First Sunday of Lent, Yr. B;
February 26, 2012
Genesis 9:8-17; Psalm 25:1-9;
1 Peter 3:18-22; Mark 1:9-15
Sermon Preached at St.
Stephen’s Episcopal Church
We
spent much more time talking about the flood and the animals and the ark, than
we did about the destruction of people and property, or even the rainbow
promise. We didn’t really talk
about why all those people died in the waters of the flood, or why God was
willing to destroy so much of God’s creation. They didn’t seem to miss it. When I intentionally left people out of the ark, one little
boy grabbed them and put them back in.
I don’t think it occurred to him that anyone would be left out. It was his way of saying, “Everyone in
the boat, guys. There’s a flood
coming!” So in the Noah story that
day … no one was left behind. No
one drowned. No one was
lost. There was no need to talk of
a remnant. Everyone was saved.
By
the time we get to chapter 9 of Genesis, we have traveled a trail of increasing
sinfulness and violence on the part of humanity. From our innocent beginning in the garden of Eden, we first
encounter our own capacity for disobedience and deception. Then after being ousted from the garden,
Cain and Able discover the depth of jealousy and the result is murder. Then God saw that humans were engaging
in all manner of wickedness, and God was greatly grieved. That’s when the idea of the flood
entered God’s mind, and the idea of destruction seemed the only answer to God’s
disappointment. Even though only
humanity was at fault, all creation suffered for our mistakes. Waters rose and fell, and all manner of
life was destroyed because of what humans were doing … but in the end that
didn’t solve anything.
Violence
never does. So God repented for
what was done, and promised never to destroy creation again. If fact, it is here that we encounter
the first covenant between God and creation. God promises that God will never again be the instrument of
life’s destruction. I have set
my bow in the clouds and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the
earth. Not just a covenant with humanity but with all creation. This
is such an important distinction that it is repeated by God in verses 10, 12,
13, 15, 16, and 17. All of
creation, all of life is included in this covenant. No exceptions.
So
… if destruction isn’t the answer for us, what is? Transformation … which for Christians is the whole point of
baptism. We don’t need to be
“washed” because we are dirty.
It’s a matter of conscience that needs to be addressed. We need a turning toward life, a
conscience wiped clean … so that our choices might reflect not only God’s care
of humanity, but also for the whole of creation.
Once,
a father was looking after his children and trying to keep them entertained,
but he wasn’t having too much success.
It was a wet Saturday, and the children were getting bored. They were starting to get on his
nerves, with their restlessness and their constant chattering.
But
the man was inventive, and suddenly he had an idea. He took down a magazine from the shelf and opened it up,
looking through it until he found a map of the world printed on one page. He tore this page out of the magazine,
and proceeded to cut it up with scissors into small pieces. Then he jumbled up all the pieces and
placed them in a pile on the floor, like the pieces of a jigsaw.
Then
he set his two young sons the task of putting the map together again, thinking
that this would keep them quiet for a good long time. He left them with it and went off to make himself a cup of
coffee.
Imagine
his amazement, therefore, when five minutes later he came back to find the map
neatly and accurately put back together again.
‘How
did you manage to put it back together again so quickly?’ he asked them, taken
aback by their skill.
‘Oh,
it was easy,’ the younger boy replied.
‘You told us it was a map of the world, and when we looked at the
pieces, at first we didn’t know where to begin to sort it all out. It seemed impossible. But then we realized that there was a
picture of a man on the other side, so we just put the man back together
again. When we turned it over, the
world had come back together again as well!’
‘Yes,
Dad,’ chimed in the other brother.
“It’s ever so easy. If you
put the man right, the world is OK.’[1]
If you put humanity right, the world is OK. When we remember our call to care not only for ourselves,
but also for the whole of creation … the world is OK. That is what it means for the kingdom of God to be at
hand. All creation will be
OK. Unfortunately, that is easier
said than done. The environment
continues to suffer for our missteps.
Only in the last forty years has humanity considered that the earth
existed for some other purpose than our consumption.
Immediately
after Jesus is baptized by John, he is driven into the wilderness where he is tempted by Satan. He’s driven. Jesus
doesn’t go there by choice. He’s
driven there by the Spirit, by God!
We don’t hear much about what that desert experience looked like in
Mark’s gospel … but if we use the gospels of Matthew and Luke as guides, we can
guess that his temptations had something to do with security and sustenance and
power. Demons most of us still
struggle with today … even after our baptism … or maybe because of our baptism.
Might
it just be possible that because we’ve
made the decision to reorient our lives toward kingdom living … we now find
ourselves in the position of having to make some difficult decisions … about
where we will look for security, about where our power finds its source, about
our place in the web of life?
Suddenly temptations abound … because a clean conscience matters. Because we have a new standard to live
by. Because God has made this covenant
with humanity and the earth.
We find ourselves living
in the midst of a system that is thoroughly interdependent, a system that
cannot say to the water I have no need of you, or the fertile soil I need you
not. We are part of something much
larger that is meant to endure together … all God’s beloved creation … and
through the gift of baptism we are given the opportunity to transform our
lives, to contribute intentionally to this human evolutionary process, and
become instruments of God’s covenant with creation. Through baptism we are challenged to live in ways that
sustain the balance of nature, not tip the scales toward extinction. We cannot live apart from the rest of
creation and hope to survive … the animals and all living things came with us
through the flood … and science has revealed to us that humanity is a late
comer to earth’s history. Our
creative capacity and our free will, however, have allowed us the opportunity
to change the face of the earth more rapidly than any other species in history. With that ability we have the power to
destroy habitats without the advantage of God’s broad vision. We must be careful not to let our
greed, not to let our self-centeredness, destroy the balance God has sought to preserve. That is what makes things like off shore drilling for oil, and the Keystone XL pipeline, and hydrofracking spiritual as well as economic issues.
So
I guess I’m really glad that Bennie picked up those little felt people and
placed them back in the ark. He
gets it. He understands at a level that we've forgotten. We’re all in this
together. I hope he holds onto
it. I hope he always looks for the
one being left out of the ark. I hope he always
watches for the part of creation we’re willing to sacrifice for our own
convenience or profit. I hope he
keeps an eye out for those times when we use our power to benefit ourselves
without contemplating the implications for the rest of the created world. I hope our baptism reminds us to
do the same thing.
[1] Silf, Margaret.
One Hundred Wisdom
Stories from Around the World, The
Pilgrim Press, Cleveland, OH, 2003, p.
194-5.
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