God of (and in) All Creation

April 15, 2008

Dear St. Paul’s Family,

Where is God?    

    During a children’s sermon, the pastor asked the kids, “Where is God?”  Instantly several hands shot into the air to respond.
    “Okay, Mary,” said the pastor.  “Where is God?”
    “He is everywhere.”
    “Very good that’s right.”
    Another boy had his hand raised. “What about you, Michael?  Where do you think God is?”
    “God is inside me,” the boy chimed.
    “Excellent!” said the pastor.  Noticing another boy sitting in the back, waving his hand, the pastor called for one more answer.
    “Okay, Danny.  Where do you think God is?”
    “He’s in our bathroom.”
    Unnerved, the pastor pressed further.  “Hmm…and how do you know he’s in the bathroom?”
    The answer came, “Every morning my father knocks on the bathroom door and says, ‘My God, are you still in there?’”

Ask the Apostle Paul to answer the question, “Where is God?” and you get quite a different answer.  As he was addressing the Athenians at the Areopagus, he said,

The God who made the world and everything in it, he who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by human hands, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mortals life and breath and all things. From one ancestor he made all nations to inhabit the whole earth, and he allotted the times of their existence and the boundaries of the places where they would live, so that they would search for God and perhaps grope for him and find him—though indeed he is not far from each one of us.

According to Paul, if you want to know where God is, just look around you!  Unlike the Israelites, who believed that God lived in the Ark of the Covenant or sat enthroned on the Temple mount; and unlike Jonah, who believed that God was restricted to geographical boundaries; and quite unlike the Deists, who believed that God existed apart from the created order, Paul believed that God existed throughout all of creation.  God is in all things and beyond all things, for “In him we live and move and have our being.”

It is in light of this reality that we are called to care for creation.  Environmental stewardship is not a mere political issue to be debated by policy wonks and presidential candidates.  It is not a fashionable trend to take up as a cause du jour.  It is a fulfillment of the first command given to humans at the dawn of creation:  to be stewards of the earth:  God’s home, as well as ours.

The United Methodist Church, in cooperation with the National Council of Churches Eco-Justice Working Group, declares this Sunday as “The Festival of Creation,” as it is the closest Sunday to Tuesday’s international observance of Earth Day.   As such, the newly formed Environmental Stewardship Group will be providing brochures for you to pick up at church and in various businesses around town that will offer suggestions to you for ways to care for the earth.  They have developed an online blog site, cherokeespumc.wordpress.com, for you to share your efforts and discoveries in making God’s home healthier and more sustainable.

JUSTICE:  A DIVINE PRESCRIPTION

In his book, Beyond Guilt and Powerlessness, George S. Johnson, an author, teacher, and Director of the Hunger Program for the Lutheran Church (ELCA), tackles issues of poverty, hunger, and homelessness from a faith perspective, believing in  the power of God’s people to effect change.  He claims that no prospective clergy should graduate from seminary without being able to fully explain the biblical concept of justice.  It is a chief characteristic of God throughout the scriptures, and a prevalent theme among the major stories of the Bible.  It is a concept prevalent in the Hebrew prophets, including the classic passage from Micah 6:8: What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

This Sunday we continue our series on the seven Christian virtues with a closer look at God’s call to justice, and a sermon based on the famous passage from Amos 5:24:  Let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.  Come discover how you can carry out God’s remedy for a broken world, and be an agent for God’s kingdom to be revealed on earth.  Together, let’s make a difference!

Grace and Peace,

Magrey