Warren Wilson College of Asheville, N.C., last fall issued a challenge to pastors, through The Presbyterian Outlook, to write an “eco-sermon,” exploring “a Christian understanding of our place in creation.”
Winners of the Eco-sermon Challenge were announced recently. The winning sermon, entitled “Creatures, Creation and the Creator,” was written by John Wilkinson, pastor of Third Church in Rochester, N.Y. In second place was a sermon entitled, “Remembering God,” by Lee Alder Koontz, associate pastor of Philadelphia Church in Charlotte, N.C. Third place went to William P. Seel, pastor of Easley Church in Easley, S.C. for his sermon entitled, “Stewards of Creation: Caring for God’s World.” The college received sermons from north, south, east and west, from churches of varying sizes and perspectives. They were ranked on the basis of five categories: Biblical grounding, authenticity and conviction, contextual awareness and relevance, effectiveness (in convicting and encouraging repentance), and sustainability (solutions that are realistic and faithful. Readers/ judges for the contest included two Presbyterian ministers, two laypersons, a student, and a staff person from the college’s Environmental Leadership Center. Warren Wilson College is one of the leading schools in the nation for environmental studies and sustainable practices. The college established one of the first official Environmental Studies programs in the country in 1978. Its Environmental Leadership Center (ELC), established more than ten years ago, helps flesh out on campus the theories developed by students in class and then brings businesses, civic groups, builders and realtors to campus to see the many creative and effective ways they can incorporate ecologically responsible practices into their work. “To our surprise, many of the sermons submitted had already been preached. Another unexpected discovery was how much they had in common in their theories of how humans have gotten things so wrong, possible avenues for repentance, and which passages in Scripture can help us with these important questions,” said Julie Lehman, the college’s director of church relations. Sermon themes included: Sin Common terms used in nearly all sermons to discuss where we have erred were “sin,” “hubris” and “consumerism.” Several sermons described sin as a disconnect between humans and the natural world, between “tilling” and “keeping” in our stewardship of the land and in perceiving God as divorced from creation. Two illustrations from sermon entries include: But this is our sin, this is our failing before God and before our fellow creatures: we have allowed these two tasks [tilling and keeping] to become separated, divided, pulled apart … we have come to employ an economic and ecological practice in which we first work the land by exploiting it, devastating it, stripping it bare and crushing it; and then, when we are done, try to keep the earth by launching extraordinary rescue efforts to clean up and restore the damage we have done … The result is a sort of cultural schizophrenia in which one minute we are almost gleefully lopping off the tops of mountains and paving over meadows, and then the very next wringing our hands in remorse over the mess we have made and worrying about global warming. God meant for working and keeping the earth to be one and the same thing – a single way of living upon the face of the earth that would sustain life as well as sustain beauty. This is our sin: … that we have turned working and keeping into enemies – and so have harmed the garden God gave us to tend. — William P. Seel, Easley Church, Easley, S.C. “I consider myself to be very much aware of the environmental issues facing the world today … but I am now forced to admit that there is a huge disconnect between the values I espouse and the consumer lifestyle I enjoy.” — Roger Scott Powers, Light Street Church, Baltimore, Md. Stewardship Another theme noticed in many sermons explored the true meaning of dominion and stewardship. Rather than being rulers of the earth, stewardship means being a trustee or property manager, with God being the landowner to whom we are accountable. Psalm 24:1 was often referenced, The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell in it.” Genesis 1 and Psalm 104 were also commonly cited. Stewardship/trusteeship is and must become for all humans (with Christians, who presumably know what God expects, taking the lead) our purpose and our duty in our time on earth, lest God find a buyer for the property, lest we find ourselves with that worthless servant in the outer darkness weeping and gnashing our teeth. — Wesley Schlotzhauer Jr., H.R., Member at Large, Presbytery of Grand Canyon, Phoenix, Ariz. Repentance While most sermons acknowledged the mess in which we find ourselves, all dedicated some portion of their sermons to ways in which Christians must restore what has been lost, not only in nature, but in our relationship with God, the Creator. Suggestions for repentance included the following: It’s not too late to remember our place in creation … it’s not too late to respond to God’s creative grace with our wonder, our reverence and our love … the fact remains that the water coming from the faucet is the same water that God spoke into being. The heap of dirt at the local landfill is the same dry land that God separated from the deep waters. The air becoming saturated with emissions from my car is the same air that God breathed into the nostrils of the first living creatures. —Lee Alder Koontz, Philadelphia Church, Charlotte, N.C. Our task needs to be an effort to de-politicize the conversation about the environment and re-theologize it. — John Wilkinson, Third Church, Rochester, N.Y. “Warren Wilson College hopes that this eco-sermon challenge begins a conversation between faith and academia and that these sermons helps inspire ministers to preach prophetically and thoughtfully so that Christians can hear what God might be saying to us in this perilous time. Prayer, study, community reflection and action are also essential to our ability to hear God’s Word. Through ‘eco-preaching,’ we can discern where God is active in restoring creation and redeeming humanity to whom God entrusted this wondrous garden,” said Julie Lehman. To read all twelve sermons, visit http://www.warren-wilson.edu/church.
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