Chan Willis – C.P.C.

                                                                                                                                                                June 6, 2010

“Response-ability:  Groundwork”

Genesis 1:26-28; Luke 16:10

Last week we considered the subjects of suffering, and hope.  Of how we attempt to bring hope to those who are experiencing despair, but ultimately, it is only the power of the Triune God… Father, Son, and Holy Spirit… who can bring true hope.  I shared with you my personal anguish for a family who had suffered tremendous, incredible loss.  How I struggled with what I would have said to these parents, and grandparents, if I had been given the opportunity to minister to them.

                On her way out of church, one of our congregation stopped to tell me a little story about an experience she had with ‘words of wisdom.’  A number of years ago she had lost her husband, and shortly thereafter, a cousin… both of whom died at an early age.  At the funeral of the cousin…who was a trooper killed in the line of duty, leaving behind a young family… a little girl, only some 5 yrs. old, overheard one of the family members bemoaning the tragic loss of this young man.  Of how they couldn’t understand why God would have let this happen to someone so young. Without hesitation, the little girl looked this bewildered adult in the eye, and said, “Well, God must just have needed some younger angels.” 

                Now I am not suggesting that this be your attempt to comfort someone who has experienced the loss of a younger loved one.  I’m not saying that God receives the lives of those who are taken ‘before their time’ in order to create a more even age-distribution in heaven!  But as I thought about how honestly, openly and faithfully this little child spoke about God, and about the lasting impression it left on the woman who shared this story with me, I was reminded of the type of faith we are called to have.  I remembered how important children were to Jesus, who said  “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”  (Mt. 19:14)  God’s only begotten Son would also declare that “I praise you Father, Lord of heaven and earth…”  (that ‘God of Wonders’ we sang about earlier!) “…because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children.  Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure.”

                If “the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these”… CHILDREN… and that things “hidden… from the wise and learned” have been revealed to… CHILDREN… maybe we ought to pay more attention to our children, and grandchildren.  Maybe we should listen to them more, and nag at them less.  Maybe we should talk to them about things that really matter… like God,   and angels, and heaven, and Jesus. If we can have the type of faith like that of a child, perhaps too our heavenly Father will also take “good pleasure” in US!

                And so, for much of these summer months, we will be considering, in our time together, the same topics that our children are exploring in their time together.  The virtues, the Scriptures, the ‘bottom line’ lessons that we all can learn from listening and talking with God.

This month of June the virtue that our young people are pondering is that of responsibility.  In their terminology, “responsibility” means “showing you can be trusted with what is expected of you.”  Mr. Webster’s definition is pretty close:  the ability “to respond or answer for one’s conduct and obligations; trustworthy.”  So, this month we will consider our ‘ability to respond’ … our “response-ability”… to the trust that God has placed in us.  How do you and I show God …and others… that we can be trusted with what God expects of us?

                The first aspect of our ‘response-ability’ is for the created world around us.  In the Creation narrative segment we have considered today, God said “Let US make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish… birds… livestock… over ALL the earth.”    Genesis 1:28 says that “God blessed them and said to… ‘Be fruitful and increase in number; (to) fill the earth and subdue it…”

                 [Let me interject here:  did you notice the language of verse 26?  “Let us make man in our image.”  The Hebrew words here are clearly plural, NOT singular.  What I believe that we  have here is the first reference… yes, right here in Genesis… to a Holy Trinity.  That God the Father, Son, and Spirit were all together in the formation of our world.  Even going  back to verse 2, it says that “the Spirit of God hovered over the waters.”  Just saying, that “Trinity Sunday” is not the only day we should ponder on the triune nature of God.]

                As I thought about man’s response-ability to God to “rule…over all the earth” … his command from God to “fill the earth and subdue it”…  I could not help but think about what is going on in the Gulf.  About how man’s attempts to ‘rule over all the earth’… in this case, ‘ruling’ by pursuit of that ‘black gold’, oil… has  led to a disaster that could well exceed even our deepest fears.  When God said to ‘fill the earth,’ I don’t think that he meant to ‘fill it’ with toxic chemicals and ‘oil balls.’  What has been wrought by the IR-responsible actions of one single company will not serve God’s command to ‘fill’ the earth… but rather, to ‘KILL’ it…

                Now, while I deplore the senseless destruction of not only our natural wetland resources, but of the very way of life for thousands of people along the coast, this disaster is but one of many ways that we as a people are defiling God’s creation of heaven and earth.  Here’s a small example.  Tuesday I was sitting at a red light here in Covington when the man in front of me rolled down his window and pitched out a cigarette butt.  If the light hadn’t turned green, I might well have gotten out, picked it up, and tossed it back in his car.  OR, followed him to his house and thrown it in his front yard.  See what HE thought about THAT!  With the thoughts about the oil disaster in the Gulf on my mind, I even thought about making today’s sermon title “BP to Butts”… but I didn’t want people to make the wrong association!

