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Heavenism and the Earth

Heavenism and the Earth

Last updated on: September 20, 2026 at 1:35 pm by Rob Giannamore

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Heavenism and the Earth 2026-09-20T13:35:49-04:00 Rob Giannamore

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Miller’s Station UMC| September 20, 2026| Anchor Verse: Psalm 139: 7-11

Week 2 of our exploration of the season of creation focuses on the land. You are going to hear a lot about the earth and earth care and do not get too wrapped up in this as there are small hidden messages throughout the message. A little thing you may not know about me is I am associated now with the Erie Benedictines and their mission for as long as I have been alive has been around caring or the earth. Our corporate commitment is to being a “healing presence for peace and justice and to climate conscious living. We will decrease harmful patterns of consumerism and work with others to create systemic change need to meaningfully address climate change.”

In today’s psalm, the Psalmist asks the question, “Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?” The psalmist’s questions expose a habit many Christians have learned: we look past the earth toward heaven as though God were more present there than here. In reaching for a superior spiritual home, we have often devalued the earth as our primary home and become alienated from the very creation in which God formed us. But Psalm 139 will not let us escape the holiness of here: whether we rise to the heavens, descend to the depths, or settle at the farthest edge of the sea, God is already present. The earth is not merely a place we endure while waiting for heaven; it is the God-filled home in which we were formed and are called to live faithfully.

This week, I want to reflect on Psalm 139 and how God’s presence is with all of us and all of creation no matter where we go. Hopefully, I will convey our need to care for the earth as a sacred resource as much as we care for ourselves and our preparation for our heavenly home.

The Ethical Problem of Heavenism

Wendel Berry who recently passed emphasized that humans have a profound responsibility to care for the Earth. He believed that this stewardship is not just a duty but a fundamental aspect of living a meaningful life. His views are rooted in the idea that nurturing the land is essential for both environmental health and the well-being of communities. In studying the theology of the earth, I have run into the notion of heavenism many times and it’s danger in alienating humans from all of God’s creation.

In a September 1, 2025 article, Rev. Dr. Nasili Vaka’uta defines heavenism as religious escapism: enduring present suffering for the promise of an afterlife. He argues that this theology harmed Indigenous, Pacific, and poor communities when missionaries emphasized saving souls while land was seized, cultures suppressed, and voices silenced. As the Tongan saying—“this world will pass, but heaven endures”—suggests, such faith can abandon responsibility for earthly life.

Vaka’uta sees the same pattern in the prosperity gospel, which promises blessing for faith and giving while treating poverty as personal failure and ignoring colonialism, racism, exploitation, and climate destruction. By contrast, Jesus brought healing, fed the hungry, supported the poor, and confronted injustice. Moana cultures likewise regard land and sea as sacred; the Tongan word fonua encompasses land, placenta, and grave. Vaka’uta therefore calls the church to replace heavenism with grounded hope: confronting injustice and seeking healing in this life, not merely promising the next.

Finally, this got me reflecting on our own social principles around planet justice. In the preface of this document, we are told:

“We affirm that all creation belongs to God and is a manifestation of God’s goodness and providential care. Human beings, nonhuman animals, plants, and other sentient and non sentient beings participate in the community of creation, and their flourishing depends on the care of all God’s creation. Rather than treating creation as if it were placed here solely for humanity’s use and consumption, we are called to practice responsible stewardship and to live in right relationship with the Creator and with the whole of God’s creation (Gen. 1:26–31; Matt. 6:26–30; Rom. 8:22–24).” The UMC 2025-2028 Social Principles, Community of All Creation, Preface

We cannot abandon the earth in preparation for our time in our heavenly home. We must care for it now and see God’s fingerprints and footprints in all our travels in the wild areas.

