{"id":451,"date":"2015-09-13T15:48:01","date_gmt":"2015-09-13T22:48:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mischievousspiritandtheology.com\/?p=451"},"modified":"2015-09-13T15:48:01","modified_gmt":"2015-09-13T22:48:01","slug":"sky-sunday-season-creation-mt-162-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mischievousspiritandtheology.com\/tgt\/sky-sunday-season-creation-mt-162-3\/","title":{"rendered":"Sky Sunday: Season of Creation (Mt.16:2-3"},"content":{"rendered":"

This sermon is by Rev. Joe Shore-Goss, my husband.<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is the air I breathe<\/p>\n

Welcome, Sulfur Dioxide<\/p>\n

This is the air I breathe<\/p>\n

Hello, Carbon Monoxide<\/p>\n

Your Holy presence<\/p>\n

The air, the air<\/p>\n

Living in me is everywhere.<\/p>\n

This is my daily bread<\/p>\n

Breathe Deep<\/p>\n

This is my daily Bread<\/p>\n

While I sleep<\/p>\n

Your very word<\/p>\n

Breathe deep<\/p>\n

Is spoken to me.<\/p>\n

And I am desperate for you,<\/p>\n

And I am lost without you.<\/p>\n

This is the air I breathe<\/p>\n

Bless you, alcohol blood stream<\/p>\n

This is the air I breathe<\/p>\n

Save me nicotine lung steam<\/p>\n

Your Holy Presence<\/p>\n

Incense, Incense<\/p>\n

Living in me, is in the air<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This is my daily bread<\/p>\n

Breathe Deep<\/p>\n

This is my daily Bread<\/p>\n

While I sleep<\/p>\n

Your very word<\/p>\n

Breathe deep<\/p>\n

Is spoken to me.<\/p>\n

And I\u2019m cataclysmic ectoplasm<\/p>\n

And I\u2019m fallout atomic orgasm<\/p>\n

Desperate for you<\/p>\n

And I\u2019m vapor and fume<\/p>\n

I\u2019m lost at the stone of my tomb without you<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

And I breathing like a sullen perfume<\/p>\n

Desperate for you<\/p>\n

Eating at the stone of my tomb<\/p>\n

I\u2019m lost without you,<\/p>\n

Looking rather attractive<\/p>\n

I\u2019m lost without you,<\/p>\n

Now that I\u2019m radio active<\/p>\n

I\u2019m desperate for you,<\/p>\n

Just watch me spark<\/p>\n

Cry out to live<\/p>\n

I glow in the dark<\/p>\n

I am desperate for you<\/p>\n

Breathe deep<\/p>\n

I\u2019m lost<\/p>\n

While I sleep<\/p>\n

I\u2019m Lost<\/p>\n

Breathe deep<\/p>\n

I\u2019m lost without you
\nh up of this is the air I breathe by Michael W. Smith and Air from Hair by James Rado, Gerome Ragni. It is actually the first thing I thought of when I knew I had sky Sunday. The imagery that these two images bring about can be, and I hope it was, disturbing.<\/p>\n

When I used to drive into Los Angeles from Palm Springs it would strike me as I came over the one hill and looking into the basin of Los Angeles there was a yellow\/brownish haze just hanging over the city. The air is everywhere and this is the air we breathe.<\/p>\n

The original Gospel assigned for today speaks of the sky turning dark for 3 hours as Christ hung on the cross. I choose instead the reading where Christ actually says red sky at night sailors delight red sky in morning sailors take warning\u2026well more or less.<\/p>\n

The other readings one is from Jeremiah and it says;
\nJeremiah 4:23-28 Common English Bible (CEB)<\/p>\n

23 I looked at the earth,
\nAnd it was without shape or form;
\nAt the heavens
\nAnd there was no light.
\n24 I looked at the mountains
\nAnd they were quaking;
\nAll the hills were rocking back and forth.
\n25 I looked and there was no one left;
\nEvery bird in the sky had taken flight.
\n26 I looked and the fertile land was a desert;
\nAll its towns were in ruins
\nBefore the Lord,
\nBefore his fury.
\n27 The Lord proclaims:
\nThe whole earth will become a desolation,
\nBut I will not destroy it completely.
\n28 Therefore, the earth will grieve
\nAnd the heavens grow dark<\/p>\n

