Stewardship of God's creation
November 17 - God is the owner, we are the tenants
SCRIPTURE LESSONS Deuteronomy 11:8-17, GW
8 Obey all the commands I’m giving you today. Then you will have the strength to enter and take possession of the land once you’ve crossed the Jordan River. 9 Then you will also live for a long time in the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors and their descendants—a land flowing with milk and honey.
10 The land you’re about to enter and take possession of isn’t like the land you left in Egypt. There you used to plant your seed, and you had to water it like a vegetable garden. 11 The land you’re about to enter is a land with hills and valleys, watered by rain from the sky. 12 It is a land the Lord your God cares about. He watches over it all year long.
13 If you faithfully obey the commands that I’m giving you today, love the Lord your God, and serve him with all your heart and with all your soul, 14 I will send rain on your land at the right time, both in the fall and in the spring. Then you will gather your own grain, new wine, and olive oil. 15 I will provide grass in the fields for your animals, and you will be able to eat all you want.
16 Be careful, or you’ll be tempted to turn away and worship other gods and bow down to them. 17 The Lord will become angry with you. He’ll shut the sky so that there’ll be no rain. Then the ground won’t grow any crops, and you’ll quickly disappear from this good land the Lord is giving you.
As the people moved into a new land, it was made clear to them that God owned the land and would provide for them everything they needed. But they also had responsibilities, in particular to follow God’s commandments and not to wander away to worship other gods. Keep in mind that today we may treat things like stuff or convenience or excess as if they were a god to us.
God’s commandments included stewardship of the land, as you will hear in Leviticus 25.
Leviticus 25:1-7,23, GW
The Lord spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai, 2 “Tell the Israelites: When you come into the land I’m giving you, the land will celebrate a year to honor the Lord. 3 Then, for six years you may plant crops in your fields, prune your vineyards, and gather what they produce. 4 However, the seventh year will be a festival year for the land. It will be a year to honor the Lord. Don’t plant crops in your fields or prune your vineyards. 5 Don’t harvest what grows by itself or harvest grapes from your vines. That year will be a festival for the land. 6 Whatever the land produces during that year is for all of you to eat—for you, your male and female slaves, your hired workers, foreigners among you, 7 your animals and the wild animals in your land. Everything the land produces will be yours to eat.
23 “Land must never be sold permanently, because the land is mine. To me you are strangers without permanent homes.
Again we God owns the land, and we are tenants. But did you catch the principle about the year of rest. This matches the weekly concept of Sabbath, to work 6 days, but rest on the 7th day to honor God. The land has a Sabbath every 7th year. They were told to work the land for 6 years, then give it a rest in the 7th year. It would still produce food to feed people and creatures, but this would be different from the years of planting, cultivating, and harvesting. I actually remember being taught this concept as crop rotation in grade school. I wonder how many farmers still give fields a fallow year.
So, these are examples of teaching environmental stewardship in the Old Testament. Jesus also taught about stewardship with parables in the New Testament.
Matthew 21:33-43, NLT
33 “… A certain landowner planted a vineyard, built a wall around it, dug a pit for pressing out the grape juice, and built a lookout tower. Then he leased the vineyard to tenant farmers and moved to another country. 34 At the time of the grape harvest, he sent his servants to collect his share of the crop. 35 But the farmers grabbed his servants, beat one, killed one, and stoned another. 36 So the landowner sent a larger group of his servants to collect for him, but the results were the same.
37 “Finally, the owner sent his son, thinking, ‘Surely they will respect my son.’
38 “But when the tenant farmers saw his son coming, they said to one another, ‘Here comes the heir to this estate. Come on, let’s kill him and get the estate for ourselves!’ 39 So they grabbed him, dragged him out of the vineyard, and murdered him.
40 “When the owner of the vineyard returns,” Jesus asked, “what do you think he will do to those farmers?”
