Sermons on Environment (Page 3)
St. Francis
Francis preaching to the birds, Painting by Giotti, 13th century Today we celebrate St Francis Day. There are three things that I associate with St Francis: his connection with birds and animals his church reform movement which became the Franciscan order and included taking vows of poverty the understanding that Christ is in all of creation You may remember the story of how Francis had a mystical vision in the forsaken country chapel of San Damiano, just outside Assisi, in which the Icon…
Staying Grounded in a Time of Climate Crisis
Last year our Earthcare group asked Bishop Mary how we might encourage other churches to get more involved with Creation Care, and she suggested that we organize a conference for the diocese. That conference happened yesterday in Salinas, and for the last week we have been hosting the keynote speaker, Margaret Bullitt-Jonas. Margaret, who has been a long time climate activist, is Missioner for Creation Care for the Diocese of Western Massachusetts. During this week on the Central Coast she…
Jesus Christ is the Tree of Life
Photo by Kristina Rogers on unsplash.com 1 Corinthians 15:19-26 John 20:1-18 Alleluia! The Lord is risen! He is risen indeed, alleluia! Happy Easter! and Happy Earth Day! Tomorrow is the 49th celebration of Earth Day and today is approximately the one thousand, nine hundred and ninetieth celebration of the resurrection. It’s unusual for Easter and Earth Day to coincide since Earth Day is always remembered on April 22, but the date of Easter changes depending on the first full moon…
The Prodigal Son
Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32 This morning we come to that wonderful story which many of us learned in Sunday School and which has been so beautifully portrayed by numerous artists including Rembrandt – the Parable of the Prodigal Son. Prodigal is not a word I use very often so I looked it up and found that it means “spending money or resources freely and recklessly; wastefully extravagant.” In the story, the younger son takes his inheritance in cash, goes away and…
St. Francis
Photo by Taneli Lahtinen on Unsplash Today we complete the Season of Creation as we celebrate the feast of St. Francis. As a young man, Francis rejected his wealthy family and took seriously, and literally, Jesus’ instruction to his disciples to take nothing extra for the journey when he sent them into the villages to preach. He began his ministry in 1209, wearing the clothes of a peasant and preaching repentance. Soon others joined him, and they lived in a deserted leper colony…
Healing the Earth
Photo by Evan Clark on Unsplash.com Revelation 22:1-5 Last night I had a dream. (But not a visionary one like Dr. King’s!) I was in seminary, and one of the students had been murdered. Many of us were involved in trying to dispose of the body quietly. As the dream progressed I became more and more worried about this and aware that I and others might go to prison. By the end of the dream I had decided that I…
Sky
Luke: 24:45-53 One of the things that I love about living here is the amount of sky that we can see. And I know that many of us find the beauty of a sunset to be a place and a time when we are moved beyond ourselves and experience God. The Apostles Creed tells us that “Jesus ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.” Scholars suggest that this creed originated in the second century or…
Humanity
Photo by Sandy Kumar @ Unsplash.com At first glance, it may seem a little strange that during the Season of Creation we celebrate humanity. But it is only strange when we persist in the idea that somehow we are separate from the rest of creation. When we shift our perception and realize that we are as dependent upon our environment as any other animal, we can see that we are just as much part of creation as a coyote, a…
Mountains
1 Kings 19: 8b – 15 Matthew 17: 1-13 As many of you know, I love the mountains. Being able to be in the Sierra gives me great joy. And so I am delighted that it is Mountain Sunday and I can share some of my holiday photos with you. Most of them are actually of the lakes, trees and boulders that we find in our mountains. Mountains are important in Scripture – Mt Sinai and Mt Horeb were very…