Community and Creation Care

[The Following Sermon was given at Steinmann Mennonite Church on July 7, 2013. This also marks the last sermon I have there. I do have one next week at River of Life Fellowship, but soon this will have more essays that I write].

A reading of Genesis 2 can be tricky because there is something lost in translation. In Hebrew the word for humanity, the word for a male human (man), and the name of the first human are all the same, Adam, coming from the word Adamuh which means dirt. This makes sense from a Genesis 2 perspective when there is only one human, so that human, Adam would embody all three.

When God put the man God had created into the Garden, God realized that something was missing. He realizes that it is not good for Adam to be alone, so God tries to find a helper, he brings all of the animals to Adam, they like Adam had been formed from the dirt, but they weren't suitable helper's for Adam’s work in caring for creation. Oh I'm sure the chimpanzee was pretty close, their opposable thumbs would be great for doing the gardening, but their lack of language meant they probably wouldn't have been a good conversationalist.

At this point God could have said, I tried, but I just haven't made anything that will work. Instead, God returns to the process of creating, and makes one more thing. But where previously God had said "let there be" and there was, this time, we read about a whole new creative process. God puts significant time and effort into this creation because God knows how important this is.

God makes Adam Sleep, and then takes his Tsela, which while it is often translated Rib, a more accurate understanding would be "side" or "Half."

God takes this side of Adam, and forms it into a woman, a suitable helper for him.  They are compatible physically, emotionally, visually.

When the first Adam meets this newly created partner, he says "This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called 'woman; for she was taken out of man" This statement isn't about some little rib, but rather an equal.

Now that there is difference in gender, the language changes, we are no longer talking about Adam, Here we can see differences of gender in the language, Woman is Ishshah, which comes from iysh, or Man.

The fact that Ishshah come from Iysh is not intended to be a statement of gender dominance, the two humans now living in the garden are supposed to be equals.  The woman is described as a suitable helper, helper, the same word that Israel uses to describe God when they were in trouble. Adam, the first human being, has been divided in two, and consequently the rest of humanity has a new division.

But why? From my perspective, the human in the Garden didn't appear to be missing anything, everything Ishshah had, was part of the original creation, but the separation into two humans, the division into male and female had to serve a purpose, but what?

And God said, it is not good for man to be alone

God saw the Human need for community, a need derived from the fact that we are created in the divine Image.

As NT Wright Says, “the creator loved the world he had made, and wanted to look after it the best possible way. To that end, he placed in his world a looking after creature, a creature who would demonstrate to the creation who he, the creator, really was, and who would set to work developing the creation and making it flourish and fulfill its purpose. This Looking-after creature (or rather, this family of creatures: the human race) would model and embody that interrelatedness, that mutual and fruitful knowing, trusting and loving, which was the Creator's intention. Relationship was part of the way in which we were meant to be fully human, not for our own sake, but as part of a much larger scheme of things."

This act of creating community shows God's goodness, and willingness to work within God's creation. In other Creation stories, the gods don't care about humans. In Babylon we made too much noise so Tiamat tried to kill us resulting in a giant flood. In Greece we are a necessary nuisance that Zeus kept around so we could keep giving the Olympian gods sacrifices.

But for our God, we are important, beings God makes because God wanted us to be God's representatives on earth.

The Triune God, The Creator, sustainer and redeemer, the Father, son and Holy Spirit, is a perfect example of perfect community. While it may not be easy to understand, we catch a glimpse of this unity in diversity amongst ourselves.

God, three distinct beings, and yet perfectly united, needed a representative on earth who would also be separate but together

So God creates humans, distinct and yet united in one through the act of community. We are then entrusted with the Garden, and in fact the whole earth, to care for it, and help it be the best, the healthiest, the most beautiful it could be.

man, we screwed that up

If we look at the world today, we see an earth marked by deforestation, 13 million hectares are destroyed each year, so we can have land to grow food, and wood to make everything from toilet paper to houses. This is resulting in many animals losing their habitats

When I was in Guatemala in 2009 we visited a community, Panabaj that lived in a valley, when logging companies came into the area, there were no longer tree roots to hold together the soil, and now they've had to rebuild their entire town twice because of mudslides

Because we release fossil fuels into the air (carbon dioxide from burning oil in our cars and Methane from the animals we eat), the heat from the sun which used to hit the earth, and bounce off us, gets stuck in the atmosphere, causing global rises in temperature. Last summer's drought was connected to this heat, I was working on a farm and we barely got 2 cuts of hay instead of the usual three or four so there is a hay shortage this year.

