Wadhams United Church of Christ
2569 County Route 10, Wadhams, NY 12993
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Sermon by Steve Smith
January 25 , 2009
A Nurturing Nuance
A Nurturing Nuance
By Steve Smith
January 25, 2009 Genesis 1
The events of this week have once again made me grateful that we live in a country where the transfer of power from one leader to the next can take place without warfare, riots, or the intervention of the military. In a way it still seems unreal or surreal, because I never really thought I would live to see a president that wasn’t a Caucasian. Our country has been so entrenched in racial and cultural divides that I frankly wasn’t sure we as a nation would be able to rise above the bias and bigotry that has characterized much of humanity’s history.
It was touching to hear the stories of people who were victimized by that racism, and who had tears in their eyes as they expressed their wonder and relief that this day had come, and their sense of finally having been accorded a measure of the respect and dignity that has been denied them for so long. Images of the national mall filled to overflowing with people who wanted to be part of this historic moment still linger in my mind. Throngs of people gathered to witness the inauguration of our president and to celebrate the gift of hope that he brings to the office.
While I might be a decade or two short of the experience that some of you folks have, I can honestly say that I can’t remember a presidential candidate garnering this kind of popularity and support. I don’t know if there have ever been so many people collected in our nation’s capitol for inauguration day. Their presence is a clear message that Americans long for a different kind of leadership from their president. And their presence, along with their hopes and expectations of someone who is a mere mortal, adds a significant burden to an already difficult office.
One curmudgeon who is obviously a Republican called attention to this aspect of the proceedings earlier this week by penning these words in his editorial column: “Let’s remember that he wasn’t elected as the Messiah, but as the President.” While he was being sarcastic, he was pointing to the fervor that seems almost messianic in nature. Those hopes for a political leader to guide us out of our financial, political and military woes are laden with expectations that one person can make all of those things happen. That is a lot of responsibility for a single individual. It’s that theme of responsibility that leads me into today’s Old Testament reading, a continuation of the Creation account.
Once God had sorted things out in our primeval chaotic world, there was a favorable environment for life to flourish in many different shapes and forms. Science tells us that the first forms of life were aquatic in nature; the poetry of Genesis presages that knowledge by pointing to the ocean as the first place for life to emerge. The transition from aquatic life to life on land has been variously proposed as a result of amphibious creatures crawling out into the swampy places or as some variation on birdlike creatures making their way onto dry land. Once again, the Creation account echoes the same kind of progression.
Once God has completed the creative task of populating the earth with every sort and kind of animal life, God turns to the place of humanity in Creation. I especially like Eugene Peterson’s interpretation at this point, which is why I chose his translation for the reading of the Creation story.
God spoke: “Let us make human beings in our image, make them reflecting our nature so they can be responsible for the fish in the sea, the birds in the air, the cattle, and yes, earth itself, and every animal that moves on the face of the earth.
This understanding of humanity’s role is so important that the author echoes the same theme in poetic repetition just a few sentences later:
God blessed them: “Prosper! Reproduce! Fill the Earth! Take charge! Be responsible for fish in the sea and birds in the air, for every living thing that moves on the face of the earth.”
The Hebrew word that has historically been translated as “rule” or “have dominion” over the earth has been tainted by our limited understanding of the concept the author was attempting to illustrate. In the past, people understood it in an authoritarian fashion, like someone grabbing for leadership and using force to impose their authority on others. But there are Hebrew words which refer to this kind of leadership, and the author chose not to use them. Likewise, people have taken the word to mean that we should subject creation to our will, whether it’s good for the natural world or not. But again, the specific words which refer to the act of subjecting others are not the word we find in Genesis.
We can also go hunting for the vocabulary capturing the relationship between the ruling master of the household and the slaves or servants who live under the realm of the master, but our hunt will not reveal anything of the word used in today’s reading. Out of all the words that our author could have chosen, from the despotic rule of a power-hungry megalomaniac to the everyday roles of leadership spelled out in the common household, we won’t find this word. Instead, the author chose a word that doesn’t even show up on the radar of all the words used to describe ruling, dominating, commanding, or exercising leadership. Strange, isn’t it, and yet this is the way people have chosen to interpret this passage.
Instead, the author chooses a word that has its root in the ancient practice of vinedressing, of taming, cultivating, and training grape vines to produce their choicest fruit. It refers, actually, to the harvesting of the fruit and the pressing of the grapes so that it can yield its juice to be fermented and savored as wine. It’s actually a word with a nurturing nuance, one reminiscent of the painstaking efforts of those who work the vineyard to bring out the best in the vines they tend, so that the fruit of their labor can be enjoyed year after year. It’s a radically different concept of how to approach our relationship to creation. More than that, it marks a significant shift in how we are supposed to treat the people and the world around us, as well.
