at the First Congregational Church of Stoughton

United Church of Christ

Out of the swirling chaos of the cosmos, God created. Created earth and water, separated them from the heavens, placed on the earth and in the water and in the air fantastic creatures. Out of dust planted the first seeds for all green and growing things which cover the earth. And among this paradise, this wondrous garden, this kingdom of God’s own creation, God placed humankind, made from God’s own likeness. And because man and woman bore God’s own likeness, God placed them as stewards over all creation; this marvel of God’s own making. It was, it is, an important job. From the very beginning when humankind still dwelled in the garden, they had the job of keeping the peace, of making sure that all of creation, themselves included, was cared for.

And along the way, things changed. God had a perfect plan for creation. But more than that, God had a plan for humankind: freewill; the ability to choose how we would live our lives. We were not created simply to maintain the status quo established at the beginning. God gave us the gift of choice, the gift to shape our own destiny. God created the road, but we choose how we will travel it, the stops we will make, the pace we will keep and who we will travel with. From the moment Eve and Adam chose to eat the apple and the world did not explode, humankind has been in control of our own lives. In the perfectness of creation, God allowed for our free choice and is allowing for it still. Each day we make our own decisions on how we will exist in and interact with God’s creation.

But overarching all of this is the commission we were given by God, take care of Creation: of the earth, the green things that grow, the animals which creep and wander and soar and dive. It is ours to do with as we wish, but we are always to keep this in mind. Somewhere along the way, this commission has lost its power over us. Like a fading edict from some long forgotten ruler, this responsibility and power we were entrusted with so long ago has lost its hold over us. Our freewill has allowed us to push it to the side in favor of other earthly tasks. We read it now in the story of creation and disregard it as part of a myth which is sweet and pleasing and helped our ancestors place themselves in the great unknown. It helps us connect to them, but has no real meaning for how we live our lives this age we live in.

Even in Jesus’ time people were beginning to forget the role that had been entrusted to them, or maybe they never even knew it was theirs to bear. In this morning’s scripture reading from Matthew, we heard Jesus preaching from the mountain top to the throngs of people who yearned to hear his voice. Jesus has just told the people gathered around him that they shouldn’t be collecting treasures on earth, but rather in heaven; spiritual treasures, rather than monetary earthly treasures. (If that sounds familiar, it should. It is the scripture passage we have been using for our Stewardship season)

So I’m sure that Jesus means to reassure these people that he’s just told shouldn’t be concerned with money and treasures on earth, that if they do as he says they should, they will still be taken care of. “Remember,” he is saying, “remember what God said at the very beginning? I do, I was there, part of the whole creation thing. And I remember! God created you and blessed you with a resemblance to God’s own being! And because of this great gift, God gave you the greatest responsibility of all! Take care of creation, work the land so that it will grow and produce food to feed you and allow the wild things to grow so that all creatures may eat. Take care of the animals, those that can serve your needs, those that are beautiful and wander the green earth, fly through the blue skies, dive and swim in the churning waters. Take care of each other, for you are part of creation too! This is your gift and your responsibility.”

It is not always easy to hear what Jesus is saying underneath his words. It is easier to feel reassured by the simplest understand, don’t worry, God will provide. For some, it easier even to feel that Jesus is simply pointing out the things we are all worried about; what we will eat, how we’ll feed our families, how we’ll provide clothing and shelter. And that part about the birds? Well of course that’s all well and good, but we are not birds. That’s not the way it works for us humans. We have to get jobs and pay bills and...worry. We are not the first people to wonder what this scripture means for our lives. I imagine that after those first people gathered around Jesus heard him preaching, that were just as confused as we often are. What are we to do with this direction to “seek the Kingdom of God?” Jesus describes the Kingdom of God in many ways throughout the gospels. It is a mustard seed, it is a place where the harvest will grow without our efforts, it is near enough for us to sense it, it is a secret, it is being revealed, it is what we are all waiting for, it is the reason Jesus has come, to preach the good news about the Kingdom of God. Today it still the subject of great debate. Religions, denominations, groups, cults all have their own idea of what the Kingdom of God means. Theologians write scores of volumes about it. So how are we supposed to seek the Kingdom of God first, if we don’t even know what that means?

