JUST BECAUSE…?
August 30, 2009
David Brubacher
Genesis 2:4b-17
Matthew 4:1-1
Just because…? Just because we are able to do something, does that mean we should do it? That whatever we do is okay? That it does not matter?
These are questions that came to me one afternoon a few weeks ago as I walked through some of the downtown and waterfront areas of Toronto. I had some time between downtown appointments and I decided to begin my reflections in preparation for this sermon as a part of our summer series, All God’s Creation. As I walked I prayed that God would bring to me a question or an observation that might give me a start for the sermon.
In my walking I was reminded again of my fascination with the way the old and new are blended in the city of Toronto. New high rise buildings growing out of older structures intrigue me. While the structure and architecture of these buildings are of interest to me I also miss being able to walk through a larger section of a city that has maintained a definite sense of history as in Montreal or Quebec City.
Pondering these thoughts I sat at a picnic table outside the St. Lawrence Market. With busy traffic down below and new buildings going up I found myself imaging what that spot looked like maybe two hundred years ago. I imagined, wooded land gently flowing to the lake; small clearings with cabins and well maintained gardens and perhaps a dear grazing on the edge of the garden.
The tranquility of my imaginative wondering was shattered with a haunting thought, “Is what we are doing here what God intended for this land?” Just because we have the technology to build tall buildings, lots of tall buildings, does that mean we should do it? Momentarily I wondered if cities were evil and small gardens the epitome of God’s will for creation. I did not stay there long because I realized the Bible is full of references to cities. The other week Tim Schmucker made reference to the text in Jeremiah 29 where the prophet instructs the exiles in Babylon to “Seek the welfare of the city for in it they would find their welfare.” The last chapters of the Bible envision God’s reign coming to its fulfillment in a heavenly city – the New Jerusalem.
In the weeks that followed I continued my reflections on the city and gardens. As a child we had huge gardens. And I hated working in them. I remember one particular hot summer day when we were picking soap beans. The pods had dried to a crisp and I had to pick them and place them in a burlap sack. Later I got to trample on the sack to break down the pods. That was okay! But then we had to separate the beans from the pods. In the fall I also remember picking up endless bags full if apples, some in a semi state of decay, for making apple cider. The work seemed endless and there did not seem to be a benefit in sight.
Memories of cold winter days also linger in my collection childhood images. I loved coming in from the barn with grampa for the noon meal – bean soup made from the beans we picked that hot summer day. Then there were the Sunday afternoons with family and friends gathered around games. There was always lots of popcorn. My favourite kind was the one we grew ourselves. And of course there was an endless supply of cider to wash it down. As a child I did not appreciate the connection between my dreaded labours in the summer and my winter delights.
Back to my reflections on city and garden I became aware of a similar disconnect. Many of us who have largely grown up in an urban context have lost that immediate sense of connection to the fruit of the earth that sustains us. The growing farmer’s market movement and stores like Fresh From the Farm are helping to recreate that connection. Yet in this disconnect I believe there is a temptation we face sooner or later. In the endeavours of business and commerce will our decisions be guided by sustainability or profitability? I ask the question that way not to frame profitability as a villain. As one who is anticipating returning to business, I know the importance of profit. But without a connection to the larger picture of what sustains us, our endless drive to strong bottom financial lines threatens the very sustainability we ultimately need.
My best friend worked as an engineer with John Deere. In his earlier years with Deere he took great delight in building a good quality product that aided farmers in producing the fruit of the land that sustained him in life. Over the years he turned down opportunities to climb the corporate ladder so that he could continue to be involved in the actual development and building of the product. During the last decade of his work the constant drive to strengthen the bottom line for the shareholder, at what he felt was the expense of a quality of product for the consumer, began diminish his sense of satisfaction in his work. He took early retirement when it became available to him.
“Just because…?” As I continued to reflect on that question, the scripture texts read this morning came into focus for me. They offer insights on how to live in the tension I believe exists between hard core profitability and sustainability.
I find it interesting that the second creation account found in Genesis 2 moves quickly and establishes God as a gardener. The creation of the world and humanity is described in seven short verses. And then God planted a garden as a home for the human creature. God connected the first creature to the place of the garden, earthling to earth, in a delicate and intentional relationship. I like the image of the garden as the primary context for us as human creature. The problem is that many of us have lost a sense of that initial connection. Without that connection we so easily fall prey to the temptations that exist in the garden.