While the image of the grape-press might have suggested wrath to the author of the hymn, “Mine eyes have seen the Glory of the Lord,” where God was busy trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored, I believe that this is a misrepresentation of the ancients’ understanding of “having dominion.” Anyone who has spent their lives tending to a plot of land and to the animals they raise can tell you that it would be foolish to destroy the land that is their livelihood. While the animal factories posing as mega-farms may be able to go in and wring exceptional profits from the land for a few years, that land will soon be uninhabitable, unfit for beast or human.
The farmer that wants to survive from year to year and have a legacy to pass on to the next generation will refrain from those kinds of practices, and will instead work to improve the land. Sustainable farming practices are based on this approach to the land and its creatures. Various Native American groups view the Creation as a sacred trust, and they live in harmony with that Creation, so that it will yield its best. We who live so far apart from the land and whose insatiable appetites are not sustainable in the long run have lost sight of the interconnectedness of all of Creation.
Our expectations of life have become so self-centered that we cannot see the strain that it creates on the people who labor so long and hard to put the food on our tables or the clothes on our backs. We have become so accustomed to extended seasons of plenty that we are at a loss as to how to proceed when we face seasons of want. We want God to fix things, and given our knack for instant gratification, we want it now, not later. We look to our leaders with the same sense of hopeful expectation, wanting them to fix the problems, but making it happen in such a way that someone else is inconvenienced, not me.
So the call of Creation becomes applicable in this time when so much uncertainty leaves us feeling unsettled and unsure of how to proceed. The call is to reexamine the way we look at the world around us and the people we are connected with in a thousand different ways. The call is to humble ourselves with the recognition that we have been given a sacred trust, and that it is our responsibility to live in harmony not just with the Creation, but also with the racial, cultural and ethnic groups who make up the patchwork of humanity who populate the earth.
I believe that one of the reasons Barack Obama is so popular is that he conveys a sense of confidence that we can make this happen. His vision for America has been culled from some of the best moments in American history, when people rallied around the cause of working toward a common good. His leadership style appears to have a nurturing nuance that wants to bring out the best in others in the midst of trying times. Judging by the crowd that showed up in Washington, D.C. earlier this week, there are millions of people who appreciate his vision and his leadership style.
While we might not all agree with his politics, we can listen to the call of Creation to assume responsibility for ourselves and for the world around us. We can heed the summons to work to bring the best out of our situation and our resources by offering a nurturing ear to people who are struggling or hurting. We can approach the living of our days with a renewed sense of purpose, one where we work with renewed vigor to find the common ground that will lead us forward toward a better future. Whether we feel like we’re crawling ahead through swampy seasons, or soaring like a bird on the updraft of the morning winds, we are responsible for our response to the demands of this day and of this time in history.
By the grace of God and the inspiration of God’s Spirit, good things can come of our efforts. For there is a world to be nurtured and renewed. There are ways we can make a positive difference in the lives of people around us. Let it begin anew with each of us.
Order of Service
January 25, 2009
A Prayer for Peace NC #570 (vs. 6)
Opening Prayer (Based on Psalm 62) Leader: O Lord, you alone are our rock and our salvation.
People: For you alone, O God, our souls wait in silence.
Leader: Our souls are restless, O Lord, until they find their rest in you.
People: Let us come with thanksgiving before the Lord, who is our maker.
Leader: Let us find shelter in the Lord, who is our refuge and our strength.
People: Let us pray to the God who promises forgiveness and to make us new creations.
Leader: Let us trust in God at all times. Let us pour out our hearts to God, for God is our refuge and strength.
Hymn NC #505 Sweet Hour of Prayer
Responsive Prayer
Leader: God, we come before you admitting our dark and fearful thoughts.
People: We confess that we have not been a source of light to those in desperate need of light.
Leader: We confess that we have run from your light, preferring to hide in the dark places of our own need.
People: Have mercy on us. Shine the light of your love on us all, that we may reflect your light to the world around us.
Leader: We pray for the weak and needy, for you have pity on them. They are precious in your sight.
People: Precious in your sight, O God, are the addicted and confused.
Leader: Precious in your sight are the abused and neglected.
People: Precious in your sight are the poor and desperate.
Leader: Precious in your sight are all who long for justice.
People: Precious in your sight are the homeless and those who go cold this winter.
Leader: Precious in your sight are the ill and the lonely.
People: Lord, you shine the light of your love on us all in the gift of Jesus.
Leader: In the glow of your light, our path is illumined and we can leave this place enabled to look up and see the need of those around us.
Pastoral Prayer, Lord’s Prayer
Hymn NC #503 Savior, Let Me Walk
Psalm 62, Genesis1:20-31
Sermon A Nuturing Nuance
Offering, Doxology, Dedication
Hymn NC #547 Amazing Grace
Benediction
Leader: United to Christ, through God’s limitless grace, we become one in spirit with Christ.
People: May that spirit be in us, assuring us of God’s gracious forgiveness and unending love, both now and forevermore.
Leader: God does indeed love us passionately and completely. Go now assured that you are loved and thus empowered to love – passionately, completely, humbly.
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