October 13, 2024
Indianola Presbyterian Church, Columbus
"Holy Gift, Holy Responsibility"
Sermon by Rev. Trip Porch
October 13, 2024, 2024 Based on Genesis 1:26-31
I want to talk about words today. In particular three verbs that have had a far too outsized role in shaping humanity’s relationship with the world. They appear in Hebrew’s in the creation stories. That’s right stories, as in there are two of them each with a different role in helping to give meaning to who we humans are, and why we humans are, and what role we have to play in this world.
In the first creation narrative... the moment God creates humankind, God entrusts us with an incredible responsibility. You heard it in our scripture reading this morning:
God spoke: “Let us make human beings in our image, make them reflecting our nature
So they can be responsible for the fish in the sea, the birds in the air, the cattle,
And, yes, Earth itself, God blessed them: “Prosper! Reproduce! Fill Earth! Take charge! Be responsible for fish in the sea and birds in the air, for every living thing that moves on the face of Earth.”
Though, that’s Eugene Peterson already doing the translation work that I want to do in this sermon. Because the verb Peterson translates as “be responsible for” other translations translate as: have “dominion over” or “rule over,” “subdue,” Which feels a bit different, doesn't it? And yet, this is how this verse is translated in the NRSV, the NIV, and the King James Bible.
A translation that makes us think of power, of control, or of using the earth as something at our disposal, as something to exploit.
But when we look more deeply at the original Hebrew, we find that “dominion” (from the Hebrew word radah) doesn’t mean exploitation or harsh rule. It means something much closer to responsibility—responsibility for the well-being of what God has made. This is not about domination, but about care. It’s as though God is saying, "I’m giving you this beautiful world to nurture and protect. I am entrusting you with this gift, and it is your task to see that it flourishes." What an honor, but also what a sacred duty.
We see this even more clearly in the second creation narrative in Genesis 2, where God shapes the first human from the ground, Adam from Adamah. Human from Humus. There’s a connection between human beings and the earth itself, right from the start. Right after God forms the human, and breathes the breath of life into us, God places the human in God’s garden with the purpose that we would “work it” and “keep it.”
Again, translation here matters, because these verbs have told us about our purpose, and the words many of our historical translations have chosen haven’t really captured the meaning of the Hebrew: “Work it” and “keep it” These verbs aren’t just about labor for the sake of production, but something much deeper. The Hebrew verbs here carry the meaning of “serving” and “preserving. ” God places the human in the garden to serve the garden, to care for it, to tend to it and protect it.
What we’re seeing in these passages is a partnership. God gifts the world to us—land, water, the creatures, all of creation. But the gift comes with responsibility. God’s gifts are not given to be exploited for our personal gain. They are to be nurtured, shared, stewarded, cared for—so that they can continue to bless us and future generations.
This is the essence of stewardship. And this is why, for the next five weeks, we will explore this idea in our series: “Holy Gift, Holy Responsibility.” God has given us an incredible world filled with blessings. But those blessings aren’t for us to take or have dominion over, or for us to hoard. Blessings come in this world to be nurtured, preserved, and propagated. The blessings come when we work on behalf of the land, the water, the intricate order of life. To serve and protect the gifts we have received.
Here’s the beautiful part: in the sharing, in the caring, in the protection of what God has given, we receive even more. This is true of all the gifts we’ll explore in the next few weeks of our series: the Land, the Water, the creatures, and finally, the church.
Take the land, for example. We know that when we care for the soil, when we plant and tend crops with respect, the earth gives us back even more. The same is true of our waters—when we clean and protect rivers and oceans, they sustain life for generations.
It’s true for the relationships we have with the creatures, great and small, that depend on us to protect their habitats. And it’s true for our church community, which we’ll talk about last in our series on commitment Sunday, the second week of November. When we care for our church, when we nurture and care for one another, our faith deepens and grows, and so does our love for one another.
But we often live in a culture that tells us the opposite. We do this tending, caring, serving work in a culture of consumerism that encourages us to take as much as we can, to use up resources as if they’ll never run out.
But that’s not the way God’s garden was made to be tended and that’s not the way God’s kingdom that Christ talked about comes. In God’s garden, the gift is in the caring, the gift is in the sharing.
As we enter this season of stewardship, I invite you to reflect on the gifts you’ve received. The land you walk on. The water you drink. The very air you breathe. All of these are gifts from God, not meant for one generation but for all of us, for all time. And we are the ones chosen to care for them, not for our sake alone, but for the sake of the earth and all its creatures, for the sake of our neighbors, and for the sake of those who will come after us.
