Let us pray: O God, may these words or the spaces between them be ones which help us to know more of you, Creator and creating. Amen.

First of all let me say, Happy New Year. Of course there are at least two other new years that we mark, - the first Sunday of Advent – when we begin the four week journey to Christmas, and begin a new year in the set of readings for each week which are called the lections in a lectionary. Of course we also celebrate New Year when the year switches at the beginning of January. But in many ways, September is the real beginning of the church year. It's when programs get started or re-started, it's when a new season of church school is made ready, it's when the new curriculum and new worship resources begin.

This year it is even more of a New Year – for all of the aforementioned reasons, but also because a change is happening for some Christian denominations which follow the revised common lectionary. I think the movement got its beginning in Australia, but it has since moved to North America. The movement, if it can be called that is to introduce a new season into the church year. This new season called the Season of Creation is meant to bring particular attention to the importance of our relationship with the planet earth on which we live. You cannot do much in the world this day without being made aware of how important it is to not only be aware of the relationship we have with creation, but also to be concerned about how that relationship is seemingly becoming more and more strained. You cannot spend any amount of time listening, watching, or reading the news and public affairs programming on the net, the television or radio without hearing a story about how climate change is affecting the lives of millions of people around the world. Of course the debate about how much of this change is caused by human activity rages on, but regardless of whether our actions are the reason for change (and I for one am convinced that we are responsible for a lot of it) it cannot be denied that we need to care for the earth even if simply to continue our survival.

The importance is much more than that however. Caring for the earth is an act of stewardship – a making sacred of the gift that we have been given by the Creator – one of the important names we give to our God. But as our creed says, it does not stop with creation, it is an ongoing process of created and creating, In other words, not only do we have creation as crafted by the Creator, but we are in a continuing process, with God creating as well as creator.

Like anything that is new, the Season of Creation is going through some birthing issues. It's going to be a while before resources are co-ordinated. I mentioned earlier that the beginning of a new church year at the beginning of advent is also the beginning of a new set of lections – the prescribed group or readings for each Sunday in the year, as well as the other holy days that occur. The people who have suggested the new season have also suggested a new set of lections for the four Sundays of Creation – readings that draw more specific connection with the world around us – especially as it is lived out in the connection with the natural world. I said “four” Sundays in creation, but even that is evolving – for some resources mention five Sundays. I'll name them for you, and I think the names themselves suggest their birth in the land down under: Forest Sunday, Land Sunday, Outback Sunday, and River Sunday with a suggested fifth Sunday near the day set to celebrate St. Francis of Assisi in early October with Blessing of the Animals Sunday. There are even suggested resources for other “nature” and “creation” themes – Volcano Sunday – worshipping with volcanos in creation, Earthquake-Tsunami Sunday – worshipping with the depths, Bushfire Sunday- worshipping with the bush on fire and a series on Climate Change - Climate Sunday- worshipping with the currents of climate, Solar Sunday – worshipping with the sun, Atmosphere Sunday – worshipping with the air and atmosphere, and Rainbow Covenant Sunday – bonding with the colours of creation.

So, new readings, new names for each of four or five Sundays, along with alternative names for those Sundays, but the hymn book – has the old readings in it, and my Christian Seasons church calendar also has the original readings in it. I also use a resource called Gathering in planning worship. In Gathering, the Season of Creation begins next Sunday, but all the old readings are listed for each Sunday. So, you can perhaps understand a problem I had in preparing for worship this week. Everywhere I looked – in at least four different places – there were the readings we heard this morning, but at the same time I was being led to focus this week's worship on the Season of Creation. I'll have to admit that trying to fit this week's readings from the “old” lectionary with the theme of Season of Creation quite drastically challenged my firmly held and oft-stated belief that everything is connected. Trying to fit the story of the Passover, Paul's words on love and Jesus' instructions for conflict resolution as described by Matthew into a Creation theme is not easy. However not having discovered there were new suggested readings until late in the week, I resolved to put my “everything is connected” belief to the test. Of course next week I will be better informed, but I'm not sure the decision will be any easier. I strongly agree with the idea of a new season to focus on Creation, and after this week I completely understand why new readings were chosen, but there is a desire as well to stay with that which we know best – and follow the readings assigned in the multi-denominational consultation which put together the Revised Common Lectionary. We'll see what happens in my planning for next week. In the meantime, with the few moments I have left, let me suggest to you some connections between this week's readings and the Season of Creation which may not start until next week anyway!

I mentioned before that one of the names suggested for one of the Sundays in the season of creation describes is Bush fire Sunday. The Exodus, the escape from Egypt by the Hebrew people was sparked (no pun intended) by Moses encounter with the holy in the wilderness, at a bush that was on fire but not consumed. Bush fire Sunday is very different. We heard last year of the devastating fires in Australia when large tracts of bush were destroyed by wild fires made worse by raging winds. The Passover was the final plague and the opening act in the long wilderness journey of the Hebrew people under the leadership of Moses. This was a journey from one hardship – well fed captivity for the Hebrew people in Egypt to free but subsistence living. A brief return to camping after a few years absence this summer reminded me of the interesting dance that happens when we live more simply and in closer relationship with the natural elements, but also more intensely because our basic needs are not met as easily and much of our day is spent in tending to those things that sustain life. Feeling free does not necessarily mean time without things to do. It's more about who gets to choose. It's very clear to me that part of what it means to be human is to be free to make choices even if those choices lead to greater hardship. We would rather be free with fewer of our needs satisfied than living in captivity even if we are cared for. I think the Arab spring and summer, especially these past couple of weeks in Libya have demonstrated this very clearly. Freedom may make things much harder, at least in the near future, yet the people of Libya seem clear as to what their choice is.

Finally, let me make just a couple of other connections with the passages we heard today - love was the theme we heard in the passage from Paul’s letter to the Romans. The Season of Creation is about love - celebrating the love that the Creator has for us and which is made manifest in creation and the reciprocal love we are called to have for that creation - so that our life is one of gratitude and good stewardship. I am not going to say much about the Matthew passage. It is well known as the one in which Jesus gives instruction for the way to deal with conflict, but I want to make reference to the final verse, the one that is a word of hope to small churches and Labour Day Sunday congregations - wherever two or three are gathered in my name - I am there. The reference is usually taken as a prescription for the purpose and point of worship, that worship is worth it, even if only two or three are present. Some of the most meaningful and holy worship I’ve experienced has been in the outdoors with only a few people, but the presence of the holy one has been as tangible as any other times I could mention.

Season of Creation - a helpful and hopeful focus for our worship in the coming weeks. I leave you with the following invitation - stay tuned as we discover together the beauty and duty we have been given in this our planet home. Amen.