Every Creature...

I think it is safe to say that Joyce Kilmer was not a particularly great poet. Critics regard his poetry as overly romantic, simplistic and lacking character, whatever that means.

Yes, Joyce was a man. He was a husband, a father and a war hero who died in a World War One battle, as a matter of fact. I have no idea why he chose to use his middle name, Joyce, instead of his first name, Alfred. Perhaps he thought it was more fitting for an artist. Still, however, he was not a great poet, particularly when you compare him to other great American poets like Walt Whitman and Robert Frost. There is even an annual Joyce Kilmer Memorial Bad Poetry Contest, held by the literary society at his Alma Mater, Columbia University.

Kilmer did, however, write one very famous poem. The poem, maligned or not, is often read at Arbor Day celebrations; it has been set to music several times, sung by artists as gifted as Paul Robeson and as silly as Alfalfa of the “Little Rascals”; and it is, as far as I know, still taught in elementary schools around the country.

And while today is not Arbor Day – this not-so-popular-any-more holiday is actually this coming Friday – today is Earth Day, as you heard me say a little while ago in our Children’s Sermon.

Earth Day, our focus for today, is a more modern, and arguably more significant, holiday that has replaced Arbor Day on most people’s calendar, so I think it is fitting for us to listen to Kilmer’s famous little poem anyway. I’m sure many of you can recite it with me. It goes like this…

I think that I shall never see

A poem lovely as a tree.

A tree whose hungry mouth is prest

Against the sweet earth's flowing breast;

A tree that looks at God all day,

And lifts her leafy arms to pray;

A tree that may in summer wear

A nest of robins in her hair;

Upon whose bosom snow has lain;

Who intimately lives with rain.

Poems are made by fools like me,

But only God can make a tree.

In addition to the Columbia poetry contest I mentioned before, our own New Jersey Turnpike has a Joyce Kilmer rest stop. Not far from here, actually. And, if you’re traveling in North Carolina, if you like you can visit the Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest, one of the largest old growth preserves in the eastern part of the United States.

Now, I am in no way qualified to be a poetry critic. And I don’t have a particular opinion about the poetic merits of “Trees.” What I am suggesting, this morning, is that Kilmer’s famous poem can help us think about Earth Day – and remind us of the undeniable link between God and God’s creation, every bit of it, and our clear responsibility to be faithful stewards of this planet.

To use Kilmer’s words, trees look to God all day, and lift their leafy arms to pray – as should we, certainly, in all of our comings and goings. More importantly, however, this poem reminds us that you and I must look to God in the way we interact with the world around us.

This call to be good stewards of the earth is not just something we remember on Earth Day. It is a theme that is repeated throughout Scripture. It is a Biblical message that is decidedly unambiguous. Consider, for example, our text for this morning.

Our lesson for today comes from the book of Revelation, one of the more difficult, and often misunderstood, books in the Bible. The book is filled with symbols and images and vivid descriptions of visions and dreams that include the kinds of creatures we see depicted today in the special effects world of fantasy film. It is not surprising that the Lectionary – the prescribed readings that we, and other Christian churches all over the world, draw from each week – rarely takes us to these strange writings from the pen of John.

But that is where we find ourselves this morning, in Revelation chapter 5, where John beautifully describes his vision of the risen Christ, the Lamb, who in his words “…was slaughtered to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!”

John’s image of the Lamb on the throne rings true to our post-resurrection Christian consciousness. His words are familiar. We have sung them and prayed them liturgically countless times. There are nineteen hymns in our Book of Worship that borrow words from this portion of Scripture. Joyce Kilmer is no match for John when it comes to the popularity of his poetry.

But it is the words that follow that contain the message we need to reflect upon on this Earth Day Sunday. “I heard every creature,” John writes, “in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and in the sea and all that is in them, singing ‘To the one seated on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!’”

John’s vision of the Kingdom of God is one in which all of Creation worships the Lamb. Every bit of it. Christ’s redemption, in this view, is extended not just to humanity, but to the whole of creation.

