Partners in God’s Will for Creation

“Who are my mother and my brothers?” And looking at those who sat around him, Jesus said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.”

Mark 3:33-34

Sometimes, when Christians talk about compassion ministries, they seem to reserve their compassion only for their own. I’ve heard of churches (not Presbyterian ones) that have food pantries, but only serve their own church members. Within our Presbyterian circle, folks will often point out that some Palestinians are Christian, and therefore should not be killed. While I’m sure they aren’t consciously thinking it, they seem to imply that with the Palestinians who are not Christian, it would be okay that they are being killed.

There are Christian traditions that tend to exclude non-Christians, or even anyone who is not part of their sect. I have never understood that to be a practice for Presbyterians. I was raised to believe that no Christian tradition is able to fully reflect the Gospel, so we respect that our ecumenical partners can do God’s will and reach out to different folks in ways we cannot. Some churches will connect with people of other faiths and even people of no faith in order to do God’s will; crises often have a way of tearing down barriers of theology or ideology.

This last week I have seen ways we are connecting with people outside our Presbyterian family to do greater things than we can do alone, especially in our efforts to be good stewards of Creation:

• Indigenous people are sharing their wisdom about care for the environment; many are not Christian after witnessing too much evil done to them in the name of Christ, while we in San Gabriel Presbytery have long enjoyed a relationship with the Gabrieleno-Tongva San Gabriel Band of Mission Indians, some of whom practice Native traditions and their Presbyterian faith.

• Frances Namoumou, the International Peacemaker from Fiji who visited us this last week,spoke of the Pacific Islander view of the “three-legged stool” that leads their society: culture, faith, and government. Her work is with the Pacific Conference of Churches, and they work with secular public officials and acknowledge pre-Christian beliefs in order to support and organize people impacted by climate change. She joked that though she is Methodist, she is thankful to be able to work with Presbyterians as well, as reversing the growing crisis ofclimate-related disasters requires the help of all people.

• Veronica Ota, who recently graduated from Princeton Seminary and is under care of ourCommission on Preparation for Ministry, has received a significant grant that is enabling her to visit countries on multiple continents to learn how they are practicing creation care through their own cultures, religions, and traditions. As she learns the ways culture and religion inform attitudes towards the environment, she will be better equipped to connect with people and faith communities of different backgrounds in her future creation care ministry here in the US.
• The Justice, Peacemaking, and Mission Committee (JPM) has been working with a youngwoman and two environmental attorneys to confront a company that is illegally dumping solid waste in outlying areas around Southern California. Though the young woman used to attend Menlo Park Presbyterian Church as a youth, she is not connected with the church now. Theattorneys are secular, though the lead attorney shared with me that as a Catholic he has beenvery impressed that the Presbyterian Church is not afraid to challenge injustice and abuse in the world, which he sees as living out our faith.

As we open ourselves to God’s leading and connect with the people God puts in our path, amazing things can happen. Recently Mona Morales Recalde shared that as Cheryl Prentice, former executive director of La Casa de San Gabriel, shared some oral history with the JPM Committee via Zoom, Mona’s headphones stopped working, so she used her computer speakers. Her father heard Cheryl talking about the old days at La Casa, and after the meeting he and Mona spent hours talking about the ways La Casa offered a safe and supportive environment for him, especially when Native Americans were facing active persecution. And when we first met with the young woman and attorneys regarding the illegal dumping, we invited Rev. Heidi Worthen Gamble, the Mission Catalyst for Pacific Presbytery. Right after that meeting she went to Pacific’s Creation Care Committee meeting and shared what she heard. One of the members of that committee had been working with the leader in responsible waste management for years, and said they had suspected there was illegal dumping but did not have any proof. Through God’s actions—and our willingness to listen and connect and act—we were able to make a crucial connection between victims of environmental injustice in low-rent neighborhoods, attorneys near Washington, DC, and scientists seeking to stop the devastation of toxic fires and contaminated water from illegal dumping in LA County.

Some of us will ask how many of these people will be coming to worship on Sunday. Some of us will say that the church needs to take action outside the walls of the church. And some of us believe that God’s people are led and taught to recognize God’s will through faithful worship and preaching—and we are called to reflect God’s glory by bringing what we’ve discerned into a hurting world.

May we live out our faith in obedience to God, and may we be bold to partner with whoever God brings to us to further God’s will for this earth. Let us follow Christ’s call beyond the familiar, that we may do great things in the power of the Holy Spirit.

In faith,

Wendy