Listening to Sky
September 13, 2009
September 13, 2009
Rev. Susan Gilbert Zencka
Frame Memorial Presbyterian Church
Texts: Mark 13:24-27; Psalm 19
I told this story in a sermon not too long ago, but it bears retelling here, as it is completely a sky experience. In 2003, I had gone to visit Jason at college in Minnesota, and the two younger boys came with me. We got snowed in for a day, and so left a morning later than we had planned, a cold and icy morning in December. We were still living on the Indiana, side of Chicago, so we had an 8-hour drive ahead of us. As we started out on the road, I was talking with the boys about how much I enjoy auto travel because of the wonderful things you can see if you're paying attention – hawks, elk, the crossing of the Mississippi...and I could almost hear their eyes rolling. They were not so impressed with my waxing eloquent about the joys of long trips in the car.
And then we came around a bend, and we saw it. I stopped talking, they stopped not listening. What was it? “Do you see that?” I finally asked. “Yes,” they answered. I pulled over and we just looked for a moment. Ahead of us was something that looked like the sky had torn open – and through the opening, the sunlight was streaming into view. We were completely amazed, awed, and trying to decide whether to be terrified. We resumed driving and soon we came to a place where we could see it even better – there wasn't just one of these – there was a pair – and they tended to arc toward each other. “It's like a sun bow,” someone said – and I took some photos, and then we headed on back home. When we got home, I found out that what we had seen was something called “sundogs” -- caused by ice crystals in the air.
The sky had amazed us, delighted us, and reminded us that the unexpected and marvelous can be just around the next bend in the road.
Psalm 19 opens with the words: The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night declares knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words; their voice is not heard; yet their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world.
This is really the theology at the heart of the Season of Creation: if we take the time to look at it, the natural world tells us about God. The premise of this season is that this psalm is giving us an important message – the world can reveal God to us in much the same way that the Bible can, and we just have to learn how to read it and pay attention.
The sky in particular is a canvas for all different kinds of images: and if a picture tells a thousand words, the sky is a multi-volume work. What kind of images do we see in the sky? From a purely natural perspective, we can see the soft colors of the sunrise, the clear blue sky of a summer day, the mystery of fog, the drama - and if you're close enough – the terror of lightening, the magic of the Northern lights, the eerie sky – grey or even green before a major storm, the beauty of a sunset, the playfulness of shooting stars, the steadfastness of the moon, and the oddity of eclipse: which was the brightest dark sky I've ever seen.
The narrative span of the Bible includes a number of stories in which the sky plays a major role, starting of course with the second and fourth days of Creation when God first separates the sky from the earth, and later equips the sky to tell us the difference between night and day, and guide us through the seasons. We need to know, by the way, that most places where the Bible talks of the heavens, it is describing the sky, not an unseen place where God lives. The heavens could also be thought of as the atmosphere. It describes the sky up to and including the air we breathe. And later in Genesis, after the sky flooding Earth with 40 days of rain, God puts a rainbow in the sky to as a reminder to God's own self of the promise to never destroy the earth again. When God is establishing the covenant with Abraham, God directs Abraham to look at the stars in the night sky and promises that his descendants will be as numerous. When Jesus is born, the skies are filled with angels bringing the news to the shepherds, and a great star guides the magi to visit Jesus. And remembering what the Bible means by the heavens, Jesus also tells us to pray to the God who is like a Father, and who is as near as the air we breathe. The sky mourned during the crucifixion of Jesus, as it turned dark for the duration of his suffering on the cross – and after his resurrection, the last the disciples see of Jesus is as he is carried on a cloud into the sky. Again and again, the sky participates in the unfolding of covenantal history in the stories of God and humans.
The relationship of humans to the sky has changed substantially over the last 226 years. Up until then, the skies had guided ship captains and land travelers, but in December of 1903, Wilbur and Orville Wright succeeded in flying the first airplane, 120 years after the first humans flew in hot air balloons. And since then it has been mostly one triumph after another, proceeding with astonishing quickness when you consider that humans had been trying to fly at least since the Chinese developed kites 2400 years ago. 2200 years of trying to fly, and once we were in the air, it took almost no time at all to fly to the moon – less than 66 years from the first airplane to the first moon landing.
But in addition to all these triumphs, there are many images of human interaction with the sky that are less than glorious. Think of a mushroom cloud. Think of pollution. Think of the tragic images framed by a blue blue sky: the Challenger explosion in 1986, and eight years ago, airplanes flown into buildings leaving fiery images etched on our collective memories – the skies were filled with smoke that day, and the actions that the terrorists took that day have changed all of our lives dramatically. Sojourners magazine noted this week that our country chose to respond according to the values, if not the strategy, of the terrorists, returning death for death, war for war, fear for fear. We've compromised some of our freedoms, in the fear that followed, and having found our union in fear rather than hope, are beginning to give up civil discourse and a sense of a community in which it's possible to respectfully disagree, for a simplified approach to relationships in which people are either with us or against us.