When we think about the environment

We need to remember the story in Matthew 25 where a man going on a journey entrusts his servants with his wealth, to one he gave 5 bags of gold, to one gave 2 bags and another he gave one bag. While he was gone, the first two put their money to work, investing it in business and doubling what they had been given, while the third one buried it for safe keeping. When the man returned, he was very happy with the two who had invested the wealth and rewarded them, but when he got to the servant who had buried his bag, he was very mad.

Right now, as a human race we haven't invested what we've been given, we haven't even hidden it, we've taken that money and gone to MacDonald’s and gorged ourselves on big macs. We've wasted the earth God has entrusted to us.

And then there’s the global community we were supposed to be:

After the passage we read in Genesis, in the next chapter we, as humans, break the only rule we've ever been given and eat the fruit, the chapter after that we started killing each other, soon we see all levels of rape, gendercide, genocide, we see utter rebellion against God time after time. Soon this united humanity becomes so divided in heart that we become divided on the outside, becoming many different nations with different languages

We've managed to overpopulate the planet, Already we are at over 7 billion people.  The world needs to increase food production by 50 percent in 30 years if we want to keep with expected growth, something that won't happen without more deforestation so we will have more land to grow food on.

Not to mention increased need for expanded health care, sanitation, and education systems, systems that are already taxed.

3.1 million Children died from hunger last year

94 children were killed between 2006 and 2009 by CIA drone strikes in Pakistan's tribal areas.

Thousands of civilians have been killed by Allied and Insurgent forces in Afghanistan, a war we are participating in.

156 358 were waiting for affordable housing in Ontario last year

If world is a village, and the United States is the world's police officer, Canada would be the world's miner. We own 75 percent of global mining companies, not just up north in the Canadian shield, but we also own operations in countries as diverse Diamonds in South Africa, and coltan in Democratic Republic of Congo, gold in Guatemala

In Guatemala, these companies are using explosives to gain access to the minerals underneath the ground and once they start run open-pit mining operations.

I spent a couple days in San Marcos, a Guatemalan community up the hill from an open pit mining operation.

       

        The explosives that the mining companies use have caused cracking in the houses of people in the area. The company claims that it is because of inferior building techniques, but these houses have been fine for years before the mining companies came in, and an NGO has brought in scientists whose initial findings link the cracks in the houses to the mining operations.

       

As with many mining endeavors, communities near the mines suffer from skin rashes, but while the rashes usually occur after seven or 8 years of the mine’s opening, they are happening within a few years in Guatemala.

Less than one percent of all wealth mined from Guatemala stays within the country, next to no jobs go to Guatemalan workers,

        The people of Guatemala are opposed to the mining operations. Trying to appease the people, the government set up community consultations, which is a Guatemalan tradition. As of 2009 when I visited, 32 consultations had been conducted, all across Guatemala, and at every single consultation there has been a resounding no to mining. Guatemala has a population of 13 million people, of those thirteen million people, 5 million have been consulted, of those 5 million, only 500 have said yes to the mining, that’s a ratio of 10000 to 1, but the government is too afraid of Canadian big business to stop it.

If we humans are supposed to be a community of caring for the world we live in and for each other, we are doing a bang up job.

These are things we are directly implicated in. Wars fought on our behalf, or extracting of natural resources for our benefit. Everything I've mentioned here is because we are more concerned about ourselves than the people and the world around us.

There's a reason apple one of the most popular brands in the world. It’s all about me myself and i. iPhone, iPad, iMac.

We care more about ourselves individually than the the people or the world around us.

Up until now I have been giving you a whole lot of bad news. But I do finally have some good news.

2000 years ago, there lived somebody who didn't think about himself

A man who reached out to those around him, and invited others to join him

A man who challenged the self-serving establishments of his day and payed the ultimate price, not just for himself, but for all of us.

Jesus Christ called together a new community, where everyone's needs is met

Where we are called to live faithfully, sharing his good news to the world around us.

We are called to be faithful stewards of the earth, not because it's going to benefit us in any way, but as a return to our original mission.

The environment has been permanently scarred.  There is no way to stop the effects of Global warming, ice caps are melting, sea-tides are rising, and species are dead and dying.

But we must listen to the wisdom of the Iroquois nation, who have for a long time taught 7 generation sustainability. We need to make decisions not just for our own benefits, but also think about what will happen in seven generations time. Is cutting down this forest for paper going to benefit our great-great-great-great-great grandchildren, or is the fact that they will not have clean, breathable air more important?

