4th Sun Easter, Year A
Deacon Christina Cernansky
I speak to you in the name of Source, God, Father, Son, Holy Spirit, mother of us all. Blessed Good Shepherd and Earth Day Sunday, All Saints!
Say what? Yes, Earth Day was April 22, and today is also Good Shepherd Sunday. Good Shepard Sunday, the 4th Sunday in Eastertide, and in all three years of the lectionary calendar, we get to read Psalm 23. I find that so appropriate, right, or maybe the Holy Spirit is at work!
Psalm 23 is one of my favorite psalms…
At first glance, we are reminded that we are never alone, that God is always with us, and that we can find comfort in that relationship…being cared for as a shepherd watches over its flock.
When we dig a little deeper, it brings us hope when we feel lost, and we can lean into God’s grace, God’s shepherding, and God’s unbridled love. We are encouraged to find greener pastures during times of sorrow and despair.
Coupled with Earth Day, this is the week to focus our attention on God’s creation and on how we are called to be good stewards of that creation. We humbly have the privilege and honor of stewarding God’s creation during our time here on Earth.
Last week, we heard a great presentation from Mike Ritthaler. He shared the Bee Pollinator Garden committee’s plans to restore All Saints’ grounds to their original role in supporting a larger ecosystem. This symbiotic ecosystem would not have invasive lawn-type grass but would instead feature native plant species to support the local environment and help restore it to a more functioning landscape. He will give the same presentation to us a little later today and invite you to hear not only about the plans but also about their progress. Spoiler alert, he saw a bunny hopping around recently, so God’s work is most definitely at play!
After the short presentation, we will take a tour, and, God willing, our neighbors will join us for an educational conversation about how we are being good stewards of the land and inviting the community to join us in those efforts. Next Wednesday, we are going to hear a talk on the two Saints that walked the walk and talked the talk in this conversation. St. Francis of Assisi and Francis Perkins, to further empower us to do our due diligence on this plot of land, we have been tasked with overseeing.
So often, we can look at scripture as a one-way street, God directing us to do things or find comfort in God’s mercy and grace. I offer another perspective this morning: what if Psalm 23 is a two-way street? What if we are called to go beyond a surface-level understanding?
We can look at it as a task to care for the environment, as well as a poem that asks for God’s grace, inviting God into our lives through nature. We are asking to be restored, to rest, to be renewed, to be overseen by the shepherd, and to flourish in that tender loving care. What if we are also tasked with doing the same for God’s creation?
When the Psalmists say, “The Lord is my shepherd”, they might also be pointing to how we are also being asked to be shepherds over the flock, over God’s flock, over God’s creation.
When I read Psalm 23, to not fear, to lean into being good stewards of everything that God created, but to also be righteous, to continue on with the work, it’s maybe a call to action. It’s a request to oversee all of God’s creation, to be good stewards.
What does that look like in times of caring for our siblings during Earth’s cycles of challenges, such as famine, droughts, super hurricane seasons, and, I pray, this fire season isn’t too harsh.
It is hard to grasp that God created all of these things, all of these cycles.
God has also given us the ability to continue building structures that destroy nature and to profit from it.
Psalm 23 might be calling us to return to what God is actively giving us, to steward over, to share, to love, and to preserve. Yes, the Lord is our Shepeard, but how are we overseeing his flock?
I offer a friendly reminder that, through all the pain and suffering, we have been called, have taken action in the past, and that there are miraculous things going on today.
Friendly reminder that the first Earth Day in 1970 was founded by Sen. Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin and a graduate student, Denis Hayes. They were tired of rivers catching on fire, trash littering the countryside, and the general population was dismissive of caring for God’s creation. From that important day, President Nixon created the EPA, the Clean Air Act, and the Clean Water Act. The nation came together to clean up our backyards, our shared spaces, to preserve and be dutiful stewards over this great land.
Right here, in Idaho, we have the Idaho Conservation League. They work with industry leaders and governments; it’s a public-private partnership that has helped permanently protect the Boulder-White Cloud Mountains, earned designation for America’s first international dark sky reserve, and developed policy recommendations for the Governor’s Salmon Workgroup to further secure commitments to saving Idaho’s endangered salmon.
Did you know that we are harnessing energy from lake waves in the Great Lakes, Iceland is utilizing pioneering technology to capture CO₂ directly from the air and store it permanently by turning it into stone, which is powered by local geothermal energy, and the US currently gets 18% of its electricity from solar, and by 2027, it’s projected to jump to 21%.
That’s a lot of caring for God’s infinite creation!
So I ask you to consider that Psalm 23 pushes us to walk with Christ, as we shall dwell in God’s creation, and to come together to restore and preserve our green pastures. I pray we continue to create a sustainable future for all of God’s Creation; surely our cups will overflow if we remain good stewards of God’s Kingdom.
And we can start right here with our little plot of Earth by creating more space for bees, and, yes, maybe for some more bunnies.
Let us close with a prayer, please grab your BCP, page 814:
For Joy in God’s Creation
O heavenly Father, who hast filled the world with beauty:
Open our eyes to behold thy gracious hand in all thy works;
that, rejoicing in thy whole creation, we may learn to serve thee with gladness; for the sake of him through whom all things were made, thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.