The Good Shepherd of All Creation

Thinking about the Earth, Creation Care and God's Abundance

AI-Generated by Todd Weir

John 10:7-14                                                                          

Jesus drops this one-line mission statement into his Good Shepherd speech. In contrast to religious leaders out for their own benefit, who take advantage of the sheep, Jesus wants the sheep to thrive, even if it costs him dearly. His message is God loves us with life-giving abundance. There is more than enough love for everyone. We don't have to adopt a scarcity mindset and compete for God's favor.

Jesus' message aligns with the familiar and hopeful words from Psalm 23, the Good Shepherd psalm. Green pastures and still waters provide rest, nourishment, and replenishment. Creation shows us tangible evidence of God's abundance. We set aside land trusts, national parks, and the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens because we understand the restorative and healing powers of the earth. Much of the Maine coastal economy operates on people wanting to be near the curative energy of pine trees, salt water, and a good lobster roll.   

I came that they might have life and have it abundantly.

The Greek word perisson means lavish abundance or overflowing goodness. "My cup overflows," says the Psalmist. When Jesus fed 5000 people, Mark and Mathew say that everyone ate their fill, and then the disciples picked up the leftovers, and it was a perisson, an exceeding abundance. The story moved from desperate scarcity and hunger to fulfillment and abundance. While we pray for our daily bread, creation theology proclaims the earth's extravagant generosity, the perisson. The Apostle Paul used the word perisson to describe the overflowing grace that comes from the life of Christ. Paul does not say that God provided only so much grace and that those who worked the hardest or were the most obedient would receive it. There is so much grace we cannot contain its lavishness. 

I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.  

This week, I thought about the abundance built into God's creation in the context of Monday being Earth Day. Earth Day reminds us that a healthy planet is necessary for our well-being, livelihoods, and happiness. The Earth Day message is often "Save the planet." The spotted owl is losing habitat; whales are in trouble; coral reefs are diminishing; plastics are harming fish and fowl. But I think we need to reframe the message. It's not just the environment that needs saving; it is humanity. Earth Day is not about us doing something good for the poor planet. It is not charity directed to Mother Nature. Earth Day needs to be more like Mother's Day. We offer gratitude for the nurturing and support we receive 365 days a year. Creation is not just the storehouse of the things we need. Our life and well-being are interlinked. The planet provides an abundance of oxygen, food, and water, but our actions from a carbon-based economy are disrupting natural cycles that have existed for centuries. Every species is in adapt or die mode. 

To illustrate the challenges we face, let's talk about migratory birds. Jeanne and I are on hummingbird watch. In our last home, Jeanne had beautiful flowers blooming all Spring and Summer. I loved to drink my morning coffee and watch hummingbirds dart around from flower to flower, occasionally hovering and looking right at me for a few seconds. We don't have flowering plants in Maine yet, so we hope some feeders will get a pair of hummingbirds to visit our porch. But hummingbirds have bigger problems. As the climate warms, flowers are blossoming sooner. While hanging out in Barbados, they do not exactly know when the cherry blossoms will flower in Washington, DC, or the rhododendrons in Maine. But the timing must be right all the way up the coast week-to-week, or they might starve. Hummingbirds are entirely dependent on flower blooms. They need massive amounts of nectar to feed their vigorous little bodies. They consume half their body weight in nectar and bugs daily, so they will visit 1000 to 2000 flowers daily.

Imagine if you fly to Florida every year and take the same flight. You always have a layover in Philadelphia, but when you get there, your flight is canceled, the snack bars are closed, and you are stuck. Imagine needing to eat half your body weight to survive. Who wants to die at Philadelphia International for lack of a cheesesteak?

The intrepid hummingbird may adapt and find a different migratory route over time, but one bad year can be disastrous to the species. The loss would be more than simply being unable to watch the marvelous acrobats from my porch. Remember, they are pollinating flowers along the way. Who is going to do that work? I don't have time to pollinate flowers, and we would need to import other migrants to do the job. Plus, hummingbirds eat thousands of bugs. Without bird pest control, the mosquitos grow worse, and disease is more prevalent. Bugs will eat all the lettuce in your garden and damage our trees. It turns out our lives are intertwined with the labor of our tiny three-inch friends. 

