God Creates, We Steward – Holy Ground Sermon Series Week One (Psalm 8)
This week we will be starting a six-week worship series called Holy Ground. The theme of this series of worship services and sermons and Bible studies is creation care. These worship materials were written and curated by an emerging faith community called Church in the Wild and they connect to their call to care for creation by meeting and worshiping outside, in the great outdoors. The prayers and the call to worship printed in your bulletin come from the Holy Ground materials, and some of the hymns are also recommendations from that resource. If you joined us for our Thursday night bible study, you know we used these resources there as well. We will be using them in the weeks to come, as well, so you are invited to join us on any Thursday night at 7:30 if you feel called to continue to engage this theme of creation care.
The authors of Holy Ground describe the purpose of this worship series as being to “connect us more deeply to creation and lead us to actively claiming our call to be caretakers of the Earth.” With this purpose in mind, we have a natural way to connect and engage with our scripture reading this morning, from Psalm 8. One of the things that makes the Psalm unique is that, from beginning to end, it is spoken and directed entirely to God. It is a psalm of praise and wonder at God’s creation. It is where we find the words “O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name.” It is a psalm of praise and thanksgiving to God, because of what God has done and who God is as the creator of the universe. However, it is not just a hymn of praise to God, it is also a reflection on what it means to be human in this world God created. It is a grappling with our place -humanity’s place- on this pale blue dot, hanging here in the vastness of the universe.
In the Holy Ground sermon notes for this week the author, Rev. Corey Turnpenney, suggests that humans are the last piece of the puzzle that is God’s creation. Narratively and chronologically, that is how it happens. In Genesis chapter 1: 26-31, God creates humans on the sixth day of creation. So, we cannot view ourselves as separate from nature, but as part of it. We must take opportunities to connect with the natural world to remind ourselves of our purpose – our role as caretakers of God’s gift of the Earth. Psalm 8 remarks at this fact with wonder – wonder at the very idea that God would give humans such a prominent place, and an important role in creation. The psalm marvels at the wonders God created, and also asks the reader to take a moment to reflect and be humbled by the role God has for his children as caretakers created “a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned [him] with glory and honor.”
Something else I learned that is unique about Psalm 8, is that it was the first Bible passage to go to the moon. In 1969, The Pope dedicated a portion of Psalm 8 to the astronauts on Apollo 11 and sent it to the moon as part of a message to be left on the moon. This message packet included materials from the UN, but Psalm 8 was the Vatican’s contribution. The specific verse the Pope used to bless the journey to the moon was Psalm 8:3-4, “When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?”
I wonder if that disk with Psalm 8 is still there on the moon? I wonder who they thought was going to see? I wonder if anyone has seen it? I invite you to imagine, then, it is sometime in 1969, shortly after the Apollo 11 astronauts have left the moon. Imagine there in the dark and the cold of the moon, suddenly a camouflage door opens where there once was a moon rock and from it emerge two little green moon people. They have been there on the moon, watching and observing our planet with their technology. They did not want to confront Neil Armstrong as he took his giant leap for mankind, but now they are curious to see what has been left behind. So, they make their way out, past the footprints left by space boots and the marks in the surface left by the moon lander and tires on the rover, and over to the American flag, and there under the flag is the disc with greetings from around the world. They slip the disc into a reader and there pops up Psalm 8.
“Is this some sort of greeting, Father?”
“Yes, Son. I believe these are supposed to be communications. They are trying to tell us something about themselves. Except this one. There is something different about it.”
“What is it, Father?” The elder moon man does his species’ version of squinting and brow furrowing as he looks at it. The device blinks and beeps as it processes the communication from the Earthlings.
“It is called Psalm 8,” remarks Father. “It does not seem to be directed at us. They seem to be attempting to communicate with someone else.”
“Who?” asks the younger moon man. “A creator,” replies the Father, “The creator of all things, it would seem.” The Son’s eyes widen when hears this. “They are communicating with The Architect, Father? Let me see!” Father hands the device over to his Son, so that he can read the words of the Psalmist that have been passed down through centuries of humanity.
“They seem to have a purpose, Father.”
“Given to them from the Architect? I did not believe the Architect created with purposes. At least not purposes that can be known.”
