An Outline for Worship with Examples and Options for Adaptation and Use
Prepared by the National Council of the Churches of Christ
Sermon/Meditation Ideas
See also our collection of complete sermons
Text: Genesis 2:18-20, Adam Naming the Animals
Companion Text; Luke 1, The Naming of John the Baptist
Comment: Naming someone or something brings it or them into relationship with the name-giver. In naming, the object is turned into subject, taking on personality and placed in a reciprocal relationship with the one who gave the name. This subject can no longer be treated as without value or as an impersonal resource to be used or abused. Think of the biblical references to names and naming: the "wrestling" over names as in the story of Jacob wrestling with the angel, biblical characters given new names to signify new relations, children given names that participate in their destiny.
In this text, God give Adam the opportunity and responsibility of naming the other living creatures. This signifies the beginning of a special relationship between humans and living things. No longer can other parts of the creation simply be objects for our utilization. They are part of our web of relationships on this planet.
Think of instances in your own experience when the giving of a name has had significance. Have there been other parts of God's creation that you have "named," thus bringing yourself into special relationship?
Text: Leviticus 25:1-7, Sabbath for the Land
Companion Text: Luke 4:16-19, Jesus Proclaims the Year of Jubilee
Comment: A time of rest and renewal for the land has been built into the rhythm of created life by the creator of life. In this passage, God instructs the people to give the land an opportunity to recover from the endless round of sowing and harvest.
In this passage, God shows concern for the health of the land. God recognizes the human tendency to exploit the land, and builds into religious law a respite for the land.
In modern society, consumption and production proceed at full pace day after day, year after year. We are discovering that this eventually becomes counterproductive, as our use of the land and other resources--the world's fishery and tropical rainforests, for instance--soon taxes them beyond their ability to sustain themselves or us.
How do we build this period of rest into our daily and yearly relationships with the creation? How do we care for the long-term health of the land, which may, in turn, ensure that we ourselves are cared for by the land?
Text: Luke 12:13-21, The Folly of Material Accumulation
Companion Text: Exodus 16, Manna from Heaven
Comment: While Jesus had little to say about environmental awareness specifically, he did speak at great length about the underlying attitudes that can lead to a healthy relationship with other parts of God's creation. In this passage, Jesus speaks of our relationship to material goods. In addressing this topic, he does not say that the material world is sinful and therefore should be avoided. Here, like everywhere in the scriptures, God's creation is affirmed. Jesus challenges the human tendency to define life by the acquisition of material goods.
In today's world, there is nothing more damaging to the global ecosystem that overconsumption. Persons in the developed world as well as those nations experiencing "distorted development" (the dream of material prosperity at any cost) are urged to turn to products created to fill needs that have themselves been created by marketing experts. This leads to a loss of spiritual centeredness, as well as to further trashing of the creation in order to meet consumer demand.
In what ways is an environmental imperative to live according to Jesus' teachings about wealth and accumulation? How would we need to change our living patterns in order to more closely live this way?
Text: Matthew 6:25-34, The Lilies of the Field
Companion Text: Deuteronomy 24:17-22, Leave Produce in the Field for the Alien, Widow, and Orphan
Comment: This passage points to lilies of the field and birds of the air as the antithesis of anxiety and the epitome of placing oneself in God's care. As Clarence Jordan once pointed out, the key to the lilies' and the birds' success is that they have found and live within their niche in the created order. "Should the lily try to live on the pavement or the bird underwater," commented Jordan, "neither would succeed in living so freely and fully."
Does this passage have a similar meaning for human beings? There are two possible approaches that take us in this direction. One is that there is indeed a natural order provided by God, in which all living things can find a healthy and sustaining environment. Human beings pervert this order by their insistence on accumulation and be their desire to take what they want when they want it, no matter what the cost to the underlying natural order. On case in point would be our willingness to pay premium prices for fresh fruits and vegetables that are out of season in the area in which we live. These products must be shipped to local stores from fields thousands of miles away. In the process, a substantial amount of fuel is consumed, contributing to the polluting of the environment. In addition, these foods are often grown for export in areas where local citizens are malnourished, yet the most fertile land of their area is used to grow crops for others.
A second direction for this text is to see a cal for human beings to commit themselves to living in human community in such a way that it is mutually sustaining for all. In this case, the birds and the lilies are exemplary because they live within their community and prosper, each taking and giving what is needed to maintain the whole. For human beings, the imperative becomes to understand the earth as a home to be shared equally be all, so that all may flourish.
In what ways are we alert to our place in the world, both in the community of living things and in the community of humanity? How can we live more in keeping with the rhythm of the seasons and with the needs of the human family?
(These sermon/meditation ideas were written by David Radcliff, Director of Denominational Peace Witness, Church of the Brethren)