Develop a Discipleship System
We find a powerful story of community and care in John 21:1-19. After a night of unsuccessful fishing, the disciples, guided by Jesus’ suggestion, cast their nets on the other side of their boats and bring in a bountiful catch. This abundant harvest is not merely a gift; it comes with a call to action. It is a call to recognize the potential for plenty when we collaborate and share resources. Following this moment of provision, Jesus charges Peter with the responsibility to “feed my sheep,” emphasizing the importance of caring for others — to tend to their tangible needs for food, safety, and community support. What a bold invitation to recognize the Risen Christ among us and make his presence real to one another through food.
In Revelation 5:11-14, there is a vision of a world where all of Creation—every creature on land, in the sea, and in the heavens—joins in a harmonious chorus of praise. This passage beautifully illustrates the interconnectedness of all life. A literal chorus is not complete without each voice part, nor is the chorus of Creation’s praise complete without each creature. Our well-being is tied to the well-being of the entire ecosystem. Every creature plays a role in the larger tapestry of life, and our actions impact our communities and our ecosystems.
This call to connection and action is remarkable in an age of increased food and environmental injustice and when planetary survival seems shaky at best. Especially now, it is helpful to learn from those who have called this land home for thousands of years. Indigenous communities have long understood the importance of living in harmony with the land and recognizing the interconnectedness of life. Traditional Indigenous food systems are grounded in reciprocity, respect, and sustainability. Harvesting and caring for food crops is seen as a spiritual practice that requires gratitude and an understanding that all beings are part of a larger web of life.
The Haudenosaunee, whose traditional homelands encompass much of what is now the State of New York and cross over the modern boundary between the United States and Canada, begin and end their shared time together with words of gratitude. In the languages of the Six Nations, the land and all its beings are acknowledged and thanked for their roles. Indigenous traditions teach us to take only what we need and share what we have - not just with our human siblings. Indigenous teachings expand the call of Jesus to feed and nurture all creation.
Thus, as Associate Professor in Indigenous Environmental Justice Deborah McGregor, who is also Anishinaabe from Whitefish River First Nation, writes, “[We seek] justice for all beings of Creation, not only because threats to their existence threaten ours, but because from an Aboriginal perspective, justice among beings of creation is life-affirming.” She further states that “all beings of creation have spirit, with duties and responsibilities to each other to ensure the continuation of creation.” Finally, she notes that we are called to act upon “responsibilities [that are] beyond those of people [that] also must be fulfilled to ensure the processes of creation will continue."[1]
This line of thinking is similar to the call to action in today's verses. We must become deeply concerned with our responsibility to other beings on the planet because we have responsibilities to all our relations. In turn, they have responsibilities to us. As beings-in-relation, our responsibilities are reciprocal. The decreasing frequency of bug splatters on your windshield (see sermon illustrations below!) matters because you have a responsibility to help avoid mass insect extinction; insects, in turn, have a role in keeping our food and ecosystems intact. Indigenous ways of knowing provide a roadmap for this, transforming our thoughts and our tangible actions. By embracing reciprocity, respect, and sustainability principles, we can create food systems that honor the earth and ensure that all people have what they need to live with dignity.
This means addressing the inequalities that leave some people with too much while others go without. It calls us to reimagine our food systems, not as a marketplace driven by profit but as a communal table where everyone has a place and enough to eat. The insects remind us that we must care for the beings of this earth at the smallest scales and that our choices to act, even when it seems insignificant, can have immense impact.
The calls to action in John and Revelation can feel daunting, but even the smallest actions can have massive impacts. We see people choosing to act in small and big ways all around us. The question then is: “How can you act to justly feed your human and other-than-human neighbors?”
SERMON ILLUSTRATIONS/CALL TO ACTION
(Note: Please confirm all appropriate copyright and licensing information, and provide necessary attribution before using these images in your worship setting.)
