"Creation's Hidden Purpose"


Sermon Preached By Rev. Richard E. Stetler - July 10, 2005

Psalm 139:1-12, 23-24, Romans 8: 12-25

    
    Some of you who have taken my Spirituality classes during July and August have heard me make reference to our experiences as being very similar to those of being at Disney World.  There are rides there that take us through dark mountains on a roller coaster, to Mars and through dense jungles.  Some of these scare us to death while others are magical.  We pay big bucks for the opportunity to experience these adventures.  When we leave the Magic Kingdom, however, as frightening or as exhilarating as those experiences were, we leave that world behind.  Our experiences here are the same when we leave our present forms to inherit what awaits us.

     Our material experiences here are those of earth school.  We are beginner creators, created in God’s image, who have incarnated into this magic kingdom.  Think about this.   Other life forms on earth simply grow according to the genetic material found within their seeds.  We are the only creatures on the planet who have the ability to create what has never been.  This is a part of who we are.  The world is accelerating toward becoming a world community. Because we learn from each other, there is little that will stand in the way of that process.

     For example, when Hong Kong was finally returned to China, the city was filled with industries and ideas that would affect the Chinese people in ways that no one there could have anticipated.  Almost overnight, the Chinese awakened from thousands of years of a changeless culture, steeped in traditions, to become a teaming society of rapid expansion.   

     All of us are experiencing the impact of their growth each time we drive into a gasoline station.  The same oil that fuels our economy has been the stimulus for China’s double-digit economic growth. Cell phones are everywhere and Wal Mart is opening a large store in Shanghai by the end of this month.  China and others in the world are benefiting from what took our country 229 years to develop.  The Chinese were a quick study when they came into contact with our creations.  The process of our learning from each other is why Jesus called us into discipleship.  We learn from each other in earth school.

     In our lesson this morning, the Apostle Paul captured with his words a very interesting insight regarding our human nature. He wrote, “If you live according to your human nature, you are going to die; but if by the Spirit you put to death your sinful actions, you will live.  Those who are led by God’s Spirit are God’s children.”

     Since we learn from each other, perhaps one of the least understood aspects of creation is our role as teachers.  Paul was saying we could remain like other animals on the planet, which cater to their survival instincts, live and die.  Or we can create according to how our spirits direct us and become as God created us to be.  Paul called such awakened people, “God’s children.”  This is who we are.  Once we understand how easy it is to teach others by simply being who we are, we will step up more intentionally and do it.

     I remember visiting a woman who was past the age of retirement for many people.  She was always baking pies and taking them to people who were sick.  If a person experienced some misfortune, she would stop by their home, gather up their laundry, wash and iron it for them.  She would make arrangements with parents to give them an evening alone and she would baby-sit their children.    

     During my visit, I ate three pieces of pie:  pumpkin, apple and cherry.  I had no choice; she was most insistent! I remember that her light and flaky crusts were made from lard.  I had made the unfortunate mistake of letting her know I was coming. 

     She reminded me of the women in Jesus’ story of the widow who put in to the Temple treasury two copper coins, thus giving everything she had.  In her own way, this older woman was showing me how utterly simple it is to be a teacher.  Her laughter was contagious.  Her spirit radiated enthusiasm.  Children adored her.  She gave what she had and in doing so made a difference for everyone her life touched.

     Paul continued his discussion of reality by writing these words, “We know that up to the present time all of creation groans with pain, like the pain of childbirth.  Yet it is not just creation that groans; we who have recognized the Spirit also groan as we wait for God to set free all of creation.”  Paul could not have been more correct.  Until everyone understands that this experience is earth school, creation will groan.

     Some of us may have tuned in the other day when England paused two minutes to remember those who died in four terrorist attacks.  There were groans as collectively we remember that people were on their way to work and never arrived.  There were groans when we heard about the driver who detonated his explosive device in the midst of children receiving candy from Americans soldiers.  There were groans in creation each time intruders violate people’s homes, when they hijack cars and when the life of a person appears cheap each time rival gangs clash.

     Paul recognized that we live in a world with others who have not awakened to being in earth school.  Not everyone perceives creation the same way, nor do they realize that they are not accomplishing anything by damaging the classroom and its people.  Not everyone feels motivated or inspired to create a better world by what they do.  Not everyone wants to become involved in planting educational seeds for the generations not yet born.   

     The groans of creation have become increasingly loud because of the presence of those who are seriously committed to disrupting and destroying any way of life different from their own.  Yet, as strange as this may sound, even the groans from such desperate people are teaching the world community by their example.  We are learning what we do not want in our world community.       