41 The religious leaders replied, “He will put the wicked men to a horrible death and lease the vineyard to others who will give him his share of the crop after each harvest.”
42 Then Jesus asked them, “Didn’t you ever read this in the Scriptures?
‘The stone that the builders rejected
has now become the cornerstone.
This is the Lord’s doing,
and it is wonderful to see.’[a]
43 I tell you the Kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a nation that will produce the proper fruit.
It’s a harsh story, isn’t it? To view it simply, God is the landowner. We have already established this from the Old Testament. We are the tenant farmers, or caretakers of this earth. We are expected to work the land but in ways that care for it and remembering that what the earth yields to us is a gift, not a form of entitlement. It belongs to God, but we are allowed the use. There are serious consequences when we forget who the owner really is. As we interpret this parable, the servants may be the prophets who were not heeded, and Jesus is the Son whom the tenants killed. This isn’t just about those who failed to recognize or accept Christ, though it speaks a warning to them as well. This is also about respect versus greed. The tenants wanted the land for themselves, to use to their own advantage. In rejecting the servants and the Son, they disrespected the owner, God. The consequences include that the land will no longer feed them, in fact it will be taken away from them and given to someone else. That consequence also plays out in a more familiar parable.
Luke 19:11-23, GW
11 …As they listened to this, Jesus told them another parable because he was near Jerusalem and they thought God’s kingdom would appear right away. 12 He said, “A certain man who was born into royalty went to a distant land to receive his kingdom and then return. 13 He called together ten servants and gave each of them money worth four months’ wages.[a] He said, ‘Do business with this until I return.’ 14 His citizens hated him, so they sent a representative after him who said, ‘We don’t want this man to be our king.’ 15 After receiving his kingdom, he returned and called the servants to whom he had given the money to find out how much they had earned. 16 The first servant came forward and said, ‘Your money has earned a return of one thousand percent.’ 17 The king replied, ‘Excellent! You are a good servant. Because you have been faithful in a small matter, you will have authority over ten cities.’
18 “The second servant came and said, ‘Master, your money has made a return of five hundred percent.’ 19 To this one, the king said, ‘You will have authority over five cities.’
20 “Another servant came and said, ‘Master, here is your money. I wrapped it up in a scarf for safekeeping. 21 I was afraid of you because you are a stern man. You withdraw what you haven’t deposited, and you harvest what you haven’t planted.’ 22 The king replied, ‘I will judge you by the words of your own mouth, you worthless servant! You knew, did you, that I’m a stern man, withdrawing what I didn’t deposit, and harvesting what I didn’t plant? 23 Why then didn’t you put my money in the bank? Then when I arrived, at least I could have gotten it back with interest.’
We more often read this parable in Matthew’s version, but the message is the same in both. Daniel Lagat identifies Jesus as this king who wants his servants, stewards, to produce benefits with what they were given to safekeep. It wasn’t enough to hide or bury the gift. I think it would be even worse to lose or destroy it. The expectation is to benefit and improvement. The blessing of abundance should increase not diminish. The king will return for an accounting!
SERMON God is the Owner, We are the Tenants
Our scriptures describe what it means to be a steward. As this relates to the environment, Lagat says in his book, Christian Faith and Environmental Stewardship that “stewardship is an understanding that God did make the world for himself, but has assigned humanity the responsibility to care, having in mind the fact that God still needs his world in the future for his own worship, and for the people that will be there then.” (pp.8-9) He continues with sustainable development as defined in the Brundtland Report from the World Commission on Environment and Development. It is sustainable if it is “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” (quoted by Lagat, p. 9) He sums it up saying these concepts fit Jesus’ teachings on the second most important commandment, to love one’s neighbor as oneself. (see Mark 12:31 and Lev. 19:18)
Lagat also relates stewardship to the concept of oikonomia, a Greek word meaning household management. It is the basis of our word, economy. I was first introduced to the role of this householder in lectures by John Dominic Crossan who spoke of God as householder. Lagat pursues this perspective as “an understanding of the entire creation as a household of God, … an imaginary house, where all people live together sharing resources and shelter.” (p. 9)
In the household there is an owner with responsibilities to care for everything in the house and property. It is similar to last week’s discussion of the king’s obligations to care for everything in the kingdom, human and non-human, animate and inanimate. The owner may put in place a steward to manage these duties on his or her behalf. The best biblical example is Joseph of the Old Testament. For a time he was steward of Potiphar’s household. Eventually he became steward of Pharaoh’s kingdom. The steward is not the owner but the caretaker.
