First Lutheran Church
April 23, 2023 – Earth Day
Exodus 3:1-6 + Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian; he led his flock beyond the wilderness, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of a bush; he looked, and the bush was blazing, yet it was not consumed. Then Moses said, “I must turn aside and look at this great sight, and see why the bush is not burned up.” When the Lord saw that he had turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” Then he said, “Come no closer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” He said further, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.
John 3:16-17 + For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. 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.
Sermon
“Earth Day”
Pastor Greg Ronning
Every year around Earth Day it is not uncommon to see this quote from Martin Luther, "God writes the gospel not in the Bible alone, but on trees and flowers and clouds and stars." Here’s a meme that I recently discovered on Facebook. (See Worship Screen) It’s a wonderful quote, and a great quote for Earth Day.However, there’s a problem with it, according to Luther scholars, - Luther never said it!
Don’t worry about it if you’ve publicly shared it, I must confess that I have mistakenly used the quote more than once over the years. The truth that Luther probably never said it, was something I just learned this year! Luther may not have said it, but it’s still a great quote, and I believe it still is the truth. Anna Madsen, a self-described Freelance Lutheran Theologian, believes, I bet Luther wishes he would have said it. It’s nice, to the point, and it fits his theology.
Here’s something Luther did say, regarding God and creation, using quite a few more words, “The Scriptures teach us…that the right hand of God is not a specific place in which a body must or may be, such as on a golden throne, but is the almighty power of God, which at one and the same time can be nowhere and yet must be everywhere. It cannot be at any one place, … On the other hand, it must be essentially present at all places, even in the tiniest tree leaf. The reason is this: It is God who creates, effects, and preserves all things through God’s almighty power and right hand, as our Creed confesses. For God dispatches no officials or angels when God creates or preserves something, but all this is the work of God’s divine power itself. If God is to create or preserve it, however, God must be present and must make and preserve God’s creation both in its innermost and outermost aspects.”
A goodsolid theological quote, but not something that might easily become a “meme” on Facebook! (A bit wordy, and a lot of run on sentences.)
Anna Madsen sums upLuther’s teaching more succinctly, “Therefore, indeed, God must be present in every single creature in its innermost and outermost being, on all sides, through and through, below and above, before and behind, so that nothing can be more truly present and within all creatures than God with God’s power.”And even more succinctly she declares, “Upshot: God is everywhere and in everything.”
In today’s first reading from Exodus, we see this notion that God is indeed present in everything. God appears to Moses in a burning bush, on “holy ground.” Dr. Lynn Nakamura, Trinity Lutheran Seminary, invites us to consider this more carefully. Noting that God, the God of the whole universe, appears in a bush, in an everyday bush, a bush in the wilderness, a bush planted in the dirt, planted in the earth. It’s all very ordinary, yet Moses is instructed, “Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” Taking off your shoes is a ritual with ancient origins, an act of humility, performed by one who is about to enter a sacred place. We are reminded that God is everywhere and in everything, we are reminded that everywhere and everything is holy, and on this day – the earth is a sacred place, a place God dwells deeply and powerfully. "God writes the gospel not in the Bible alone, but on trees and flowers and clouds and stars."
Yet it seems that this understanding of God being powerfully present in creation, this understanding of creation as being sacred, is not something that Christianity has done a good job of proclaiming, or even retaining. It’s not something that’s really been an important part of our tradition. It’s certainly not something clearly stated in the New Testament. It’s not something that early church writers or leaders in the first millennium of the church wrote much in anything about. And while the principle of “stewardship of the earth” has become more prevalent in recent decades, it’s still more of a - protect the environment response - and not a strong sense of discovering and celebrating the presence of God in nature.
The Early Church was convinced that Christ was going to return with the fullness of the Kingdom God at any minute, “soon and very soon.” And in that conviction, in that belief, there was no need to develop a faithfuland thoughtful doctrinein regard to creation. They were preparing for “a new earth,”and “a new creation.” They were ready to leave the world behind and be welcomed into heaven. The writer of the book of Revelation writes, “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.” (Revelation 21:1). The early Christian focus was not on caring for the earth but the anticipation of a new one!
Anna Madsen concludes, “I’m not entirely sure that we Christians have ever recovered, either from the texts that diminish our relationship to the Land, or, come to think of it, that Jesus hasn’t returned when expected!Heck, too often enough we can’t even get the interpretation of the Jewish texts about creation right, like,- no, “have dominion” does not mean “dominate,” but very much rather to care for, love, steward.Truth is, Christians’ future-fixation, and its spiritualization of the present, has harmed the earth, and it’s harmed us.”
So where does all this leave us on Earth Day 2023? As I was contemplating how to bring this sermon to a conclusion, I came across a different meme, while wasting time on Facebook, one that really intrigued me. It was a quote from Ilia Delio, a Franciscan Sister who specializes the study of the intersections of science and religion. And I am quite confident she really did say this! She writes, “God is not the supernatural being above but the supranatural center of everything that exists.”
And here’s what I’ve been thinking, could it be that we spend too much time and energy pondering and envisioning and seeking a God that is absolutely enormous, instead of looking for a God that is incredibly small? We often challenge, even reprove, chide each other, “How big is your God?” As if not having a really big God is somehow unfaithful. But perhaps, especially on this day, the better question to ask is, “How small is your God?”
What would it be like if we were able to find God, present and alive, in the very fabric of the life that is all around us? What would be like if we found God in an ordinary bush? What would be like if the dirt we walk upon suddenly became “Holy Ground?” What if we were able to find the Gospel written boldly,albeit in an extremely small font, in these “things” of creation? What if we were able to see the divine in the life, the creation that surrounds us?And what if we were able to see “the life that sparks” deep inside of us? What if God is not the supernatural being above and beyond us, but the supranatural center of everything that exists?
And what would happen if we were able to shrink God down, and begin to see and to understand God fully present in the intimate details of creation? Would that change the way we treated the earth? Would we humbly take off our shoes and acknowledge the sacred? Would we be able to cease our need to dominate the planet and instead begin to care for and love the earth, become good and faithful stewards of creation? Would we begin to realize that in loving “creation” we would be loving the “Creator?” Would the earth in turn respond by continuing to provide all the things that everyone needs to live and even thrive?
Just How small is your God?
Martin Luther never said, "God writes the gospel not in the Bible alone, but on trees and flowers and clouds and stars." But it’s true.
Luther did say, “Therefore, indeed, God must be present in every single creature in its innermost and outermost being, on all sides, through and through, below and above, before and behind, so that nothing can be more truly present and within all creatures than God with all God’s power.” God is everywhere and in everything!
And Moses found “Holy Ground” in the wilderness, in an ordinary bush made alive by a fire that revealed the presence of God.
I suppose God can be both big and small, but on this Earth Day Weekend, I am challenged and comforted by a God that is small. Small enough to be in every living thing. Small enough to be in every living thing that surrounds me. Small enough to be in you, small enough to be in me. Small enough toremind us that we are all sacred. Small enough to remind us that we are loved in a very big way!
May you discover this “Small God” in the world around you.May you see the awe and beauty of creation in the details of the world “God so loved,” - both God and the promise of the Gospel. May you find that sacred place to take off your shoes. And in all this may you find a deep and lasting peace. Amen.