I remember hearing a children’s sermon over 20 years ago that still impacts me today. My Lay Leader was talking to the children about what it means to be Christian and how that influences our decisions and how we live our lives. Actually, what I remember is his closing thought. He said, “A Christian is a person who plants shade trees knowing they will never sit in their shade.” A simple statement, but one that touched me deeply about my own faith walk. He broadened for me the idea that as Christian people, our lives are not only about making the world a little better place in which to live now, but also a better place for all of those who will receive this gift of creation in the future. For our children and grandchildren.

There is another thought that has built upon this foundation for me. “Life is God’s gift to us, but what we make out of it is our gift back to God.” I believe this thought has been the basis for the last two sermons you have heard on stewardship. Sermons where Carol reflected upon the stewardship of our time and Nancy reflected on the stewardship of our material and financial resources. What is important about them both is that they helped us see that stewardship has many facets to it, but one of the most important is the fact that stewardship is what adds to the beauty of our life, and when our lives become more awesome is when they become a gift to God. It is a gift, because we have made the most of God’s wonderful gift of life to us. To be good stewards of our time, talents and resources is to open doorways to the very core of our being, where our spirit meets God’s Spirit. How else can we experience love unless we open our hearts to another? How else can we experience compassion unless we open our concern for another? How else can we experience a sense of purpose unless we give our lives to someone or something beyond ourselves? Stewardship of our time, talents and resources opens our hearts to others. It is why we pray the “Prayer of the Heart” every week. Why we ask God to make us more like God. It is truly making our lives a gift back to God, by making our lives the greatest gift we can receive.

There is a continuation to the thought about life being God’s gift to us. It is and God gave us a second gift, the gift of creation in which to live our lives. Today, I want to look a little more deeply at this thought. Cherishing God’s great gift of our world. Scripture is very clear that not only do we honor God by tending to our own personal lives, but also by tending to and caring for this incredible world in which God has provided for us to enjoy. Psalm 8 truly puts this call into perspective, and maybe even in a way that is a little overwhelming. “When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have established; what are human beings that you are mindful of them. . . ? Yet you have made them, made us, a little lower than God and crowned him, crowned us, with glory and honor. You have given them dominion over the works of your hands.” Wow! Created a little lower than God and given dominion over the works, the creation of God’s hands. What does that mean?

One theologian says that we, as human beings, have the ability to shape our world. We, like God, can bring order to chaos. The work of our hands shapes what is around us. If it is done in love, with a sense of cherishing then what we do can be a gift to all. In the Psalm and in Genesis we heard that God has given us dominion over creation, which some have translated as a call to dominate creation. To bend it to our will, to take from it and use it in any way we deem appropriate to shape our lives. But dominion, biblically, doesn’t mean dominate, it means to be responsible for. We are called by God to be responsible for creation, for the work of God’s fingers. It is stewardship in its most basic meaning. Stewardship is first a call to be responsible for our lives, to also be responsible to those whom God has entrusted to us, meaning each other, and to tend to the care and nurture of God’s gift of this earth.

As many of you are aware, Church and Society has been championing this facet of stewardship during our Stewardship Campaign. The call to be responsible for the tending of creation. And even more specifically, they have been looking at what it means to be responsible users of the world’s natural resources, part of the gift of creation, which we utilize to provide energy, the life-blood of all we do. I must admit, that this focus has been the most challenging for me this fall as I wrestle with being a good steward. I read that we have already used up one-half of the world’s oil reserves. How can this be? We just started being industrial a few hundred years ago. We just started using cars a hundred years ago, but we have already used ½ of the oil provided in creation. And the demand is increasing. China is now becoming a major industrial nation and energy use will double in the not too distant future. We know the Middle-East has some of the greatest oil reserves, but Saudi Arabia says they will use those reserves up in 60 years. Then what? What will that mean to my grandchildren? It is the whole idea of the shade trees. What are we planting, what are we doing in our present and how will it impact the lives of those who still must seek life in this, God’s world? A Christian does things, is responsible for cherishing creation not only so it stays a gift today, but remains a gift for life in the future.

As many know, we had Kris Mayes, a Commissioner for the Arizona Corporation Commission, come and discuss with us what we face in Arizona as the demand for energy increases along with the price. The most disturbing thing I learned is that energy costs for heating our homes this year may rise as much as 70%. As demand increases, so does the cost. Some of us can absorb this cost, but others who live already from one check to another may have to make some significant life-style decisions. Some may have to choose between staying warm or eating. Now, it has become a justice issue, and moves us back into being good stewards for others. I am so proud of our youth. They went out last Sunday and helped winterize two homes. It is not a lot, but as the star-fish story goes, it mattered to the people we helped. They utilized the stewardship of their time to make a difference for people they had never met before, but which may make facing this winter a little less severe for them.

It is hard being a Christian, especially when you recognize the call to be in dominion over creation, to be responsible for what God has entrusted to us. After we heard Kris Mayes and some of her thoughts about renewable energy, especially solar power, Nancy and I have had several discussions about putting solar panels on our home. We heard that it might cost as much as $7-8000. Our first question was, “Does it make sense economically to do this since for our total electric and gas bill is about $1400?” The pay back period for this investment would be years. The hardest part is knowing this decision is not necessarily about my personal economics, it is about being responsible to God’s creation. It is about planting trees for our grandkids. It is about protecting and conserving for them what God has provided for the living of life. It is about utilizing creation as responsibly as possible. I guess that is always the bottom line for us is it not? Our lives and the living of them are not based upon the values that others may use to make decisions, but to always be a light to the world about doing the right thing when it comes to honoring God’s two wonderful gifts to us. And it is more than just being responsible personally. It also means keeping those who represent us responsible for how they utilize God’s gift of creation. Are there decisions that can be made that will have a significant impact upon energy usage, water conservation, clean air. If there are then we need to be God’s voice, a voice that says, we have dominion, we have a responsibility to God’s gift to us. There is a political philosophy that says, “When the people lead, the leaders will follow.” What does it mean to be a good steward?

We are called to cherish and share God’s creation. Let’s go forth and plant shade trees we will never sit under. Let us keep the work of God’s fingers a place of beauty. May we responsibly utilize our resources in a way that keeps this wonderful gift of creation and the lives we live in it healthy, protecting it now and keeping it a gift for all those who are yet to receive God’s wonderful gift of life.

Sermon delived by Rev. George Cushman on October 30, 2005.