We are doing it, within the church we have groups like Christian Peacemaker Teams, who work to bring peace in places where we have and are fighting.

We have community organizations which work to rebuild broken relationships

we have organizations like Mennonite Central Committee who shares "God's love and compassion for all in the name of Christ by responding to basic human needs and working for peace and justice. MCC envisions communities worldwide in right relationship with God, one another and creation."

It was MCC that took me to Panabaj and San Marcos where they are working alongside members of the community to prevent more environmental damage.

The Canadian Foodgrains Bank is "a collection of churches and church based agencies working to end global hunger. Canadian Foodgrains Bank is rooted in the belief that humankind is created in the image of God and that it is God’s desire that no person should go hungry. The availability of food and access to that food is fundamental to life itself. Food is required to sustain life, to provide the strength for work, and to share in the fellowship of one’s family and community"

We have organizations like A Rocha whose vision is "the transformation of people and places into healthy communities through a movement of individuals and groups, caring for God’s world.

Restoring salmon habitat, training young scientists, inspiring school children, feeding low-income families–A Rocha is transforming people and places through hands-on conservation projects, environmental education programs and sustainable agriculture initiatives."

As a church we are rebuilding the community God gave us back at the beginning, it is this community that is starting to care for the creation God's given us. However, these organizations won't do much if God's people, you and I don't do our part. They need our support to fund, fill volunteer roles, advocate. As individuals we can't sit by or else as a group we won't do anything. We need to be God's representatives on earth just as God intended it.

[Interestingly, Ryan Robinson, the Emerging Anabaptist, wrote a blog post on genesis 2 this week as well, and we share some points.]

Do you remember Steubenville?

A couple months back, the big issue in social media activism was violence against women. This was because of events like the events in Steubenville, and Amanda Todd's death. However, social media activism has since moved on to other issues, important issues, but I think that we also should take a moment and remember this as well. What follows is an amalgamation of a Facebook post I wrote back then and a prayer I gave in my preaching class, reedited for today.

Because of the passage of time, we no longer talk about Steubenville or Amanda Todd.

We've stopped talking about the culture we live in and how we need to teach boys that no means no, and how to respect a woman. We've stop talking about the issue because the media has, to a large extent, stopped reporting about it.

But people are raped everyday, we can't forget about them. Beautiful women, who are made in God's loving image, will have the worst things happen to them, but they won't report it.

Nothing will happen because they will be too scared that if they go for help, we won't listen. That if they go for help, their attacker will hurt them again. That if they go for help, they'll have to relive their experiences over, and over and over again as they go through the process of reporting the crime, and the justice system. A system where the defense attorney will do everything in their power to prove their story false, or discredit and humiliate the victim. And the public will make jokes about her, and make death threats against them.

Social Media activism made this issue visible, but it's already  moved on. The victims can't. Please don't forget them.

We live in a culture where we blame the victim for the actions of their attackers. We say that because of the clothes a girl was wearing that she was "asking for it". There is a girl in Steubenville who was brave enough to go through the judicial process and share how two football heroes got her drunk at a party and raped her. That should be traumatizing enough, but then she had to have police watch her house because people in the community continued to threaten her because somehow seeking justice and healing is less important than two promising football careers.

God forgive us for when we turn the victim into the villain, when the people we should be caring for the most, become the people we hate. You have created them in your image, and they deserve to be treated with the respect that comes with that. Teach us, oh God to love them, just as you love them.

You oh Lord, did not submit to the patriarchal structures when you walked on earth,

You used  women in your parables, showing that their experiences mattered

You spoke to women as moral agents, capable of responding to your message

When a woman poured out her oil on your feet, you defended her actions

Your grace and love overpowered the coercive systems of violence.

Give us, oh God, your outrage towards the wrongs of this world, and your compassion for those who have been been hurt. 

Amen

Environmental Stewardship and Serenity Congregational Prayer

[I gave this prayer today (July 7th, 2013), following a sermon on Matthew 6:25-34. I draw on imagery from the text, as well as reference to the Lord's Prayer (which actually occurs earlier in Matthew 6), and quote the first half of the Serenity Prayer, written by Reinhold Niebuhr (in Italics, and changed to first person plural to reflect that this is a prayer on behalf of the people)].

