Creation Care Sunday

Oct 3, 2021

Sirach 42:15-25, Psalm 104:1, 2b-5, 10-13,Matthew 6:26-34

Periodically, throughout the year, we take the time during a Sunday service, to focus on Creation Care…Of course, this isn’t meant to suggest that our focus on creation care should only be a once in awhile thing to think about …It just gives us an opportunity, today, to intentionally turn our hearts and minds, once again, to the gifts of God, and the glory of God, revealed to us in Creation…in the land, the mountains, the deserts, the trees, the waters, the animals, the birds, the fish, the butterflies, the planets, the stars, the expanse of the skies, and in the people all around us…It’s meant to re-awaken the gift of wonder in us…as we are reminded of the magnificence and beauty of God’s handiwork in all things bright and beautiful, in all creatures great and small, and in all the wise and wonderful things made by God, as revealed to us in the scriptures, in our prayers, in the music, and as we look at the created world all around us, in the places, we call home….And it allows for a moment of contemplation, in the midst of our time together today to wonder, “Could anyone ever see enough of this splendor?” (Sirach 42:25)

“Could anyone ever see enough of this splendor?” (Sirach 42:25)

When was the last time, a question like this even bubbled up in your heart…with such deep gratitude…for the beautiful works of God and the gifts of God given to us, in creation?

When was the last time these opening words from A General Thanksgiving (from our Book of Common prayer) came to mind, and you couldn’t help but to speak them out loud…

Accept, O Lord, our thanks and praise for all that you have done for us. We thank you for the splendor of the whole creation, for the beauty of this world, for the wonder of life, and for the mystery of love.

If we are honest with ourselves, we would admit that we often fall short, in taking time to thank and praise God for the splendor of the whole creation, for the beauty of this world, for the wonder of life, and for the mystery of love.

Somewhere along the way, as we grow into adults…our hearts and our minds get quite distracted by so many other things…we grow weary of all the changes and chances of this life…we get discouraged by the never-ending sufferings and heartaches that affect our families and friends, we fill up our time with so many other things that draw our attention away from the simple beauty in the gifts of creation that have so much to teach us and so much to reveal to us, about the nearness of God…As we become adults, we often “think” on too many impossibilities, instead of the infinite possibilities when we look at the created world through the eyes and the heart of God…And as noted in this week’s Every Perfect Gift reflection, “we replace the act of wonder with the practice of worry.”

In today’s gospel reading, Jesus invites us to look to the wonder of creation, to ease our worries. He says to his disciples who are worried about many things - Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these.

Children, too, have a lot to teach us about the gift of wonder in creation… Have you ever watched or walked with a child taking a hike in the woods or on a trail…or perhaps at the shore of the beach…they take notice of every little thing…the color, the movement, the texture, the smell…they ask questions, and more questions, and more questions…they never grow tired of wondering…they never grow tired of being amazed at all the wonderous gifts in creation…

So, yes, we can learn so much from Jesus about the wonders of creation to ease our worries, and we can learn so much from the children about keeping the curiosity and wonder alive in our minds and in our hearts, so as to never give up hope for what is still to come…and we can vow to make a renewed commitment to practice more wonder and joy in the gifts of God, revealed in creation… and we can stop regularly for a moment of contemplation to wonder aloud, or in silence, “Could anyone ever see enough of this splendor?” (Sirach 42: 25)

But, it can’t stop there…with just the awe of it all…we are called to respond with gratitude, not only with our lips, but in our lives…in the ways we love and cherish and care for these beautiful gifts of creation, and in the ways we love and cherish and care for one another today…

Yet, we don’t just do all of this for the sake of this time and this place, and with those we walk with now, but for those who will come long after us…We want them too, to be able to look around at the magnificence and the beauty of God’s handiwork in all things bright and beautiful, in all creatures great and small, and in all the wise and wonderful things made by God…and to be able to just pause for a moment, take a deep breath, and wonder…“Could anyone ever see enough of this splendor?” (Sirach 42:25)

Let us pray: A General Thanksgiving (2007 Version)

Accept, O Lord, our thanks and praise for all that you have

done for us. We thank you for the splendor of the whole

creation, for the beauty of this world, for the wonder of life,

and for the mystery of love.

We thank you for the blessing of family and friends, and for

the loving care which surrounds us on every side.

We thank you for setting us at tasks which demand our best

efforts, and for leading us to accomplishments which satisfy

and delight us.

We thank you also for those disappointments and failures

that lead us to acknowledge our dependence on you alone.

Above all, we thank you for your Son Jesus Christ; for the

truth of his Word and the example of his life; for his steadfast

obedience, by which he overcame temptation; for his dying,

through which he overcame death; and for his rising to life

again, in which we are raised to the life of your kingdom.

Grant us the gift of your Spirit, that we may know Christ and

make him known; and through him, at all times and in all

places, may give thanks to you in all things. Amen.

Rev Julie Platson, St Peter’s by the Sea Episcopal Church, Sitka, AK

Hymn after the sermon: All Things Bright and Beautiful (H) 405

Organist: Kathi Jones & St Peter’s Choir