Indeed, the sky should remind us that life is not nearly so simple, for as Jesus said in his Sermon on the Mount: “You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous.” We all share one sky.
And we need to remember that these days, because what we have pumped into the one sky is creating climate change to which we will all be vulnerable. We have to learn how to form community with those who are different than us, with those countries who have different priorities, with those peoples who look at us as enemies. We all share one sky.
The passage from Mark's Gospel, describes the sky darkening, the moon unseen, and the stars falling, and it speaks of the Son of Man gathering up people from all the four winds, from the ends of earth and sky . Mark tells us that in a time of global crisis, the people of God are one people wherever they are. We are one people, and we share one sky.
When it comes to all of us who share this planet, who live under the same sky, who are humans in the image of God, we are one – no matter what country, no matter what faith, rich, poor, at peace or at war, we are one people and we share one sky. And we cannot separate ourselves from other countries as we turn our attention to the issue of climate change – in this time of global peril, we need to become truly a community of nations, and recognize that going it alone is not an option anymore. We need to do what's best for the whole planet, whether or not everyone is ready to come on board. In this situation, finally the Biblical value of community is the only path to survival – we need to find common ground below the one sky. The Torah of Yahweh is perfect, reviving the soul...
We cannot afford to wait until everyone agrees, we cannot afford to wait until everyone is ready to make sacrifices. And we can't cynically say God's vision would never work. Global climate change is a moral issue, and more than that – it is a theological issue. It has everything to do with how we understand ourselves as persons in relationship with other persons and with the world.
We will have to understand ourselves as connected rather than competing with every other person and creature on the earth in order to solve this crisis. We will need to understand the Biblical vision of community is not just a wish for the world, but the true description of the world – we need to learn to see that our shared interests are more real than our individual desires. We need to learn that the only sustainable mode of living is in communion – sharing the one earth, under the one sky in such a way that all of our children's children's children's children will be able to look back at our time and thank the One God that we finally saw the light, and saw that we are one people under the one sky. Just as we once learned that the world was round, and we once learned that the earth rotated around the sun and we were not the center of the universe or even the solar system, now we must learn that the world is one, and that if we can't learn to live as one world community, we will find ourselves together in the end of the world as we know it. And so we need to understand that the God who made us and and loves us all will be able to guide us into a new understanding of ourselves and each other that will lead us into abundant life. Without that vision, people will indeed perish. The sky tells the glory of God... There is no speech, nor are there words; their voice is not heard; yet their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world...Let the words of our mouths and the meditations of all our hearts be acceptable to you, O Yahweh, our rock and our redeemer. Amen.
Rev. Susan Gilbert Zencka
Frame Memorial Presbyterian Church
Texts: Mark 13:24-27; Psalm 19
I told this story in a sermon not too long ago, but it bears retelling here, as it is completely a sky experience. In 2003, I had gone to visit Jason at college in Minnesota, and the two younger boys came with me. We got snowed in for a day, and so left a morning later than we had planned, a cold and icy morning in December. We were still living on the Indiana, side of Chicago, so we had an 8-hour drive ahead of us. As we started out on the road, I was talking with the boys about how much I enjoy auto travel because of the wonderful things you can see if you're paying attention – hawks, elk, the crossing of the Mississippi...and I could almost hear their eyes rolling. They were not so impressed with my waxing eloquent about the joys of long trips in the car.
And then we came around a bend, and we saw it. I stopped talking, they stopped not listening. What was it? “Do you see that?” I finally asked. “Yes,” they answered. I pulled over and we just looked for a moment. Ahead of us was something that looked like the sky had torn open – and through the opening, the sunlight was streaming into view. We were completely amazed, awed, and trying to decide whether to be terrified. We resumed driving and soon we came to a place where we could see it even better – there wasn't just one of these – there was a pair – and they tended to arc toward each other. “It's like a sun bow,” someone said – and I took some photos, and then we headed on back home. When we got home, I found out that what we had seen was something called “sundogs” -- caused by ice crystals in the air.
The sky had amazed us, delighted us, and reminded us that the unexpected and marvelous can be just around the next bend in the road.
Psalm 19 opens with the words: The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night declares knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words; their voice is not heard; yet their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world.
This is really the theology at the heart of the Season of Creation: if we take the time to look at it, the natural world tells us about God. The premise of this season is that this psalm is giving us an important message – the world can reveal God to us in much the same way that the Bible can, and we just have to learn how to read it and pay attention.
The sky in particular is a canvas for all different kinds of images: and if a picture tells a thousand words, the sky is a multi-volume work. What kind of images do we see in the sky? From a purely natural perspective, we can see the soft colors of the sunrise, the clear blue sky of a summer day, the mystery of fog, the drama - and if you're close enough – the terror of lightening, the magic of the Northern lights, the eerie sky – grey or even green before a major storm, the beauty of a sunset, the playfulness of shooting stars, the steadfastness of the moon, and the oddity of eclipse: which was the brightest dark sky I've ever seen.
