Sermon on Genesis 2:4b-9

Pastor Jennifer Garcia

On Ash Wednesday, we remember our mortality—that we are dust and to dust we shall return.

It’s an uncomfortable and maybe even depressing day of the church calendar.

We might feel some shame for the ash crosses on our foreheads that remind us that we were made out of earth. It can feel like one day our bodies will fail us by not being alive anymore.

Anything to do with our bodies can feel shameful when we get told so often, particularly in the epistles in the New Testament, that spiritual is good but the physical is bad.

But that was influenced by Greek philosophy, and it’s just not present in the Old Testament, the Hebrew Bible, in the same way.

We read today from the second creation story in Genesis, and we can see the joy God put into creation.

It’s our origin story, and in it we can relish details like God planting a garden full of “every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food.”

When we read that God formed the first human out of earth and breathed God’s breath into those newly-created nostrils, we can imagine God as delighted as a child with a mudpie and as tender as a potter at the wheel.

How can it be shameful to be crafted so expertly?

How can it be shameful to have God’s very breath in our lungs?

And as with all living things, there is a life cycle that is natural, even though it can be painful.

We are, of course, promised that that isn’t the end of our story, but even that doesn’t mean that our bodies are bad or shameful.

They’re as beautiful as any other part of God’s creation.

But we’ve grown disconnected from our bodies and the earth. We confessed today some of the ways our relationship with the earth is broken.

Most of us go about our day without thinking about the earth at all.

We live in climate-controlled homes, drive in cars with the windows rolled up, walk on treadmills at the gym, listen to the radio instead of the birds, and buy precut produce at the grocery store without wondering where it came from or who grew it or what will happen to the plastic packaging when we throw it out.

When we grow disconnected from the earth, our home, we start treating it as disposable. We start acting like we’re the only species that matters. We lose the patterns of rest and activity dictated by the natural world, and we forget that we ourselves are part of nature. And when nature suffers, we suffer, because there’s no us apart from nature.

Here at First Lutheran, we’re going to spend the seasons of Lent and Easter this year exploring our relationship with nature and God, who called it very good.

And our siblings in Christ at Emanuel Lutheran, our partners for this Ash Wednesday, are exploring the theme of stewardship this season.

Our themes enrich each other.

We often think of stewardship as only being about money, but it really has to do with every aspect of our lives: gratitude for and generosity with what we have been entrusted with—our time, talents, and treasure, our relationships with each other, our communities, and the cosmos we’re a part of.

How do we show our love for God by being good stewards of these?

God is still inviting us to love God and our neighbor.

And our neighbors include all species and the land on which we live.

God is still creating the very good cosmos, and we get to have an impact on it in big and small ways, because we are a part of it.

Marking a cross of water on our foreheads to remember our baptism reminds us that we are a part of the family of God.

Marking a cross of ash on our foreheads reminds us that we are part of the family of the God-created cosmos.

Our good bodies will return to the earth from which they were formed, continuing the cycle of life, even as we’re held forever in God’s loving embrace.

And until then, we have agency in cooperating with God to make the earth a more habitable place for all life.

We have some resources available at the entrance for contemplating how to be good stewards of creation, which works for the theme for both Emanuel and First Lutheran. If you get the Thursday announcement emails from First Lutheran, you’ll get links to these tomorrow.

Consider cutting down on shopping, meat, or single-use plastics for Lent. Or instead, plant a garden, call your representatives, take a nature walk, or support a local sustainable business.

There are a ton of ways we can learn together to be better stewards, more mindful consumers, and nicer neighbors on this planet.

On this Ash Wednesday, remember you are dust and to dust you shall return.

Remember you belong to the family of the cosmos. You get to show gratitude and generosity in that kinship.

And most of all, remember God’s deep and abiding love for you and all creation.