February 1, 2015
Sermon preached by Rev. Donald Ng at the First Chinese Baptist Church in San Francisco.
“Anthro” comes from the Greek word for “human.” You see it in anthropology, the scientific study of the origin, development and behavior of humans; in anthropometry, the study and technique of human body measurement; and in “Anthro,” a fictional character created by DC Comics.
“Theo” is a prefix that comes from the Greek word for “god.” Theo is seen in theology, the study of the nature of God; in theocracy, a government guided by a god or his priests; and in theophany, an appearance of a god to a human being. At Christmas, the birth of Christ is a theophany and the coming of the Holy Spirit, known as Pentecost, 50 days after Christ’s resurrection on May 24th this year is another theophany.
Finally, the third Greek word is “ceno.” This prefix means “new.” We see it in the geologic era called the Cenozoic, the new one—the one we are living in right now. In the Cenozoic era is a number of periods of time, ranging from the Paleocene to the Holocene. These periods contain the suffix cene to show that they are part of the new Cenozoic era.
So “anthro” means “human,” “theo” means “god,” and “cene” means “new.” End of the Greek lesson!
On this first day in February and the first Sunday of the month and later this afternoon, our gathering together for our Church Annual Meeting signifying the end of one church year and the beginning of a new one, Psalm 111 comes to us with an explosion of exuberate praise for God’s wonderful works. In fact, you might say that it is radically theocentric—centered completely on God.
“I will give thanks to the Lord with all my whole heart,” says the psalmist. “Great are the works of the Lord, studied by all who delight in them. Full of honor and majesty is his work, and his righteousness endures forever” (vv. 1-3).
This psalm delivers a shock to us, because we live in an increasingly anthropocentric world. I mean—human-centered. Today, we expect farmers to feed us, doctors to heal us, judges to offer us justice and teachers to give us wisdom.
But in the world of Psalm 111, God “provides food for those who fear him…the works of his hands are faithful and just…the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (vv. 5, 7, 10).
In an anthropocentric world that we live today, the psalmist challenges us to be theocentric. To move from anthro to theo, from human to God is the point of today’s message.
Anthropocentric
Let me explain how we are so anthropocentric today. Scientists are telling us that humanity is now actually inscribing itself into the rock record of geologic history. Humans are shifting more sediment than all of the rivers in the world. Our burning of fossil fuels has changed the air we breathe. Around the earth are rare radioactive elements like plutonium, a byproduct of nuclear weapons. And now, for the first time, humans have created a new type of rock.
I read this recently in the papers; you may have too. We have created a new rock. Its name is plastiglomerate. It’s been found on the beaches of Hawaii, composed of volcanic solids, sand, shells and plastic. Scientists believe that this new stone was created accidentally by setting campfires on beaches. Plastic from soda and water bottles and fishing lines have melted and become a sticky goo, cementing together a mixture of volcanic rocks, sand and shells. Once stuck together, these materials are going to remain together for a long, long time. It’s called a techno-fossil, another sign of how humans are shaping the very nature of the planet we live on.
In fact, some people are calling our current period the Anthropocene age. We are living in a new age of human influencing and impacting the earth that we have never seen before.
A century ago, Joyce Kilmer wrote the stanza, “Poems are made by fools like me. But only God can make a tree.” We can assume that Kilmer would say that only God can make a rock. Today, Kilmer is wrong. Humans have now stepped into the creation business by making a new stone called plastiglomerate!
Praise
What are we to do?
As Christians, we cannot escape this world, but we can improve it. And one of the best changes we can make is to shift our focus from anthro to theo, from humans to God. In an age of people shaping the planet, our challenge is to be Christians shaped by God.
The time has come to enter the Theocene age—a new age of experiencing God’s influence on earth.
We begin with praise. “Praise the Lord!” exclaims the Psalmist. “I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart, in the company of the upright, and in the congregation” (v. 1).
The psalm starts with the single word “Hallelujah,” which is translated “Praise the Lord!”—this shout of praise comes from the psalmist’s “whole heart,” meaning that it involves the whole person. There is no split between emotion and intellect when we give our praise to God; in fact, true worship is grounded in our entire heart, soul, body and mind.
This means that whether you are a creationist or an evolutionist, whether you are a literalist or a metaphoric interpreter, emotionalist or an intellectual, we all can say that we praise the Lord.
