Sermon - 4-25-21

<p>This past Thursday was Earth Day, and for people worldwide who are part of the environmental movement, it was and continues to be not only a time for reflection on the goodness of creation but also the many ways in which we have abused the good creation we have been given.  And, for the church, it’s the Fourth Sunday of Easter. Easter is the season throughout which the church is continually reminded of the resurrection of Jesus. All our Bible readings throughout this season focus on new life – the Easter life – that God promises for the whole cosmos.</p> <p>Again, on this past Earth Day, environmentalists have reminded us that plastic waste continues to kill ocean life, our planet’s ice is melting even faster than we thought, climate change is bringing more and greater disasters each year for which we inevitably find humanity unprepared, and species from snails to bats to lizards have been declared extinct, never to be seen on Earth again.</p> <p>As we think about these things, just listen to a version of Psalm 23, written by jazz vocalist Bobby McFerrin and dedicated to his mother:</p> <p align="center">The Lord is my shepherd<br /> I have all I need<br /> She makes me lie down in green meadows<br /> Beside the still waters she will lead<br /> She restores my soul<br /> She rights my wrongs<br /> She leads me in a path of good things<br /> And fills my heart with songs<br /> Even though I walk through a dark and dreary land</p> <p align="center">There is nothing that can shake me<br /> She has said she won’t forsake me,<br /> I’m in her hand<br /> She sets a table before me<br /> In the presence of my foes<br /> She anoints my head with oil<br /> And my cup overflows<br /> Surely, surely goodness and kindness will follow me<br /> All the days of my life<br /> And I will live in her house forever<br /> Forever and ever.</p> <p> </p> <p> We cannot help but hear in this Psalm promises of green earth and clean water, the promise of abundant food and wine and oil, and the promise that this planet is made for goodn