Renew the Face of the Earth - Pentecost
Author: Pastor Carolyn Hetrick
May 19, 2024
Many of you are probably
expecting me to talk about fire and wind, and I say instead:
“How many your deeds,
O Lord! All of them you do in wisdom.
The earth is full of your creatures. The sea is where creatures beyond number stir, the little, the large and the Leviathan, which you made to play with. All of them look to you to give them their food in due season. You open your hand, and they are
filled with good things. When You send forth your Spirit, they are created and so you renew the
face of the earth. I will sing, I will praise, I will rejoice! (Robert
Alter translation)
In the beauty of this
imagery, Sir David Attenborough wrote, "It seems to me that the natural
world is the greatest source of excitement; the greatest source of visual
beauty; the greatest source of intellectual interest. It is the greatest source
of so much in life that makes life worth living…The whole of life is coming to
terms with yourself and the natural world. Why are you here? How do you fit in?
What’s it all about?” Those are Pentecost questions.
In Psalm 104, the world
that God creates and recreates is not just ordered, but rhythmic, each created
thing a note that contributes to the Spirit’s song. The whole of creation is
like a song of joy sung by the Spirit of the Lord elaborating on God’s
assertion of the goodness of created things. God is praised for the multiple
wonders of the earth, and for the wisdom with which they were made. Psalm 104
is like the poetry of Genesis 1 set to music, singing the wondrous order that
God has brought forth.[i] Leviathan’s
purpose in the created order is “to sport” in the sea. How cool is that?
The joy with which God
creates is reflected in the playfulness of a creature otherwise seen as the sea’s
most dreaded beast. There’s probably a sermon in that, but not today.
Joy triumphs over chaos in
a way that raw power cannot: by winning it over. There is joy at the foundation
of the earth, and joy in the wondrous interdependence of God’s creatures, in
the necessity in which we exist for one another. There is joy in the winning
over of the chaos that continues to threaten God’s harmonious creation. There
is joy in the gifts of life and spirit that we receive from God, and in our
rejoicing in those gifts.[ii]
But by the time Paul is writing in Romans, that creation
is groaning, and not just creation but we ourselves. Fast forward to 1951 when Rachel
Carson wrote The Sea Around Us tracing
the heroic attempts of humans to follow their curiosity into the unknown seas,
while also sharing the dire and heartbreaking outcomes of unthinking
intervention or entry into fragile eco-systems.
She cautioned “although (hu)man’s record as a steward of …the
earth has been a discouraging one, there has long been a certain comfort in the
belief that the sea, at least, was inviolate, beyond (our) ability to change
and to spoil. But this belief, unfortunately, has proved to be naïve.”
In other words, we may not be living our praise in how we
treat the sea, because we can say “there is more than enough,” so we don’t have
to make our actions match our words. Carson warned that due to human tinkering
oceanic eco-systems were showing dramatic shifts, and rapid glacial melts taking
place are making sea rise a dire reality some day.
Now here we are in a world where we continue to say we do
not have enough concrete evidence to decide what to do, as the totality of
creation is groaning at levels too great to fathom. And rising seas are now
present. Yet, we are sometimes immune to the news, and with troubled hearts or
resignation ask, “but what can we do?” And Pastor what could this
possibly have to do with Pentecost?
Well, on this day we so often focus upon the work of the
Spirit as the wind and the flame, it is also in the ability to speak in ways
not possible before. How might this Spirit be in us, this least identifiable
person of the Trinity? What new language might we speak?
Let’s start with the language already within us. Rachel
Carson as a marine biologist observed, “Fish, amphibian, and reptile,
warm-blooded bird and mammal-each of us carries in our veins a salty stream
in which the elements sodium, potassium, and calcium are combined in almost the
same proportions as in sea water.” The Spirit has been a part of God’s
presence from the dawn of creation when the wind moved over the waters and life
happened. I cannot help but wonder if our very elements are indeed one manifestation
of the divine Spirit that creates and renews, found in every cell of every one
of us, from the one-celled to the largest. The same elements in each part of
creation are shared. At the same time, the Spirit comes to us and makes us
distinct and diverse and essential for each other. Scripture tells us that time
and again. The Spirit moves among us to give us ways to speak and act that we
may never have thought possible, until they are.
Like every group of people with troubled hearts who ever wondered
how they can follow Jesus, how to be a part of God’s transforming love and mercy
and hope in the world, here we are now.
Few, if any, will have a fire and wind moment. Actually I
am pretty grateful for that.
But as Pastor Schul said last week, we have everything we
need for this time. The Spirit fills us. The Spirit that created order out of
chaos with God is able to do the same now. The Spirit that drove the creation
of a movement of Jesus followers from a locked room, to thriving house
churches, to soaring Cathedrals, while never overlooking the smallest creature
in the deepest sea so dark we may never know it is there- this Spirit- is ready
to provide what we need for this season. This Spirit that has inspired people to
teach and baptize, heal and love in ways that have upended raw power. This is
still God’s vision of joy for all of creation now. Ready for us to join.
So why would we confine ourselves or the Spirit to an
hour each week, or even this one day, so that at best The Spirit becomes more
history than hope?
We are being called in the Spirit to groan, and sigh but
also to act and to hope. This is the global focus of the Season of Creation which
The Lutheran World Federation and World Council of Churches call us into this
fall. Each week Grace members whose vocations and hobbies are connected deeply
with creation will read lessons about rivers, storms, forests and creatures to
inspire us. Look around at those whose lives are being destroyed because we
turn a blind eye to the destruction of longstanding habitats for momentary
trinkets. May our eyes be opened. Instead of remaining silent and passive, may
the Spirit empower us to use our voice to shape the responses of others, standing
in the footsteps of Paul. It is time to dream dreams and get to work. Only when
we work together with Creation can the firstfruits of hope emerge. The times we
live in show that we are not relating to creation as gift and joy, but as a
resource to be used. Yet, there is hope and expectation for a better future. To
hope in a biblical context does not mean to stand still and quiet, but rather
groan, cry, and actively strive for new life amidst the struggles.[iii]
You see, hope is an instrument of the Holy Spirit. It can
enable us to overcome the tendency of decay. Only through hope may we realize the
freedom to act not only to achieve prosperity, but to be agents of wisdom and
joy.
If that sounds a little like wild talk, just remember
those first apostles. And pray with me: Come, Holy Spirit, enter the hearts of
your faithful people. Kindle in us the fire of your love. Send forth your
Spirit and use us to renew the face of the earth.
[i] Elizabeth Webb, workingpreacher.com, Psalm 104
commentary.
[ii] Ibid
[iii] Seasonofcreation.org
Romans 8:22-27
22 We know
that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth
right up to the present time. 23 Not only so, but
we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly
as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our
bodies. 24 For in this hope
we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for
what they already have? 25 But
if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.
26 In the
same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to
pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless
groans. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows
the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in
accordance with the will of God.
Copyright Rev. Carolyn K. Hetrick, 2024 All rights reserved. May not be reproduced in whole or in part without written permission.
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