Through the Eyes of Jesus-We See Eternal Life

PASTOR BURCHAM'S SERMON

Sunday, April 10, 2005

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

So it's a Saturday morning. You're sitting at the kitchen table and you're reading your Des Moines Register, your Des Moines Register which is printed on recycled paper and printed in soy ink. You're reading down an article and all of a sudden you notice that PETA had another protest and you're looking down at one of the quotes from one of the organizers of PETA and it says, “PETA believes that animals have rights, and they have an interest in leading their own lives. Therefore, they are not to be used for food, clothing, or entertainment.” You start to scan down the rest of the article and, all of a sudden, you hear on the radio a commercial. You hear the sizzle of a grill and a deep, gravelly voice, “Beef. It's what's for dinner.”

We live in a world of competing ideas, competing philosophies of what's right and what's wrong. How do we decide? How do we know what's right, what's wrong? How do we know what's just a matter of personal choice? It really comes down to our starting point, what is the basis of our belief, how do we view the world or our world view? As Christians, we want to have a biblical world view. That is, we want to live life according to what God has told us and what God has revealed to us, what God has revealed to us in His Word and what God has revealed to us through His Son, Jesus Christ. And we confess that belief every week through the words of the Apostle's Creed. And so, as we look at life and try to determine what's right, what's wrong, and what's a matter of personal choice, it begins with the first article of that Creed when we confess we believe in God the Father Almighty who is the maker of heaven and earth. And if we believe God is the maker of heaven and earth, then that gives us three guiding principles for life, three principles by which we look at life and we can make our decisions, our choices, and know what's left up to just simply personal choice.

The first principle is this: If God is the maker of heaven and earth, that means God is the creator of all there is. It means we believe, in Genesis 1, that's how the world came into being, that God called it into being and it was there, that before God called it into being, there was nothing. But when God said, “Let there be the earth and the planets and the stars,” they came into being. When God said, “Separate the waters one from the other,” then it happened. When God said, “Let there be birds in the air,” then all of a sudden, there were birds in the air. When God said, “Let there be livestock and wild animals that roam around the land,” then there were animals like that roaming around the land. We're saying if God is the creator, if He's the maker of heaven and earth, that means we're rejecting all other notions. We're rejecting the notion that billions of years ago there was a large bang in the universe and everything sort of fell into place and our planet landed where we are right now. It says we're rejecting the idea that over millions of years, all of a sudden, life evolved out of nothing until we find ourselves here, that just by chance, just by accident, we happen to be here along with all the rest of the creatures that inhabit the earth. We're saying God is the maker of heaven and earth, that in 6 days, God called into being everything that has life, everything that exists, everything that is here, that God has created everything for us. And if God has created everything, then God doesn't make mistakes. God doesn't have accidents. God doesn't have things that are made just by chance. What we're saying is we believe there is an intent and there is a purpose to creation, that God had a point when He called all things into being, that God had a purpose and a plan when He made the earth, the universe, and He made all the creatures that were in it. What we're saying is we believe He is the maker of heaven and earth, that after God had created all the rest of the world, God paused for a moment and He said, “Now let us make man in our image, in our likeness.” What we're saying is human beings are set apart from the rest of creation, that God reached down and He formed out of the dust of the ground both man and woman, that God gave them the breath of life so human beings are different from the rest of all the other creatures because human beings have a soul, because human beings, who were originally created in the image of God, that is, the likeness of God, in other words, we reflected God's glory, His goodness, everything God is originally, that's what human beings were. If we truly believe and confess that human beings are the crowning achievement of God's creation, so when the 6 th day was done and after He had created both Adam and Eve, He could not only say, “It was good,” but God said, “It was very good.” In other words, it was perfect. Creation was complete. That's what we're saying when we say God is the maker of heaven and earth.

And if God is the creator of all there is, then that has some pretty big implications for us, implications as far as how we approach life and make decisions and choices in life. The first implication is this: We view all of creation differently. We look at all of creation, and we see the vastness. We see the complexity of it all. We don't see chance. We don't see accidents. We don't see some evolutionary process. What we see is an awesome creative God. In every mountain, in every stream, in every animal and every landscape, we see the glory of God and His creative power that all around us gives testimony and witness to our all creating, all powerful God. It has implications of how we view and value life. If human beings are not the result of a chance or an accident of nature, just one chink in a long chain of evolutionary events, human beings were designed and created by God, then we value life differently. In fact, we put a rather high value on life. It means we view ourselves and we view other people differently. We view ourselves differently. We view ourselves as we are a creation of God. And remember God doesn't make accidents. God doesn't make goof ups. God doesn't mess up. So what that says to some of us is no matter how we might have been described as our conception, God doesn't have accidents. God has purpose and intent. God has value in you. God has a purpose for you. God has a point for your life. You were created for a specific reason. We indeed are His creation. It means we view other people differently. When we look at the people around us, we see them as people God created, people God loves, in fact, people God loves so much He wanted to restore in us that original likeness. He wanted to restore in us that original relationship from creation. And what extent would He go to ensure that? He'd send His Son to live among us. He'd watch His Son die so we can celebrate like we did two weeks ago at His resurrection and know His new life means new life for us. It means returning back to the original created order. It means returning back to someday reflecting perfectly God's glory, being in His image and His likeness once again. That means we look at other people differently, and we value people differently. It means life is sacred to us and any question about life has to be filtered through that, they are a creation of God. Practically what it means is this: From the unborn to the sick and the dying, life is sacred and the only, the only one that has the power to give and take life is God Himself. We're not meant to make those decisions. God makes those decisions. What it means is when we look at people, our neighbors, our coworkers, our friends, we view them differently, from the person we enjoy being around because they make us laugh to the person at the office who just grinds on us and gets underneath our skin. And yet we see them as one of God's creation, and we value them. We value them as God values them. God is the creator of all there is. God is the creator of every human being.

