Sermon: We Who Are Many

Preaching on Romans 12:4-6. All within the Earth community is part of the Body of Christ

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It is such a beautiful day here in Ottawa! I am so grateful for the early-autumn warmth, and the sunlight that dapples the changing leaves.

I am reminded that our work for climate action, particularly for people of faith, must be grounded in a love for the Earth community of which we are a part. It is this love that can keep us sane, provide meaning, and nourish our ability to do this long work. Love for the Earth community can be part of our discipleship.

The following sermon, preached last September to a United Church of Christ congregation in San Diego, speaks to the need for feeling a connection with the Earth community. All within the Earth community is part of the body of Christ. May these words speak to your soul today.

Scripture Reading

⁴ For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, ⁵ so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another. ⁶ We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith…. (Romans 12:4-6, NRSV)

We Who Are Many

Preached on September 4, 2022, to the congregation of University City United Church, San Diego CA

Let us pray:

God of Life,

May the words of my mouth

And the meditations of all our minds and hearts

Lead us to deeper understanding of you

And the love you call us to live. AMEN.

One of the things that I and my family love to do is to go canoe camping. Last summer we stayed on Lac La Pêche, in western Quebec. It is so peaceful out on the water and away from the usual stresses of day-to-day life. There is no cell service out there, so it is just us and the Earth community in which we are immersed.

Despite there being no cell service, there was certainly plenty of sound and activity around us! Throughout the day we could hear the loons calling across the water; small red squirrels chasing each other and chattering away in the trees; cicadas in the summer heat; blue jays squawking overhead; hawks circling and letting out high-pitched cries, and more.

One evening as it was getting dark, I sat on a large, flat rock at the edge of our campsite, overlooking the water. I sat there quietly and just listened to the sounds around me. I opened my ears, my eyes and my heart for what I could notice. I heard the gentle lapping of the water against the edge of the rock. I heard loons calling to each other as they headed to bed for the night. I could hear the frogs start up their calls in the reeds nearby, and the insects in the forest who only begin their songs when it is dark.

Accompanied by this orchestra of sound, I looked out on the water, at the waxing moon as it rose, reflected in the lake.

Eventually, the stars came out, and I began to think about how everything in the world, on the planet, is connected. We have discovered, you see, that everything on the planet, indeed in the universe, is connected to everything else. We have discovered, through science, that all that exists on the Earth is interconnected and interdependent with everything else. 

Everything that exists in the world today has emerged from the moment of the Big Bang, 13.8 billion years ago, when the elements that would form the universe and the planets and life on Earth came into existence.

Take a moment, now, and hold your hand up before you.

Pause your reading of this sermon to do so…

Take a look at your hand…really study it…notice the lines, perhaps you have freckles, or a few wrinkles, look at your hand, both sides, and study it.

Your hand is made up of stardust, the elements that came into existence 13.8 billion years ago. It is the same for everything else that exists on Earth. We are, quite literally, cousin to every other thing; we are all related. Through science, we have discovered how we are interconnected with the ecosystems and bioregions, the watersheds and forests, and the species of flora and fauna surrounding us. We are, as one species among so many on this planet, interdependent with others in the web of life.

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