And still a 3rd reading form the psalms says;
\nPsalm 19
\nFor the music leader. A psalm of David.<\/p>\n

19 Heaven is declaring God\u2019s glory;
\nThe sky is proclaiming his handiwork.
\n2 One day gushes the news to the next,
\nAnd one night informs another what needs to be known.
\n3 Of course, there\u2019s no speech, no words\u2014
\nTheir voices can\u2019t be heard\u2014
\n4 but their sound[a] extends throughout the world;
\nTheir words reach the ends of the earth.
\nGod has made a tent in heaven for the sun.
\n5 The sun is like a groom
\nComing out of his honeymoon suite;
\nLike a warrior, it thrills at running its course.
\n6 It rises in one end of the sky;
\nIts circuit is complete at the other.
\nNothing escapes its heat.<\/p>\n

There is a theme here which is the voice of creation, or more specifically the way which the sky not only announces and celebrates God\u2019s presence, but also sympathizes with\u00a0Creation when it suffers.<\/p>\n

Have you ever watched the skies when a storm was brewing, black clouds rolling?\u00a0In like wall after wall of waves? Have you ever had a sense of God\u2019s presence in?<\/p>\n

The storm or God\u2019s voice in the thunder as many ancient peoples did? (Note
\nPsalm 29!) Have you ever sensed that eerie feeling that comes during an eclipse?\u00a0When all the animals are spooked?<\/p>\n

Why is the sky so important to us? Our moods seem to change with the weather\u2014When the sun shines we are likely to be happier than when darkness covers the sky.\u00a0Why? What does the sky mean to us? Is our faith influenced by the sky or related to\u00a0The sky in some way?<\/p>\n

It is interesting to note that in general when the Old Testament refers to heavens the original Hebrew could be translated as sky or skies, and really that often works better, for me anyway for then the air around us, above us and beyond us. All of this space is where God dwells. God is living, according to the Old Testament, here between us.<\/p>\n

We take God in\u2026This is the air I breathe. We exhale God\u2026This is the air I breathe. We harm and foul God with pollutants form cigarette smoke to exhaust from Coal mines and power plants. We made the Earth a member of our congregation and yet we walk in God daily.<\/p>\n

In Jeremiahs vision he sees an enemy about to destroy all that God has created. As a matter of fact the season of creation author describes it this way;
\n\u201cThe\u00a0Disaster he sees coming is so destructive he depicts the event as if it were a reversal of the original acts of creation. To understand this vision we need to return to the events of Genesis One.<\/p>\n

Consider the following:
\nCompare v. 23 with Gen. 1.1: Return to pre-creation \u2013 all is \u2018waste and void\u2019
\nCompare v. 23 with Day One: No light in the sky
\nCompare v. 25 with Day Five: No birds in the sky
\nCompare v. 26 with Day Three: No vegetation comes from the land\/Earth
\nJeremiah\u2019s vision turns the whole of the original creation process upside down. This\u00a0Portrait, moreover, is more than a metaphor.\u201d<\/p>\n

If we look around us we can see this destruction happening around us every day. Fires are wiping out acres of vegetation. Drought is devastating our state. In other parts floods and mudslides are wiping out villages where glaciers are disappearing, and ocean tides are rising. Jeremiah ends his vision by predicting the earth will mourn the sky will turn black.<\/p>\n

I have seen the sky turn black and the sun disappear due to the big fires in Oakland. I have seen the sky turn from a haze to a dark orange to fill with soot due to nearby fires. Jeremiah has laments where he speaks further of the earth mourning and the land crying aloud to God. I believe in many cases this is happening today. The land is crying out and some are listening.<\/p>\n

