Readings for Year A
-- 2013 - 2014
Care for Creation
Commentary on the Common Lectionary by Leah Schade
Fifth Sunday of
Easter in Year A
Acts 7:55-60
Psalm 31:1-5, 15-16
1 Peter 2:2-10
John 14:1-14
“Come
to him, a living stone, though rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in
God’s sight, and like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual
house,” said Peter in his letter (1 Peter 2:4). What does it mean to be a
living stone? How can a stone be alive?
Time magazine recently
featured an article about a global effort to photo-document and study coral
reefs using state-of-the-art technology (Bryan
Walsh, "Ocean View." Time, April
14, 2014). According to the article, about one-third of everything that
lives in the ocean lives in a coral reef. Coral is a living organism, even
though at first glance it just looks and feels like colorful rock formations.
We might say that coral is like a living stone. “Corals are tiny
invertebrates that exist in symbiosis with photosynthetic single-cell algae
called zooxanthellae, which live inside the coral’s tissue. (The zooxanthellae
provide food to the coral by converting sunlight into energy.) Corals build up
hard exoskeletons made of layers of secreted calcium carbonate, which form the
reef” (p. 43). The structure is sturdy and yet porous, allowing water to flow
through it, absorbing nutrients, housing microscopic life forms. Coral reefs
provide habitat, food and spawning grounds for countless species of fish and
ocean plants. “In a healthy reef, you can see everything from tiny gobies to
predatory sharks swimming amid a network of coral as intricate as a medieval
cathedral” (p. 43).
Seeing
images of these coral reefs brings to mind Jesus’ metaphor for the dwelling
place of God: “In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places” (John
14:2). What better way to think about the infinite hospitality of God than to compare
it to a beautiful stretch of coral reef hosting so many different life forms! Psalm
31 also reinforces the imagery of God as a sanctuary of rock, strong and
protective—similar to the coral reef that hosts a dazzling array of life-forms.
“In you, O Lord, I seek refuge . . . Be a rock of refuge for me, a strong
fortress to save me. You are indeed my rock and my fortress” (Psalm 31:1, 2-3).
The preacher with access to Powerpoint and a screen for worship services may
want to project images of coral reefs so that congregants can have these
colorful cathedrals in mind as they make the connection between God as
sanctuary and rock and Jesus as living stone.
For
some churches, May 18 is the day to celebrate Volunteer Recognition Sunday. It
is a time to recognize the infinite variety of gifts that each of us brings to the
church. We might think of the church as a beautiful coral reef, playing host to
so many different individuals and families, an entire ecosystem of faith. Each person
has something to contribute to the coral reef of the church. And as a spiritual
house of living stones, we each are nurtured by this community, this ecosystem
of faith.
But
like the coral reefs in our planet’s oceans, church ecosystems are sensitive to
systemic and environmental conditions. The Time
article listed overfishing, coastal overpollution and development, global
warming and ocean acidification as all having detrimental effects on our
oceans’ coral reefs.
Seventy-five percent of the world’s reefs are threatened. In
some locations coral cover has dropped from 80% to 13% over the course of the
last twenty-five years.
A
parallel can be seen in the state of our churches as well. The ecosystems of
faith that used to thrive in our society are now finding the conditions around
us to be increasingly hostile to the life of the church. Secularization,
competition for parishioners’ time, the “pollution” of Sabbath-time by
commerce, the growth of “the nones” (folks who indicate adherence to “no
religion” in surveys), and the perceived irrelevancy of churches and faith to
growing numbers of people are all having detrimental effects on our churches.
What
many do not realize, however, is just how valuable the church is to society. The
same is true for coral reefs which often go unrecognized for just how much they
contribute to our food supply, our economies, and even our medical treatments.
Similarly, the church throughout history to the present day has been
responsible for much good that most people take for granted. Charity toward
widows and orphans, hospitals, public education, the abolition of slavery, the
Civil Rights Movement, not to mention the raising of children with strong moral
and ethical values, have all had their origins in churches and other houses of
worship, and have had a profoundly positive impact on human society over the
centuries. Today, churches contribute much to their communities and society in
general by addressing poverty and assisting the poor, responding to natural
disasters, providing relief to refugees, advocating for society’s most
vulnerable citizens, providing counseling and spiritual direction, distributing
food and clothing, and providing leadership and resources for justice issues. Too,
some of the greatest leaders lifting up and inspiring humanity’s highest ideals
have arisen from churches.
The Time article noted that public attention
to the plight of coral reefs has suffered because these underwater kingdoms are
not easy to see. Very few people ever get to swim amid coral reefs. And there
hasn’t been much photo-documentation of these fragile ecosystems. That’s one of
the reasons the new 360-degree cameras they are using to photograph the ocean
floor are so important (similarly to the way Google Earth has shown us the
surface of our planet in astounding ways). Oceanographers have come to
recognize the truth of a familiar adage: we will not save what we do not love. Thus
they are doing their best to help us fall in love with our coral reefs so that
as a human species we will take steps to preserve what is left.
Churches,
too, have suffered from lack of visibility and accessibility. Very few people
in society come into our churches—swim amid our coral reefs, so to speak. That’s
why it’s so important to tell people what goes on in our churches, what great
work we do to serve local communities and the larger society. I’ve often mused
that churches need to hire publicity directors and public relations experts so
that, like the oceanographers who bring these images of the reefs to light, the
contributions of our churches can be highlighted in our communities. People
will not save what they do not love. We should help people to fall in love with
our churches, even if they do not attend them, so that they will come to
cherish the incredibly valuable “ecosystems of faith” in our society and
communities.
In the sermon,
the preacher might show and pass around pieces of coral. Let them feel the
strength and texture of the “living stone.” Let them see the tiny holes where
the algae live. Let them imagine their church as modelling what God intends for
the Peaceable Kingdom—a healthy, beautiful, thriving, protective—and
protected—ecosystem that welcomes a stunning diversity of life that benefits
the entire ocean of human and planetary life.