                My point is, there are any number of ways that you and I need to assume more ‘response-ability’ for the future of our planet.   How many plastic water bottles, or Coke cans, do we thoughtlessly toss in the trash can… which will wind up in a land fill?    How many cups of coffee do we drink out of a Styrofoam cup, that will take a whole lot longer to decompose than we will?   When you leave a room, do you think about whether or not the light needs to be turned out.  (5 minute rule)  Do you keep the thermostat turned down to 70 degrees because ‘I like it really cold’?  What are ways that we can consume less wastefully and use more wisely?

                Let’s face it, we live in a ‘disposable,’ ‘convenience-oriented’ society.  We want it quick, cheap, and good.  And if we have the first two, we are less-demanding about the third.  Which brings me back to our discussion of BP.  As angry as we all are about that ‘evil British Empire’ (gee, same !), let’s consider some of the reasons why it happened.  We need oil to run our ‘trains, planes, and automobiles.’  And we need it NOW.  Quick.  But, we don’t want to pay too much for our gas.  We yearn for the days of 3 gallons for a dollar.  (well, at least I can remember those!)   We want it cheap.  So, in trying to keep costs down and production up, companies like BP cut corners.  They use a lesser expensive piece of equipment.  They employ less inspectors.  They conduct less maintenance.  And, they end up being slammed with the costliest man-made disaster of all time… aside from world wars.  And right now, there is a ‘war’ going on 5000 feet under the ocean… as well as in the marshlands and beaches of our Gulf.  And God’s earth is losing…

                  So, what is our Christian “response-ability” in taking care of the ‘groundwork’, the fundamental environment we’ve been given to operate within… the land, the sea, the sky?  First, we can prove ourselves trustworthy with a ‘little’… that which is in our direct control.  Being conscious of how what you and I do as individuals adds up.  As each one of us does our part to conserve energy, to not pollute, to pick up after someone else, even when we didn’t do it… then we can make a positive impact on God’s good earth.

                As we are more responsible with those little things, greater ones are entrusted to us.  To be more involved in the political process, to confront leaders who are not being good stewards of God’s resources.  But not just to call to gripe and complain, but to lift up those leaders, both civic and business, in Prayer!  In effect, to put our ‘mouth where our money is.’  To even pray for those who some might consider the ‘enemy’ (I believe there’s something in the Bible about that… J).  PRAY FOR B.P.!  PRAY that they treat the people that have been devastated by this horror with compassion, honesty, fairness.  PRAY that those scientific and business leaders seek a Wisdom greater than all the MIT and Cambridge grads put together; that they be inspired by a Spirit whose knowledge is deeper than any ocean floor.  Friends, you may think I’m crazy J but I think we need to PRAY that the mighty hand of God Almighty reach down into that murky water and seal that hemorrhaging artery that will not ‘bleed out.’  The same God who parted the waters of the Red Sea can surely close up the waters of our ‘black sea.’

                In those opening verses of Genesis, we believe that “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth…  (That) darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.”   And that after God had created the heavens and the earth, the vegetation and the creatures, “he saw that it was good.”  And finally, to manage His good creation, God proceeded to “…make man in our image.” 

                We are indeed facing a time in which ‘darkness is over the surface of the deep.’  But we trust that God’s Spirit is yet ‘hovering over the waters.’  Even in our most disparaging moments, our Lord Jesus promises never to leave us nor forsake us.  As the ones entrusted with caring for our Father’s world, may we never forget that we are made in God’s image.  Just as He rules the world with love and care, may we also.  In all we do to serve our Maker, may we always strive to look back at what we have done and ‘see that it was good.’  Let us lay a firm foundation for our faith on good ‘groundwork.’  In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.