What if disregarded junk, had a purpose? I ask you this question this morning because not only does it connect to the sermon on Sunday, but an initiative shared between the church and one of its preschools. Maybe like me, you were raised to think that disregarded junk was not to be messed with, was to be forgotten about, left in the trash for someone else to handle. But in our story from Jonah on Sunday, we learned that God cares about all. God cares about the people, the places and even the animals that are often forgotten about. Remember Jonah and how much he despised the Ninevites? Remember how he thought they were trash and not worth his time? Remember how he was more upset by the withering plant that brought him shade than the over hundred and twenty thousand people who repented and turned from their wicked ways! Do you recall how backwards his priorities really were?
Well, what if this story was also about helping us rethink our assumptions about what is good and worth our time? What if there was an environmental connection to this story that we have overlooked? On Sunday, April 27th we will be celebrating Creation Care and how God calls each of us to take responsibility for this one home that God has given us to live in and steward well. In preparation for this, the Health and Wholeness Team has partnered with one of our preschools, Trinity Christian Academy and NexTrex to collect certain kinds of trash; the kind of trash that is often forgotten about and disregarded. The Preschool has already begun collecting and there is recycled trash in each of their bins. Over the next year, once 1,000 pounds of plastic are donated, the preschool gets a NexTrex bench that they will put next to their Butterfly Garden so that children and neighbors alike can sit and enjoy. We hope to do the same thing at our church. 1,000 pounds may seem like a lot, but if we all work together and over time collect and donate, it is possible.
The picture below shows you the collection bin; it is currently in the corner of the courtyard on our Winter Park campus. The collection bin it gives you pictures and descriptions of everything acceptable to place in there that will count toward our 1,000 pounds of trash. But you might be wondering why are we doing this, we don’t need a bench for our church, we already have several beautiful benches in our courtyards and columbarium. Great question.
We aren’t doing this for the bench, but for the care of the earth and for our dedication to do more because our faith compels us to see all “trash” as redeemable. When we bring this opportunity back to Jonah and what we learned about on Sunday, we remember that God didn’t need Jonah either. God could have sent any mediocre prophet to Ninevah to preach the shortest sermon of all time to have the most evil and violent of people repent. God uses opportunities like this, to change us. To transform our assumptions and to challenge our priorities. And so as one of your pastors, I want to challenge you to get involved in this small but meaningful effort to be given the eyes to see all “trash” as something with purpose. Remember that God is not finished with any of us yet, and we are still growing in grace. What can a church of our size collect when we all work together? So won’t you join us?
Learn more about the NexTrex Recycling Challenge at the link below.