An artist can give praise right along an anthropologist. A child can worship right next to a senior citizen. A genius can say “hallelujah” in harmony with a person with an intellectual disability. In an anthropocentric world, these distinctions make a difference—but not in a theocentric world. All of us are equal in the eyes of God, so all that matters is that we worship God with our “whole heart.”
We live in one of the most spectacular natural landscapes in the world. California and particularly the Bay Area are incredible with mountains, ocean, bay and cityscapes. When I write my sermons, I sit facing the windows so that I can see Angel Island to my right and Mt. Tamalpais to my left. And in front of me is Belvedere dotted with houses and boats sailing on the Bay. I say every morning, “Hallelujah!” and “Praise the Lord!”
We are challenged to praise God in community, whenever we can. I might be praising God by myself but we are called to give praise together. Psalm 111 reminds us to give thanks to God “in the company of the upright, in the congregation.” Gathering together, we enter a community of support and accountability. We learn from each other and are inspired by each other. We see God’s work more clearly and are able to praise God more joyfully.
When I was writing this message, a white fog hovered over the Bay from my window and I took a picture of Angel Island poking its top over the fog. Here’s the photo! What we can do as a community is to use our phones and take pictures around the Bay Area of God’s spectacular creation and like we already enjoy doing, we can share them with each other.
When we worship together, we are shaped by God into a more thankful people. In this theocene age, we celebrate with praise.
Discovery
After beginning with praise, we move into discovery. The Psalmist says, “Great are the works of the Lord, studied by all who delight in them” (v. 2). When we shift to a theocentric view of the world, we see that God “gained renown by his wonderful deeds” (v. 4), liberating the people of Israel from captivity in Egypt. We learn that God “is gracious and merciful” to us (v. 4), just as God was to the Israelites after they sinned by worshiping the golden calf. We are reminded that God “provides food for those who fear him” (v. 5), just as God fed the people of Israel with daily manna in the wilderness. And we see that God “has shown his people the power of his works” (v. 6) by bringing them safely into the Promised Land.
When we discover what God has done, we come to realize how good God is, and how “his righteousness endures forever” (v. 3). We begin to understand that God will liberate us from anything that holds us captive, as well as forgive us and feed us and lead us into the future that God desires for us.
At worship, we ask you to open the Bible to read along with me before the sermon. At Sunday school students, we delve even more deeply into the Scriptures to understand more fully how God’s righteousness endures forever.
As we move from anthro to theo, we discover that God is always working for good in our lives. When we study the works of the Lord, we are shaped by God into a more understanding people.
Trust
After gaining understanding and discovering the truth about God’s righteousness, we are able to trust. The Psalmist says, “The works of God’s hands are faithful and just, all his precepts are trustworthy” (v. 7). We can trust what God has done and said, because he is faithful to us and fair to us, just as he has been faithful and fair to his people in the past. God does not make promises that he cannot keep, but instead “he has commanded his covenant forever” (v. 9).
God’s covenant—his promise-based relationship with his people—is not something that comes and goes. He made and kept his covenant with Israel. He renewed the covenant through his Son, Jesus Christ. And he includes us in his eternal covenant through our faith in Jesus.
The Psalmist concludes in this chapter, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (v. 10). Our wisdom begins when we look up to God with awe and respect. A deep understanding of God and humans—expressed in both theology and anthropology—begins when we put our trust in a faithful, just, trustworthy and eternal God.
One of the wonderful gifts of getting older is the insight of looking back on how far we have come. A couple of weeks ago, you celebrated my 40 years of ordination into the Christian Ministry. That event granted me the title “Reverend.” I think about when I was baptized some 50 years ago. And looking back over these many decades of years, I can say that without a doubt that God is faithful, just, trustworthy and eternal. I have found this to be true in my life.
When we are willing to trust, God shapes us into a more faithful people.
Praise, discovery, trust. These are the actions that we can take to move us from anthro to theo, from a human-centered approach to a God-centered attitude. And as we make this shift, God shapes us into a more thankful, understanding and faithful people.
While humans will continue to have an impact on the earth, our current era does not have to be entirely anthropocene, defined by plastiglomerate rocks made out of trash. But instead, we can work to establish the theocene age—a new age in which our actions are shaped by the hands of our faithful, just and trustworthy God.
Let us pray.
Thank you, O God, our Creator whom we give praise and our utmost trust to make promises come true. Reveal to us your righteousness and grace. And lead us to trust our lives in your hands so that we may be shaped by you to become faithful witnesses in your beautiful world. In the name of Christ Jesus, our Redeemer, we pray. Amen.