The second principle we learn if we believe God is the maker of heaven and earth is God has given the earth to us and all of creation was made for us. God called everything into being so you and I could live and dwell among it. In Genesis 128, God says, “Fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over it.” A little bit later on, He says, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth.” Psalm 8:6 says, “You made him,” that is, mankind, “the ruler over the works of your hands. You put everything under his feet.” God put everything under the feet of human beings. It means God created the world and everything in it so you and I could live in it, we could grow in it, we could enjoy it, and we could bring glory to God. This world was created for us. You and I are God's crowning achievement to live in this creation He's made for us. That means all the plants, all the animals, all the natural resources of the world were put here for us. They were put here for us to use and to enjoy. That has implications then, implications in the choices we make in life, the decisions, and how we view things. It means when we look at creation and we look at the natural resources God has given us, we know God desires that we use them, that we enjoy them. It means we don't worship them, we don't put them in a higher level than us but instead, they are there to serve us. In practical terms, what it means is this: Are we free to eat meat? Yes, we're free to eat meat. We're free to choose not to, but we're also free to eat meat. You want proof of it? Look at Jesus. He had fish and chips on the seashore for His disciples. Are we to cut down tress and use them? Jesus was a carpenter for the first 30 years of His life. God has put the natural resources of this world for human beings so we can have life, we can enjoy life, we can take care of ourselves, and we can enjoy what God has given to us.

Now, as I say that, we need to go to the third principle. And that is God said to take care of it. God indeed said everything in the earth was here for us. We're to use it, we're to enjoy it, but we're also to take care of it. We are to be good stewards of the earth God has given to us. We're not to abuse it. We're not to destroy it. What it really comes down to is we need to remember that it all belongs to God. This is His creation and everything in this creation, including us, belongs to God because He's the maker of that. And if God is the owner, that means we treat it differently. For example, when you borrow something from your neighbor, don't you treat it differently than if it was yours? Aren't you just a little bit more careful than if you owned it? I'll give you an example. When I was in seminary, my boss needed to use my mini van one evening so he was going to trade me cars. The problem is I didn't know what car he was going to trade me for so, as I handed him the keys to my mini van, he got a smirk on his face and he tossed me the keys to his car, his brand new Porsche 944-S. Yeah. I stared at the keys for a moment, and he had a smile on his face. He said, “Go ahead, Ron, I'll see you tomorrow.” Now he gave me that car to use and even more than to use. He wanted me to enjoy that car, because he knew I would. In fact, he told me so. He said, “Ron, I'll tell you what. Take it out on the freeway. Open it up a little bit. Enjoy yourself with it. I'll see you tomorrow morning.” Do you think I treated that car differently than I did my mini van? Oh, you better believe I did. Did I enjoy it? That goes without question. But I took care of what he gave to me. I didn't abuse it. I didn't destroy it. I didn't wrap it around a telephone pole in the middle of nowhere because I was going too fast with it. Nor did he want me to do that. He wanted me to enjoy his car, but he didn't want me to abuse it or destroy it. And there are two important reasons on why he didn't want me to abuse or destroy it. The first is it was his brand new car. It was his, not mine. And he didn't want to see his car ruined. The second thing was he didn't want to come visit me in the hospital because I wrapped his car around a telephone pole. He was concerned for my safety.

All of creation has been given to us, and God gives it to us to enjoy. But He also wants us to take care of it and to be responsible with it. God doesn't want to see His creation destroyed. God doesn't want to see us hurt. So when He tells us, “Here you are. Take the keys. Run with it. Use the natural resources. Use all the things that are in the land. Live in this world. Enjoy life in this world. But be careful. Take care of it.” It's not ours. It's God's. So we treat it with special care so we don't abuse it or destroy it. That has implications for us. The most we can do this morning is talk about broad implications for us. The broad implication is this: The environment is our responsibility. No one else is going to take care of it. Yes, God has given us all the natural resources. Yes, God has given us all the plants and all the animals, but to care for that, to be good stewards of that, and, the environment in which we live, it's our responsibility. We're not to destroy it. We're not to abuse it. We're to take care of it because it's God's. What it means is we're going to put a higher value on our world than the bottom line or the profit margin. We're going to talk more about taking care of our world instead of convenience or what suits us. We're going to take special care to make sure that what God has given to us and entrusted to us is taken care of and not abused.

In fact, it goes beyond our environment. It goes to the very life God has given to us. Scripture says we are not our own. We're bought at a price. God created you and in that creative act, He had intent and purpose and He has a plan for you. God has given you your body and your life, and God wants you to enjoy life, enjoy it to the fullest. But God wants you to take care of yourself and to take care of the body He's given to you. That means we're to be healthy, to do those things to make sure we take care of our body and are the best stewards of what God has given to us. Because it's His, and He doesn't want to see His creation destroyed. Nor does He want to see us hurt.

You see, we believe God is the maker of heaven and earth. That changes how we view the world. It changes how we make our choices of what's right and what's wrong and what's left up to personal discretion. Because if we believe God is the maker of heaven and earth, we say this: He created all things. That means all life is sacred in God's eyes. It means God gave this world to us to use, not to worship, not to set aside, but to use and to enjoy. And third, though, God said we're to take care of it. We're to be good stewards. That's our biblical world view. We believe God is the maker of heaven and earth. Amen.

Copyright 2005 Gloria Dei Lutheran Church