Earth Sunday                                                                           

adapted from Genesis 1:1–2:3

 “In the beginning the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep. God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light.

And, God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light Day, and the darkness God called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

And God said, ‘Let there be a dome in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters under the dome from the waters above the dome. And, it was so.

God called the dome Sky. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.

And God said, ‘Let the waters under the sky be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.’ And it was so.

God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together God called the Sea. And God saw that it was good.

Then God said, ‘Let plants grow upon the earth: plants with seeds, and all kinds of fruit. And, plants grew upon the earth: plants with seeds, and all kinds of fruit.

And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.

And God said, ‘Let there be lights in the dome of the sky to separate the day from the night; and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years, and let them be lights in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth.’

And it was so. God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. God set them in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth, to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.

And God said, ‘Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the dome of the sky.’

So, God created the great sea monsters and every living creature in the sea, and every winged bird. And God saw that it was good. God blessed them, saying, ‘Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.’ And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.

And God said, ‘Let the earth bring forth living creatures of every kind. And it was so. God made the wild animals of the earth of every kind, and God saw that it was good.

Then God said, ‘Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth.

So, God created humankind in God’s image,

in the image of God, God created them;

male and female, God created them.

God blessed them, and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply. ‘See, I have given you every plant yielding seed and every kind of fruit; you shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.’ And it was so. God saw everything that had been made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

A Tiny Blue Jewel

The summer after my first year in seminary, my mom and I left for what would turn out to be one of the greatest adventures of my life. Starting from my childhood home in Southern California, we went north, all the way up to Montana, and then east, exploring Chicago, Minneapolis, Pittsburg, Washington D.C. After that, we went south, all the way to Key West Florida, which wasn’t originally on our itinerary, but when I found out there were miles long bridges connecting the islands, we had to go! Because, who knew when I would ever get the chance to drive through the Florida Keys again. Then we went west, driving through the southern part of the country to meet up with the rest of the family, trying to get back in time for my birthday and a weekend in San Diego.

That road trip is to this day one of the most memorable things I have ever done, and it’s in large part due to all of the national parks and national monuments that we visited. In Yellowstone, we had to sit in the car and wait while a herd of bison crossed the road, some of them walking past the car no more than three or four feet away. We explored the Everglades of Florida, always keeping an eye on the alligators floating in the water. And, we made an impromptu stop at White Sands, New Mexico, one of the most beautiful and ethereal places I have ever seen.

I came back from that road trip not only with a greater appreciation for how beautiful, vast, and varied our country is, but also filled with awe at the splendor and majesty of God’s creation. President Woodrow Wilson had a special kind of wisdom when he established the National Park system over a hundred years ago in 1916. He understood that these places were important. That people needed to see them, and he created a system that would protect them not only for future generations of Americans, but for all of humanity. There’s a reason why the National Parks places were set aside to be parks. They are some of the most beautiful and unique places on Earth, and you owe it to yourself to go and see them.

Unfortunately, these parks that we love so much are facing an existential threat because of our changing climate.

The prime example, of course, is Glacier National Park. Historical records show that the park’s glaciers have shrunk by 73% since 1850, and scientists believe that if the warming trend continues, the glaciers might be gone by 2030. Loss of the glaciers would be devastating, as the reduction in ice melt would mean the loss of wildlife habitat. Less water in the streams, especially in the drier seasons of summer and fall, would mean more wildfires, and less water in the water table. All of our beloved national parks are being threatened by these changes to our world, and if we don’t heed their warning, then we’re going to be next.

As we’ve been going through the first chapter of Genesis today, and we’ve listened to the creation story, we can see God’s vast power and careful consideration on display. God created the whole universe, everything that we can see and understand, and a lot that we can’t. The focus of the creation story is, of course, on us, the human beings living on this little planet called Earth. Earth is a big deal to us, and to us, the Earth is huge. It would take innumerable lifetimes to explore it all.

But, the Earth isn’t as large as our perception of it is. There are these videos that compares the size of different objects in the universe, and they really put things into perspective. A lot of them start with Earth, because that’s our reference point, and then they show the Moon, Mars, Venus, and then the rest of the planets in the solar system. We all know that Jupiter is the biggest, but did you know that it’s so big, that a thousand Earths can fit inside of it. The Sun is so big that it would take 1,300,000 Earths to fill it! And, we can’t believe all of these models of the solar system that we’ve seen all our lives, because they aren’t made to scale, at all. We can’t scale them correctly because if we did, they would either be so big, we couldn’t use them, or the planets would be so small, we wouldn’t be able to see them. If everything was done to scale, and the Sun was the size of a basketball, then the Earth would be about 100 feet away, which would be way down there on the other side of the parking lot. And, Pluto would be over half a mile away!

These videos start to show other stars, and then you realize that our Sun is actually kind of small. The largest star that we know of is called UY Scuti, and it’s 1,700 times bigger than the Sun. And, we haven’t even started talking about galaxies, yet.

The point is, when we read the first line of the Bible, and it says “God created the heavens and the earth,” that doesn’t just mean the sky that we can see. It’s all of the innumerable stars, swirling around in trillions of galaxies, of which our Sun, and our Earth are only the tiniest part. And, we have yet to discover another planet like ours that can support life. Now, statistically, scientists believe that there just have to be more out there. But, remember the scale of the universe. Even if we found one, there would be no way to get there, at least not for many lifetimes. We’d have to send a generational ship, multiple generations of people living their entire lives on a spaceship, so that the people who eventually made it there would be the great great grandchildren of the people who first began the journey.

Earth is the only home that we have. Earth is the only home for the tigers and the pandas, the redwood trees, the salamanders, the large-mouth bass, the rainbow trout, dogs, cats, white button mushroom, wheat. God has given us stewardship over all of the earth. Are we going to rise up to that responsibility, or are we going to let God down.

I get really scared sometimes, when I think about this for too long. I worry about what kind of world my one-year-old niece is going to be living in when she grows up. I have to constantly remind myself that there is always hope.

Remember that human beings are created in the image of God. And, one of the ways that is manifested is in our creativity. We invent things, we make art, we cook, we build. We create entire worlds with our minds. We write stories, we create characters, we have books, and movies, and TV shows. This ability to create, it’s at the very heart of what it means to be human. And, it’s a gift from God, just like our planet.

I was sitting in a parking lot one night, talking to a friend the phone, and we somehow got the topic of climate change. I have to admit that I was pretty pessimistic at that point. I was feeling a lot of doom and gloom about all of this. Now, I have faith in God, I really do, and if you asked me, I would have told you that we were gonna get through this climate crisis somehow, and God was gonna help us through it. But, I just couldn’t to see how it was going to happen. I was hoping for the best, but I was expecting the worst. Anyway, my friend was telling me that she had been reading about a philosopher who said that we were actually gonna be okay, because as a species, we figured out how to put someone on the moon, and if we could do that, then of course we can figure out climate change. It’s going to be a lot of work, and it’s not going to be easy, but we are going do it, because what other choice do we have?

As she was talking, it was almost like I was seeing into the future. In my mind’s eye, I was imagining that parking lot full of electric vehicles, and I realized she was right. It’s already happening, and I think we’re gonna be okay. It is going to be hard, and it is going to be a lot of work, but as long as we remember that our God made all of this for us, as long as we keep choosing life, keep choosing to use our creative power, we will prosper, and humanity live for a long time on this beautiful tiny blue jewel, our Earth our gift from God. Amen.

~  Rev. Charles Wei