This story is playing out with hundreds of migratory bird species. The Audubon Society recently reported how 150 bird species cope with seasonal change. Most are not keeping up with the earlier Spring and are still migrating close to their traditional times. 

Climate shifts aren't just disrupting birds migrating from South America; they are disrupting people's lives too. The World Bank is finding ways to track the impact of climate change on human migration. For example, they ask people in refugee camps why they are moving. In central Africa, 50 percent of the refugees say they have no water. In Central and South America, intense storms have wiped out many jobs. One study estimates that every climate disaster causes one percent of the affected population to migrate. What will happen on our southern border if Mexico City runs out of water next year and many of its 22 million people must leave? 

Our debates about immigration are decades behind what is causing the growing problem. While we debate whether to build more walls or improve our ability to legalize more immigrants, the changing climate is disrupting peoples' lives so they can no longer make a living. Would our time, energy, and money be better spent mitigating the problems at the point of origin where climate change is most apparent?     

Climate shifts affect us in multiple small ways beyond losing power in a storm.  Did you notice the price of chocolate moved up 10 percent last year? Cocoa harvests in West Africa were down for the third straight year. Cocoa is finicky, much like growing grapes for wine. Prolonged drought makes some areas inhospitable for the plant, while intense rainstorms in other regions increase black rot in the bean pods. Ghana and Cote de Ivory, two small countries that produce 60 percent of the world's cocoa, are experiencing a potential collapse in production. We will likely survive the deprivation of delicious chocolate, but we are living with many consequences far beyond more storms and flooding.

This week, I saw a bumper sticker that said, "I support oil fields because my truck doesn't run on unicorns and fairy dust."  The words are an important reminder of the hard choices to make in our economy.  Who will pay the price for the necessary work?  There are also costs to inaction.  Forbes notes that economic growth will diminish nearly 20 percent due to storms, droughts, and wildfires.  Ignoring the problem is not a free lunch.  Speaking of lunch, our food comes from the earth.  Unchecked climate change diminishes our food supply, and we can’t eat unicorns and fairy dust either. 

Despite all these challenges, the earth is still abundant. I'm hopeful, and I believe we have solutions that can help people thrive through this immense challenge brought on by climate change. But it will require a significant shift in our thinking about the planet we live on. Let me rephrase that. We must learn to live with the earth, not just on it. The world is not simply full of natural resources; it is teeming with various life and species that all must live together.

Here is an option for more conversation. The United Church of Christ has a process where a congregation becomes a Creation Justice Church. Much like the Open and Affirming Process, which leads us to support LGBTQ+ people, Climate Justice Churches explore their role in being good stewards of God's creation.  Churches choose their own concrete steps, which could include an energy audit of our facilities and adding solar panels or getting involved in local disaster relief readiness.  We might sponsor local education on public policy and form study groups or fill our yards with more pollinating plants for migratory birds. 

Can we find a way to bring our faith and hope to this immense human challenge?   Christians have something important to contribute morally and spiritually to the solutions. Beyond science and activism, we need our spiritual energies to meet the challenges. We will only change what we truly love. A robust creation spirituality, where we emphasize God's good creation in our worship and lives, could be the catalyst for facing climate change.  When Jesus said he came that we might have abundant life, he offered this blessing as a gift.  But these words are also a calling to share and protect God’s abundance.  

https://www.adirondackcouncil.org/page/blog-139/news/10-facts-about-hummingbirds--and-other-interesting-tidbits-1101.html

https://www.audubon.org/httpswwwaudubonorgmenuconservation/how-climate-change-affects-hummingbirds-feeding-behavior

https://www.audubon.org/news/spring-shifts-earlier-many-migrating-birds-are-struggling-keep

https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/25/climate/mexico-city-water-crisis-climate-intl/index.html

https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2023/12/08/cf-how-climate-shocks-are-linked-to-cross-border-migration-in-latin-america-and-the-caribbean