Psalm 104:1-30 Genesis 1:1-5, 20-2:3
In college I studied environmental studies, and as part of that major I took an ecology class where we explored the way natural systems function. We looked at systems as a whole as well as how each part of a system plays into the greater synergy that makes life for all parts possible. The class was heavy on detailed examination of the scientific “facts” that help experts in their quest to reduce the confusing complexity into sets of equations that explain things in more clear-cut terms. But we also spent some time thinking about philosophies of ecology and different perspectives on resource and species management, and in one of those units I learned the terms Neo-Malthusian and Cornucopian.
Those
two words - Neo-Malthusian and Cornucopian – refer to two different and opposed
views on the resources available and the future of humanity. Neo-Malthusians follow in the footsteps of
Malthus who lived at the turn of the 19th century and predicted the
eventual mass die-off of humanity due to a lack of food. Looking at the world, they see a finite - or
limited – number of the resources needed to sustain human life. Given the ever increasing number of people
living on the planet, they believe that humanity will reach a point where there
is no longer enough to sustain the population.
At that point, millions (if not billions) of people will die from
starvation, disease, or in the increasingly violent struggle to gain control of
what is left.
Cornucopians
take the view that humanity will always find a way to provide what is needed to
support the population. Yes, they say,
when you look at the resources around us, they seems to be too little to
support all the people who are coming down the pipe, but advances in science
will allow us to continually produce more of what we need from whatever there
is available. “Fundamentally, they believe,… there is enough
matter and energy on the Earth to provide for the ever-rising population of the
world,”[1] and ultimately, we, as a species, will be
able to manipulate the world and even the universe around us in order to make
ends meet (so to speak).
In
essence, these two viewpoints describe two different worlds – or it might be
more accurate to say that they describe the same world in two very different
ways. On the one hand, this world is one
of scarcity. On the other, we are
surrounded by all we could ever want or need.
We just waiting for us to take advantage of it.
In
the past couple of weeks, I was reminded that these opposing views are alive
and well in our society by the newest novel by Dan Brown. The book is set in a world with a population
over 7 billion and growing. Hundreds of
millions of people live in poverty. Tens
of millions die of starvation each year, and over 100 million die of
disease. Energy and water are in short
supply as well, and there are an increasing number of wars fought over the
diminishing amount resources. To top it
all off, many of the basic sources of food, water, and energy are getting used
up so fast that they cannot replenish themselves or be replenished by any
technology known to humankind.
If
that sounds familiar, it should. The
world of Inferno is our world as it was several months ago, and not much
has changed since then. (Our population
continues to grow at a rate of one person every 13 seconds which means that we
have added about 18 people since I started this sermon. More than 14% of those children are likely to
suffer starvation, and even more will die of diseases related to malnutrition
and unclean water.) It’s not a
particularly pretty picture.
Bless the Lord, O my soul….
You make springs gush forth in the valleys; they flow between the hills, giving drink to every wild animal ….
By the streams the birds of the air have their homes,
and they sing among the branches.
You cause the grass to grow for the cattle, and plants for
people to use.
[You] bring
forth food from the earth, and wine to gladden the human heart,
oil to make the face shine,
and bread to strengthen the human heart.
when you open your hand, they are filled with good things….
When you send forth your spirit, they are created;
and you renew the face of the ground.
At
first glance, Psalm 104 looks like it would represent the opposite perspective
– the Cornicopian view. But the psalmist
is not so naïve as she seems. She is not
saying that everything will work out because people will find a way. People are hardly mentioned at all, and we
certainly are not at the center of things like we often think. God is at the center.
This
psalm is a hymn of praise and re-orientation.
It calls us to remember that we are not the be all and end all. We are part of the world, but we are just part of the world. With its imagery that evokes the Genesis
story of God’s good creation, it reminds us that the earth is the Lord’s. Everything - all creation exists in balance
and harmony … when it works together according to God’s vision … and we serve
as caretakers.
God’s
world is a world of abundance. It’s a
world filled with good things: light and darkness, land and sea, food and
water, life and potential everywhere we look.
That world is our world. It’s the
same place. That world did exist … could
exist again if we were willing put ourselves back into the life cycle of
creation instead of standing outside it as we have been for so long. So why is it so hard to live into the hope
and promise of the vision of creation? Why do we struggle to trust in the
abundance that God has provided? Why do
we always think that we must do all
the work of making things right … for ourselves and for the world?
As
J. Clinton McCann, Jr. approaches our struggle with these words:
Our motivation [in this world
that preaches scarcity] is to maintain our current standard of living without
trashing things so terribly or depleting natural resources so severely that we
cannot pass the same style of life on to our children. In other words, our primary concern is
ourselves, and our major motivation is fear….
For the Psalmist, relating to
the world – in our terms, perhaps, an environmental consciousness – begins with
praising God. The motivation is not fear
but rejoicing in the Lord. Praise
involves the acknowledgement of God’s sovereignty and the commitment to live
under God’s rule. To take the psalmist
as an example, we would have to conclude that concern for the environment
begins with praising God. To be sure,
this sounds hopelessly simplistic, scientifically and technologically
naïve. But such a starting point – and
its underlying conviction that the world belongs to God – is the only thing
that will dislodge our arrogant assumption that we can save the
world, as if it were ours to save! ….
In a profound sense, Psalm
104 puts us humans in our place – with springs and hills and trees and creeping
things. If our motivation for facing our
own future and the future of the earth were to glorify God, we might even have
the humility to ask ourselves what it would really mean to live in partnership
with a tree or with a wild goat or with the thousands of species whose
disappearance causes hardly a ripple of attention, primarily because we are
convinced that nature exists to serve humanity.
Quite simply, Psalm 104 asserts that this is not the case. Rather, to serve God will mean ultimately to
serve God’s creation (as it says in Genesis 2:15 which should be translated “to
serve and keep it”). ….[2]
I
defended that perspective, but not because it’s what I believe. I chose it because it is easier to “prove,”
and in the world of scarcity where one grade can make such a big difference –
where an “A” can make the difference toward a successful career, I didn’t have
the courage to embrace something more risky.
So, I went with fear and Malthus even though I really believe in the
world described by the psalmist.
What
would it look like if we followed the example of the psalmist … if we had the
courage to embrace and be embraced by the abundance of creation?
How
would it feel if we could let go of our fear and live in joy and awe at the
work of the creator?
How
would our approach to living change if we put aside the pride and worry that
puts us at the center of life and began to care … really care for the rest of
creation, trusting that creation … God’s creation would take care of us in
return?
What would happen if we left behind the world of
scarcity that we have created and took up our place in that world … if we chose
God’s world … if we embraced the abundant Kingdom of God?
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