Lagat reminds us, “Stewardship in this perspective is the use and care for the household on behalf of God, who put up the household and all its inhabitants… Endeavors to build the economy should not compromise the condition of the household or go contrary to the intention of the creator.” (p. 9) He points out, however, that while Christians should be the best stewards since we have a relationship with the creator, “Ironically, many who call on his name, sometimes abuse, neglect, or even to not give care to God’s creation. This is contradicting the very nature of a Christian, honoring God the creator verbally, yet harming God’s work practically…” (p.11) As I see it, this is another example of Christians sadly living up to the criticism of those outside the church who see us as hypocrites.
Lagat sees three biblical principles operating in a concept of stewardship in Jesus’ day. 1) Do not destroy. 2) Do not inflict pain. 3) Keep the Sabbath and Jubilee. (presented on p. 10) Jubilee involves complete rest for the land and restoration every 50th year. We are called to apply these principles not only to our relationships with God and with others, but also to our relationship with the earth itself and all that is in it.
Think back to the parable on the talents. Lagat suggests another set of three principles for us to consider, “The success of the stewards can be attributed majorly to their awareness of their master’s intention for their talents, their efforts to increase and multiply the talents given, and their excitement in accounting for the talents given.” (p. 13) Now apply these principles to environmental stewardship. Creation “is a resource belonging to God but given to humans as a talent.” (p. 14) Talent in this biblical sense refers to a resource not a skill. The translation I read earlier used money rather than talent.
God owns all of creation. The Bible is clear on this. We are each responsible for the areas God has apportioned to us. What this means on a practical level is that I am responsible to God for not only the house I bought, but the energy and water I use, the food I bring home, the birds and squirrels that visit my yard, the lawn and plants I try to grow, the waste I set out by the curb, and so much more.
Matthew Sleeth’s book Serving God Saving the Planet was the most challenging for me personally. Sleeth was an east coast hospital chief of staff and head of ER for whom coming to terms with Christ led to radical lifestyle changes for he and his family. His ardent pursuit of environmental stewardship came both from his deepening faith response to Christ and also from a growing awareness of how the toxicity of our environment was bringing patients into the ER at an alarming rate. He describes the theme of his book and the condition of our world. “A problem exists, one as meaningful and real as a sinking ship with billions of passengers aboard. The earth is our ship, an ark for everything that lives. It is the only vessel available to carry humans through the oceans of space, and it is rapidly becoming unseaworthy.” (p. 20)
His critique of our responsibility is that, “The earth was designed to sustain every generation’s needs, not to be plundered in an attempt to meet one generation’s wants.” (p. 22)
Sleeth made an audit of his family’s lifestyle with regard to environmental stewardship and while he had considered them to be an intelligent and informed household, he discovered that “Despite [their] modest recycling, carpooling, and electricity conservation efforts, [they] were living an unsustainable lifestyle.” (p. 27) To put a major theme of Sleeth’s book into my own words, while learning about and changing our attitudes toward environmental stewardship are necessary first steps, they are not enough. Behavior must also change. Knowledge without action is useless, or as James wrote in the New Testament, we must “be doers of the word and not hearers only.” (James 1:22) James puts it in stronger terms later in the same letter, “It is a sin when someone knows the right thing to do and doesn’t do it.” (James 4:17) Many Christians are stuck at just this point, myself included.