Lord, Our Provider,

When we see the works of your hands,

The lilies of the field and the birds of the air

we see your providence in action

we are reminded of your generosity

Thank you for the world you have created

for the abundance and yet fragile environment

that you have placed us in

and entrusted to our care

help us to be good stewards of everything you have given us,

faithful with the little as with the lot;

working for your will,

on earth as it is in heaven

Grant us the Serenity

to accept the things we cannot change;

courage to change the things we can;

and wisdom to know the difference.

Amen

The Role of the Pastor

When people ask me what I want to do with my life, I often tell them that I feel led to being a pastor. However, when I tell them this, I often feel like I am lying, even though technically I am not.

I love God, and I love the church, and I feel that God is leading me towards fulltime Christian ministry within the church. Maybe even in a congregation's lead role someday.

This might sound like being a pastor, but in my mind there is a difference.

My view of Pastoring, and the church, is that it is often of a top down, hierarchical approach, The Pastor is in charge, leading a congregation like a shephard leading a bunch of sheep. Or more of a chaplain role, ministering to the emotional and spiritual needs of the congregation they are working in, maybe doing some outreach (or sheep stealing) in order to maintain the numbers of the congregation, but not really.

I don't think that's an unfair representation. For many centuries, the "western" world was part of Christendom, everyone was assumed to be a Christian, so there wasn't much point in ministry, unless it was mission work to people who had't been reached yet. This concept started when Constantine made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire, Augustine put it into theological terms, and it remained that way for a thousand years, surviving even the crash of the Roman Empire.

In the 1500s  this began to change, with the beginning of the Reformation, you could no longer assume that everyone was the same denomination, let alone the same religion of you. However, Christianity in some form remained the norm. Even 50 years ago everyone went to church every week. While this is no longer the case, it's still within my memory when the local mall was closed on Sundays, and today's reduced Sunday shopping hours are a holdover of the belief that people should be at church and not shopping on a Sunday.

Within the concept of Christendom, where everyone was a member of the/a church, it made sense that a Pastor's role was one of caring just for their congregation. However we are now recognizing the fact that not everyone is a Christian, that the world is a much more broken place than it once was. The role of the church, and therefore the role of the pastor is different.

My program at school is "Biblical and Theological Studies" As I read the biblical narrative, and the various philosophizing about who God is I get excited. I see a God who loves us, who's vision for the world is far greater than any of us can possibly imagine, and who invites us to join in working towards that vision.

The Church is the body of people who are working towards this future. We work towards right relationship with ourselves, our neighbours, and our God. I believe that this is the responsibility of every Christian.

Since in this context everyone is in ministry, the role of the Pastor then becomes one of encouraging the church to minister to the best of it's abilities. Since each member has different strengths and abilities, the Pastor encourages the congregation to plug in to what they are passionate about that maximizes congregation's witness to the good news of Jesus Christ.

The Pastor's role is therefore to enable others to minister. both via the traditional tasks of a pastor: providing pastoral care (ensuring the emotional and spiritual well-being of the congregation), theological insight, or leading a committee as necessary, but also in less hierarchical ways. Allowing others to take the lead, and being a support.

Churches are starting to recognize this. Today I noticed that the bulletin of my church, immediately above where pastor's have our contact information, it says "Ministers: Every Member of the Congregation". If this is the vision of the church, then maybe yes, I am called to be a pastor.


[Note: On July 11, 2013 I finally got my hands on a copy of A Mennonite Polity for Ministerial Leadership and I was pleasantly surprised to see that in it's theology section, it too had the same critiques of the Christendom, arguing that to some extent Mennonites have always seen the congregation as the primary ministers. I don't think we've even mostly succeeded at maintaining the viewpoint. but it's nice to know that I am in a denomination with the same thoughts]

1 Kings 19: I, even I only am left.

[The Sermon below was written for my preaching class at Canadian Mennonite University, This is the first sermon I wrote for the class, so it is less polished than some of the sermons I've written since (see A Transformed People of God, or Psalm 137:9 A Hard Beatitude), however it's a message of hope for those suffering from ministry Burnout, something that I'll talk about in more depth in the future]


