04/19/2026
Today’s object is huge, too big to be here in this sanctuary, it is filled with amazing sights, sounds, and smells, it looks very different up close than it does from far away, it is home to us and to all of creation….. it is the Earth!
Obviously, I can’t bring the earth to you this morning. We can see it in pictures, we can see it in Atlases and Globes, but it is so vast that at times it can humble us. When we consider how small earth is within the Universe it is mind blowing. Each one of us is so very teeny, tiny in comparison. If you gathered all the people of the Earth together in one place side by side it would only fill up a space the size of Los Angeles, even with generous spacing, the human population would take up less than 0.01% of the Earth's land surface. Mind blowing, right!
Even with our small physical footprint, around 95% of the earth's landscape is now under some form of human influence or modification with only about 5% of global lands remaining totally untouched. Our collective global footprint certainly stretches far beyond what we can see, hear, touch, and interact with on a daily basis. However, the effects of how we live absolutely have an impact not only on our immediate surroundings, but the entire world.
I don’t think what we have done and continue to do to creation was what God had in mind when he created us in their image, found in the creation story in Genesis 1. This is:
Genesis 1: 27-31
So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so. God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.
In God’s image. What is the image of God? What are some examples of who God is? Jesus, father, mother, spirit, breath, savior, creator, provider, love, protector, grower, healer …. I am willing to guess God’s vision of us filling the earth and being fruitful isn’t even close to what we have done. Partly because of the interpretation and translation of Scripture throughout history.
In our Christian tradition, we often interpret the first creation story as placing humans apart and above nature. We believe God created everything for us, making humanity central to creation and seeing the natural world as merely a background for human experiences, to be used at our discretion. What did God need all the other days for? Why such a big place, this Earth, for us, if we were the point, to occupy less than 1% of it? What did God do on the seventh day? God rested. God sat back, looked at creation, saw the waters, the air, the heavens, the clouds, the stars, the lands, the green trees and grasslands, the vast deserts all filled with millions of animals, creatures, plants beyond measure, and us. He looked at this vast creation, and it was all Good. Above, below and in between, everything. He put people in this place to enjoy it, to care for it, to live in harmony with it and to dwell with God in this good creation.
Secondly, it is in the way we have interpreted particular words in the original text. In Genesis 1, the Hebrew has predominately been interpreted by the church to subdue creation and dominate or have dominion over it. Which in its original meaning dominion was seen as delegating authority, one could say to “echo the Creator’s generous rule.” Subduing the earth involves cultivation, order, and stewardship, never cruelty. However, we know humanity craves power and thus this call from God has become one of power, exploitation, conquest and destruction instead of its original message. Think of how you would use the word subdue. Calming, quiet, softness… certainly not violent or destructive. Humans were created to be the image of God! A creator God! A life-giving God! A loving God! Oh, how far we have strayed.
Looking ahead through the biblical stories we can witness humanity falling further away from our created purpose and we also see God never giving up on us, always healing, always forgiving, always calming the storms of our own making. God never leaves us without hope. God never leaves us alone. God is always guiding us towards a pathway out of our troubles and back into his light. We need a total transformation of how we live on this planet. We can make a difference. God can heal us and heal our planet. How can we become the image of God in our world today?
The book of Isaiah gives us some guidance. It contains a message of change, a message of a pathway forward, a message of hope and restoration. We need to listen, observe, and actively change our self-perception—not as entitled rulers, but as partners working with God to create meaningful transformation. Let us hear from:
Isaiah 51:1-6
Listen closely, you who diligently work for justice and look for the Eternal One, for what is fair and true. It would be good for you to look back, look to the place from where you came, the rock out of which you were shaped and the quarry from where you were mined.
Look to your spiritual ancestors—Abraham, your father, and Sarah, who birthed you. Abraham was only one person when I called him. But with generous goodness, I made from him a numerous people. The Eternal One will relieve the troubles and worries of Zion and bring comfort to the rubble of its destruction. God will turn deserted places into a flourishing garden like Eden of old; happy voices will ring out in the Eternal’s garden; Buoyant music and thanksgiving will fill the air.
Listen closely, you who are Mine; lend an ear, My nation; for My instruction will go straight out into all the world. And My justice will illuminate all people wherever they are. My justice is coming closer. My rescue is on the way. My strong arm will extend justice to the nations. Distant shores are looking to Me with hope that I will accomplish it. Don’t worry—look up at the sky and down at the earth. The sky will disappear like smoke; the earth will wear out like a well-used garment; Every last thing may perish and dissolve, but My salvation is for all time. My justice will not end.