Well here’s one way of looking at it: the Kingdom of God is the household of God, established at creation. After all, kingdom is not a word we can easily identify with here in our own time and place. It is something grand and far off, filled with princes and queens, the stuff of fairy tales, unattainable. But a household, we can understand that, we can reach that. And so I suggest that we are seeking a household of God where we take care of each other as a family does. Of course there are some arguments from time to time, what family doesn’t have those? But in the end, families look out for each other. Here in our church our theme for this stewardship season is caring for the household of God. This passage from Matthew talks about our oh so human concerns for caring for our own households. But the larger reality is that we are all members of the household of God as well.

We really have no choice in this. God created us, mother and father to us all. Like wayward teenagers, we sometimes struggle against this parental authority. “You can’t tell us what do you!” we rail at God. “You just don’t get it! You’re not the boss of me!” But like the loving parent God is, there is always a place for us when we are ready to come home again. God enfolds us in loving arms and gently reminds us that we are God’s. We are part of God’s family, and like it or not stewards of creation since the very beginning. So what does that mean for us now? Well you can look at it in a couple of ways. You can get even more worried about how you not only have to support your own family, but everyone else as well! You work hard for what you have, why should you give it away? Other people don’t see themselves as “stewards” they don’t take care of anyone but themselves, why should you? OR you can see it as a gift. Yes one that comes with some responsibility, but still a gift.

You have heard the echos of the voice of God, the ringing back through the eons. “I created you, I love you, please take care of this my greatest treasure. I want to take care of you all, but I need a little help. There are so many people all making their own choices, its not as easy as it was in the garden. I’m not saying I regret that humankind can chose how to live their lives, I don’t. It just means that I need your help down there.”

God did not abandon us to our own devises. God has given us a way that all our needs will be met, as surely as God has taken care of the birds in air. And that way is this: God has united us all in God’s own household, members of God’s own family. And what do families do? They fight of course, from time to time. But they also look out for each other, they take care of each other. This is what Jesus means when he tells us not to worry. Of course there are problems, but the whole plan set in place by God at creation was meant to deal with these problems. God gave us freewill, but also built in a back up plan. As humankind makes its own decisions and shapes the world in our way, not always God’s way, we are always to remember our charge, what we are called to do, what we have been called to do since the world was young: take care of each other, take care of creation.

Sometimes this task seems easier than others. When the sun is shinning and times are good it seems like no big deal. But then the clouds roll in and we are tempted to close our shutters against the coming storm. We have all been touched by the financial burdens that are facing our country today, some more than others, but no one is outside the reach of the palpable fear and worry which are connected to money in our current climate. It is in these times when we have to try harder to hear God’s voice reminding us that no matter else happens, we are God’s stewards. And God has given us all gifts to fill this role. Some of us are blessed enough to have the opportunity to use those gifts to earn a good living, to buy the latest toys and eat out at fancy restaurants. While others’ gifts feel over looked, not needed in a way they used to be. They are forced to dip into their savings and re-examine their gifts, how they will meet their everyday needs. But our gifts’ are from God for the service of God. Even when they seem undervalued in our earthly lives, in the household of God, they are as important as ever.

When we combine our gifts, we create a household of care, some caring and some being cared for. We’ve all been in a position at one point or another when we needed help and care and hopefully we’ve been in a position to offer it as well because we are all called to do both; to offer care and to accept care. Sometimes I think the later is the harder task. But that is what it means to be a member of the household of God. We are called to offer care so that when the day comes that we need care of our own, we can accept it knowing that we would and will do the same for others in whatever ways we are able.

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