When we look at 1 kings 19 we read a story of Elijah struggling.
Elijah, the mighty prophet of God who had defeated 450 prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel
Elijah, the mighty prophet, who's God answered his prayer with fire from heaven
Elijah, the mighty prophet of God who ran after Ahab's chariot, taunting him all the way back to Jazreel
Elijah, the mighty prophet of God, was broken, and tired, and confused
After the events at mount Carmel Ahab went and told his wife Jezebel about Elijah
Jezebel responded by sending her messenger to the mighty prophet, telling him that by the time the day was finished, she would have him killed the way he had killed Baal's prophets
Faced with opposition that can't be stopped by a show of force, Elijah is unsure of himself
So what does he do?
[pause]
He runs.
The Mighty Prophets runs
Within three verses He leaves the northern kingdom, and he travels all the way down to Beersheba, a town right where the southern Kingdom meets the wilderness.
Elijah is afraid for his life, he's dropped everything and he ran
The Mighty prophet has become a refugee
When he gets to Beersheba, he leaves his servant behind, and spends a day walking in the wilderness. There he crashes down under a tree and cries out to God, "It is enough, Oh Lord, Take away my life for I am no better than my fathers."
He has abandoned all hope
He is saying that he's failed, that he should be dead and in his tomb like those that went before him.
Jezebel's threat is the end of his ministry

Like Elijah, you might be tired
Maybe you are tired because Everytime you share your faith with your friends you get ridiculed
maybe you are tired because you've been strong for too long
Maybe the program you volunteer for isn't reaching as many people as you'd like
Maybe you are ready to give up
to give up on serving God
to close your door, and give up on hoping that people will respond to the ministry that you do
It's easy to experience burn out, with papers piling up around, tests and exams coming it's easy to forget that you are here because this is where God wants you to be.
Like Elijah, you might be unsure of yourself, maybe you felt God leading you into ministry, but now that you are here, you are no longer sure
Like Elijah, you might not have the strength to carry on.
Elijah, sitting in the desert, goes to sleep,
while he sleeps, an angel woke him up and feeds him
Elijah doesn't get it, there's an angel feeding him, and what does he do? he goes back to sleep, He's completely given up.
But the angel isn't finished, he wakes Elijah up, and feeds him again, telling him that he has a long journey ahead of him.
Elijah gets up and the food feeds him for fourty days and nights as he travels in the wilderness.
Eventually he gets to Mt Horeb
Now Mt Horeb is another name for Mt Sinai, the mountain where God met Moses and Commissioned him.
God is going to commission Elijah again
This is what's called a Theophanous commision story. A story where elijah is given  the power to prevail over institutional rivals, enhancing belief in prophetic authority to challenge usurpations of God's Supremacy.
but this authority comes in a peculiar way.

Elijah enters a cave on Mount Sinai, and God asks him "what are you doing here, elijah?"
Elijah's response is one of dispair "I have been very jealous for the LORD, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, , and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away"
Elijah's seeking pity, he thinks he's the only one left, he thinks that everything is going to hell in a handbasket
And he wants a sign, he wants God to respond dramatically, to show that God is powerful  but God's response is not power.
God takes him outside the cave, and Elijah sees 3 powerful things
He sees the wind blow past so fast that rocks are breaking
He sees an earthquake shake the earth around him
and he sees a fire, like the one used in the previous chapter to defeat baals prophet
God could have been present within any of them, but God isn't
Instead of these acts of power, God chooses to reveal Godself through the sound of a low whisper.
and again God asks "What are you doing here Elijah?"
Elijah gives exactly the same response "I have been very jealous for the LORD, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, , and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away"
God responds with a command and a message of hope
The commmand is to go back and continue his work,
God has recommissioned Elijah to go back and annoint Hazael as King of Syria, Jehu king of Israel, and Elisha as his own successor.
Elijahs doubts will cease when God puts him to work
He needs to continue the struggle against Baal. He needs to put people into power who will stand up for whats right. It's not going to be easy, but Ahab and Jezebel's dynasty will fall, and Israel will return to the Covenant.
God's message to Elijah, is that he isn't alone, God still has 7000 people who haven't bowed before Baal.
The numbers 7and 1000 both symbolize wholeness and completion. God has enough people to get the job done.
Elijah isn't alone.

Likewise you aren't alone
You have a community of faith that surrounds you
When you are weary, there are people there who will support you
There are people who will care for you and walk with you
Elijah thought that he was the only person who was Jealous for God
but there were others
God doesn't always act in Giant flashes of miraculous power
This doesn't mean he can't or he won't
but more often then not we need to listen for that still soft voice
God will guide you
Elijah thought he had won at mount carmel, and wasnt ready for resistance
We will also face resistance as we seek to live out the gospel message in the world today
but in the moment of doubt, God will give you the strength to face the day
Elijah's story doesn't end in complete and utter victory, Ahab is still king for three more chapters, and maybe it's okay if ours doesn't either
instead maybe we just need to continue to be faithful to the plan that God has for us, and follow what God tells us to do.