Sermon: "Dirt-Man and Whole Earth Stewardship" May 30, 2021 (Trinity Sunday)
“Creation of Adam and Eve,” Giusto de’ Menabuoi, ca. 1378.
This sermon was preached by St. George’s Member Virginia East. It was our first service indoors since March of 2021.
Preacher: Virginia East
Scripture: Genesis 2:4-25
Dear Lord, may these words not be my words, but the words that need to be heard today; help us to hear the creation story from another view. AMEN
“The LORD GOD took the man and put them in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.” (Genesis 2:15)
During the time I was out at the beach reading Genesis 2 and listening to what needed to be shared this morning, three things came to mind:
1) a comparison of the two creation stories. Genesis 1 sets out a clear step by step account of the creation story, verses Genesis 2 that starts with God creating humankind out of the dust of the Earth.
2) Genesis 2 talks about a place of Eden or bliss, and
3) It is important to look after this beautiful planet that GOD created and gifted to humans. We are called to be stewards and tend the whole ecosystem.
Last Sunday we investigated Genesis 1’s creation story. This account of creation is large scale, looking at creation from the cosmos down. The spirit of God is a part of this chaotic world. God is both creating and the creator. This creation account defines events occurring on specific days, or specific times. Some scholars believe that Genesis 2 actually preceded the traditional Genesis 1 interpretation and that Genesis 2 was written in the 8th Century BC.
Genesis 2 has a community framework vibe. In this account of creation, some people approach the story like of the relationship between new neighbours building their homes. It is similar, yet different from Genesis 1. Genesis 2 starts with “This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, when the LORD GOD made the earth and the heavens.” We see the story starting with nothing… “no shrubs or plants”, the LORD GOD had not set rain to the Earth, and humans were not yet created. We don’t have any time markers in this creation account nor do with have the “and it was good line.” In Genesis 2, first the LORD GOD created a human from dust, breathing breath into the human’s nostrils. Adam or Adamah, is Hebrew for earth and is where we get the idea of “Earthling” or “Dirt Man.” Then a garden was planted, and God sent the Earthling to tend the garden. The animals came in and the waters were named Pishon, Gihon, the Tigris, and the Eurphrates rivers came from east of Eden. Today we take another look at this story from the perspective God’s relationship with Adam. This story focuses on the Spirit of God as the caretaker/steward and God’s relationship with Adam or Earthling. As you can see this story is messy, disorganized, yet quite relatable. We have a very visual of blending of an ecosystem and it seems to look at creation in a way that the system is interconnected between God, the environment or the Garden of Eden and “Dirtman” or Adam, the steward of Eden.
The second concept that jumps out of this story is, the element of Eden and what defines Eden? In Genesis 2:10, we hear how “the LORD GOD planted a garden in the east, in Eden”. Eden is sometimes thought of a place of beauty, paradise, or natural beauty, and bliss. God created this space. What do you need to create a space of Eden? Peace, equality, equity, serenity, solidarity; the list might be endless. Take a deep breath in and slowly exhale, as you do, feel your feet planted on the ground, wiggle your toes all ten of them. I bet that feels good. Now close your eyes and think of place you go when you need to talk to or find God. A couple weeks back during “Children’s Church at Home” Rev. Ingrid reminded us about places we go to talk with God. This called me to go to my place where I find God. That place for me is camping in tent listening to rain fall on the tent roof, laying on out on a beach at night and looking up at the vastness of the stars in the sky, or going down to Goose Spit and listening the waves gently lapping on the shore as I prepared this message.
Finally, as someone who works in the environmental field the connectedness of the ecosystem is important. So, the question becomes how do we take care of these spaces for the land species, the species of the oceans, rivers, and lakes, and species of the air, as well as bugs to thrive and be enjoyed by all? God told the Earthling to take care of Eden, the plants, the animals, the fish of the sea. We are stewards, care takers of this world God created and breathed into and gifted to us.
Being a caretaker does not mean to focusing on a single species but like Genesis 2 looking at the whole ecosystem. In my job I spend time on the beaches collecting sand samples. When people ask us about what we are doing on the beach. I share the story of forage fish and what they are. The most common forage fish is herring. Once people know about herring, I share about intertidal or beach spawning forage fish, Pacific sand lance and surf smelt or “nature’s beach babies.” Local beaches like Goose Spit and Air Force beach are places of Eden for these fish. The beach is the spawning habitat for Pacific sand lance and surf smelt, then we need to also look after the water and the other species in the ocean. If we did not have our forage fish species, supplying food for the salmon, then there will not be salmon for seals and larger whale species, like orcas and grey whales to eat. I share that we need to be caretakers or stewards of the whole ecosystem to protect all 7 BC forage fish species, it is an integrated ecosystem. Like a spider web if one part of the web is damaged you lose the integrity of the web, a spider has a challenge catching prey. If the beach habitat is not suitable for Pacific sand lance or surf smelt elements of the aquatic ecosystem are unstable and that is a lack of responsibility as stewards of Eden.
Throughout the next week consider how can we as a community of faith and fellow earthlings can be stewards of creation and see God’s spirit and creativity in others. In Robin Wall Kimmerer’s book, “Braiding Sweetgrass”, she comments on the following “How, in our modern world, can we find our way to understand the earth as a gift again, to make our relations with the world sacred again"? I know we cannot all become hunter-gathers – the living world could not bear our weight – but even in a market economy, can we behave “as if” the living world were a gift.” Thanks be to God.