This
year, the Earth Day Network’s theme is to end single use plastics. I have been taking time this past month to
look through my house to see how much single use plastic I use, and it is a
lot. Single use plastic is everything
from shopping bags, to plastic spoons and forks, to water bottles, and even the
gallon of milk which is a must have in my household. As I have spent this time, I know there are
certain items that I cannot stop using, such as the milk, but for so many
others, there are other options, such as reusable shopping bags, water bottles,
and just learning to make wiser choices.
So, yes, we should recycle, but even
recycling plastics is not the long term answer.
Plastic does not recycle well and eventually it ends up in the landfill
or the ocean. Today, my sermon title
is: Life Giving Water. Water, throughout our scriptures has a
significant place in providing new life to God’s people. Our God is the God of creation, and our God
uses creation to remind us that we are spiritual beings, that we belong to God,
and that we are called into a life dedicated to God.
Today, as we celebrate Earth Day,
and use God’s gift of water in the sacrament of baptism, we remember how
important water is. Just as we use water to clean our dirty dishes
or our dirty clothes, we remember that it is God that has cleansed our beings,
washing us of all our sins and embracing us as beloved children. Just as we use water to keep our bodies
hydrated and to water our plants, the waters of baptism remind us that God is
the living water, that it is God that hydrates our souls and provides the teachings
that will nourish us in our journey of faith.
Water is essential to life and God
uses it to emphasize God’s presence within our own lives. So, why do we not treat water as holy? Why do we allow our rivers, lakes, waterways,
and oceans be filled with plastic pollution?
In this passage from Ezekiel, the prophet has a vision of water flowing
and he proclaims that as the salty water enters into the Dead Sea, it becomes
fresh. The Dead Sea is called the Dead Sea
for a reason. It is so salty that nothing
can live in it, and yet, and yet the water from the Temple of God will flow
into it and bring freshness, and will bring life, because this water flows from
the sanctuary, this is Holy water flowing into places where life has failed to thrive. God goes into the barren places and brings
life, brings renewal, brings hope.
As we embrace the holy meaning of
water, as we remember God is the God of creation, as we learn more about how
plastic and other garbage is choking our water ways and oceans, we should
embrace the role of being the living waters of God flowing forth from the sanctuary
bringing renewal and life to barren places.
We are beginning the process here within our own congregation during our
fellowship times together. Many years
ago, the session of the church asked that we stop using Styrofoam during fellowship
events. Last year, we asked that we do
our best to stop using plastic water bottles during church events. We had the tap water tested to ensure that it
is safe to drink, which it is, and we are using pitchers of water whenever possible. This year, we would like to take it one step
further and encourage our fellowship time to not use any type of single use
plastic, such as plates, cups or utensils.
One roadblock to this was who is going to wash the dishes? And so the mission began to replace the dishwasher
which, thankfully has been fixed. The
less plastic we use, the less makes it to the landfill or accidently meanders
its way into the ocean.
In the creation story, God asks
humanity to have dominion over this amazing creation. We, unfortunately have misunderstood the word
dominion and have taken this planet for our own needs. Dominion is a form of stewardship, dominion
is a practice of intentional care. It is
not to use until we have our fill, it is to remember the harmony of how God
created each ecosystem to work and for us to respect that harmony as we use
what we need.
I wrestled with what New Testament passage
to use for today, since there are a few that connect with the Ezekiel passage
of the living waters, but I turned to Luke 10 for many reasons. Luke 10 is the passage we use for Missional
church, and this past week, as I participated in my monthly mission pastor
study group, the passage of: The harvest
is plentiful, resonated with me. Jesus
is speaking of the harvest as people, as going out into the world and brining the
good news of God’s love to people, but for me, this week, it is the harvest of
our stuff. The harvest is so plentiful
that is becomes waste. We live in such
abundant times that we can just throw things away. The harvest is plentiful, so let us be
mindful of how we interact with the harvest, and let us prayerfully, and spiritually
connect ourselves to how we consume these overly abundant, plastic wrapped
foods and toys and clothes and household items.
The laborers are few, but as more
and more people understand the harmful impact plastic is having upon our lives,
and most importantly upon our sacred waterways, the momentum will pick up and
we will become a part of the solution.
Amen.
