John 1:1-5, 9-10 [Contemporary English Version]
In the beginning was the one who is called the Word. The Word was with God and was truly God. From the very beginning the Word was with God.
And with this Word, God created all things. Nothing was made without the Word. Everything that was created received its life from him, and his life gave light to everyone. The light keeps shining in the dark, and darkness has never put it out.
The true light that shines on everyone was coming into the world. The Word was in the world, but no one knew him, though God had made the world with his Word.
This is the fourth — and possibly the last — in this brief series on the ecological crisis seen through a biblical lens. The first three were all from the bible’s Old Testament (the Hebrew Scriptures) but today’s message is through the eyes of Jesus in the New Testament.
In the Old Testament God’s word came to the people through the prophets, but in the New Testament God no longer speaks through prophets but through the One who was here from the beginning — Jesus, who is the Word of God.
Jesus did not speak about the earth and creation — he simply lived in it as one born to be part of creation. Born of a human woman, with all the messiness that accompanies human birth, Jesus then walked this world as one of us – not Lord of the Universe — just Jesus, son of Mary and Joseph the carpenter. He was always in intimate contact with God’s creation. In no way, that we know of, did he place himself at any remove from the rest of created life here on this planet.
He began his public life by walking across the dry land to be baptized in the Jordan River by his cousin John, and then spent days alone in the barren wilderness, praying, and seeking his Father’s direction for his life – his human, created life.
Scripture never speaks of his riding anywhere, except for the brief Palm Sunday procession when he rode in on a colt. He was not a rich man. Like the rest of the poor he walked everywhere—his body directly in contact with the earth. He lived in an agricultural culture. He was familiar with the growth of vines and the workings of vineyards and fields of grain, of olive trees and fig trees. He knew the ways of fish and fisherfolk and was comfortable out on the water. He used word-images from the natural world in his teaching and respected the natural growing things. He noticed the often overlooked things like the beauty of wildflowers in the fields.
He knew and respected the way of birds and sheep and other creatures.
Scripture never speaks of him being disgusted or put off in any way by dirt. He washed the feet of his followers as a sign of his disciple-leadership. He mixed his own spit with dirt and smeared it on the eyes of a blind man to restore his sight. He embraced lepers. He lived the life of a poor man — touching and respecting the earth. And when he came into conflict with those who would be threatened by his life, they took that life from him and those who loved him laid in in the earth – just as others have done for centuries.
Everything around him was part of his world — the world he had been part of creating. Simply by living as he did, he taught us how we should live here. The world around us has changed since Jesus lived among us — our ways are different — we rely on machines for so much — but none of that means we should stop respecting the world as it was created and given for us. It’s a beautiful world — if we don’t destroy it.
Fight for the world. Speak out and stand up for it. Do not let the greedy and the short-sighted destroy it. This is our world. It belongs to all of us, not just those who see it as a source to exploit for riches.
Be grateful and humble and love this world which God brought into being with such love and care. Live with the rest of creation as Jesus did – using it, accepting its gifts, and caring for it – the land, the waters, and all the creatures.
AMEN.
In the Old Testament God’s word came to the people through the prophets, but in the New Testament God no longer speaks through prophets but through the One who was here from the beginning — Jesus, who is the Word of God.
Jesus did not speak about the earth and creation — he simply lived in it as one born to be part of creation. Born of a human woman, with all the messiness that accompanies human birth, Jesus then walked this world as one of us – not Lord of the Universe — just Jesus, son of Mary and Joseph the carpenter. He was always in intimate contact with God’s creation. In no way, that we know of, did he place himself at any remove from the rest of created life here on this planet.
He began his public life by walking across the dry land to be baptized in the Jordan River by his cousin John, and then spent days alone in the barren wilderness, praying, and seeking his Father’s direction for his life – his human, created life.
Scripture never speaks of his riding anywhere, except for the brief Palm Sunday procession when he rode in on a colt. He was not a rich man. Like the rest of the poor he walked everywhere—his body directly in contact with the earth. He lived in an agricultural culture. He was familiar with the growth of vines and the workings of vineyards and fields of grain, of olive trees and fig trees. He knew the ways of fish and fisherfolk and was comfortable out on the water. He used word-images from the natural world in his teaching and respected the natural growing things. He noticed the often overlooked things like the beauty of wildflowers in the fields.
He knew and respected the way of birds and sheep and other creatures.
Scripture never speaks of him being disgusted or put off in any way by dirt. He washed the feet of his followers as a sign of his disciple-leadership. He mixed his own spit with dirt and smeared it on the eyes of a blind man to restore his sight. He embraced lepers. He lived the life of a poor man — touching and respecting the earth. And when he came into conflict with those who would be threatened by his life, they took that life from him and those who loved him laid in in the earth – just as others have done for centuries.
Everything around him was part of his world — the world he had been part of creating. Simply by living as he did, he taught us how we should live here. The world around us has changed since Jesus lived among us — our ways are different — we rely on machines for so much — but none of that means we should stop respecting the world as it was created and given for us. It’s a beautiful world — if we don’t destroy it.
Fight for the world. Speak out and stand up for it. Do not let the greedy and the short-sighted destroy it. This is our world. It belongs to all of us, not just those who see it as a source to exploit for riches.
Be grateful and humble and love this world which God brought into being with such love and care. Live with the rest of creation as Jesus did – using it, accepting its gifts, and caring for it – the land, the waters, and all the creatures.
AMEN.
RSS Feed