Care for Creation Commentary on the Common Lectionary
by Leah D. Schade
June 7, Year B
“If
a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand,” (Mark
3:25). So notes Jesus when answering
accusations that he is in league with demonic forces and drawing on them for
his power to exorcise those same spirits.
The readings today can be explored through an ecohermeneutic with the
following question: What does it mean to
live in a house divided against itself?
It
is worth noting that the Greek word for house is oikos, from which we derive words such as “ecology” and
“economy.” When we think of the “house”
in expanded terms to include the very Earth itself – the household we share
with our Earth-kin – we can see that there has
been a disconnect between humanity and God's Creation. Human beings are
spiritually alienated from the soil, the water, the flora and the fauna of the
planet we call home. A rupture in the relationship has divorced us from those
with whom we share this oikos.
 |
| Rubbish dumped on the tundra outside llulissat in Greenland stand in stark contrast to icebergs behind from the Sermeq Kujullaq or llulissat Ice fjord – a Unesco world heritage site. Photograph: Global Warming Images/WWF-Canon. http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/sep/29/earth-lost-50-wildlife-in-40-years-wwf |
Whence began this rupture that has so divided
the house? The iconic story in Genesis 3
provides valuable insights.
Most
people see this story as the explanation for the concept of Original Sin -
the doctrine that all human beings are born into a sinful state because of the
fall of Adam and Eve due to their decision to eat from the Tree of
Knowledge. But there is another way to
view this story. The preacher may want
to shift the traditional interpretation of the story of “The Fall” from mere anthropocentric
sin to that of original anthropogenic
sin – humanity’s first crime against nature. The myth of the “fall” of human
beings has specific application to the current environmental crisis. This story
shows us that God set out limits for human beings in how they were to exist in
the garden. For the good of Adam and Eve, for the good of the tree, for the
good of the entire garden, God essentially said: “This far and no farther.” God
established a boundary for the mutual protection of the relationship between
humankind and the created world.
But the original humans neither respected these boundaries nor obeyed the limits God set for them. They ignored the warnings, flouted the rules, and crossed the line. There’s almost a feeling of entitlement we sense from Eve and Adam’s rationalization of their disobedience. It’s as if they’re saying, “This is our garden after all. God gave it to us. We should be allowed to do anything we want with it. Look, the fruit is good to eat. It will make us smarter, better, richer. God just doesn’t want us to be like God. God’s afraid we’ll know what God knows. And why shouldn’t we?”
And because of this arrogance, there is an immediate cascade of events that shatters the relationships of paradise. The humans hide from God, and are not honest with God or themselves. They blame each other, and they blame one of God’s creatures for the temptation. They refuse to accept responsibility for what has happened, but the consequences are unavoidable. The house is now divided. From that point on, their relationship with the earth is cursed: "Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life." (Genesis 3:17b , RSV). All because of human beings’ insistence that we can have whatever we want whenever we want it, no matter what the cost or the consequence.
But the original humans neither respected these boundaries nor obeyed the limits God set for them. They ignored the warnings, flouted the rules, and crossed the line. There’s almost a feeling of entitlement we sense from Eve and Adam’s rationalization of their disobedience. It’s as if they’re saying, “This is our garden after all. God gave it to us. We should be allowed to do anything we want with it. Look, the fruit is good to eat. It will make us smarter, better, richer. God just doesn’t want us to be like God. God’s afraid we’ll know what God knows. And why shouldn’t we?”
And because of this arrogance, there is an immediate cascade of events that shatters the relationships of paradise. The humans hide from God, and are not honest with God or themselves. They blame each other, and they blame one of God’s creatures for the temptation. They refuse to accept responsibility for what has happened, but the consequences are unavoidable. The house is now divided. From that point on, their relationship with the earth is cursed: "Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life." (Genesis 3:17b , RSV). All because of human beings’ insistence that we can have whatever we want whenever we want it, no matter what the cost or the consequence.
And
now this house that has been divided against itself is collapsing. Our preaching must honestly name the truth
that we see around us by pointing out the ways in which our anthropogenic sin
is polluting the air, water and land.
In
Lutheran theological terms, this is the Law we must articulate in order for the
mirror to be held up to what is really there.
Only by honestly confronting this reality can we open ourselves to Jesus’
power and begin to counteract the demonic forces at work. In the words of Tom Ravetz in the Journal for the Renewal of Religion and
Theology, we “can accept the reality of the situation without flinching
because we see its place in the development of the world. We see, too, where we
can help to redeem it, letting its deeper meaning shine forth. We can accept
the reality of the dying earth, because we know that we are engaged in its
re-enlivening.”[1]
Rather
than speak about this rupture in a general way, the preacher would do well to
refer to a context-specific environmental problem which will concretize the
message for listeners. For example, what
is a local waterway or abandoned lot, or brownfield site, or air quality issue
that has an impact on the hearers’ lives and community? In what ways has this issue caused a rupture
in the oikos and harmed the kin of
the household?
Take
care that the sermon does not end with guilt-inducing Law that leaves the
listener without hope. Rather, our preaching must proclaim God’s intention and
action to heal and restore the oikos.
For instance, what are things that are being done, or have been done, to
address the problem? What local groups
are pulling trash out of the river? What
legislation is being proposed to address the air quality issue? What faith communities have come together to
plant community gardens to help feed their neighbors? Knowing that this work is being done – and
inviting listeners to join in those efforts – helps proclaim the Gospel so that
the faithful recognize the “sisters, brothers and mothers” of Jesus doing the
work to repair the ruptures, heal the wounds, and set the house aright.
 |
| Zach Stotter, organizer of the Susquehanna River Cleanup, brings a boat load of garbage to shore during a clean-up event on May 2, 2015. http://www.dailyitem.com/news/more-than-volunteers-comb-susquehanna-river-for-refuse/article_56ce7f04-f11b-11e4-8e79-7fdac3cb9579.html |
[1]
Tom Ravetz, "Reenlivening the Dying
Earth," Journal for the Renewal of
Religion and Theology December 2006.
This commentary can also be accessed at the website for Lutherans Restoring Creation, an excellent resource for ecological theology in worship and preaching.
http://www.lutheransrestoringcreation.org/the-second-sunday-after-pentecost-in-year-b-2015
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