Sleeth and his family made several significant changes in their behavior to honor God and care for creation. They downsized to a home with the same footage as their previous garage and gave away half of their belongings. They reduced their consumption of fossil fuels and electricity and greatly reduced the amount of trash set out for pick up to one bag every few weeks. They no longer own a clothes dryer, garbage disposal, dishwasher, or lawn mower. The yard is planted with wildflowers and vegetables. (all from p. 22) This is just a sampling of the many changes made.
Let’s consider what he says about the dryer. He claims a family load of laundry in a standard electric dryer takes 5 kilowatt hours of electricity; one load a day means 150 kilowatt hours per month. In a year’s time, for one daily dryer load, the power plant has put one ton of poisonous gas into the air. He finds that hanging the laundry gives him time to talk to God or sing a gospel song. Meanwhile the clothes last longer. (all from p. 91) I was amused yesterday as I drove through the countryside to see a clothesline full of laundry blowing in the wind. It reminded me of hanging the cloths in my grandma’s yard.
That time spent in physical labor is healthy for body, mind, spirit, and the environment. It’s a win-win for whatever we are physically able to do. I’m admitting this as someone who is addicted to convenience. There is a question we each need to ask ourselves when confronted with a challenge such as this book presents, “What about me?”
I know when I’m confronted with a health concern, I make small changes to my diet or routine looking for what is effective that I can sustain. I’m approaching this the same way. For decades I’ve used white rather than print paper products in the kitchen because of a presentation by the Environmental Club at my high school, but now I avoid paper plates, napkins, or cups most of the time, and I’ve reduced my use of paper towels. However, there are still plenty of paper products in my house. I love my Kuerigs but I’ve felt guilty about the plastic kcups in the waste. While I can’t make this change at church as easily, at home I am moving back to filling my own reusable cups as well as a reusable easy to clean coffee filter for the bigger pot. These are inexpensive products. I’m watering my plants with water from the dehumidifier and looking for more ways to use that water rather than pouring it down the drain. I’m trying to change habits to turn off night lights, power strips, or laptops when not in use, but that will take awhile to train myself. I’ve been watching TV streamed from my chromebook to a larger set, but I’ve started watching most shows on the smaller screen rather than powering both. I have a chair situated to capture natural light for reading on a sunny day, and I often sit in the dark to watch TV or play on my phone. Magazines make great fire starter in my fire pit rather than all going in the trash. I avoid water bottles, though I’ve been finishing the one I found here in the pulpit. I am delighted to have a recycle bin, and last year I tried my salad garden, though it didn’t survive July. My washer can take very full loads, but I confess that I am using my dryer.
Each person has to adjust to what they can do. Here are some ideas just related to energy from the book 50 Ways to Help Save the Earth. We have done many of these at church as well.
I know all this is a challenge. But doing what we can to move toward better stewardship of the environment is the right thing to do both scientifically and biblically. As my daughter Tali said when we talked last weekend, if we all do something the earth will last a lot longer. Even if you find one positive change to make this week, it will make a difference. The more you are willing to make small changes over the coming year, and the more of us who do so, the better off we all and future generations and the earth itself will be.
As people of faith, this is our task, because this is our Father’s World, so let’s sing
8 Obey all the commands I’m giving you today. Then you will have the strength to enter and take possession of the land once you’ve crossed the Jordan River. 9 Then you will also live for a long time in the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors and their descendants—a land flowing with milk and honey.
10 The land you’re about to enter and take possession of isn’t like the land you left in Egypt. There you used to plant your seed, and you had to water it like a vegetable garden. 11 The land you’re about to enter is a land with hills and valleys, watered by rain from the sky. 12 It is a land the Lord your God cares about. He watches over it all year long.
