans. No longer can we function with a strictly consumer
mentality towards the gifts God has given us in this complex and
evolving cosmos. We must no longer take more than we give, or
throw away more than we cultivate. We must no longer turn a blind
eye to the way God has created us to be interdependent with every
living creature. God created the earth as a celebration of joy in
existence, filled with diversity, color, scent, beauty, and LIFE.
In the last few centuries, humanity has done great damage to God’s
creation, enough damage to threaten the life processes that have
existed here for the last 67 million years. Are we ready to
awaken to our responsibility to become God’s true stewards of this
earth, or are we not? The choice is ours, and the consequences
are ultimate in nature, and ultimate for nature, and that includes you
and me.
Let me close with a prayer from Walter Rauschenbusch, who died in 1918:
O God, we thank you for this earth, our home; for the wide sky and the blessed sun,
for the salt sea and the running water,
for the everlasting hills and the never-resting winds,
for trees and the common grass underfoot.
We thank you for our senses by which we hear the songs of birds,
and see the splendor of the summer fields,
and taste the autumn fruits, and rejoice in the feel of the snow,
and smell the breath of the spring.
Grant us a heart wide open to all this beauty;
and save our souls from being so blind that we pass unseeing
when even the common thornbush is aflame with your glory,
O God our creator, who lives and reigns for ever and ever.
Walter Rauschenbusch, 1861- 1918
5 Real Road (corner of Stockdale & Real)
Bakersfield, CA 93309
Phone: 661-327-1609
FAX: 661-327-4443
Sunday Services & Church School: 10 AM
(Services last about an hour, dress is casual)
Nursery care available
E-mail: firstcong(at)postoffice.igalaxy.net
Webpage editor: dinah.campbell(at)gmail.com)
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