Scripture:
Where do we find God In church In nature In the roaring of the wind In the vast expanse of a mountain range Long ago, Elijah asked this same question. Hear the answer he received, as we read from the first book of Kings, chapter 19, verses 9-18:

At that place he came to a cave, and spent the night there. Then the word of the LORD came to him, saying, "What are you doing here, Elijah" [10] He answered, "I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away."

[11] He said, "Go out and stand on the mountain before the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by." Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake; [12] and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence. [13] When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. Then there came a voice to him that said, "What are you doing here, Elijah" [14] He answered, "I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away." [15] Then the LORD said to him, "Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus; when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael as king over Aram. [16] Also you shall anoint Jehu son of Nimshi as king over Israel; and you shall anoint Elisha son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah as prophet in your place. [17] Whoever escapes from the sword of Hazael, Jehu shall kill; and whoever escapes from the sword of Jehu, Elisha shall kill. [18] Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him."

The following passage tells the story of Jesus walking on the water. It is familiar because we often refer to it in jokes and when we want to measure someone by an impossible standard. Rarely do we bring to the story our scientific acumen and ponder how it happened. Most of us relegate the story to that batch of miracle stories which--in some fuzzy way--are connected with this claim or belief that Jesus was God.

I ask you today: Hear this story with new ears, and with an open mind and heart. I read from the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 14, verses 22-33:

Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. [23] And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, [24] but by this time the boat, battered by the waves, was far from the land, for the wind was against them. [25] And early in the morning he came walking toward them on the sea. [26] But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, "It is a ghost!" And they cried out in fear. [27] But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, "Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid."

[28] Peter answered him, "Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water." [29] He said, "Come." So Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came toward Jesus. [30] But when he noticed the strong wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, "Lord, save me!" [31] Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, "You of little faith, why did you doubt" [32] When they got into the boat, the wind ceased. [33] And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, "Truly you are the Son of God."

Sermon:


Let me first say that it's great to be back after a camping trip with my family. For most of the past two weeks, I have been surrounded by the vast and wondrous beauty of the Rocky Mountains, including: the Black Hills, the Bighorn and Beartooth ranges, Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Park. We immersed ourselves in the grandeur of nature, allowing its expansive vistas and endless diversity to fill our senses -- from dawn to dusk. We were treated to a great many surprises including:

* a herd of American Bison blocking the road before us;

* a family of big horn sheep allowing us to approach within five feet;

* a distant glacier that had the unmistakable appearance of a map of the world;

* a petrified tree sticking four feet up from the ground;

* and a large black bear walking within a few yards of our camp.

We saw how nature carved some of the most beautiful valleys of the world, and how humans carved out-of-mountains gigantic reminders of our land's heroes -- including presidents and a chief. We were spared from accident by-a-pronghorn who fortunately chose to stop when he saw the lights of my car; and a huge porcupine who fortunately kept going.

As we drove home, we gradually were reminded that while we were taking-in all of this, the world had been moving at its familiar, frantic pace: the Olympics were over; the plane wreckage of flight 800 still being recovered; Yeltsin's health still a mystery; and so on. While driving through eastern Iowa, the airwaves--so full of country music -- at last gave way to an NPR station, which brought to us the breaking news of "ALH 84001": the name of the meteorite from Mars, found in the Antarctic, that carried-on-it strong evidence for primitive life on ancient Mars.

The announcement took away my breath. Suddenly, the enlarged world which I had spent two weeks embracing had expanded to cosmic proportions. If I had been overwhelmed again and again throughout our trip at the scope of God's creation and the beauty it contained, how much more did this discovery expand the arena of God's providence, and prompt in me a heightened awareness of the limited place we occupy.

The scientists making this claim are not the creators of "Star Trek" or "Independence Day." They are among the most notable and credentialed astrophysicists of our time. They took their time in drawing these conclusions.(1) For two years, they examined the potato sized meteorite -- utilizing one of the most powerful electron microscopes on earth to scan its surface and inner parts for fossil-like evidence of minerals and organic molecules that could have been produced by ancient microorganisms. Their decision to go public places their professional reputations on the line. It's the equivalent of sailing away with three ships into the dark abyss on an exploration that everyone agrees is fruitless.

But their evidence seems compelling, although indirect. ALH 84001 is one of 12 meteorites found on earth believed to have come from Mars. All have identical chemical composition, and two contain cavities with gas which perfectly matches the-atmosphere-of-Mars which the Viking spacecraft had verified.(2) This meteorite is ancient, dating from 3.6 billion years ago. It was thrust from its Martian home about 15 million years ago, when a huge asteroid collided with Mars. Eventually, about 13,000 years ago, it was pulled by Earth's gravity to our surface, where it landed in Antarctica. For most of the past 13,000 years, it has been sealed by glacier ice. Twelve years ago it was discovered, and two years ago, the international team of scientists began their painstaking investigation.

What do we make of all of this Particularly: how is this discovery relevant to our faith If it is about anything, it is about being mindful of our place, and God's grandeur.