13 If you faithfully obey the commands that I’m giving you today, love the Lord your God, and serve him with all your heart and with all your soul, 14 I will send rain on your land at the right time, both in the fall and in the spring. Then you will gather your own grain, new wine, and olive oil. 15 I will provide grass in the fields for your animals, and you will be able to eat all you want.
16 Be careful, or you’ll be tempted to turn away and worship other gods and bow down to them. 17 The Lord will become angry with you. He’ll shut the sky so that there’ll be no rain. Then the ground won’t grow any crops, and you’ll quickly disappear from this good land the Lord is giving you.
As the people moved into a new land, it was made clear to them that God owned the land and would provide for them everything they needed. But they also had responsibilities, in particular to follow God’s commandments and not to wander away to worship other gods. Keep in mind that today we may treat things like stuff or convenience or excess as if they were a god to us.
God’s commandments included stewardship of the land, as you will hear in Leviticus 25.
Leviticus 25:1-7,23, GW
The Lord spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai, 2 “Tell the Israelites: When you come into the land I’m giving you, the land will celebrate a year to honor the Lord. 3 Then, for six years you may plant crops in your fields, prune your vineyards, and gather what they produce. 4 However, the seventh year will be a festival year for the land. It will be a year to honor the Lord. Don’t plant crops in your fields or prune your vineyards. 5 Don’t harvest what grows by itself or harvest grapes from your vines. That year will be a festival for the land. 6 Whatever the land produces during that year is for all of you to eat—for you, your male and female slaves, your hired workers, foreigners among you, 7 your animals and the wild animals in your land. Everything the land produces will be yours to eat.
23 “Land must never be sold permanently, because the land is mine. To me you are strangers without permanent homes.
Again we God owns the land, and we are tenants. But did you catch the principle about the year of rest. This matches the weekly concept of Sabbath, to work 6 days, but rest on the 7th day to honor God. The land has a Sabbath every 7th year. They were told to work the land for 6 years, then give it a rest in the 7th year. It would still produce food to feed people and creatures, but this would be different from the years of planting, cultivating, and harvesting. I actually remember being taught this concept as crop rotation in grade school. I wonder how many farmers still give fields a fallow year.
So, these are examples of teaching environmental stewardship in the Old Testament. Jesus also taught about stewardship with parables in the New Testament.
Matthew 21:33-43, NLT
33 “… A certain landowner planted a vineyard, built a wall around it, dug a pit for pressing out the grape juice, and built a lookout tower. Then he leased the vineyard to tenant farmers and moved to another country. 34 At the time of the grape harvest, he sent his servants to collect his share of the crop. 35 But the farmers grabbed his servants, beat one, killed one, and stoned another. 36 So the landowner sent a larger group of his servants to collect for him, but the results were the same.
37 “Finally, the owner sent his son, thinking, ‘Surely they will respect my son.’
38 “But when the tenant farmers saw his son coming, they said to one another, ‘Here comes the heir to this estate. Come on, let’s kill him and get the estate for ourselves!’ 39 So they grabbed him, dragged him out of the vineyard, and murdered him.
40 “When the owner of the vineyard returns,” Jesus asked, “what do you think he will do to those farmers?”
41 The religious leaders replied, “He will put the wicked men to a horrible death and lease the vineyard to others who will give him his share of the crop after each harvest.”
42 Then Jesus asked them, “Didn’t you ever read this in the Scriptures?
‘The stone that the builders rejected
has now become the cornerstone.
This is the Lord’s doing,
and it is wonderful to see.’[a]
43 I tell you the Kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a nation that will produce the proper fruit.
It’s a harsh story, isn’t it? To view it simply, God is the landowner. We have already established this from the Old Testament. We are the tenant farmers, or caretakers of this earth. We are expected to work the land but in ways that care for it and remembering that what the earth yields to us is a gift, not a form of entitlement. It belongs to God, but we are allowed the use. There are serious consequences when we forget who the owner really is. As we interpret this parable, the servants may be the prophets who were not heeded, and Jesus is the Son whom the tenants killed. This isn’t just about those who failed to recognize or accept Christ, though it speaks a warning to them as well. This is also about respect versus greed. The tenants wanted the land for themselves, to use to their own advantage. In rejecting the servants and the Son, they disrespected the owner, God. The consequences include that the land will no longer feed them, in fact it will be taken away from them and given to someone else. That consequence also plays out in a more familiar parable.
