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Green Blades Preaching Roundtable

13th Sunday after Pentecost

Year C
September 4, 2022
Pastor Daphne Urban

Deuteronomy 30:15-20
Psalm 1
Philemon 1-21
Luke 14:25-33b

The Psalter, or book of Psalms, is unique in the way it brings human word and word of God together in an inseparable unity.  The people of God hear God addressing them as their human prayers and hymns that bear witness to the nature and work of God, in their lives and in all of creation.  The book of Psalms has been serving believers of every generation as a biblical source of prayer and praise. 

Lots of children have been taught to find the book of Psalms by opening the Bible “in the middle” and often this works.  I talked about this in a sermon recently at my church, Bethany Lutheran Church in Red Lake Falls, MN and the next Sunday many people came up to me to tell me that they tried it, and couldn’t believe it, but it worked!  The psalms are at the center!

Martin Luther said, to “find in it (the Psalter) also yourself, …… as well as God himself and all creatures” (Luther’s Works 35:257).  Psalms continue to offer solace – providing words of comfort and hope, lamentation and praise….from and for ALL creatures, not just humans, but ALL of God’s creation. 

Within our lectionary texts for today, we’ll focus only on the appointed psalm. Psalm 1 is the very beginning of all this book in the middle of the Book.  Psalms 1 and 2 are often read together actually, as a lens or window, a way to meditate on God’s instruction (Psalm 1) and in hope for God’s anointed reign of peace and justice (Psalm 2). 

Psalm 1 is God’s instruction for all of God’s creatures in God’s creation.  It focuses on how, in following God’s plan for this world, then we, like trees near a stream of water, will yield fruit and ‘will never wither.’  God’s desire is for our lives to bear the fruit of righteousness. God’s law, God’s way of ordering life, is our water source. God “watches over us”.  When we disconnect our way of life from God’s instruction, we become like a waterless plant: we  wither, dry up, blow away like chaff.

This brings me to think about climate change and how God’s creatures, us, have had a part in changing the climate far more rapidly than it would have naturally, without us.  In the impacts of climate change, we are experiencing the consequences of failing to live in God’s ways. I am a scientist, a meteorologist, and an advocate for stewardship in all of creation, especially in care for all of our creation.  And those who know me understand that it’s a part of me just as much as my call from God to be a pastor and lead others in God’s work and word. 

I recently read an article about the right-wing president in Brazil who denies the facts of climate change, and openly encourages illegal logging in the Amazonian rain forest.  I suspect you have been reading about this too.  He is actively working to gut the environmental agencies and polices that are meant to resist deforestation. By not living by those streams of water, he is removing the trees of one of the world’s greatest rainforests from their watery home.   This disgusts me. God does not want this for his people.  God does not want this for that rainforest. God does not want this God’s world.

As Psalm 1 prays to us, sings to us and speaks to us, it says,

Not so the wicked!    They are like chaff    that the wind blows away.Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,    nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.”

I know it is not my place to judge this Brazilian president, Jair Bolsonaro.  God will judge him and all people before they enter heavens gates.  But I want so much to put a stop to what he’s doing.  My way is to speak out, in this devotion, to all of you, and to ask, What can we do, together?

Please be kind to all of God’s creation, including trees that shelter countless creatures, who feed us oxygen and provide wood for paper and furniture and so many other things. 

“For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,    but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.”

A few years ago, in Bemidji, MN, a baby owl fell from a nest on a road by Bemidji State University.  Some college students walked by and scooped up the baby owl.  They carried it home, anticipating to care for it, and let it become their pet.  Their intentions were good, but they soon learned that an owl as a pet was illegal in town. So, they connected with the DNR, who ended up putting the owl in the care of the Headwaters Science Center (HSC).  This was good news for the owl, who by this time thought it was a person.  When the owl is taken out of it’s care at HSC, kids and adults alike can get close to the owl and pet him, because he thinks he is one of them.  It’s adorable really! It is a great example of God’s creation working together and finding new ways to live together. 

Let’s end by meditating with each verse as an invitation to a right relationship with all creation.  Consider how we can right our relationship with all of creation.

Psalm 1:1 May we be people who do not walk in the counsel of the wicked, or stand in the way of sinners, or sit in the seat of mockers.

Psalm 1:2 May we delight in Your law, Lord.  May we meditate on Your law day and night.

Psalm 1:3 May we be like a tree planted by streams of water, which yield its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither.  May whatever we do prosper.

Psalm 1:6 May we be ones who are righteous so that You, Lord, will watch over our ways.

Question: How might your meditation on Psalm 1, and the tree growing by the river in Psalm 1 shift your relationship with the creation around you? 

Share: As you preach on this Sunday’s readings, consider how this psalm could help you proclaim God’s fruitful way of living for the sake of all creation. 

Pastor Daphne Urban
Pastor Daphne Urban
Blackduck, MN

I serve these two congregations as my second call. My first call was in Red Lake Falls, MN a couple of years ago. I have an MDIV from Luther Seminary and consider myself an EcoPastor, not only because I love the study of God’s Creation and our care of it in this world, but also because I have a BS in Meteorology. Climate change is constantly on my mind and preaching about how it affects us is important to me. It’s my social justice focus in ministry and I’m on the NWMN Synod Creation Care team. I live in Bemidji, MN with my husband and 3 children, but was born and lived in California, Colorado and Maine, before making Minnesota my home about 15 years ago. It is a JOY to be a part of the EcoFaith network in NEMN!

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