For centuries, culminating with the Renaissance, humanity believed that we humans were the measure of all things. For example, everyone knew that the earth was at the center of the universe.(3) Aristotle's crystalline spheres and Ptolemy's epicycles had long since proved it! But when Copernicus introduced a new fact -- that a more elegant and simple explanation of the solar system resulted from placing the sun at the center -- and Tycho and Kepler added further proof -- humanity found its most fundamental assumptions were threatened. The church rallied to maintain the status quo compelling Galileo to disavow his belief in Copernicus' theories, and prohibiting him from ever teaching cosmology again.(4) Since that time, science and religion have sought to avoid such dramatic conflict, with the notable exception of the debate of Darwin's theory of evolution. In that clash, the principle concern is whether or not humanity is to be seen as primary and central -- or whether we are to be relegated to a rather recent development of a two-billion-year-long process.

Is it any surprise, then, that the response to ALH 84001 has covered the spectrum Krister Stendahl, former Lutheran Bishop of Stockholm and Dean of Harvard Divinity School, said simply that this discovery enlarges our understanding of God. Now we have even more evidence of the extent to which God's hand has permeated not only our life on earth, but the entire universe.(5) On the other side of the spectrum, Jerry Falwell said that evidence of microscopic life on Mars would have no impact on Christianity. He added that if intelligent life were discovered it would violate everything we know and believe as Christians.(6)

What if life in the universe is not isolated and special -- but random and recurrent Such a thought invites us to feel more affiliated with the vastness of the universe, and to give more consideration to our instinctive inclination to assume that we are the crown of creation--God's highest and most unique achievement.

How big is your God Big enough to be sovereign over ALL LIFE Including life on other planets. And if we can allow that the sovereignty of God extends throughout the entire universe -- what, then, do we believe about our place in God's universe Is it necessary that the entire universe revolve around us In spite of the Copernican Revolution, contemporary culture has evolved in a way that has made us increasingly the focus of our own attention, the center of our own concerns. The pervasive presence of television is the most convenient evidence of this claim.(7)

But tonight -- or better yet, very early Monday morning -- if the sky is clear, wander outside. Try to get away from the city lights which limit our vision to a fraction of what we might see. Look to the northern skies. Open your mind as well as your eyes. Each minute, a visible trace of light will arc across the sky. The Perseid meteor shower. Each light represents a fraction of the 40,000 tons of extraterrestrial material that land on earth each year in the form of space dust and meteorites. Thirteen thousand years ago, one of those meteorites became imbedded in antediluvian ice. When scientists looked, they recognized, in this ancient rock, the face of something familiar: life. It is mind-boggling that we should live in a time of such scientific achievements that this cosmic messenger might be deciphered, and thus open for us a new path, a path in which our species might be less self-centered.

Nobel laureate E.O. Wilson has spoken of what he calls a cardinal principle of evolution: that our brains have evolved with a kind of built-in myopia.(8) Evolution has favored those who recognize the immediate threats to the proximate tribe, and respond swiftly to meet the challenge: whether that involves overcoming mastodons or Nazis, cholera or colonialism. But when the reality of the threat is 5 or 10 generations ahead -- or half a globe away -- our brains have no instinctive inclination to respond, or even care. There is a kind of built-in arrogance operating here -- not of an intentional kind, but an arrogance which can be thought of as permeating the cells-and-neurons of our species. Think of it as a socio-biological formulation of that most maligned theological notion of "original sin."(9) And yet, the gift of consciousness and reason allow us to recognize all of this, and change: change in a way that takes into account the consequences of our actions on future generations.

You don't need to drive 2,000 miles to open your eyes-and-mind to the grandeur of God, and realize our place in God's creation. This week, scientists have helped bring this recognition to our doorstep, and an annual meteor shower underscores their point, by filling the sky with shooting stars.

In the remaining weeks of summer, I hope each of you will take the time necessary to reassess your place -- our place -- in the world, and in the universe. When you do, open your mind and heart to the vast and magnificent presence of God, who is sovereign over ALL creation. Amen.

Footnotes:
1. These, and other reports on the details of the discovery, came from various articles, editorials, and Op Ed pieces in the New York Times, August 7 & 8.
2. These details were described on National Public Radio's "Science Friday" program aired August 9, 1996 at 3pm EDT. 3. Bill McKibben's is concerned with these same quandaries, but from a slightly different perspective. See his enormously engaging book The Comforting Whirlwind: God, Job, and the Scale of Creation (Eerdmans, Grand Rapids; 1994) p. 8.
4. See Owen Gingerich, The Great Copernicus Chase and Other Adventures in Astronomical History.
5. From NPR news report on or about August 8, 1996.
6. Cleveland Plain Dealer, August 10, 1996, p. E-6 "Life on Mars would clarify creation, some religious leaders say".
7. See McKibbins' other helpful book, The Age of Missing Information (Random House).
8. From commentary by Scott Simon, NPR, Saturday morning August 10, 1996.
9. Thanks to Prof. Meredith B. Handspicker of ANTS for this point about Original Sin.