     Paul used an interesting metaphor in describing these groans.  As has been mentioned, he referred to such sounds as those similar to childbirth.  Childbirth represents promise, potential and new beginnings.  Paul wrote about hope that creation would one day be set free from its slavery to decay and that everyone who has become a child of God would share its glorious freedoms.   

     We need to recognize how universal Paul was in his thinking.  Paul never used the word “Christian” in any of his letters.  In fact, the words Christian or Christians are referenced only three times in the New Testament, two in the Book of Acts and once in Peter’s first letter.   Paul knew that a day would arrive when spiritual maturity would be the dominant consciousness among the world’s people.  He finished his thought with these words, “Who of us hopes for something we see?  When we wait for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.”  Paul knew a better world was on its way.  Why?  Because it was God’s will, and absolutely nothing will prevent God’s will from unfolding. 

     No one has a crystal ball that will tell us what we want to hear or show us what we want to see.  Of this we can be sure: there will always be plenty of things to criticize and condemn.  When we think we have heard the worst possible story, there will always be something far worse that will come to our attention.  While such things will happen, never forget that God is still creating.  Look at the distance we have come. 

     The Apostle Paul had the correct vision.  Those people who engage in gratifying their appetites will reap exactly what they have sown – their own death.  Those who extend themselves toward making a remarkable, healing difference among our world’s people will reap a far different result.     

     If we have joined ourselves to God, we can afford to be patient, patient with the conditions of the world, patient with each other and patient with our own impatience.  Think of the billions of people who had to be patient through the centuries looking forward to a day when freedom could be a reality and  not just a hope.   

    They may have wondered if a day would arrive when food was in plentiful supply. They may have wondered if people might one day visit places throughout the world that sailors described with vivid imagery as they returned from distant seaports.  All those things have happened and we are the recipients.  We have been learning from each other.   

     We are living in a grand time historically, but many people still do not share our bounty, a bounty made possible because of the spirit by which we live.  Most people living in “the free world” have learned to serve one another through their vocations.  Because of that commonly held value we have life in abundance.  Our frustration comes at the point of realizing that God is still creating and is not yet finished.  But again, look at the distance we have come. 

     Those of us, who have grafted our spirits into God’s and have become co-creators, are not in short supply.  People everywhere are making a difference.  Eighteen of our youth returned safely yesterday from yet another mission trip. We cannot measure the ripples their lives and activities have generated. We have to remember that this is God’s earth school.  Our task is simply to teach others what we have found.  If they walk in darkness, our role is to help others see the light by what we do.  This is why Jesus called people into discipleship.  He knew this was earth school.  He knew we could teach each other as he taught his disciples.  

     When we were in Juarez, Mexico a couple of weeks ago, we did not see another group of workers while we were there.  We were busy in our medical/dental clinic.  However, when we arrived at the El Paso airport and experienced the flight delays caused by the severe weather conditions over Dallas, that is when we learned that others were singing our song of creation.  We learned from those nine groups that there are thousands each summer who swarm over Juarez demonstrating, “Love your neighbor.” We are in earth school and it is our role to teach others by what we do. 

     I want you to listen to a song sung by a group called, “The Vocal Majority,” a men’s chorus located in Texas.  The song is called, One Voice.  This song describes the learning process of how one teacher’s voice slowly spread throughout creation.  Jesus became a single voice teaching his listeners to love their neighbors.  Discipleship has spread like leaven in the dough each time one more person sings his song.  This is earth school and singing his song is our task.  Please listen to these words.

THE CONGREGATIONAL PRAYER

     Eternal and ever faithful God, our lives are exposed to so many voices that urge us to follow.  How grateful we are for the influence Jesus has over our lives.  We confess, however, that knowing is not the same as doing.  We have responded to chapters in our lives with hurt, frustration and disappointment.   Jesus taught understanding, patience and tolerance.  We confess that our insights have come more from hindsight and foresight.  We mistakenly pursue what we believe will make us whole.  God created us whole, complete and good the moment we were born.  Lead us, O God, to access our inner world more often then we do.  Teach us to develop and bear our fruit as we fulfill your plan for us.  Amen.

THE PASTORAL PRAYER

     Eternal and ever faithful God, our lives are exposed to so many voices that urge us to follow.  How grateful we are for the influence Jesus has over our lives.  We confess, however, that knowing is not the same as doing.  We have responded to chapters in our lives with hurt, frustration and disappointment.   Jesus taught understanding, patience and tolerance.  We confess that our insights have come more from hindsight and foresight.  We mistakenly pursue what we believe will make us whole.  God created us whole, complete and good the moment we were born.  Lead us, O God, to access our inner world more often then we do.  Teach us to develop and bear our fruit as we fulfill your plan for us.  Amen.