Luke 19:11-23, GW
11 …As they listened to this, Jesus told them another parable because he was near Jerusalem and they thought God’s kingdom would appear right away. 12 He said, “A certain man who was born into royalty went to a distant land to receive his kingdom and then return. 13 He called together ten servants and gave each of them money worth four months’ wages.[a] He said, ‘Do business with this until I return.’ 14 His citizens hated him, so they sent a representative after him who said, ‘We don’t want this man to be our king.’ 15 After receiving his kingdom, he returned and called the servants to whom he had given the money to find out how much they had earned. 16 The first servant came forward and said, ‘Your money has earned a return of one thousand percent.’ 17 The king replied, ‘Excellent! You are a good servant. Because you have been faithful in a small matter, you will have authority over ten cities.’
18 “The second servant came and said, ‘Master, your money has made a return of five hundred percent.’ 19 To this one, the king said, ‘You will have authority over five cities.’
20 “Another servant came and said, ‘Master, here is your money. I wrapped it up in a scarf for safekeeping. 21 I was afraid of you because you are a stern man. You withdraw what you haven’t deposited, and you harvest what you haven’t planted.’ 22 The king replied, ‘I will judge you by the words of your own mouth, you worthless servant! You knew, did you, that I’m a stern man, withdrawing what I didn’t deposit, and harvesting what I didn’t plant? 23 Why then didn’t you put my money in the bank? Then when I arrived, at least I could have gotten it back with interest.’
We more often read this parable in Matthew’s version, but the message is the same in both. Daniel Lagat identifies Jesus as this king who wants his servants, stewards, to produce benefits with what they were given to safekeep. It wasn’t enough to hide or bury the gift. I think it would be even worse to lose or destroy it. The expectation is to benefit and improvement. The blessing of abundance should increase not diminish. The king will return for an accounting!
SERMON God is the Owner, We are the Tenants
Our scriptures describe what it means to be a steward. As this relates to the environment, Lagat says in his book, Christian Faith and Environmental Stewardship that “stewardship is an understanding that God did make the world for himself, but has assigned humanity the responsibility to care, having in mind the fact that God still needs his world in the future for his own worship, and for the people that will be there then.” (pp.8-9) He continues with sustainable development as defined in the Brundtland Report from the World Commission on Environment and Development. It is sustainable if it is “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” (quoted by Lagat, p. 9) He sums it up saying these concepts fit Jesus’ teachings on the second most important commandment, to love one’s neighbor as oneself. (see Mark 12:31 and Lev. 19:18)
Lagat also relates stewardship to the concept of oikonomia, a Greek word meaning household management. It is the basis of our word, economy. I was first introduced to the role of this householder in lectures by John Dominic Crossan who spoke of God as householder. Lagat pursues this perspective as “an understanding of the entire creation as a household of God, … an imaginary house, where all people live together sharing resources and shelter.” (p. 9)
In the household there is an owner with responsibilities to care for everything in the house and property. It is similar to last week’s discussion of the king’s obligations to care for everything in the kingdom, human and non-human, animate and inanimate. The owner may put in place a steward to manage these duties on his or her behalf. The best biblical example is Joseph of the Old Testament. For a time he was steward of Potiphar’s household. Eventually he became steward of Pharaoh’s kingdom. The steward is not the owner but the caretaker.