When you think of it, Joyce Kilmer’s poetic picture of trees lifting their arms to pray is not so different, really, from John’s picture of the whole created order singing praise to the one seated on the throne.

Noted author and church leader Wesley Granberg-Michaelson reminds us that this Scriptural reality must affect how we think of and treat the environment.

God’s covenant with creation, established in Genesis and affirmed over and over again in Scripture, is, for Michaelson, the foundation of our calling to care for the Earth. “Christian faith today” he writes, “faces the critical task of renewing its theological tradition through recovering the central place of creation in the biblical message.”

“The community of believers,” Michaelson continues, “is confronted with the clear calling to participate in the heart of the struggle throughout the world to uphold the integrity of creation.”

And here’s his punch line. “The realities that jeopardize life on this planet make it clear that our response is imperative if our hope in God’s promises is genuine.”

Michaelson is exactly correct, in my view. Put very simply, our Christian faith demands that we care for the environment. As Christians, we must also be Environmentalists.

When you think of the thorny social issues of our day, some of which tie modern Christians up in knots, dividing denominations and splitting congregations, it is sometimes hard to find common ground.

Caring for the environment is not one of those divisive issues. Aside from a handful of naysayers on the fringes of the political spectrum, this is a subject on which Christians of all flavors can agree – agree, in fact, with one another and agree with secular scientists as well.

It doesn’t matter if you believe that the earth and all that lives on it was created in seven calendar days or believe that the whole process evolved over millions of years, three points stand out in clear, simple terms.

Actually, nobody really disputes this fact. It is supported by our experience – it is simply not as cold, on average, as it was 50 years ago – and it has been documented by scientists all around the world. The debate, such that there is one, is about what has caused the change and what, if anything, can be done about it.

Even though the clear majority of climate scientists agree that the indisputable rise in the temperature of the planet has been caused, primarily, by the burning of fossil fuels and the deforestation of hundreds of thousands of acres of land to make room for industrial and residential growth, there are some notable voices who disagree.

The reason I believe we need to come down on the side of the majority in this debate is similar to the reason that Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has enthusiastically supported California’s aggressive efforts to reduce pollution in that state. “If 98 doctors say my son is ill and needs medication” the Governor says, “and two say ‘No, he doesn’t, he is fine,’ I will go with the 98. It’s common sense — the same with global warming. We go with the majority, the large majority. ... The key thing now is that since we know this industrial age has created it, let’s get our act together and do everything we can to roll it back.”

In January of this year, a meeting jointly convened by the Center for Health and the Environment at the Harvard Medical School and the National Association of Evangelicals produced a document called “Our Shared Concern.” The document contains some striking conclusions:

· We are gradually destroying the sustaining community of life on which all living things on Earth depend,

· The protection of life on Earth is a profound moral imperative. It addresses without discrimination the interests of all humanity as well as the value of the non-human world,

· This is a religious obligation, rooted in our sense of gratitude for Creation and reverence for its Creator; And I love this last one…

John, the author of our text for today, is also the author of what is perhaps the most famous passage in the New Testament. It is contained in Chapter 3, verse 16 of his Gospel, and they are words attributed to Jesus. Most of us memorized the passage long ago: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only son….” If we believe that passage to be true, that God so loved the world – the cosmos in the original Greek – then don’t you think it is reasonable for us to conclude that God expects us, the Church, the body of followers of Christ, to also love the world?

We have not been saved from the world. That is not what Jesus was saying in John’s Gospel. That is not what John was saying in our text. On the contrary, salvation also means saving the world.

Again, John says is better than I could ever hope to do so, in the 17^th verse of Chapter 3: “for God sent God’s son to the world…so that the world through him might be saved.”

And so, friends, on this Earth Day Sunday, may we count ourselves among those in our Christian family who recognize God’s love for this planet of ours and may we stand ready to do everything possible to reflect that love in our actions toward God’s creation.