April 26, 2009   

    There has been a progression to this point.  When the Hebrew people wandered in the wilderness, worrying and complaining about where they would get their next meal, God fed them manna and went out before them in a pillar of fire, a sign of God’s glory and God’s presence with them along the way.   Again when the Hebrew people arrived at Mt. Sinai, Moses brought them out of the camp to see God’s glory, descending upon the mountain in a cloud of smoke and fire.  Later when the tabernacle had been erected, a cloud once again descended and covered the tent of meeting, and the tabernacle was filled with the glory of God.  Still later when the temple in Jerusalem was complete and finally dedicated, a cloud appeared and God’s glory filled the house of the Lord.    Now when Isaiah has his vision . . . . . . the WHOLE earth is filled with the glory of the Lord.    It is not just the tabernacle or temple; it is the whole earth!   I can even hear the seraphim reciting Gerard Manley Hopkins:

    “The world is charged with the grandeur of God. 
        It will flame out, like shining from shook foil;
        It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil
    Crushed . . .”
        

    The implications of this are manifold.  It means, first of all, that we are not simply spinning in an orbit around the sun, a ball of dirt and water, a place of loneliness and travail.  It means that we reside on sacred ground, a place that is filled with the wonder of God’s presence.  It means that God is an incarnate God, not just an aloof, transcendental God who resides far beyond the furthest boundaries of a cold and vast universe.  You know, the medievalists had it right.  We live in a sacramental world, a transparent world, a place where anything and everything has the possibility of revealing the glory of a wondrous God.  Earth is God’s sanctuary, and “we will see God’s glory in Earth - in the soil as well as the sunset, the fronds of a fern as well as the eyes of a lion, the whale song and the gnat’s buzz.”  Last Wednesday, on Earth Day I went to see the movie “Earth.”  As harsh as the cycle of life can be, the movie spoke to me of Earth as a sacred place, a sanctuary for the God of creation, a place where the mystery and wonder of God are revealed in a billion exotic ways which are beyond our understanding.

    If this is so, then what does that mean for us?  One of the major principles of the Earth Bible Project is “Earth is a balanced and diverse domain where responsible custodians can function as partners, rather than rulers, to sustain a balanced and diverse Earth community.”  We are called as God’s people to care for the earth, to treat it with reverence, to do all we can to prevent its desecration, to be, as Norman Habel puts it,  “priests rather than polluters of God’s sanctuary.”  Our consciousness about this call to responsibility is being lifted up in many ways. 
    This past Christmas my husband gave me a copy of “The Green Bible.”    I have a red letter Bible where all the words that Jesus says are printed in red.  “The Green Bible” is a green letter Bible where all the words that speak to us about our responsibility as we face the environmental crisis of our times are printed in green.  From the first three chapters of Genesis which are almost entirely in green to the final vision of a new creation in the Book of Revelation - that Earth is God’s sanctuary and that we are entrusted with its care is made clear.

    Since 1970, people around the world have celebrated Earth Day, a day in the year set aside to inspire awareness and appreciation for Earth’s environment.  Over the years concerns from overpopulation to climate change have underscored the importance of this day.  In honor of Earth Day, 2009, the main article in the March issue of National Geographic was on energy conservation.  The article assumes a correlation between our extravagant use of energy and climate change, stating right up front in its first paragraph that “the fastest, cheapest way to slow climate change is to use less energy.”   The article raises awareness not only of the extravagant use in our country of electricity, natural gas, and gasoline and not only the obvious ways we use these sources of energy, but it points to the hidden ways as well.  I learned startling facts like the average gas-powered push lawn mower puts out as much pollution per hour as eleven cars and a riding mower as much as 34 cars.  I learned the term “vampire” power - that is, electronic equipment that sucks up power by being set in standby mode - cell phones, laptops, printers, cable boxes, camera batteries, cordless phones, and smoke detectors.  By making a month-long commitment to track and rigorously attempt to reduce his household carbon emissions, the author of the article challenges us all to do the same.  We have replaced our lights at home with compact fluorescent bulbs.  We try to be responsible about how high we set our thermostat.  We rarely use air conditioning in the summer but prefer our screen porch.  But there is a lot more we could do.  I was impressed with the zeal with which my daughter responded to the article.   She started unplugging all her electronics in standby mode before leaving for work in the morning.  She now lives a short distance from work instead of over thirty miles, and most mornings she rides her bike or takes the bus.  So there are lots of ways we can address the problem and engage our Christian calling in our personal lives.

    But what about us as a church?  Last Monday, our Session voted to sign Ohio Interfaith Power and Light’s Faith Community Covenant.  What does this mean?  Among other things it means committing to conduct an energy audit of our building and to making energy efficient improvements to our building.   When the Mission and Property Committees met with Greg Hitzhusen, its Executive Director, Greg pointed out that buildings that are large and have limited usage such as ours have a special responsibility to be environmentally conscientious. Ohio Interfaith Power and Light is helping congregations understand not only the severity of the environmental crisis due to global warming but also the social and moral consequences of this crisis.  It is as much a matter of social justice as anything else, for it is often the poorest who are “most affected by climate-induced heat waves, floods, famine, and drought.”  We all heard about the poor in New Orleans who were hit the hardest by Hurricane Katrina.  I’ve seen aerial photos of Lake Chad in Africa - one of the largest lakes in the world that supplies over 20 million people with water.  It has shrunk alarmingly due not only to population growth and overgrazing, but also, yes, due to climate change.   The goal of Interfaith Power and Light is to mobilize congregations to work actively and diligently to engage the issue and do their part in its resolution.   Here at IPC we have already begun to do that.  Several years ago most of the lighting in this building was changed to compact fluorescents, and you may recall when Skip gave compact fluorescents to everyone in the congregation to encourage us all to do the same in our homes.  The new boiler is more energy efficient than what it replaced.  The thermostats are carefully monitored in this building.  We are trying to do our part.  But we can do more.

    As you consider the implications of Earth as God’s sanctuary, as you consider your part in its care, and as we together consider our part as a congregation, I invite you to remember three things.  Remember the song of the psalmist who sang, giving Earth a voice:   “O God of our salvation; you are the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest seas.  You visit the earth and water it . . . you provide the people with grain . . . You water its furrows abundantly . . . blessing its growth.  You crown the year with your bounty; your wagon tracks overflow with richness.  The pastures of the wilderness overflow, the hills gird themselves with joy, the meadows clothe themselves with flocks, the valleys deck themselves with grain, they shout and sing together for joy.”   Remember the song of the seraphim: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of God’s glory.”   And remember in this Easter season God in Jesus Christ, God robed in human dust, and may our eyes be open to see God wherever there is the good stuff of creation.