October 5, 2025 - Creation 5 - Episcopal Church of Our Saviour

Sounds from Nature

Opening Hymn

Opening Acclamation

Blessed be our God, Creator of the galaxy, solar system, planet Earth, and us!
And blessed be God’s creation, now and always. Amen!

O heavenly Creator, who has filled the world with beauty: Open our eyes to behold your wild and artful hand in all your works; that, rejoicing in your creation, we may learn to serve you with passion and joy; for the sake of the Christ-force through whom all things were and are made. Amen.

Song of Praise

The Collect of the Day

May our God be with you.
And also with you.
Let us pray.

Most present, loving, good Creator, grant your people grace to renounce gladly the vanities of the human world; that, following the way of blessed Francis, we may delight in shared life with your whole Creation in perfectness of joy; through Jesus the Wisdom of Creation, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.

The Ministry of the Word

Job 19

God challenged Job.

“Do you know the month when mountain goats give birth?
    Have you ever watched a doe bear her fawn?
Do you know how many months she is pregnant?
    Do you know the season of her delivery,
    when she crouches down and drops her offspring?
Her young ones flourish and are soon on their own;
    they leave and don’t come back.

“Who do you think set the wild donkey free,
    opened the corral gates and let him go?
I gave him the whole wilderness to roam in,
    the rolling plains and wide-open places.
He laughs at his city cousins, who are harnessed and harried.
    He’s oblivious to the cries of teamsters.
He grazes freely through the hills,
    nibbling anything that’s green.

“Will the wild buffalo condescend to serve you,
    volunteer to spend the night in your barn?
Can you imagine hitching your plow to a buffalo
    and getting him to till your fields?
He’s hugely strong, yes, but could you trust him,
    would you dare turn the job over to him?
You wouldn’t for a minute depend on him, would you,
    to do what you said when you said it?

“The ostrich flaps her wings futilely—
    all those beautiful feathers, but useless!
She lays her eggs on the hard ground,
    leaves them there in the dirt, exposed to the weather,
Not caring that they might get stepped on and cracked
    or trampled by some wild animal.
She’s negligent with her young, as if they weren’t even hers.
    She cares nothing about anything.
She wasn’t created very smart, that’s for sure,
    wasn’t given her share of good sense.
But when she runs, oh, how she runs,
    laughing, leaving horse and rider in the dust.

“Are you the one who gave the horse his prowess
    and adorned him with a shimmering mane?
Did you create him to prance proudly
    and strike terror with his royal snorts?
He paws the ground fiercely, eager and spirited,
    then charges into the fray.
He laughs at danger, fearless,
    doesn’t shy away from the sword.
The banging and clanging
    of quiver and lance don’t faze him.
He quivers with excitement, and at the trumpet blast
    races off at a gallop.
At the sound of the trumpet he neighs mightily,
    smelling the excitement of battle from a long way off,
    catching the rolling thunder of the war cries.

“Was it through your know-how that the hawk learned to fly,
    soaring effortlessly on thermal updrafts?
Did you command the eagle’s flight,
    and teach her to build her nest in the heights,
Perfectly at home on the high cliff face,
    invulnerable on pinnacle and crag?
From her perch she searches for prey,
    spies it at a great distance.
Her young gorge themselves on carrion;
    wherever there’s a roadkill, you’ll see her circling.

The word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.

Psalm 121

I look up to the mountains;
does my strength come from mountains?
No, my strength comes from God,
who made heaven, and earth, and mountains.

He won’t let you stumble,
your Guardian God won’t fall asleep.
Not on your life! Israel’s
Guardian will never doze or sleep.

God’s your Guardian,
right at your side to protect you—
Shielding you from sunstroke,
sheltering you from moonstroke.

God guards you from every evil,
he guards your very life.
He guards you when you leave and when you return,
he guards you now, he guards you always.

Philippians 3:4-14

Steer clear of the barking dogs, those religious busybodies, all bark and no bite. All they’re interested in is appearances—knife-happy circumcisers, I call them. The real believers are the ones the Spirit of God leads to work away at this ministry, filling the air with Christ’s praise as we do it. We couldn’t carry this off by our own efforts, and we know it—even though we can list what many might think are impressive credentials. You know my pedigree: a legitimate birth, circumcised on the eighth day; an Israelite from the elite tribe of Benjamin; a strict and devout adherent to God’s law; a fiery defender of the purity of my religion, even to the point of persecuting the church; a meticulous observer of everything set down in God’s law Book.