Lagat reminds us, “Stewardship in this perspective is the use and care for the household on behalf of God, who put up the household and all its inhabitants… Endeavors to build the economy should not compromise the condition of the household or go contrary to the intention of the creator.” (p. 9) He points out, however, that while Christians should be the best stewards since we have a relationship with the creator, “Ironically, many who call on his name, sometimes abuse, neglect, or even to not give care to God’s creation. This is contradicting the very nature of a Christian, honoring God the creator verbally, yet harming God’s work practically…” (p.11) As I see it, this is another example of Christians sadly living up to the criticism of those outside the church who see us as hypocrites.
Lagat sees three biblical principles operating in a concept of stewardship in Jesus’ day. 1) Do not destroy. 2) Do not inflict pain. 3) Keep the Sabbath and Jubilee. (presented on p. 10) Jubilee involves complete rest for the land and restoration every 50th year. We are called to apply these principles not only to our relationships with God and with others, but also to our relationship with the earth itself and all that is in it.
Think back to the parable on the talents. Lagat suggests another set of three principles for us to consider, “The success of the stewards can be attributed majorly to their awareness of their master’s intention for their talents, their efforts to increase and multiply the talents given, and their excitement in accounting for the talents given.” (p. 13) Now apply these principles to environmental stewardship. Creation “is a resource belonging to God but given to humans as a talent.” (p. 14) Talent in this biblical sense refers to a resource not a skill. The translation I read earlier used money rather than talent.
God owns all of creation. The Bible is clear on this. We are each responsible for the areas God has apportioned to us. What this means on a practical level is that I am responsible to God for not only the house I bought, but the energy and water I use, the food I bring home, the birds and squirrels that visit my yard, the lawn and plants I try to grow, the waste I set out by the curb, and so much more.
Matthew Sleeth’s book Serving God Saving the Planet was the most challenging for me personally. Sleeth was an east coast hospital chief of staff and head of ER for whom coming to terms with Christ led to radical lifestyle changes for he and his family. His ardent pursuit of environmental stewardship came both from his deepening faith response to Christ and also from a growing awareness of how the toxicity of our environment was bringing patients into the ER at an alarming rate. He describes the theme of his book and the condition of our world. “A problem exists, one as meaningful and real as a sinking ship with billions of passengers aboard. The earth is our ship, an ark for everything that lives. It is the only vessel available to carry humans through the oceans of space, and it is rapidly becoming unseaworthy.” (p. 20)
His critique of our responsibility is that, “The earth was designed to sustain every generation’s needs, not to be plundered in an attempt to meet one generation’s wants.” (p. 22)
Sleeth made an audit of his family’s lifestyle with regard to environmental stewardship and while he had considered them to be an intelligent and informed household, he discovered that “Despite [their] modest recycling, carpooling, and electricity conservation efforts, [they] were living an unsustainable lifestyle.” (p. 27) To put a major theme of Sleeth’s book into my own words, while learning about and changing our attitudes toward environmental stewardship are necessary first steps, they are not enough. Behavior must also change. Knowledge without action is useless, or as James wrote in the New Testament, we must “be doers of the word and not hearers only.” (James 1:22) James puts it in stronger terms later in the same letter, “It is a sin when someone knows the right thing to do and doesn’t do it.” (James 4:17) Many Christians are stuck at just this point, myself included.
Sleeth and his family made several significant changes in their behavior to honor God and care for creation. They downsized to a home with the same footage as their previous garage and gave away half of their belongings. They reduced their consumption of fossil fuels and electricity and greatly reduced the amount of trash set out for pick up to one bag every few weeks. They no longer own a clothes dryer, garbage disposal, dishwasher, or lawn mower. The yard is planted with wildflowers and vegetables. (all from p. 22) This is just a sampling of the many changes made.
Let’s consider what he says about the dryer. He claims a family load of laundry in a standard electric dryer takes 5 kilowatt hours of electricity; one load a day means 150 kilowatt hours per month. In a year’s time, for one daily dryer load, the power plant has put one ton of poisonous gas into the air. He finds that hanging the laundry gives him time to talk to God or sing a gospel song. Meanwhile the clothes last longer. (all from p. 91) I was amused yesterday as I drove through the countryside to see a clothesline full of laundry blowing in the wind. It reminded me of hanging the cloths in my grandma’s yard.
