Pentecost 19: "The Earth is the Lord's and All That is in It"

Proper 22

Genesis 2:18-24

Psalm 8

Hebrews 1:1-4; 2:5-12

Mark 10:2-16

 The psalm this morning speaks not only of the glory of God: “O Lord our Governor, how is exalted is your name in all the world!” (Psalms 8:1), but also of the glory of God’s creation, most specifically human beings:  “What is man that you should be mindful of him?...You have made him but little lower than the angels; you adorn him with glory and honor.” (Psalms 8:5a, 6)  It speaks too of humanity’s place within the created order: “You give him mastery over the works of your hands, you put all things under his feet: All sheep and oxen, even the wild beasts of the field, The birds of the air the fish of the sea, and whatsoever walks in the paths of the sea.” (Psalm 8:7-9)  How are we to make sense of this magnificent glory with which we have been endued, as well as the “mastery” over creation we seem to have been given?  A good rule of thumb when examining particular Biblical passages or ideas, is to use Scripture itself to interpret itself; that is, to examine other places in the biblical texts where the same or a similar idea is expressed, and allow those passages to speak to each other, as well as speak to our own context and experience. 

Today’s psalm certainly alludes to the creation narratives in Genesis.  So that’s a good place to begin.  In the first instance there is that central idea of the Judeao-Christian tradition, that human beings are made in the image and likeness of God: “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness.” (Genesis 1:26a)  But there is also the idea of “dominion” over creation which needs unpacking: “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” (Genesis 1:28)  Without going into the intricacies of the Hebrew language and the complexities of translation, it is safe to say that the Hebrew words for “subdue” and “dominion” have more subtle nuances than the English words into which they are translated would appear to suggest.  The theologian Christopher Brown paraphrases the passage in this way:  “Be fruitful and have children, filling the earth with your life so that you can have power to fight against everything in it that leads to death.  Rule with care and fairness over the natural world, over myriads of my beautiful creatures…every creature that is part of the living world.”  Certainly such a rendering is consistent with the other passages in the scriptures, most immediately in the second chapter of Genesis: “The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and to keep it.”  (Genesis 2:15)  This care for the earth finds further expression in the Mosaic law, when through Moses, God speaks to his people: “When you enter the land that I am giving you, the land shall observe a Sabbath for the LORD.  Six years shall you sow your field, and six years shall you prune your vineyard, and gather in your yield; but in the seventh year there shall be a sabbath of complete rest for the land, a sabbath for the LORD: you shall not sow your field or prune your vineyard.  You shall not reap the aftergrowth of your harvest or gather grapes of your unpruned vine: it shall be a year of complete rest for the land.” (Leviticus 25: 2b-5)  Clearly, whatever mastery or dominion we have been given does not extend to bleeding the earth dry.  The general thrust of the Scriptures is expressed succinctly in the first verse of the 24^th psalm: “The earth is the LORD’s and all that is in it, the world and all who dwell therein.” (Psalm 24:1)

Human “dominion” then is one of careful and responsible tending.  You will have guessed it by now, but we are talking about stewardship.  The general thrust of scripture points to humanity’s being entrusted with stewardship of the created order.  Yet, it goes well beyond the gifts of creation.  Do you remember the parable Jesus told about the man going on  journey who entrusted his three slaves each with several amounts of money? (cf. Matthew 25:14-30)  Eventually, after a long time, the fellow came back to settle accounts with them, as the Gospel of Matthew tells us, and each was questioned as to their stewardship of the money.  It was the one who out of fear did nothing with his allotment – indeed who buried it – that was counted as irresponsible.  In fact, master goes to far as to call him a “wicked and lazy slave.” (Matthew 25:26)  Not surprisingly, this story in Matthew’s Gospel is immediately followed by Jesus’ one and only depiction of the last judgment (cf. Matthew 25:31-36) in which they are welcomed into God’s kingdom who used the resources given them for the benefit of the hungry and thirsty, the naked, the alien and the prisoner; and in which they who did not are roundly called “accursed” and sent “into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” (Matthew 25:41)

Genuine Christian stewardship works from the premise that all things – even those things we may think we earn by our efforts, or things we “own” – are really God’s.  We are simply and graciously entrusted with their care; to use them for the good of the earth, of others and ultimately for a renewal of all things according to God’s original purposes for creation – a world of harmonious peace and equitable justice, what Jesus called the Kingdom of God.  This is stewardship at its broadest and most fundamental: responsible caretaking of absolutely everything we have been given to the glory of God for the realization of God’s kingdom.  Since as Christians we know that “the earth is the LORD’s and all that is in it, the world and all who dwell therein,” (Psalm 24:1)  then there is no part of our lives which can be considered outside the scope of stewardship – our relationships as well as our health, our homes and families, our innate gifts and abilities, the money we may earn at work, as well as the profit we may make from it.  All of it is about stewardship.

Yes, it’s all about stewardship.  As we begin our stewardship campaign at the Church of the Saviour, I hope that you will prayerfully bear this in mind, and perhaps prayerfully enter into a general stocktaking as to how you are caring for all you have been given:  When was the last time you had a physical?  When was the last time you did something to show how much you appreciate a friend or partner?  When the last time you respectfully tended your garden, or cared for an animal, whether a pet or not?  What have you done with the resources given you to make the kingdom of God a more present reality, the world a place more hospitable to the the poor, a place more equitable and just?  In thinking about our Church, are we providing adequately for its buildings as well as its mission?  Are we caring appropriately and joyfully for our services within its brick walls, and as well as our service outside them?  Stewardship is all these things, and perhaps for this reason, from the dawn creation to the day of judgement, there is in Scripture this overriding theme of stewardship and care – care for the natural world, care for our financial reources, care for others.  “The earth is the LORD’s and all that is in it, the world and all who dwell therein.” (Psalm 24:1)  Would the world know his by your actions, by our actions?