The following sermon was preached on Sunday, June 23rd, 2024, by Rev. Michael Poulos of First Presbyterian Church of Spruce Pine as a part of a series on creation care running through July 7th. Thank you, Rev. Michael, and FPC Spruce Pine, for your witness regarding our call to care for God’s good creation! CCA Director Sarah Ogletree will close the series by preaching on the July 7th.

This morning we continue our series on Creation Care, turning back to the story of God’s creation as it unfolds in the opening chapters of Genesis. Last Sunday in Romans chapter 8 we learned how all of creation is groaning for God’s redeeming work to come to completion, a reminder that God’s love is not just for us humans but its love for the entire created order – the birds and the insects, the animals and fish and plants, the earth and the sky – God’s love is for all! Back on the first Sunday of June we read from the first chapter of Genesis, beautiful verses that describe God’s orderly acts of creation. God speaks, the world is born, and time and time again God affirms the goodness of it all. But soon the plot takes a turn away from goodness – the first humans choose to disobey God in the garden of Eden, they are driven out of paradise and soon murder, wickedness and violence among the humans push God to the brink. By the time we get to Genesis chapter 6 God is so grieved over the evil tendencies of humans, that He regrets making humans in the first place. This sad, downward spiral happens over the course of just a few chapters! But remarkably God finds favor in one family, the family of Noah – and the decision is made to save humanity and two of every living thing through the construction of a giant boat called the Ark. While the Flood will wipe away many, God makes a covenant, a promise with Noah, his family and every living thing -a covenant promise of blessing and new life (Genesis 6.9-22). It’s like Creation 2.0!

This morning we pick up the story in chapter 9 to hear more about God’s promise, God’s covenant with all the earth’s creatures. Join me in reading the parts in bold in your bulletin.

Genesis 9:1-4, 8-16   Common English Bible

God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fertile, multiply, and fill the earth. All of the animals on the earth will fear you and dread you—all the birds in the skies, everything crawling on the ground, and all of the sea’s fish. They are in your power. Everything that lives and moves will be your food. Just as I gave you the green grasses, I now give you everything. However, you must not eat meat with its life, its blood, in it.”

“I am now setting up my covenant with you, with your descendants, and with every living being with you—with the birds, with the large animals, and with all the animals of the earth, leaving the ark with you. I will set up my covenant with you so that never again will all life be cut off by floodwaters. There will never again be a flood to destroy the earth.”

God said, “This is the symbol of the covenant that I am drawing up between me and you and every living thing with you, on behalf of every future generation. I have placed my bow in the clouds; it will be the symbol of the covenant between me and the earth. When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow appears in the clouds, I will remember the covenant between me and you and every living being among all the creatures. Floodwaters will never again destroy all creatures. The bow will be in the clouds, and upon seeing it I will remember the enduring covenant between God and every living being of all the earth’s creatures.”

The Word of the Lord.  Thanks be to God.

When our first child Nicholas was born, we placed a metal piece of artwork of Noah and the Ark over his door frame. I remember the animals all in a line heading inside the Ark. An exciting story with animals and a boat, water and a rainbow – what’s not to love?  And you can understand why this theme has been so frequently used to decorate children’s rooms. 

However, a closer look at this story reveals that this is no tale just for children. Growing up in the early 70s, I remember the classic children’s Bible story book found in doctor’s waiting rooms that depicted people pounding on the door of the Ark, looking for safety before drowning in the water. While this epic tale with rain for 40 days & the Ark floating above the mountain tops has captured our imaginations, we can not ignore its violence. The wickedness of humans led God to the decision that something must be done, and the story of the flood and God starting over with a new family is an important part of the unfolding of salvation history. But in terms of our focus on creation care, I want to lift up the fact again that the covenant God makes after the flood is for all of creation, not just humans. God says, “I am now setting up my covenant with you, with your descendants, and with every living being with you—with the birds, with the large animals, and with all the animals of the earth” that are on the ark with you (9.9-10). This covenant is a divine promise. God is saying to all of creation, “Even though humans keep choosing to put themselves first and live in destructive ways, I promise I will never do this again! I will never again destroy every living creature – because I am God of all of creation, I promise that seedtime and harvest, summer and winter, day and night – these shall never cease” (Genesis 8.21-22). 

