Sermon: Harmony in Creation and Community (Season of Creation)
This past Tuesday, September 1st, marked the beginning of a new year and a new season. For over 260 million Orthodox Christians living across the globe, a new liturgical year began on September 1st with a special commemoration of God’s creation, giving thanks to Him for all He has made.
For Anglicans and other Western churches, we are usually ushered into a fresh liturgical year with the season of Advent and the First Sunday of Advent. Unlike the Western church, Orthodox churches do not divide the year into a series of distinct liturgical seasons, with the exception of Great Lent leading into Holy Week and Easter. Instead, their year features Great Lent followed by several lesser fasts—such as the 40-day Nativity Fast before Christmas, the Apostles’ Fast after Pentecost, and a two-week fast before the feast of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary on August 15th. Built around the celebration of the Resurrection and 12 major feast days, the Orthodox liturgical year begins on September 1st.
In 1989, Ecumenical Patriarch Demetrios I proclaimed September 1st as a special day of prayer for creation, inviting all Christians to pray for the healing of the world. Since then, the concept of a “Season of Creation” has gained broad support across the Anglican Communion, the World Council of Churches, the Lutheran World Federation, the Roman Catholic Church, and many ecumenical organizations working for justice and environmental stewardship. The Season of Creation begins on September 1st and fittingly concludes on October 4th, the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi.
Living Water and Human Duty
An earnest concern and care for the earth rests at the heart of the Season of Creation. Each year a specific theme is developed, and this year’s theme is Living Water. Like the air we breathe, water is essential to all life and living creatures.
I was reminded of this firsthand a few days ago when a water main broke at my building, leaving us without running water for nearly 24 hours. Experiencing that sudden loss was a shock—I had to go out and buy a large jug of water just to brew a cup of coffee! It made me acutely aware of how easily I waste water every day, whether leaving the tap running while brushing my teeth or filling a sink halfway to wash a single dish. Water cleanses us, feeds us, and sustains us. Just as water sustains physical life, you and I began our spiritual lives in the living waters of baptism. Water is a deeply fitting image for reflecting on our human duty to care for the earth and its resources.
The featured biblical text for this year’s Season of Creation comes from Ezekiel’s vision of the temple in Ezekiel 47. Members of our choir may recognize these verses from the Vidi Aquam, traditionally sung during the sprinkling rite in Eastertide: “I saw water flowing from the right side of the temple, alleluia; and all to whom that water came were saved, and they shall say, alleluia, alleluia.”
Restoring Broken Harmony
Scripture reminds us that there is an intrinsic goodness, integrity, and harmony in creation intended by our Creator. Tragically, that harmony has been disturbed, interrupted, and damaged by human choices and actions—committed both unknowingly and deliberately.
Extreme heat waves, devastating wildfires, severe flooding, and ecological disasters across the globe are deepened by human choices, particularly our reliance on fossil fuels. Creation itself is groaning, calling us to account for our stewardship.
When we look at today’s scripture readings for the 15th Sunday after Pentecost alongside these environmental themes, a common thread emerges: the thread of harmony.
We see this theme of harmony running through both Romans 13 and Matthew 18. Writing to the church in Rome, St. Paul gives us a down-to-earth definition of harmony:
“Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law… Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.”
This is not a definition rooted in distant fantasy, but an actionable commitment to how we relate to one another in a troubled world, even when extra effort and dedication are required.
In Matthew 18, Jesus offers guidance for reconciliation within the church. Back in 2017, when our parish reflected deeply on community life, we adopted a parish covenant rooted in this very passage. Harmony within a Christian community is essential for its health, strength, and witness. Without harmony, community life becomes discordant. Much like an orchestra playing without alignment, it devolves into cacophony.
Harmony rests at the very foundation of God’s creation, and it is what God intends for our relationships, our churches, and our world.
A Prayer for Creation
Charles Wesley captured this desire for unity in his 18th-century hymn, our gradual today:
Jesus, Lord, we look to thee;
Let us in thy name agree;
Show thyself the Prince of Peace;
Bid all strife forever cease.
Make us of one heart and mind,
Courteous, merciful, and kind,
Lowly, meek, in thought and word,
Altogether like our Lord.
Let us for each other care,
Each the other’s burden bear;
To thy church the pattern give,
Show how true believers live.
Remembering the need for healing and the restoration of harmony in creation and among all people, I want to leave you with the suggested Collect for the Season of Creation:
Loving Creator,
whose Spirit hovered over the face of the waters
and brought forth life in all its abundance:
Cleanse our hearts and renew our minds,
that we may cherish the gift of your creation,
restore the harmony we have broken,
and become faithful stewards of your living waters.
Through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Father Ted Hales