The author of the Seasons of creation sky Sunday bible study tells us; \u201cWe have created a hole in the ozone layer. By excessive use of various sprays and chemicals we have released chlorofluorocarbon molecules into the atmosphere. In the stratosphere chlorine atoms escape from these molecules and attack the ozone molecules. The resulting \u2018hole\u2019 first appeared over the South Pole, but the ozone layer is thinning over other continents. Because of this thinning, UV rays from the sun have now increased and so have skin cancer rates. (though , due to changes we have made,, in a study released this summer if we stay the path the ozone may heal by 2070)<\/p>\n

There are many ways in which we have polluted our skies. The combustion of fossil fuels in factories and cars produces a host of noxious materials that fill our skies. One of the common effects is smog. Air pollution is no longer a crisis we can avoid.\u201d<\/p>\n

I must say we are getting better but our dependency on fossil fuels is still way too high. We are still in the very early stages of switching from more hybrid and fuel cell cars but I believe we are getting there. We, as you know, have most of our electricity generated from the sun.<\/p>\n

People have shrugged at solar energy claiming it is a flash in the pan or not viable. But I still wonder what would happen if we required every new structure to have solar panels, or at least every government building. \u201cIn full sun, you can safely assume about 100 watts of solar energy per square foot. If you assume 12 hours of sun per day, this equates to 438,000 watt-hours per square foot per year. Based on 27,878,400 square feet per square mile, sunlight bestows a whopping 12.2 trillion watt-hours per square mile per year.\u201d We have yet to begin to access all the energy around us.<\/p>\n

Of course, the biggest problem with this is someone will lose money. Someone else will make money. The energy companies, the way many stand, are losing money as solar becomes more popular. The gas companies are losing money as responsible organizations and people are divesting form them. They try to block advances that will better our environment at every turn. It really is a shame. Yet, in spite of all that, the LAPD announced today they have just bought 137 electric cars!
\nFinally the author I have been sharing with you form seasons of creation goes on to remind us\u00a0Many of us have been conditioned to think that only humans communicate the mysteries of God. We do not expect other parts of creation to have a voice like that of humans. Butterflies do not talk. Trees do not sing the way we do. Skies do not communicate.<\/p>\n

Psalm 19 indicates just the opposite. Many Psalms, like Ps. 148, celebrate the way trees sing, fields rejoice and the rest of creation praises God. This Psalmist invites all creation\u2014including sea monsters and storms\u2014to praise the Creator!<\/p>\n

Sometimes we think this kind of talk is but poetic language, giving human voice to non-human reality. Psalm 19 suggests that the voice of creation is more than a poetic way of praising God. All creation is here communicating about\u2014and with\u2014the Creator.<\/p>\n

In this Psalm the sky proclaims good news in its own way, not a human way. The sky is the mediator of God\u2019s word. The sky announces two things\u2014the vibrant presence of God and the creative work of God.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately over the city of angels the sky often mourns and warns of the troubled air. The sky becomes distressful for those with conditions and young people on certain days as the particle count is just unsafe. We must listen to God in heaven, God around us, God in us, between us and remember. This is the air I breathe. This is the air we breathe. Amen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This sermon is by Rev. Joe Shore-Goss, my husband. This is the air I breathe Welcome, Sulfur Dioxide This is the air I breathe Hello, Carbon Monoxide Your Holy presence The air, the air Living in me is everywhere. This is my daily bread Breathe Deep This is my daily Bread While I sleep Your […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[11,5,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-451","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ecological-resources","category-green","category-sunday-sermons"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3Cgaj-7h","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mischievousspiritandtheology.com\/tgt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/451","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mischievousspiritandtheology.com\/tgt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mischievousspiritandtheology.com\/tgt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mischievousspiritandtheology.com\/tgt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mischievousspiritandtheology.com\/tgt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=451"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.mischievousspiritandtheology.com\/tgt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/451\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":454,"href":"https:\/\/www.mischievousspiritandtheology.com\/tgt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/451\/revisions\/454"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mischievousspiritandtheology.com\/tgt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=451"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mischievousspiritandtheology.com\/tgt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=451"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mischievousspiritandtheology.com\/tgt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=451"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}