Though the Bible is a long book filled with many things we might not understand, and there are violent stories like the one about the flood that might not make sense to us, I want to make sure we don’t miss the big point – and that is God’s Love. In Genesis chapter 6 there is a remarkable verse that takes us inside the heart of God – yes, a God who is the Mighty Creator of the Universe but also a vulnerable God who has a broken heart  We are told that when the Lord saw the wickedness of humans, God was sorry that he had made humans on the earth, and “it grieved him to his heart” (Genesis 6.5-6). The Common English Bible says God was heartbroken. And so what does God decide to do? While it may be tempting to start over from scratch,  out of love for the whole world God simply can’t go there. God’s love is too big, and so the plan to save the world is hatched. But when the flood is over, and Noah’s family gets off the ark, it quickly becomes apparent that humans still are prone to do evil (Genesis 8.21). Nevertheless, God chooses to make the promise to never destroy creation again. Commenting on how remarkable this decision is, Bible scholar Terrence Fretheim says this: “This kind of divine response means that God has chosen to take the route of suffering relative to sin and evil… For God to decide to endure a wicked world, while continuing to open up the divine heart to that world, means that God’s grief is ongoing… [Indeed, God decides] to take suffering into God’s own heart and bear it there for the sake of the future of the world”(Working Preacher;  March 1, 2009). And this is the same kind of love we see on the cross of Jesus Christ – the love of a God who is committed to our relationship, no matter the cost.

Because God loves us and all of creation, including all the animals who marched onto the ark two by two, including the magical and ancient blue ridge mountains we see everyday when we walk outside – because of God’s great and suffering love for everything we are called to love back – we are called to love the creation God has made not as a duty or responsibility but as act of free love. In the podcast “Learning How to See” (“Seeing Nature as a Lover” Part 1, with Scott Smith) pastor and writer Brian McLaren talks about the importance of contemplation, the act of learning how to see the world around us. In a world that’s always trying to distract us, it’s important that we pay attention to what we love and value, for whatever it is we love we will be willing to take action to protect.  Whatever we love, we will try to save. Whatever we love can motivate us to action. 

Honestly, it’s easy to despair about the state of our natural world – the consequences of global warming that we learn about each day on the news – the way that human greed and consumption continues to threaten death to the planet entrusted to our care. I recently saw a depressing cartoon of Noah talking with God who is up in a cloud. God says, “Noah, with climate change there will now be two seasons: drought and flooding. You should begin building an ark for the next flood.” Holding a hammer in his hand, Noah responds to God, “But the drought killed all the trees.” And in the bottom corner of the cartoon in small letters a man says, “And the animals, too.” 

When it comes to dealing with the environmental crisis, I think some of us may stay in the house of denial or indifference, and others may live in the one called despair, but  I think all of these groups are missing the point. Just as God so loved the world, the entire creation and cosmos, we too are to act and live in love. Though as a good Presbyterian trained pastor I  value the power of words and careful interpretation of scripture, I think when it comes to helping us respond from our hearts we miss out. When it comes to responding to the climate crisis, we need to rely less on analysis and more on imagination. We need to tap more into love and less into fear.

This morning we will close with a story that might help us make this move into imagination and love. It’s a modern day parable intended to help us imagine what would happen if Jesus visited a zoo full of animals who were stuck in their cages. I’ve asked Melinda to share it with us, and after she reads there will be a time for us to reflect and share some together.