In thinking of the garden as our primary human context, I am not suggesting that the ideal setting would be for each of us to live in a little cabin on the edge of our own garden plots. While that sounds quaint I am not sure that the scope of humanity on earth today could be sustained in that manner. I see the garden as an image for all God’s creation. I think of the garden as the primary place where seeds are literally planted to produce the fruit that sustains human life. I also think of the garden as the place where the seeds of commerce are rooted to create a system that sustains life even for those who live primarily in the city. Thanks to the urban gardening movement perhaps we can recapture an understanding of the garden as our primary human context.
The garden
in which the first human was placed was not unadministered. God was present. Humanity was to care for the garden and in return the garden would sustain humanity. The relation of caring for, and being sustained by, is ordered by God in creation.
In the garden humanity is given its primary task on earth. We are to care for the garden, for God’s creation. The garden cannot exist by itself any more than humanity can exist without the fruit of the garden.
A hobby gardener was busy in his garden. A passerby commented on the excellent condition of the vegetables and the flowers. “Amazing what God has created,” she said. The gardener replied, “You should have seen it when God had the garden. Weeds grew everywhere. A total mess.” The garden requires work, intention and care.
The garden is not only a place of task and work. It is also a place of permission and freedom. With the exception of one tree the human creature was free to eat from every tree in the garden. The tree of life stands as a symbol of God’s intention to bless and enrich the life of humanity with the resources the garden provides under human care.
It is precisely in the freedom and permission we have been granted that I believe we face our greatest temptation. While by design our existence on earth is linked to sustainability, today our financial structures are largely driven by an over-the-top consumerism. Just because we can do something we think it is okay, at least as long as it does not physically hurt somebody. So we find ourselves in a global context where a small segment of the population groans under the strain of too much to consume and a much larger percentage groans under the weight of barely having enough on which to survive. The garden in which God placed humanity has enough to sustain all people, but it does not have enough to provide for all people equally when we give in to the temptation of endless consumption just because a few people can afford it.
We do well to remind ourselves that the garden is also a place of prohibition or of boundaries. The symbol of that boundary is the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Little is known of this tree. It is not mentioned anywhere else in the Bible. God told the first humans the day they ate of that tree they would surely die. The tree of knowledge of good and evil seduces humanity away from its proper role in the garden.
It is interesting to reflect on the inter relatedness of freedom and boundaries. I would argue that there is no freedom if there are no boundaries. If in the garden the first human was free to eat only from all of the trees that would not have been freedom. For there to be freedom there most also be a choice; a significant choice, a choice between life and death.
In our second scripture text Jesus demonstrated a way to respond to the temptations in the garden. There were things Jesus could have done to help his situation, but he did not do them just because he could. Immediately after his baptism Jesus was led into the wilderness. After being without food for forty days and nights he was hungry and tired. The devil came to tempt him.
First the devil suggested he use his divine powers to turn stones into bread so that he might eat. Next the devil the devil encouraged Jesus to draw attention to himself by throwing himself off a high tower and let the angels of God come to his rescue. Finally the devil offered Jesus the throne to all the kingdoms in the world. In the first two situations Jesus would have been able to do what the devil suggested but Jesus resisted the temptation. He remembered his primary connections and purpose in life. He responded, “One does not live by bread alone, but from every word that proceeds from the mouth of God,” and, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test,” Jesus diverts attention from himself to God the creator and sustainer of all creation.
In the final temptation Jesus refused the easy to gaining power and authority. He responded, “Worship the Lord your God and serve only him.” Jesus remained true to his roots in the garden where he was connected with all of God’s creation. It was a decision for sustainability over easy access consumerism. It was the way of integrity and peace.
The garden, all God’s creation, continues to be a place of endless beauty with the ability to sustain us in our basic needs. The problem, just because some of us discovered we are able, we have built and consumed at a level which means others do not have enough. Even while God has given us the freedom to give into our temptations God has also reminded us that when we choose to cross the boundary we shall surely die. Our choices mean that others may die.
Jesus models another way. Even though he would have been able to do the things presented to him as options, he chose to resist the temptations because he knew where he was rooted. I see in Jesus’ example a call to maintain the primary connections with which God ordered the world. It is a call to be in relation with God the creator. It is a call to be in relation with the other humans God has placed along side us. It is a call to remember that we are here to care for God’s garden not to consume at will, just because…?