creationtide sermon series

In Hodge Hill we decided to commit a full two months to a 'season of creation', in September and October 2019. I've posted the liturgy we used here.

We also put together a series of Scripture readings, based on different aspects of our living-in-the-world - and we invited different members of our preaching team to reflect on those themes in our sermons. You'll find here those themes, suggested readings, some questions to prompt the sermons/reflections, and summaries of the sermons/reflections. Huge gratitude to all involved in putting this together, and being willing to share their reflections here - it's been (and continues to be) an ever-expanding team effort!

Week One (1st September): Introduction to season
Suggested readings: Genesis 2:4b-17, Luke 10:25-37
What does it mean to follow God’s call to care for creation? Setting the scene for the
weeks to follow…

“Who is my neighbor?” Not just humans but the whole of creation. In the context of climate catastrophe, we are called to care for and love the planet, as well as people affected by climate change. We don’t have to have all the solutions, but we do need to work together, from a position of hope and love, to be better stewards of God’s creation.

Ruth Harley

Week Two (8th September): Food
Suggested readings: Matthew 14:13-21, Leviticus 25:1-17, Proverbs 12:10
What impact do our decisions about what and where to buy food have on our global
neighbours and on our environment? What can we do to follow God’s call to care in our
decision making as individuals and as a church?

Eating meat isn’t just bad for animals – it’s bad for the planet (because of how much CO2 it produces). But it’s almost as if we’re in denial about the consequences of our meat-eating. We keep doing something we know is bad news.

So as Christians, we need to find ways of supporting each other to change, one step at a time (a bit like the Alcoholics Anonymous 12 step programme). And the first step is gratitude: becoming more aware of what we eat, as grace, as costly gift – and of our interdependence as earth-creatures...

Al Barrett

Week Three (15th September): Energy
Suggested readings: Romans 8:21-22, Psalm 104
What choices do we make in what energy we use, and how we use it? What impact does
this have on our neighbours? How does creation provide energy naturally? What can we
do to follow God’s call to care as individuals and as a church?

One of the important questions Jesus asks in the gospels is “Who is my neighbour?” That is a really important question when we think about energy. How do we define the term neighbour? How big is our picture? What principles do we need to bear in mind, here are some suggestions:
· Cherish and protect life as a gift from God;
· Accept an appropriate share of responsibility for the welfare of creation;
· Live in solidarity with others for a common good, namely, the sustainability of an abundant Earth;
· Strive for justice in society; give special attention to the needs of the poor and members of minority groups;
· Contribute to the widespread participation in decision-making processes.
What small steps can we take to reduce our energy consumption to play our part in seeking to combat the ecological crisis facing us?

Sally Nash

Week Four (22nd September): Finance
1 John 3:17-18, Luke 16:1-13
What choices do we make in our personal and cooperate banking? Do we know how our
banks use our money? How can we use what God has given us to safeguard the earth?
What changes can we make as individuals and as a church to follow God’s call to care?

The way we spend our money matters – the example of fast fashion showed us that people aren’t paid fair wages and that human-made fabrics damage the earth when washed and then disposed off.

When we or the companies we buy from are motived by profit it can have huge ramifications on our planet.

As Christians the way we use our money matters and we can to make a  positive difference.

Jen Walters

Week Five (29th September): Harvest festival: Rest

God made the Sabbath for humans to rest, but also told the people of Israel to give the land a rest every 7 years. Our response to climate change and species extinction is often “we’ve got to do something!” – but sometimes what we really need is to stop doing things: to stop working the earth so hard, extracting so much from it; to learn to “let it be”, to give it space to let nature take control again. And when we do, amazing things can happen!

Al Barrett

Week Six (October 6th): Travel
Suggested readings: Psalm 24, ??
How do we get around locally? Where do we like to go on holiday? What impact do our
choices have on the earth? What does God have to say about all of it? Is sabbath just
about us, or also about the earth we live in? What could we do as a church to ensure the
way we travel protects the earth? What choices can we make as individuals about the way
we travel?

Travel brings gifts – discovering different places, new people, the wonders of creation. But it comes at a cost – producing huge amounts of CO2 (especially planes and cars), contributing to climate change, creating climate refugees (an unchosen form of travel). Our cars help connect us to others, keep us alive, give us independence, enable us to explore – but we can try to share journeys with others, and switch to public transport (or walk/cycle) where we can. We need to hold the gifts of travel in tension with the Benedictine commitment to stability – an ongoing conversion by ‘the otherness of here’ – re-localise our lives (finding what we need closer to home), as well as always being ready to welcome people who arrive in our neighbourhood from other places.

Al Barrett

Week Seven (October 13th): Waste
Suggested readings: Ezekiel 34:18, Matthew 6:19-21
What do we dispose of? What do we reuse? How does industry and culture affect our
attitude to waste? How does our waste impact the earth? What are the ways we can
reduce our waste as individuals and as a church? Why does God care about our waste?

My sermon was about waste. I covered ideas thinking about our earth being God’s treasure and asked the congregation to think of it in the same way.  Also we looked at how we care for our treasure and try to apply it to the earth and how we can reduce, recycle and reuse to cut down what we throw away.  I included how  we dispose of our waste. The congregation came up with their own ideas of how to reduce waste. 

My question to the congregation was -‘ Do I need it or do I just want it’ This applies to when buying new things and it was a question I asked the congregation to consider, along with all the suggested ideas for reducing what we dispose of. 

Gloria Smith

Week Eight (October 20th): Nature
Suggested readings: Colossians 1:16-17, Job 12:7-10
How do we encounter nature? How can we encounter God through the natural world? In
what ways do we connect with the earth and how can we do more as individuals and as a
church?

Nature is everything in God’s created world, while there are things that cause us concern, even fear (earth quakes, hurricanes etc.), there are many things that give us wow moments every day, from sun rises to the antics and activities of animals to new birth. As a young child my grandmother taught me that when I was stung by nettles there was always a doc leaf to sooth the pain away. A wow moment for me as a child. For my grandma this was proof positive that God’s love was active in the world. We are more aware today of the healing properties of nature from the wows that give us a lift in spirit (important in mental health treatment for example), to the plants that provide healing for so many ailments. God’s healing love active in the world today. 

David Walton

Week Nine (October 27th): Power (and re-cap the season)
How to engage with those who hold power and make decisions. Campaigning for the safeguarding of the earth.
Suggested readings: Luke 18:1-8