“Jesus Visits the Zoo” by Elizabeth Bettenhausen (Earth & Word: Classic Sermons On Saving the Planet edited by David Rhoads)

“Very early one morning, when the summer sun was just coming up, Jesus got out of bed and walked to the zoo. The animals were waking up, too. The peacocks were fluffing their blue and green and purple feathers. ‘Hi, peacocks!’ said Jesus. ‘How are you?’
‘Hi, Jesus!’ said the peacocks. ‘We’re fine.’ Their beautiful tails opened wide.
Jesus smiled a wide smile and said, ‘Let’s walk together.’
So they walked and talked, and soon they came to beautiful rolling stripes of black and white lying on the grass. ‘Who is looking so good?’ called the peacocks.
The zebras opened their eyes and laughed. ‘We heard you coming, peacocks. Hi, Jesus!’
Jesus said, ‘Hi, zebras! How are you this morning?’
‘Frisky!’ said the zebras. ‘May we come along?’
‘Sure!’ replied Jesus and the peacocks. The zebras started a flowing, bouncing black and white dance right ahead of them.
‘We can do that,’ said the peacocks. They joined the zebra dance. Jesus did, too.
“Soon they came to the huge rocks where the lions lived. ‘0 lions, would you dance with us?’ called the zebras.
‘Great invitation!’ roared the lions. ‘Hi, Jesus!’
Jesus said, ‘Hi, lions! How are you this morning?’
‘Flexible and full,’ said the lions. They strode to join the zebras and peacocks and Jesus in the flowing, bouncing dance.
The boa constrictor heard them, yawned, and crawled out onto a big tree branch to watch them dance along. ‘Hi, big boa!’ roared the lions. ‘Would you like to ride along in our dance?’
‘An expansive idea,’ said the boa. ‘Hi, Jesus!’
Jesus said, ‘Hi, boa! How are you this morning?’
‘Fluid,’ said the boa and smiled happily as it crawled down the tree and up on the lion’s back. The boa and the lions and the zebras and the peacocks and Jesus danced along in a flowing, bouncing dance.

Soon they came to the gorillas’ trees and rocks. ‘Uh oh,’ said the boa, looking from high on the lion’s head. The gorillas were talking together in a very serious way.
Jesus called to them. ‘Hi, gorillas! How are you this morning?’
The gorillas looked up. ‘Hi, Jesus. We are fervent this morning!’  [fervent means showing great warmth or enthusiasm, passion]
‘Hmm,’ said Jesus slowly. ‘Do fervent gorillas dance?’
‘Of course gorillas dance, Jesus,’ said the gorillas, ‘but not this morning.’
‘Why not?’ asked the boa.
‘The dancing is flowing, bouncing pleasure,’ called the lions.
‘We are glad you are enjoying it,’ said the gorillas. ‘But we are not in the mood.’
‘Did you have a bad night’s sleep?’ asked the zebras.
‘Was it full of crickets’ loud clicking?’ asked the peacocks.
‘No,’ said the gorillas. ‘We had a deep sleep and are full of energy this morning. That is why we are talking today.’
‘Talking about what?’ the peacocks cried, getting a bit impatient.
‘Leaving!’ called the gorillas, and they pounded their fists on their chests.
‘Leaving your cage?’ the boa asked.
‘Leaving the whole zoo!’ said the gorillas, very, very seriously. ‘That is what we have always planned to do. And today is the day.’
‘That’s like flying over the farthest, highest fence,’ a peacock whispered dreamily.
The zebras and lions started stretching their leg muscles. Jesus looked into the eyes of all the animals. Then he said, ‘Behind some bushes and trees the metal fence has a large hole.’
‘Let’s go!’ cried the gorillas.
‘Yes!’ the dancers all said, except for one peacock.
‘What about the children?’ the peacock asked. ‘They will come to visit, and we won’t be here.’ Everyone grew still and thoughtful.
Then Jesus said, ‘I will write a note in the smooth sand at the playground.’ And he did. When the animals read the note they smiled and followed Jesus. They danced a flowing, bouncing, joyful dance to the hole in the fence and out of the zoo.”

When the zoo opened that day, some children ran to the playground first. They saw the note Jesus had written in the smooth sand. What do you think happened then?