The very credentials these people are waving around as something special, I’m tearing up and throwing out with the trash—along with everything else I used to take credit for. And why? Because of Christ. Yes, all the things I once thought were so important are gone from my life. Compared to the high privilege of knowing Christ Jesus as my Master, firsthand, everything I once thought I had going for me is insignificant—dog dung. I’ve dumped it all in the trash so that I could embrace Christ and be embraced by him. I didn’t want some petty, inferior brand of righteousness that comes from keeping a list of rules when I could get the robust kind that comes from trusting Christ—God’s righteousness.

I gave up all that inferior stuff so I could know Christ personally, experience his resurrection power, be a partner in his suffering, and go all the way with him to death itself. If there was any way to get in on the resurrection from the dead, I wanted to do it.

I’m not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. Friends, don’t get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I’ve got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I’m off and running, and I’m not turning back.

The word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.

A Contemporary Reading

From Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer

In the old times, our elders say, the trees talked to each other. They’d stand in their own council and craft a plan. But scientists decided long ago that plants were deaf and mute, locked in isolation without communication. The possibility of conversation was summarily dismissed. Until quite recently no one seriously explored the possibility that plants might ‘speak’ to one another. But pollen has been carried reliably on the wind for eons, communicated by males to receptive females to make flowers and fruits and nuts. If the wind can be trusted with that fecund responsibility, why not with messages?

There’s now compelling evidence that our elders were right — the trees are talking to one another. They communicate via pheromones, hormonelike compounds that are wafted on the breeze, laden with meaning. Scientists have identified specific compounds that one tree will release when it’s under the stress of insect attack — gypsy moths gorging on its leaves or bark beetles under its skin. The tree sends out a distress call: ‘Hey, you guys over there? I’m under attack here. You might want to raise the drawbridge and arm yourselves for what’s coming your way.’ The downwind trees catch the drift, sensing those few molecules of alarm, the whiff of danger. This gives them time to manufacture defensive chemicals. Forewarned is forearmed. The trees warn each other and the invaders are repelled. The individual benefits, and so does the entire grove. Trees appear to be talking about mutual defense.

There’s so much we cannot yet sense with our limited human capacity. Tree conversations are still far above our heads.

Words from the World. Let’s listen up!

Matthew 21:23-32

Jesus was back in the Temple, teaching. The high priests and leaders of the people came up and demanded, “Show us your credentials. Who authorized you to teach here?”

Jesus responded, “First let me ask you a question. You answer my question and I’ll answer yours. About the baptism of John—who authorized it: heaven or humans?”

They were on the spot and knew it. They pulled back into a huddle and whispered, “If we say ‘heaven,’ he’ll ask us why we didn’t believe him; if we say ‘humans,’ we’re up against it with the people because they all hold John up as a prophet.” They decided to concede that round to Jesus. “We don’t know,” they answered.

Jesus said, “Then I’m not going to answer your question either.”

Then he continued: “Tell me what you think of this story: A man had two sons. He went up to the first and said, ‘Son, go out for the day and work in the vineyard.’

“The son answered, ‘I don’t want to.’ Later on he thought better of it and went.

“The father gave the same command to the second son. He answered, ‘Sure, glad to.’ But he never went.

“Which of the two sons did what the father asked?”

They said, “The first.”

Jesus said, “Yes, and I tell you that crooks and whores are going to precede you into God’s kingdom. John came to you showing you the right road. You turned up your noses at him, but the crooks and whores believed him. Even when you saw their changed lives, you didn’t care enough to change and believe him.

The Gospel of Jesus. Praise to you, O Christ!

The Sermon

An Environmental Creed

Let us recite a creed, an affirmation of our faith:

We believe that the world belongs to God, Creator, Sustainer and Redeemer, who in mercy has revealed God’s own self in the universe and in Jesus Christ.

We believe that God the Creator sustains and loves all creatures, that each human being is a unique member of the community of life on Earth and has a responsibility to care for life in all its forms. We believe God wants us to live in a way that preserves Earth’s natural life processes and respects all species and their habitats.

We believe that God wills that all creatures have the right to a healthy environment and access to the fruits of the earth. We believe we have a duty to work to make these rights a reality for present and future generations, and for all life. As we follow Christ, we realize that we are trapped in structures that spread injustice, violence, waste, and destruction. We also believe that Christ’s truth, and our hard work, will set the world free.

We believe in the Holy Spirit who can empower us beyond the paralyzing idea that we do not matter. The Spirit energizes us to persevere so that justice can be done, peace established, the Earth defended.

May we be empowered to do so. Amen.

The Prayers of the People

The Leader and People pray responsively. During the silence after each bidding, the people offer their own prayers, either silently or aloud.

As we gather in the Season of Creation, let us pray for all communities of faith everywhere, the world, and all of God’s creation.

Creator, you made the world beautiful and sustain it with your love. We pray for the Earth and all its creatures. Help us to care for the land, water, and air, and to live in harmony with all living things.