The Shepherd of all Creation

Firefly has a stuffed lamb that she loves perhaps more than anything else in the world.  Her name is Lambie.  I can’t begin to describe the powerful bond between Lambie and Firefly.  You may understand if you had security blanket or another object that you needed to hold every night in order to fall asleep. But Lambie does much more than provide comfort.  Firefly actually understands the world through her relationship with Lambie.  

A few months ago, Lambie had leukemia, she was in bed, hooked up to an IV.  Firefly monitored Lambie’s vital signs and gave her appropriate treatment.  Before that, if Lambie liked broccoli, Firefly would like it too. Part of Fly’s bedtime ritual is a conversation with Lambie.  Lambie says, Baa, baa baa.  We translate the baa baas to English and Firefly responds – Lambie understands English, she just has a hard time speaking it.

During these conversations, Fly will often share a highlight of her day – 
I went to the fair today Lambie.   Lambie replies, “Baa baa baa baa?” “What did you do?”  
I rode the giant Ferris wheel.  “Baa baa ba ba Baa baa ba?” “Can I ride the Ferris Wheel too?”  
No Lambie, Ferris Wheels aren’t for lambs.  

Theirs is a dynamic relationship – Fly gives and receives as much as Lambie gives and receives.

I never liked the imagery of Jesus, the shepherd, looking after us, his flock.  Although my identity is broad and somewhat fluid, I’ve never identified as a lamb.  But I have to say that by watching Firefly care for Lambie and witnessing the comfort Lambie brings Firefly, I’ve grown to appreciate the metaphor of the Good Shepherd. 

The ancestors we recall in the Eucharistic Prayer every Sunday were shepherded by the very God we pray to today.  We are reminded of our kinship with the prophets, apostles and martyrs – we pray to the God of our forebearers, the God of Sarah and Abraham, the God of Rebecca and Isaac. Consider this reading of Psalm 23:

            
          The God of Sarah and Abraham is my shepherd;

          The God of Peter and Mary Magdalene is my shepherd;

          The God of Dame Julian and Desmond Tutu is my shepherd;

          The God of Dorothy Height is my shepherd,
          I shall not be in want.

The Good Shepherd is the shepherd of all humanity. This is the Shepard who quenches our thirst, and restores our body and soul. This is the shepherd we will turn to, the shepherd the cloud of witnesses who surround us have turned to, in the hour of death.

This morning’s processional hymn stretched my understanding of the Good Shepard even farther:

            
            God of the sparrow is my shepherd;

            God of the swirling stars and God of the rainbow is my shepherd. 

            God of the earthquake and of the storm is my shepherd,

            I shall not be in want.

Isn’t our Good Shepherd the shepherd of all creation, not just the shepherd of humanity? All of creation yearns to be cradled in the palm of the creator.

           

In commemoration of Earth Day, I was tempted to insert a couple of moving quotes from Chief Seattle or John Muir. But I’m going to stick with Psalm 23 and ask you to hear it anew for Earth Day – as if the one praying the Psalm is the earth.  



So listen as the earth, a creature of God, speaks to the almighty Creator:

The Lord is my shepherd; *

I shall not be in want.

He makes me lie down in green pastures *

and leads me beside still waters.

He revives my soul *

and guides me along right pathways for his Name’s sake.

Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I shall fear no evil; *

for you are with me;

your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

You spread a table before me in the presence of those who trouble me; *

you have anointed my head with oil,

and my cup is running over.

Surely your goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, *

and I will dwell in the house of the Creator for ever.

Can you imagine why the earth might pray the 23^rd Psalm?  I can. Like us, our planet is broken and like us, she yearns to be healed.  But when the earth prays the 23^rd Psalm, we humans are the enemies, we are the evil doers from whom she needs protection. Out of greed, we have exploited the earth’s resources. We have dumped our waste on her and into her; her rivers and oceans, the living waters, have become toxic and she thirsts for clean water.  She hungers for fresh air.

           

The earth doesn’t just cry out to God for her own survival.  The earth herself is the loom that supports the intricately woven fabric of creation. When the loggers level a redwood grove, of course our planet feels the assault immediately.  More importantly, and we must understand this, the earth weeps also for the salmon who will no longer spawn in the waters that were once shaded by the trees.  Without the protection of the redwoods, the temperatures will rise and be inhospitable to the creatures whose lives depend on cooler waters. This is but one small example of how a beautifully balanced system is destabilized by one careless action. The thing is, we may not understand the full impact of the cascade of reactions for decades.  But the earth does, and she cries out to the Good Shepherd of all creation – like all creatures, she yearns to be cradled in the palm of the creator.

Let’s shift back and identify as the sheep who long for still waters and green pastures.  Perhaps surprisingly, we sheep are not without responsibility.  In fact, as followers of the Good Shepherd, it is our obligation to care for the earth. We have made promises to God to be good and gracious stewards of creation.  This is in stark contradiction to the Christians, many of whom are popular and influential politicians, who believe that all of our attention should be directed to what God has in store for us on the heavenly plane.  Their reasoning goes like this:  If, at the second coming, which is imminent, Jesus will lift up the righteous and leave behind the sinners to burn with the earth, it doesn’t matter what we do to the planet.  Conveniently, they are then free to suck the earth dry of oil and water, and selfishly profiteer in any reckless manner.

It is sinful when our activity destroys God’s good creation. 

It is sinful to harm our fellow creatures – human and non-human.  The Psalms are full of glorious descriptions of nature, and this certainly includes the still waters and green pastures of Psalm 23.  Right now, we have the choice to preserve the earth and therefore allowing our sons and daughters to experience what God has created or we can continue on the same trajectory of degrading the environment, reducing the still waters and green pastures to a historical memory.             

My hope for our congregation is that we will make a collective decision to live as responsible stewards of God’s creation.  My prayer is that the children of our children who were baptized in this parish will also have this beautiful garden to play in – rose bushes to hide behind, big trees with spiders that scare and delight, and green grass for the beloved Easter egg hunt. My prayer is that the children of our children who were baptized in this parish will themselves know and be refreshed by still waters and green pastures.  The Good Shepherd is the shepherd of all creation.  And all of creation yearns to be cradled in the palm of the creator.

Easter IV and Earth Day