Good and Green
DATE: July 12, 2009
TEXT:
Genesis 2:4-9, 15-17
I really love being a grandfather. It has got to be one of the most satisfying jobs I've ever had. And my four grandchildren never cease to amaze me. Time and again they say and do things that are just incredible. Just incredible. They have got to be the brightest, the strongest, the cutest kids I've ever seen...
OK—I know, I sound like every other grandparent in the world! But I just love them so much! Give me half a chance and I'll whip out my wallet and show you their pictures. Give me five minutes, and I'll tell you about their latest escapades. Speaking of which, let me tell you about Haley.
Haley is all of four. She's a big fan of Disney princesses, owns more Barbie dolls than you can imagine, and loves to play dress up. We have some absolutely hilarious pictures of her dressed in layer upon layer of dresses, boas and hats.
Haley also does a lot of thinking about the world around her, and sometimes says things that both amuse and astound us.
Recently she went up to her mother and asked, “Mommy, what's a green thumb?”
“It doesn't mean your thumb is the color green,” said her mother. “When you say somebody has a green thumb you mean they're really good with plants and gardens.”
Haley thought about that for a moment, and then said, “Well, Father God must have a green thumb!”
“Father God?” said her mom.
“Well, duh, Mommy,” said Haley, putting her hands on her little hips, “He makes the trees all grow doesn't he?”
No matter how we understand the Genesis accounts—no matter what we think about evolution and creationism, most Christians would agree, God stands behind it all, even if in ways we cannot fully comprehend. And this universe God has brought into being is good, very good. And this planet called earth is not only good, but blue and green and wonderful. God does indeed have a green thumb.
Our scripture passage is from the second of two creation stories in Genesis. The story tells the tale of Adam and Eve. It deals with the ancient themes of fall and redemption. It poses questions about free will and destiny. But before it gets to all that, it makes a clear and unambiguous statement about human purpose. In a few short words it sums up why we are placed here on earth in the first place. It's right there in chapter two, verse fifteen. “And the Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to till and keep it.” (Genesis 2:15)
Now I know you didn't come here this morning for a Hebrew lesson, but it is instructive to take a moment and look at the words translated “till and keep.” For they are not simply agricultural terms. The word abad, translated as “till”, also means “to serve.” The word samar, translated as “keep,” means “to care for.” We were created to work, serve and care for the earth. We were created to be responsible for the well being of our planet! We were created to have green thumbs!
Now, don't get me wrong, I don't mean everybody needs to run home and plant a garden. I don't mean you have to grow tomatoes and flowers in your backyard. But I do think this passage calls us all to be good stewards of the environment. We are not to waste this gift we call Earth, we are not to abuse this gift we call our planet, we are to till it, keep it, work it, serve it—care for it. For ultimately, what is good for the planet, is also good for us.
A little over a week ago members of our high school youth group returned from their annual Mission Trip. This year we traveled to New Orleans to help in the ongoing effort to rebuild that badly damaged city. We were amazed at the amount of work left to be done after the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina four years ago, and honored to do our small part in the overall effort.
We expected to learn something about the culture of the area—and we did. We expected to work hard on the homes we were assigned to help reconstruct—and we did. We expected to be touched by the personal stories of those who survived the storm—and we were. But what we didn't really expect was a major lesson in ecology. But that was one of the most important experiences we had on the trip.
New Orleans, and the surrounding area, is built on the Mississippi Delta, an ancient floodplain. Periodically, the river overflows its banks, and when it does it leaves behind a new layer of sediment. These sediments are essential to the ongoing life of the wetlands that surround the river banks and line the Gulf Coast, for they are rich in nutrients that nourish plant and animal life alike. The wetlands, in their elasticity, also create a natural barricade against hurricanes and other storms. They act almost like a huge sponge, taking in the storm surge and slowing it down. As one resource puts it: “Wetlands . . . provide the first line of defense against deadly hurricanes, by both limiting the storm's access to the warm open ocean that drives them and by creating a physical barrier to . . . storm surges . . . .” (www.teachersdomain.org/resource)
One of the reasons Katrina was able to cause so much damage was because of the fact that over the last 70 years, Louisiana has lost 2,000 square miles of wetlands. That's an area bigger than the whole state of Delaware! Levees built to keep the river waters out, also kept out the sediment with its nutrients, and without the sediments deposited by periodic river floods, the wetlands disappeared. No wetlands, no natural protection from hurricanes—and no replenishment of wildlife.
Louisiana and other states along the Gulf coast are beginning to take wetland preservation seriously. New ways of protecting this precious part of our environment are being introduced. Sad to say, what decades of environmental activism and teaching couldn't accomplish, one devastating hurricane did.
Now when we go on these mission trips we not only hope to help out folks in need, we also hope to bring home some lessons we can apply in our own hometown. Some of our kids learned how to put up sheetrock, and others learned how to paint a room, and those will be handy skills for the future. But more importantly, we learned how interconnected environmental concerns can be with our every day lives. And how God calls us all to pay attention to the needs of the earth.
We don't live in the part of the country routinely struck by hurricanes, but we do live in an area surrounded by wetlands. Beautiful marshes and swamps, teeming with life. Beautiful marshes and swamps as threatened as those along the Mississippi. Beautiful marshes and swamps that can still be saved.
There are several fine environmental organizations, including Save the Sound, right here in our own area, dedicated to helping us do just that. Organizations that teach about the environment. Organizations which provide volunteer opportunities so that you can help in a hands-on way. Organizations that lobby for legislation which protects the wetlands, the forests, the lakes and the streams. Organizations that remind us of our duty to work, serve and care for the earth. I urge you to support their efforts. I urge you to get involved. I urge you to exercise your God-given green thumbs, so that I children's children might be able to enjoy this planet we call home.
For the truth is, gazing out from Compo Beach, one can't help but be struck by the sheer loveliness of it all—the waters lapping the shore, the wetlands around the edges, the islands that dot the Sound. It's easy to forget that one of those islands, Cochene, was threatened a few decades ago when plans were being made to erect a nuclear power plant on it. But a dedicated group of people, led by Jo Fox, fought hard to prevent it, and in the end, did just that. I told the story of their effort a few years ago in a sermon on Earth Sunday. That sermon that got passed on by one of my parishioners to Jo Fox, who in turn wrote me a note to thank me for my words. “I was so pleased to read your sermon,” she said, “and learn of your commitment to preserving the environment. We used to have so many young people who shared this view. Where did they all go?”
Well, I think they are still out there. And while some of them will be stirred by lessons learned while far from home in places like New Orleans, the truth is, there are plenty of lessons to be learned, examples to be set, right here in Westport, in Weston, in Wilton and beyond. Lessons to be learned by young and old alike. Actions to be taken by kids and grandparents to protect Mother Earth. For as my granddaughter Haley might say, it's what “Father God” would have us do.
Amen.
John H. Danner