The narrative span of the Bible includes a number of stories in which the sky plays a major role, starting of course with the second and fourth days of Creation when God first separates the sky from the earth, and later equips the sky to tell us the difference between night and day, and guide us through the seasons. We need to know, by the way, that most places where the Bible talks of the heavens, it is describing the sky, not an unseen place where God lives. The heavens could also be thought of as the atmosphere. It describes the sky up to and including the air we breathe. And later in Genesis, after the sky flooding Earth with 40 days of rain, God puts a rainbow in the sky to as a reminder to God's own self of the promise to never destroy the earth again. When God is establishing the covenant with Abraham, God directs Abraham to look at the stars in the night sky and promises that his descendants will be as numerous. When Jesus is born, the skies are filled with angels bringing the news to the shepherds, and a great star guides the magi to visit Jesus. And remembering what the Bible means by the heavens, Jesus also tells us to pray to the God who is like a Father, and who is as near as the air we breathe. The sky mourned during the crucifixion of Jesus, as it turned dark for the duration of his suffering on the cross – and after his resurrection, the last the disciples see of Jesus is as he is carried on a cloud into the sky. Again and again, the sky participates in the unfolding of covenantal history in the stories of God and humans.
The relationship of humans to the sky has changed substantially over the last 226 years. Up until then, the skies had guided ship captains and land travelers, but in December of 1903, Wilbur and Orville Wright succeeded in flying the first airplane, 120 years after the first humans flew in hot air balloons. And since then it has been mostly one triumph after another, proceeding with astonishing quickness when you consider that humans had been trying to fly at least since the Chinese developed kites 2400 years ago. 2200 years of trying to fly, and once we were in the air, it took almost no time at all to fly to the moon – less than 66 years from the first airplane to the first moon landing.
But in addition to all these triumphs, there are many images of human interaction with the sky that are less than glorious. Think of a mushroom cloud. Think of pollution. Think of the tragic images framed by a blue blue sky: the Challenger explosion in 1986, and eight years ago, airplanes flown into buildings leaving fiery images etched on our collective memories – the skies were filled with smoke that day, and the actions that the terrorists took that day have changed all of our lives dramatically. Sojourners magazine noted this week that our country chose to respond according to the values, if not the strategy, of the terrorists, returning death for death, war for war, fear for fear. We've compromised some of our freedoms, in the fear that followed, and having found our union in fear rather than hope, are beginning to give up civil discourse and a sense of a community in which it's possible to respectfully disagree, for a simplified approach to relationships in which people are either with us or against us.
Indeed, the sky should remind us that life is not nearly so simple, for as Jesus said in his Sermon on the Mount: “You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous.” We all share one sky.
And we need to remember that these days, because what we have pumped into the one sky is creating climate change to which we will all be vulnerable. We have to learn how to form community with those who are different than us, with those countries who have different priorities, with those peoples who look at us as enemies. We all share one sky.
The passage from Mark's Gospel, describes the sky darkening, the moon unseen, and the stars falling, and it speaks of the Son of Man gathering up people from all the four winds, from the ends of earth and sky . Mark tells us that in a time of global crisis, the people of God are one people wherever they are. We are one people, and we share one sky.
When it comes to all of us who share this planet, who live under the same sky, who are humans in the image of God, we are one – no matter what country, no matter what faith, rich, poor, at peace or at war, we are one people and we share one sky. And we cannot separate ourselves from other countries as we turn our attention to the issue of climate change – in this time of global peril, we need to become truly a community of nations, and recognize that going it alone is not an option anymore. We need to do what's best for the whole planet, whether or not everyone is ready to come on board. In this situation, finally the Biblical value of community is the only path to survival – we need to find common ground below the one sky. The Torah of Yahweh is perfect, reviving the soul...
We cannot afford to wait until everyone agrees, we cannot afford to wait until everyone is ready to make sacrifices. And we can't cynically say God's vision would never work. Global climate change is a moral issue, and more than that – it is a theological issue. It has everything to do with how we understand ourselves as persons in relationship with other persons and with the world.
We will have to understand ourselves as connected rather than competing with every other person and creature on the earth in order to solve this crisis. We will need to understand the Biblical vision of community is not just a wish for the world, but the true description of the world – we need to learn to see that our shared interests are more real than our individual desires. We need to learn that the only sustainable mode of living is in communion – sharing the one earth, under the one sky in such a way that all of our children's children's children's children will be able to look back at our time and thank the One God that we finally saw the light, and saw that we are one people under the one sky. Just as we once learned that the world was round, and we once learned that the earth rotated around the sun and we were not the center of the universe or even the solar system, now we must learn that the world is one, and that if we can't learn to live as one world community, we will find ourselves together in the end of the world as we know it. And so we need to understand that the God who made us and and loves us all will be able to guide us into a new understanding of ourselves and each other that will lead us into abundant life. Without that vision, people will indeed perish. The sky tells the glory of God... There is no speech, nor are there words; their voice is not heard; yet their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world...Let the words of our mouths and the meditations of all our hearts be acceptable to you, O Yahweh, our rock and our redeemer. Amen.