1. Impact of Species Loss on the Planet and Ecosystem
A 2014 study showed that a forty-five percent decline in insect species during the Anthropocene[2] has had cascading ecosystem effects, such as crop declines due to fewer pollinators, loss of food crops due to the loss of natural predators, a decrease in decomposition rates, poorer water quality, increases in human diseases, and decreases in evolutionary patterns.[3] Further, research has shown that the loss of one species cascades into secondary species extinctions which, in turn, have significant impact on planetary life.[4] It is astonishing that insects, as small as they are, can profoundly impact the world. Indeed, an evening drive out in the country will highlight the ongoing loss of insects as you will likely return with far more washer fluid in your car's reservoir and far fewer bugs on your windshield than you would have even ten years ago.
At this point, you might be wondering why I brought in the example of insects— after all, they are not many people’s favorite species. Yet, as George Orwell notes in Animal Farm, “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others."[5] In insects, we can see the tougher challenges to living a life in harmony with the earth’s ecosystems. How do we recognize the need to protect human plant crops from the devastation that some insects may cause without causing even more harm and ecological destruction to the generations that come after us?
To feed the sheep, as Jesus instructed, is to recognize the wisdom in Indigenous ways of knowing and to integrate these principles into our approaches to food justice. It’s about acknowledging that the health of our communities depends on the health of the Earth and that food justice is environmental justice. We must remember that the work of food justice is about addressing immediate needs and transforming our relationship with Earth and one another. As you look for ways to make new choices for yourself and your community, I invite you to do several things:
- Look to and learn from the Indigenous people who are near you. What food and ecological justice practices are they living? How might you ask them to come and teach your community —and compensate them fairly for doing so?
- Do you have space in your community to create spaces of food healing? Can you provide nutritious, abundant food to others or turn a lawn into a food garden?
- Who in your community is fighting to decrease food deserts, against big agriculture, or for those most affected by environmentally harmful policies? How might you join them?
- In our individual homes, what food choices are we making that cause harm? Check out the resources of FoodPrint and use their tools to better understand how to make choices that help feed you and others better.
References
Rodolfo Dirzo et al., “Defaunation in the Anthropocene,” Science 345, no. 6195 (July 25, 2014): 401–6, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1251817.
Aislyn A. Keyes et al., “An Ecological Network Approach to Predict Ecosystem Service Vulnerability to Species Losses,” Nature Communications 12, no. 1 (March 11, 2021): 1586, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-21824-x.
Deborah McGregor, “Honouring Our Relations: An Anishinaabe Perspective on Environmental Justice,” in Speaking for Ourselves: Environmental Justice in Canada, ed. Julian Agyeman (Vancouver: UBC Press, 2009)
Dr. Geran Lorraine (they/them) is the associate director of the Center for Ecological Regeneration at Garrett-Evangelical. They received their M.Div. from Union Presbyterian Seminary and Ph.D. in Ethics and Society from Vanderbilt University, with a minor in Indigenous Studies. They work out of a rich background in academic, administrative, nonprofit, and advocacy work, including serving as a community organizer with Virginia Interfaith Power and Light and as co-founder of a gender-affirming care voice clinic as well as a non-profit affordable community school. As a scholar-activist, they draw on Indigenous, ecological, womanist, Black feminist, linguistic, and queer thought in their writing and speaking, while engaging in grassroots movements such as Occupy, Freedom to Marry, Black Lives Matter, Standing Rock, Line 3, and the Poor People’s Campaign.
[1] Deborah McGregor, “Honouring Our Relations: an Anishinaabe Perspective on Environmental Justice,” in Speaking for Ourselves: Environmental Justice in Canada, ed. Julian Agyeman (Vancouver: UBC Press, 2009), 27.
[2] National Geographic defines “Anthropocene” as “an unofficial unit of geologic time, used to describe the most recent period in Earth’s history when human activity started to have a significant impact on the planet’s climate and ecosystems.”
[3] Rodolfo Dirzo et al., “Defaunation in the Anthropocene,” Science 345, no. 6195 (July 25, 2014),401–6, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1251817.
[4] Aislyn A. Keyes et al., “An Ecological Network Approach to Predict Ecosystem Service Vulnerability to Species Losses,” Nature Communications 12, no. 1 (March 11, 2021): 1586, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-21824-x.
[5] George Orwell, Animal Farm. (New York: New American Library, 1956), 134.
