YONDER IS THE SEA
Psalm 104:1-9, 24-30

A sermon given by the Rev. Richard H. Taylor
April 24, 2005 / 5th Sunday of Easter

There is a story in Matthew's Gospel¹ where the disciples have been asked to pay the Temple tax. Jesus tells Peter to go fishing, and says when he brings in the first fish, he'll find a coin in the fish's mouth to pay the tax. This story was a popular one among my Sunday School teachers. They pointed out that in it Jesus says the children of God are free. They also pointed out how Jesus seeks not to offend others, even though he doesn't have to. But most of all they liked what seemed to them the miracle aspect of the story: Jesus knew there would be a coin in the fish's mouth. Some even thought Jesus made the coin magically appear.

I've thought about that story some lately, and have begun to have something of a different take on it. Jesus best friends were fishermen. Jesus often went fishing with them. He probably helped them sort out the fish and remove their scales. He even took the fish and cooked breakfast. Jesus knew a lot about fishing. So Jesus knew, if you throw something in the water, if you drop something in the water, sooner of later you'll find it in the fish. Jesus had seen fish with coins, and hooks, and all kinds of things.

Many fundamentalists will tell you that we shouldn't mark Earth Day. They will tell you that there is nothing in the Bible about preserving the environment. And its true that the Bible writers didn't have access to what we know. They didn't know about global warming or PCB's. They didn't even know the world was round. They never saw a kangaroo, or a koala bear, or even Indian corn. Their knowledge of the World was more limited than ours.

And yet, even in Biblical texts, you see the writers beginning to learn about how the environment works. So Jesus discovers that if you throw something in the water sooner or later it will end up in the fish.

And Jesus was not the first Biblical character to discover this. Take Jonah, even though his story is kind of fanciful. That which you throw into the water sooner or later ends up in the fish, in this case Jonah himself! And that story goes on to tell us that that which we throw into the water, that ends up in the fish, gets the fish sick! For the great fish has to vomit Jonah back on the beach.

I actually had some fun thinking about this: what Biblical stories show us some beginnings of human awareness about how the environment works?

Another one might be that time Jesus tells the disciples to fish on the other side of the boat. There are so many fish, and they are so greedy that they try to pull all the fish into the boat, and the boat starts to sink! Sure creation was made bountiful, but if you take too much, if you take more than you need, you start to drown. If you take more than you need, you start to die.

Much of the English excitement to come to America and to found New England was based on the great fish bounty of the George's Banks. The old historians tell us that the fish were so numerous they seemed to jump into the boats. But if you take too much you start to die. George's Banks and New England fishing are not what they used to be.

Do you know how dependent upon fishing the poor of the world are? Did you notice in the recent Tsunami that there were so many poor people on Sumatra or in Sri Lanka who made their living fishing? Their one great possession was a small fishing boat. 19% of protein consumption in developing countries comes from fish. Millions of poor people depend upon their small fishing boats. But we send out these huge factory fishing machines that sweep the banks clean for the tastes of exotic urban restaurants, and we leave the poor fishers of the world alone and hungry. If you take too much you start to drown, you start death.

What do you think? What other Bible passages show a beginning awareness of the needs of the Earth? Do you think, perhaps that some of the plagues of ancient Egypt were triggered by a disregard of the land?

One of the great themes of the holy nation that the Old Testament hopes to create is the idea of Sabbath. Not only are people and animals allowed to rest on the seventh day, but the same is true of the land. After seven years every parcel of land, every farm field, was to be given a Sabbath, a time of rest. And after seven times seven, at fifty there would be a great Jubilee when everyone was free. There was a sensitivity that land could be worn out, that it needed to be protected. What do you think? What other Bible passages tell us about a loving awareness of the Earth?

Of course the Bible writers did not know what we know. If Jesus found coins in the Sea of Galilee, what have we put in Narragansett Bay? The Bay used to almost come up to this building. From here to there is fill. And after Providence's years first in the tool and die industry, and then in the jewelry industry, what metals, what chemicals, what toxins have we scraped and dumped? Jesus didn't know about dead zones at the mouths of rivers caused by chemicals, and fertilizers, pesticides, and industrial waste. But we do. What are we going to do about it?

We fancy our State the "Ocean State." We put a wave on our license plate. We put a sail boat on our quarter. But when was the last time a Rhode Island politician spent a lot of time talking about protecting the ocean from human destruction? When have we lived up to our name?

Maybe you think that the ocean is an odd topic for Earth Day. Maybe when you think of earth, you think of dirt, land, terra firma. But we have one Earth, and 70% of its surface is water. 97% of all living matter is in the water, in the oceans. We haven't even discovered it all yet. Shall we destroy it sight unseen? My Bible says that all creation is good, indeed it is very good. And that goodness begins with the waters that cover the Earth.

Well, let me tell you one so-called Biblical idea that I think does not speak to the environment. Some groups that call themselves Christian are so enamored with the end of the World, that they spend all their time thinking about the fire next time. They are trying to force America to adopt a foreign policy designed to hasten Armageddon, the war to outdo all wars. And these same people have been heard to say don't waste your time caring for the Earth, because its about to be destroyed anyway. There is also a type of anti-evolutionary thinking that refuses to believe that our chemicals and emissions can slowly choke the Earth. By shortening their sense of time, they refuse to see real consequences.

But that runs counter to what I see as the great themes of the Bible. Even if you do believe in the eventual end of the World, Jesus says that the master will be pleased when he finds people being good stewards of what they have been given. God will rejoice over those who have carefully tended and protected the land.

The creation is good, it is a blessing, it is worthy of care!

Now let me tell you, some of what I have said this morning may sound alarmist. Some of it may indicate that I am worried about what is happening to our Earth. And I am. We have to stop consuming and destroying. Sure I am afraid.

But let me tell you also: in my life I have been blessed by meeting many people who truly cared for the Earth; who loved the Earth, loved the oceans. And I want to tell you, these great people were not primarily motivated by fear. These great people were not cowering, hiding, afraid.

No, instead they were great lovers. They loved ocean spray, dolphins, and sea gulls. They could sit for days on the beach and watch the waves. They were people who wrote things like, "Yonder is the sea, great and wide, creeping things innumerable are there, living things both small and great. There go the ships, and Leviathan that you formed to sport in it."

Look, the writer of that Psalm did not know that 97% of all living matter lived in the oceans. For that matter the Psalmist's idea of big Sea was probably the Mediterranean, they had never seen the Ocean. But the writer still knew there were "creeping things innumerable." The Psalmist saw the great monsters of the deep as "a harmless sportive creature of God." It's joy. It's all joy. And you don't have to know everything to have that joy.

Then why would we ever want to destroy it?

"O Lord, how manifold are your works! In wisdom you have made them all; the earth is full of your creatures." Yes it is! It is wonderful! It is joy! Hallelujah! Let us work with God and sustain this joy!

Amen and amen.

1 – Matthew 17:24-27.