Will Preach For Food Podcast

Tending the Earth (Genesis 2)

September 03, 2022 Doug Season 3 Episode 25
Will Preach For Food Podcast
Tending the Earth (Genesis 2)
Show Notes Transcript

We are wired to ask questions from the time we are little. Where do babies come from? Why is the sky blue? Why is life so hard sometimes? What is the meaning of life, the universe, and everything? 

Most of these questions defy a cookie cutter answer. And so we tell stories. The Bible is full of compelling, multi-faceted stories that make us think and help us see the world with fresh eyes. The Bible includes not just one, but two stories about how and why God created the heavens and the earth and everything in between—including you and me. 

Genesis 2:4-24

4 This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, when the Lord God made the earth and the heavens.

5 Now no shrub had yet appeared on the earth and no plant had yet sprung up, for the Lord God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no one to work the ground, 6 but streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground. 7 Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.

8 Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. 9 The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

10 A river watering the garden flowed from Eden; from there it was separated into four headwaters. 11 The name of the first is the Pishon; it winds through the entire land of Havilah, where there is gold. 12 (The gold of that land is good; aromatic resin and onyx are also there.) 13 The name of the second river is the Gihon; it winds through the entire land of Cush. 14 The name of the third river is the Tigris; it runs along the east side of Ashur. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.

15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”

18 The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”

19 Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. 20 So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals.

But for Adam no suitable helper was found. 21 So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and then closed up the place with flesh. 22 Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.

23 The man said,

“This is now bone of my bones
     and flesh of my flesh;
 she shall be called ‘woman,’
     for she was taken out of man.”

24 That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.

Here ends the reading.

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Tending the Earth (Genesis 2)

Introduction

Hello, and welcome to the Will Preach for Food podcast. I’m Doug, a pastor here at Faith Lutheran Church, based out of Shelton, Washington, a congregation of the ELCA. Faith is a welcoming community: growing closer to and more like Jesus; making Christ known; joyfully serving each other, our neighbors, and all God’s creation. You can learn more about Faith at our website, www.faithshelton.org. Thanks for listening today. 

We are wired to ask questions from the time we are little. Where do babies come from? Why is the sky blue? Why is life so hard sometimes? What is the meaning of life, the universe, and everything? 

Most of these questions defy a cookie cutter answer. And so we tell stories. The Holy Spirit knows the value of a good story, so the Bible is full of compelling, multi-faceted stories that make us think and help us see the world with fresh eyes. The Bible includes not just one, but two stories about how and why God created the heavens and the earth and everything in between—including you and me. 

Let’s read from Genesis 2:4-24, then I’ll share with you a couple of things I noticed this time around, and end by suggesting a few takeaways for you and me in the weeks ahead. The sermon title for today is “Tending the Earth.”

Genesis 2:4-24

4 This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, when the Lord God made the earth and the heavens.

5 Now no shrub had yet appeared on the earth and no plant had yet sprung up, for the Lord God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no one to work the ground, 6 but streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground. 7 Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.

8 Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. 9 The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

10 A river watering the garden flowed from Eden; from there it was separated into four headwaters. 11 The name of the first is the Pishon; it winds through the entire land of Havilah, where there is gold. 12 (The gold of that land is good; aromatic resin and onyx are also there.) 13 The name of the second river is the Gihon; it winds through the entire land of Cush. 14 The name of the third river is the Tigris; it runs along the east side of Ashur. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.

15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”

18 The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”

19 Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. 20 So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals.

But for Adam no suitable helper was found. 21 So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and then closed up the place with flesh. 22 Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.

23 The man said,

“This is now bone of my bones
     and flesh of my flesh;
 she shall be called ‘woman,’
     for she was taken out of man.”

24 That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.

Here ends the reading.

A New World Order

Every culture and people has stories about how and why the earth was formed, how people came to be, how it is we are supposed to relate to our surroundings, how we are to relate to other people. When Genesis 2 emerged 3000 years ago, other civilizations like the Babylonians and Egyptians and Canaanites all had creation stories, too, and those stories tended to promote a hierarchy of power: The gods were at the top; then the Pharaoh or king; then then wealthy men; then poor men; then women, foreigners, and children; then cows and dogs; and then plants and water and dirt. The lower beings existed to serve the higher beings. According to those stories, “that’s just the way it is.”

Genesis 2 presents a much different kind of natural order, an upsidedown or even “anti-hierarchy.” God is not at the top of the food chain, but rather creates and sustains the food chain! One in which the powerful serves the needs of those who have less, beginning with God who creates everything, and then assumes responsibility for its care. God creates Adam, “Mud Guy,” and pledges to provide for, protect, and preserve him, tasking the first man to partner with God in tending the earth, the plants, and the animals. 

God’s creation, according to Genesis 2, is designed for community, for relationships. “It is not good for a person to be alone,” the story says, so the pinnacle of God’s creation is woman—a companion, a co-worker, made of the same stuff as Adam. The two become one, the Bible says, and so we have a basis for the idea of family, of community, all receiving the provision of God, tending the land, enjoying its beauty and bounty. Genesis 2 is human hierarchy turned on its head, an anti-hierarchy.