Isaiah's imagery highlights the interconnectedness of faith with all aspects of creation—nature, environment, rocks, humans, deserts, gardens, coastlands, and the heavens. The reader is initially directed to focus on the rock. The physical creation takes precedence as the origin from which we were shaped and brought forth. Only afterwards are Abraham and Sarah mentioned as figures to consider.
Can we see and hear God speaking to us in this Scripture? In creation? In the forests, rivers and streams all around us? We are connected to it all. Our roots are found in creation in the rocks under our feet and the air that we breathe and everything in between, not just our human roots. Isaiah encourages people to reflect on their origins and history, believing that by recalling what God has accomplished before, they can find assurance that God will continue to provide in the future.
In fact, Isaiah’s future includes the past, there will be another Eden! God will transform her barren land into a place as lush as Eden, turning the desert into the Lord’s own garden. Referencing nature and creation, which includes the "heavens and the earth," reminding us of the beginning and guiding us toward a hope filled future. God will make all things new!
What we need now is a dramatic transformation in how we live. Sight and hearing are essential—we must look and listen. Understanding God requires a full sensory approach; intellect alone is not enough. Our bodies and all of creation help us perceive and hear God.
We need to respond to the call for justice for creation. It’s crucial to seek solutions that prevent circumstances from deteriorating further; we should rethink our consumption habits, how much we consume, what we eat, how we get around, how we build community and fully consider how we affect the world around us.
This Wednesday, April 22, is Earth Day. Perhaps we can take this opportunity to join in God’s call for healing and hope. I brought a handout with some simple things you can do to be part of the healing of our world. I encourage you to do what you can.
In celebration and reflection on this Earth Day Sunday I thought I would share some excerpts from Shane Ledford’s reflection on Henry David Thoreau’s book Walden.
Thoreau was almost 28-years-old when he went to live at Walden Pond in 1845 after experiencing many challenges in his young life… (Thoreau) built a small, modest cabin near Walden Pond and journaled about the two years he lived there: (of this time he said) “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.”
Shane continues: Every time I read or hear that passage, I am struck by the profound beauty in it – and I ponder: what does it mean to live deliberately… and do we have to build a cabin in the woods to do it?
Sure, I might be able to live deliberately in a cabin in the woods, but perhaps I should focus more on trying to live deliberately with my present surroundings, relationships, and whatever tasks I do and may be asked to do.
The more that we are quiet and alone with ourselves we may begin to notice things within and outside of us we may have not noticed before. For Thoreau, these moments of solitude allowed him to be more mindful and aware of the present moment, (Thoreau wrote) “When we are unhurried and wise, we perceive that only great and worthy things have any permanent and absolute existence,—that petty fears and petty pleasures are but the shadow of the reality.” It was these moments of stillness and observances in Nature that Thoreau understood how beneficial it could be. (He said)“Every morning was a cheerful invitation to make my life of equal simplicity, and I may say innocence, with Nature herself.”
The longer he was in Nature, the more he appreciated how the animals lived and felt that we all should learn from their simplicity. (Thoreau shared) “To enjoy life’s immensity, you do not need many things.”
In Walden, Thoreau mentioned seeds (specifically bean seeds) many times, and even has a chapter entitled “The Bean-Field.” The bean field… allowed him to reflect on the interconnectedness he had with Nature, as well as the realization that he could not control Nature… but he could control his response to whatever Nature threw at him. (Thoreau said) “These beans have results which are not harvested by me. Do they not grow for woodchucks partly? …How, then, can our harvest fail? Shall I not rejoice also at the abundance of the weeds whose seeds are the granary of the birds?”
After two years Thoreau was done with his Walden experiment and said, “I left the woods for as good a reason as I went there. Perhaps it seemed to me that I had several more lives to live, and could not spare any more time for that one.”
It is apparent that his time spent at Walden Pond and in Nature transformed him. We are fortunate to have had his experience shared with us. I have read Walden numerous times, and each time it teaches something new and speaks to me differently… and it even resonates more with me now as I have gotten older. If you haven’t read it in awhile (or at all), I invite you to visit the book to see what it might offer you. Maybe, after reading, you may also come to recognize, as (Thoreau) did, that “the universe is wider than our views of it” and “heaven is under our feet as well as over our heads.”
https://mindfulness-alliance.org/2023/08/01/living-deliberately-excerpts-in-mindfulness-from-walden/
Today I echo Shane, in encouraging you to read Thoreau’s book, Walden. I encourage you to live deliberately. I encourage you to incorporate at least one suggestion from our Earth Day handout. I encourage you to take some time outside in nature. Look for God at work in creation. Find ways to connect with the world around you. Listen, look and live so that you become a partner with God in the healing of our world. Hallelujah. Amen