And here’s the good news: in doing this work, in embracing this responsibility, we experience God’s abundance even more fully. We don’t lose by giving back. We gain.
So let this be our commitment in the weeks ahead as we think about God’s gifts—how we can live in a way that shares and protects them. How we can honor God by serving creation rather than exploiting it. And how, in doing so, we might discover that God’s blessings are not something to hoard but something to live into, day by day, with gratitude, with care, and with joy.
May it be so, Amen.
WE GATHER IN AWE AND PRAISE
PRELUDE
INTROIT “Though I May Speak” English Folk Melody
WELCOME Rev. Trip Porch
One: This is the day that the Lord has made
All: Let us rejoice and be glad in it
*CALL TO WORSHIP adapted from Hildegard von Bingen
One: O Divine Voice,
All: You sing and the universe comes into being;
One: O Divine Breath,
All: You breathe and all things spring to life;
One: O Divine Word,
All: You call and creation is sustained;
One: O Divine Flesh,
All: You are born among us, and the Creator is clothed in creation;
One: O Divine Spirit,
All: You fill all that has been formed;
One: O Divine Life,
All: You are the pulse of all that is.
One: And so, in amazement and awe, in wonder and celebration
All: we marvel at this mystery:
One: In you all things live and move and have being,
All: In all things, you live and move and express your Divine artistry;
One: And so we join with creation
All: in the eternal song of worship and wonder!
*HYMN 25 “O Lord, Our God, How Excellent” WINCHESTER OLD
*PRAYER OF CONFFESSION Peter Maurath
Creator God, We confess that we have not lived up to your sacred calling to be caretakers. We have treated the earth as a resource to be exploited for our convenience, rather than as a gift to be treasured. We have ignored the cries of the land, the waters, the creatures and the people and we have all suffered from our neglect. In the silence hear our prayers…
Forgive us, O God,
for our selfishness and complacency.
Restore in us the awe and wonder of Your creation, and renew our commitment to care for this holy gift with reverence and responsibility.
In Christ’s name, we pray. Amen.
*ASSURANCE OF PARDON
*RESPONSE OF PRAISE 694 “Great God of Every Blessing” vs. 1 AURELIA
*PASSING OF THE PEACE
One: The peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all,
All: And also with you.
WE LISTEN FOR GOD’S WORD
ANTHEM “Grant Us Thy Peace” Felix Mendelssohn
PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION
SCRIPTURE Genesis 1:26-31 CEB
Then God said, “Let us make humanity in our image to resemble us so that they may take charge of the fish of the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the earth, and all the crawling things on earth.”
God created humanity in God’s own image, in the divine image God created them, male and female God created them. God blessed them and said to them, “Be fertile and multiply; fill the earth and master it. Take charge of the fish of the sea, the birds in the sky, and everything crawling on the ground.” Then God said, “I now give to you all the plants on the earth that yield seeds and all the trees whose fruit produces its seeds within it. These will be your food. To all wildlife, to all the birds in the sky, and to everything crawling on the ground—to everything that breathes—I give all the green grasses for food.” And that’s what happened. God saw everything he had made: it was supremely good.
There was evening and there was morning: the sixth day.
Holy Wisdom, Holy Word
Thanks be to God
CHILDREN’S MESSAGE Sharon Renkes
SERMON Rev. Trip Porch
WE RESPOND TO GOD’S WORD
HYMN 713 “Touch The Earth Lightly” TENDERNESS
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE
TIME OF OFFERING online giving is available at www. indianolapres.org/give
On Sundays where uncredited African American Spirituals are sung, any loose offering will go to support the Columbus Cultural Orchestra, whose mission is to advance a collective of multigenerational musicians of color by performing high-quality jazz, classical, and hip-hop music.
OFFERTORY
*OFFERTORY RESPONSE 693 “Though I May Speak” vs. 2 GIFT OF LOVE
*PRAYER OF DEDICATION
Maker of All, we thank you for blessing us with the great earth and its abundant gifts that provides everything we need. Thank you that we are able to return some of them to you. Help us be good stewards of all you entrusted to our care. And through us, and our use of your resource, may we continue to do more good in your name. It is in Christ's name that we pray. AMEN
*HYMN 700 “I’m Gonna Live so God Can Use Me” I’M GONNA LIVE
TIME OF COMMUNITY SHARING
CHARGE AND BENEDICTION
CHORAL RESPONSE “May the Love of the Lord” Swee Hong Lim
POSTLUDE
Acknowledgments: Unless otherwise indicated, all texts and music are printed and broadcast under OneLicense.net license #A-702452