“Yes, Father. It seems that they were created by the Architect and share some of that power. Their purpose in having that power seems to be in oversight for the wellbeing of their world.”
“I very much doubt that, my Son,” the older watcher says grimly. “I have been watching this world and this species for much longer than you. I have watched them do terrible things to this world. The skies and the waters are polluted. The animals are pushed off the land as they expand and build bigger structures and sprawling cities. Some creatures are raised for slaughter. I have even seen them ignore the pain of their own kind. I have seen them kill their own kind. They are capable of great cruelty and plagued by ignorance and consumed by selfishness. I do not believe their purpose could possibly have anything to do with ensuring the wellbeing of the Architects creation.”
“Perhaps, Father. But have they failed so badly? When I look down on their planet, I still see green and brown, white and blue, the colors of life on their planet.”
“This is true.”
“And this message tells us that they still speak with the Architect, and they are aware of who made them and they are aware that they were made for a purpose.”
“Yes, that also seems to be true.”
“And, they managed to make it all the way out here to this rock, and whether they knew we were here or not, or maybe they thought the Architect was here, but they had something they wanted to share. They wanted to let the universe know who they are.”
“And who are they, Son?”
“They are made by the Architect. In fact, according to this, they are not so different from the Architect. They care for what the Architect has made and given to them, even if they fail at times.”
The Father looks proudly at his Son, and says, “If that is what you believe, Son, then let us take this message back to our people, and share what we have learned about the inhabitants of this planet.”
So, perhaps that is why we put Psalm 8 on the moon, because how we understand ourselves, and what we hope to be is summed up in those words. Humble before God, the Creator of All Things, but also loved by God and given a purpose by God. To take that love and share it with the world, use it to care for the world. Nature provides us with an opportunity to reconnect with this purpose and to remember that the divine resides in all living things. Sometimes we may forget this or feel as if we are failing in this task and wonder if we are even worthy of such our place in creation. It is in those times that we must remember to trust in God and in God’s judgement. Creation was no accident. In nature, and in Psalm 8, we are reminded that our place in this universe is to love. It is to love and be loved, by God and all God’s creation.
So, maybe that is why Psalm 8 was chosen to go to the moon. As humanity traveled off the Earth and away from the natural world, maybe putting Psalm 8 on the moon was meant to serve as a reminder to humanity of their connection to God and God’s creation, even as they venture out into the unknown, away from the birds and the trees and the seas and the flowers and all those divine things that live on this planet.
Imagine once again, if you will, the moon. This time look to the future. It is decades, maybe a century or more after that first moon landing. Humans have returned to the face of the moon. Technology has advanced to the point that we can have habitats and communities on the moon. It has advanced to the point that humans are ready to venture out, farther into the unknown universe. Two astronauts sit on a bench inside an oxygen-filled, climate-controlled dome that enshrines that old American flag and the site of the first landing and Neil Armstrong’s first steps. Around the dome are holographic images of the messages sent in that United Nations packet. These two astronauts sit in front of the image of Psalm 8. They are both going to be on the first spaceship to leave the moon and go out into the final frontier. They find comfort in the Psalmist’s ancient words. “Are you worried about tomorrow?” The astronaut asks her friend. “No,” they reply. “Because when I look at these words, I remember that we are a part of this creation. Maybe even an important part. Even going out into the unknown and traveling farther than any human has traveled before, all those stars, all that unknown space, is God’s creation, and so am I. I’m a part of that. And the more I experience of creation the closer I feel to God.”
The first astronaut looks at the companion and says, “Well, when you put it that way…I agree. That’s why I don’t think I can go on this mission. I think I need to go back home. I feel closer to God when I hear the wind rustle the leaves of the tree and when I watch the birds excitedly gather to eat at my Mother’s bird feeder. Or when I see the flowers I planted bloom. I feel connected to God when caring for the Earth.”
The other astronaut nods in understanding. They reach over to hold their friend’s hand, and together the Astronauts sit in silence reflecting on their humanity, reflecting on their place in creation, reflecting on what is to come, and reading the words of the Psalmist, “O Lord, our Lord. How majestic is your name in all the earth?”
Amen.