Bounty and Boundaries

Genesis 2 also articulates the bounty and boundaries of creation. The bounty, the provision of God is clear: There is plenty for everyone to eat. Some of the trees are there just because they’re pretty to look at! God’s bounty is a gift, to be shared by all. This is God’s modus operandi throughout the Bible. From the Garden of Eden. Manna in the Wilderness. The Promised Land. The forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation. There is enough for all. It’s all a gift. Even your ability to work, your circumstance, your so-called “work ethic,” all these, the Bible says, are also gifts from God, and nothing to brag about. 

You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” (Moses says in Deuteronomy 8:17),  18 But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth.

People and creation suffer and starve, not because there isn’t enough, but because we don’t share it.

At the same time, there is some “fruit” that isn’t good for us. Genesis 2 introduces a boundary, too. “Don’t eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” We’re talking metaphorical fruit, right? The image is that of reaching for something that isn’t ours to take, or that we aren’t ready for, or is above our paygrade or capacity to digest. It is out of bounds. Genesis 3 is going to tell us what happens when humanity bumps up against these boundaries. We as human beings bite off more than we can chew. Human life gets out of sync with God and God’s good creation.

Tend the Earth

Genesis 2 is at the heart of what is known as stewardship of creation. We steward, take care of, tend all of God’s creation, the heavens and the earth, and everything in between. We don’t own it, we manage it. “YHWY God took ADAM and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.” (Gen 2:15)

This is a form of the first, original great commission. Tend the earth. Take care of, to lovingly tend, the good gifts of God’s creation—the trees, the rivers, the wild animals, the glaciers and oceans—all of it. Genesis 2:5 suggests that the fruitfulness of the earth relies on both God’s provision AND Adam’s role of working the land, managing the resources. We were made to work the garden and take care of it. 

And in order to take care of it, we have to learn about it. Name the critters. Learn that water ultimately comes from evaporation from the ocean that forms clouds and then the jet stream carries the clouds over the land where the moisture descends in the form of rain and snow, which then flows downstream as creeks and rivers, or soaks into the ground to become groundwater. That way, when the rivers dry up or the groundwater goes away or the temperatures rise or the glaciers disappear, Adam can apply that knowledge to tend the earth, chart a corrective course, change behaviors that “seemed like a good idea at the time.” That’s why we’re here!

This church rejects the notion that, somehow, we have and bear no responsibility for the future of the planet—of course we do. Genesis 2 and the weight of the biblical witness affirms the mandate and responsibility to steward creation and tend the earth. Martin Luther was famously asked what he would do if he knew for certain that the world was going to end tomorrow. “I’d probably plant a tree,” was his response. Therefore, grounded in scripture and the Christian faith, this congregation’s vision statement explicitly affirms our Christian calling to joyfully serve all God’s creation. Our mission statement affirms that we participate in God’s mission when and whenever we are caring for creation.

Tend the Human Family

And the last thing I’ll say about Genesis 2 is that it affirms that humans are meant for community. Everything God had made was good (tov). But it is NOT good, it says in Genesis 2:18, for a person to be alone. We are to take care of creation, but we are also part of creation, and therefore we need to take care of each other, right. Creation was meant for human community, for family, and for civil society. This includes the immediate family—mommies and daddies making babies. But the Bible describes all sorts of family systems and sizes: single, married, multi-generational, interracial, adopted, extended, and usually, well, complicated.

And we are part of a larger human family, too. The book of Revelation envisions the culmination of creation as including a multitude of people, too many to count, people from every language, tribe, nation, and tongue standing before the throne. We were made, and we were made for community.

Takeaways

1.      Read and tell more stories. Read Genesis 1 and 2, or find a children’s version with pictures. Or find and read creation stories from other traditions and compare them. Let the stories spark your imagination, your wonder, and your value as a precious child of God.

2.      Consider the spiritual practice of tending the earth. Maybe it means planting a garden or watering your plants. Maybe it means learning about your carbon footprint, recycling, or supporting a clean water project. Faith is starting a new “Green Team” small group to consider the stewardship of creation and what it means for our congregation. 

3.      And tend to your family, whatever that looks like for you. Pray for and encourage kids going back to school. Pray for and encourage young adults trying to navigate a very different world than the one you and I grew up in. Pray for and encourage friends and family members that are aging, hospitalized, and failing to thrive. Remember that we are dust, and to dust we shall return. 

4.      Remember that YOU are not alone. You are beautiful and valued and loved, just as you are.

5.      And pray for our nation and our world. We pray for the healing of the planet. We pray for the healing of the nations. We pray for the healing and restoration of the whole human family. 

Conclusion

Stories tell us who we are, where we came from, and what we are here for. The Holy Spirit knows the value of a good story, so the Bible includes not just one, but two stories about how and why God created the heavens and the earth and everything in between—including you and me. Genesis 2 teaches us to treasure and take care of the planet. Genesis 2 teaches us to treasure and take care of the human family. May you never tire of listening to and learning from the wisdom of the Holy Spirit in the stories of scripture. Amen.

So that’s what I’ve got for you today. Thanks for listening, folks. Our website is www.faithshelton.org. This podcast is available on most podcast platforms, including Spotify, Apple, and Google. Like us, subscribe, donate, or sign-up for our newsletter. Thank you, Chas and Nadia, for your production and tech support for this podcast. 

May God bless you…