That time spent in physical labor is healthy for body, mind, spirit, and the environment. It’s a win-win for whatever we are physically able to do. I’m admitting this as someone who is addicted to convenience. There is a question we each need to ask ourselves when confronted with a challenge such as this book presents, “What about me?”
I know when I’m confronted with a health concern, I make small changes to my diet or routine looking for what is effective that I can sustain. I’m approaching this the same way. For decades I’ve used white rather than print paper products in the kitchen because of a presentation by the Environmental Club at my high school, but now I avoid paper plates, napkins, or cups most of the time, and I’ve reduced my use of paper towels. However, there are still plenty of paper products in my house. I love my Kuerigs but I’ve felt guilty about the plastic kcups in the waste. While I can’t make this change at church as easily, at home I am moving back to filling my own reusable cups as well as a reusable easy to clean coffee filter for the bigger pot. These are inexpensive products. I’m watering my plants with water from the dehumidifier and looking for more ways to use that water rather than pouring it down the drain. I’m trying to change habits to turn off night lights, power strips, or laptops when not in use, but that will take awhile to train myself. I’ve been watching TV streamed from my chromebook to a larger set, but I’ve started watching most shows on the smaller screen rather than powering both. I have a chair situated to capture natural light for reading on a sunny day, and I often sit in the dark to watch TV or play on my phone. Magazines make great fire starter in my fire pit rather than all going in the trash. I avoid water bottles, though I’ve been finishing the one I found here in the pulpit. I am delighted to have a recycle bin, and last year I tried my salad garden, though it didn’t survive July. My washer can take very full loads, but I confess that I am using my dryer.
Each person has to adjust to what they can do. Here are some ideas just related to energy from the book 50 Ways to Help Save the Earth. We have done many of these at church as well.
- Turn off what’s not in use, and what doesn’t need to be in standby mode.
- Replace incandescent bulbs to LED which use 75% less energy.
- Go with energy star appliances when replacing old ones, and dispose of the old ones properly.
- Insulate and use weather strips to conserve heat; adjust thermostats when you aren’t home or if you can take it cooler when you sleep.
- Replace the filters on furnaces and other places regularly.
- Recycle
- Avoid the dryer, or at least the high heat setting
- Eat local food, choose fuel efficient transportation, and when the time comes to move choose a smaller home.
- Use an electric rather than gas lawn mower.
- Unplug from electronics often, go outside or do art, read, play board or card games instead.
- Conduct an energy audit of your home.
I know all this is a challenge. But doing what we can to move toward better stewardship of the environment is the right thing to do both scientifically and biblically. As my daughter Tali said when we talked last weekend, if we all do something the earth will last a lot longer. Even if you find one positive change to make this week, it will make a difference. The more you are willing to make small changes over the coming year, and the more of us who do so, the better off we all and future generations and the earth itself will be.
As people of faith, this is our task, because this is our Father’s World, so let’s sing
Some of the prayers come from Psalms of the Earth by Dorothy Darr, 2012.
Other resources for this series come from Keeping God’s Earth edited by Noah Toly and Daniel Block, Serving God, Saving the Planet by J. Matthew Sleeth, MD, Christian Faith and Environmental Stewardship, by Daniel Lagat, 50 Ways to Help Save the Earth by Rebecca Barnes, and various Presbyterian and other websites.
Other resources for this series come from Keeping God’s Earth edited by Noah Toly and Daniel Block, Serving God, Saving the Planet by J. Matthew Sleeth, MD, Christian Faith and Environmental Stewardship, by Daniel Lagat, 50 Ways to Help Save the Earth by Rebecca Barnes, and various Presbyterian and other websites.
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