The Lesson of the Ents

I am a huge Lord of the Rings fan and reading Psalm 139 and considering the topic this week really gave me Lord of the Rings vibes—especially the lesson of the Ents. In Tolkien’s mythology, the Ents were created by the Vala Yavanna, the goddess of growth, as protectors of the trees. In The Silmarillion, Yavanna says, “Would that the trees might speak on behalf of all things that have roots, and rise against the axes of the despoilers.” This reminds me of some the narrative I learned when studying Native American theology in preacher school. The lesson of the Ents is this: creation is not silent, creation is not disposable, and creation is not without a witness. The Ents become nature’s guardians, empowered to act on behalf of living things that cannot defend themselves.

In The Two Towers, Tolkien describes Treebeard’s sorrow and anger at Saruman’s devastation of Fangorn Forest: “There is no curse in Elvish, Entish, or the tongues of Men for this treachery. My heart is broken.” Tolkiens’s imagination is not merely the grief of a fantasy creature. It is ground in native theology and It is the cry of creation when the sacred ground God has filled with divine presence is treated as nothing more than a resource to consume.

Treebeard’s grief does not remain grief; it becomes resolve. His broken heart foreshadows the Ents’ determined march against Saruman—a dramatic picture of creation rising against industrial destruction. And that movement from grief to action is the grounded hope we have been talking about: not escaping a wounded world, but loving it enough to seek its healing.

The Ents’ “Last March” symbolizes nature’s wrath when exploited, as Treebeard leads the Ents in an assault on Isengard. In Tolkien’s words, “I am not altogether on anybody’s side, because nobody is altogether on my side, if you understand me; nobody cares for the woods as I care for them” (The Two Towers, Book III, Chapter 4). That question comes to us, church: who will care for the woods, the land, and the waters? If Psalm 139 is true—if there is nowhere we can go from God’s Spirit—then creation is not a temporary waiting room. It is sacred ground, filled with God’s presence, and we are called to care for it.

Earth as Our True Home

If there is nowhere we can go from God’s Spirit, then no part of creation is spiritually empty. The heights and the depths, the familiar ground beneath our feet and the farthest shore we can imagine, are all held within God’s presence. Psalm 139 therefore calls us not to escape the earth but to recognize it as the place where God finds us, guides us, and teaches us to live with reverence, gratitude, and care.

The late Pope Francis wrote an encyclical entitled Laudato Si’—On Care for Our Common Home to help us understand and respond to the environmental concerns raised over the last half century. Francis portrays Earth as humanity’s only home and condemns pollution, waste, climate change, the depletion of natural resources—especially water—and the loss of biodiversity caused by irresponsible consumption. He warns that our current lifestyles are exceeding the planet’s capacity to sustain life. And he asks a question we must hear in light of Psalm 139: what kind of world will we leave to future generations if we fail to recognize that this earth is filled with God’s presence.

If Earth is our true home, then we must understand that all of creation is inherently good and a gift brought into existence through God’s love, and therefore valuable in itself. Every creature has a purpose and reflects divine presence. The natural world is not merely inert matter or a collection of resources for exploitation; it is the oikos, the house of God, open to divine transcendence and animated by the life-giving Spirit. This is the good news Psalm 139 has been proclaiming all along: wherever we stand, God is present, and the ground beneath our feet is sacred.

Where We Stand, God Is Present

I want to close our message where we started. The earth is not a waiting room and creation is not disposable. It is the place where God meets us, where our neighbors suffer and hope, and where our faith must take root. I spoke of grounded hope earlier and I challenge you to carry this in your hearts this week. This grounded hope must be an embodied of a way of living. I have mentioned previously that being the church is not about our size. We have all we need sitting here today.

To be the church sitting here today means embodying a hope that feeds the hungry, protects the vulnerable, defends the land and speaks for creation and human beings when they are exploited. We must let this hope move us from passive waiting to faithful action, trusting that every act of love participates in God’s renewing work. We must move away from old thinking that teaches us to look away from this world; instead, let us stand firmly in God’s presence and join the work of healing, justice, and care. Amen.

Benediction

Hear the good news! We belong with Christ in God’s Creation! Beauty and provision abound! May we go from this feast, Grateful and generous, As kin who love and care, Respect and repair, To shine light in the depth of sorrow, As the life of God prevails— Creator, Christ, and Holy Spirit, Three in One, One in Three. Amen and amen.

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