<p>
	<img alt="" src="{filedir_5}Borrego-Sheep.jpg" style="width: 250px; height: 167px; float: right;" />How often do we hear a sermon in which our understanding of God&rsquo;s word hinges on our understanding the cultural context of the day or a better translation of a Hebrew or Greek word in the text?</p>
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<p>
	A few weeks ago in late February, I swept down steep desert slopes into the Anza-Borrego Desert, California&rsquo;s largest State park, which rests 80 miles northeast of San Diego. My purpose was a short bird-watching excursion and the hope of finding a few budding desert wildflowers that couldn&rsquo;t resist the rains of the previous days. &nbsp;I had been recommended a nice trail called Palm Canyon, which upon my arrival a park ranger verified was a manageable 6-mile jaunt with ample bird watching potential and the promise of an oasis at the end. He also mentioned the distinct possibility of seeing a few of the Park&rsquo;s endangered Peninsular Bighorn Sheep (<em>Ovis canadensis</em>&nbsp;ssp. nelsoni).</p>
<p>
	As I ventured out into this mesmerizing habitat, his words very quickly were verified. &nbsp;First, a mountain bluebird. Then, a roadrunner. Black-eared jackrabbit. Anna&rsquo;s hummingbird. Sharpshinned hawk. And finally, after a little help from a 5th grade class out on a fieldtrip, a Bighorn Sheep.</p>
<p>
	Peninsular Bighorn Sheep are captivating. They wander the craggy, treacherous desert landscape with the idleness of grazing cows. Their agility on rocky ground is so smooth, you hardly notice it until one abruptly flicks its hind legs, bursting up a cliff face (see video below). A bighorn sheep standing still blends perfectly into the tan desert beyond. &nbsp;This includes its large horns that are perched like a crown on its head but melt into the landscape as gray-brown rocks. While Bighorn Sheep may be hidden in plain sight, their powerful eyesight allows them to pick out another creature over a mile away in the bare desert landscape.&nbsp;</p>
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	<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/VZewS0u7cLQ" width="420"></iframe></p>
<p>
	The Peninsular Bighorn Sheep are on the endangered species list. The Bighorn Institute attributes their endangerment to &ldquo;(1) disease; (2) insufficient lamb recruitment; (3) habitat loss, degradation, and fragmentation by urban and commercial development; and (4) predation coinciding with low population numbers.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
	I saw over a dozen Bighorn Sheep that afternoon, in large part because my pathway began to intersect a desert stream. Half way up the canyon, a small trickle of water became visible, and as I continued to press on it grew to a shallow stream spanning five feet with a modest verge of short grass on either side. My closest encounter with the Bighorn Sheep came here, as I stood for twenty minutes watching a few of them silently munching along the stream bank.</p>
<p>
	<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/JTr9t1u33c8" width="420"></iframe></p>
<p>
	This trickle-turned-stream eventfully fanned out into a sizeable wetland. Small wildflowers grew, and the landscape around took on a richness that starkly contrasted the surrounding desert. Frog croaks became strange background music to the bare soil and rock on the canyon&rsquo;s periphery.&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/vKe19Ew6E6M" width="420"></iframe></p>
<p>
	The climax arrived in the form of meaty palm trees, their fingers touching one another to form a shaded, cool spot to sit and relax. It was an oasis. &nbsp;</p>
<p>
	<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/LJMWT47MxAA" width="420"></iframe></p>
<p>
	<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/cZdvxekIYts" width="420"></iframe></p>
<p>
	Walking this trail, my mind fixed on the uniqueness of the Bighorn Sheep and this landscape, and how precipitously close we are to losing both.</p>
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	**************</p>
<p>
	In creation care theology, you often hear about the two books metaphor. &nbsp;It goes like this. Christians rely on two books to understand God: the book of scripture, which is God&rsquo;s special revelation to us, and the book of creation, which is God&rsquo;s general revelation to us. Until my walk in the desert, I didn&rsquo;t fully appreciate the dialectical nature of these two books. &nbsp;Specifically, I failed to appreciate the way creatures and creation are woven into the meaning and message of the Bible &ndash; extended descriptions of creatures in the Middle East, use of creatures as simile and metaphor and in parables, non-human creature&rsquo;s standing in Hebrew law. &nbsp; Consider this lesson in humility from the Book of Job:</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">
	<sup>1</sup>Do you know when the mountain goats give birth?<br />
	Do you watch when the doe bears her fawn?<br />
	<sup>2</sup>Do you count the months till they bear?<br />
	Do you know the time they give birth?<br />
	<sup>3</sup>They crouch down and bring forth their young;<br />
	Their labor pains are ended.<br />
	<sup>4</sup>Their young thrive and grow strong in the wilds;<br />
	They leave and do not return. (Job 39:1-4)</p>
<p>
	Or, after my encounter with an oasis in the desert, what might that do to my understanding of the story of Moses and the Israelites when they escape the Egyptians by crossing the Red Sea, rejoice in God&#39;s provision, go for three days without finding water, begin grumbling about God&#39;s provision, have God tell them that if they follow his commands he will provide for them, and shortly thereafter find a large oasis with twelve springs and seventy palm trees (Exodus 15)?</p>
<p>
	Or the fact that &quot;mountain sheep&quot; are listed as unclean animals to eat (Deuteronomy 14, NIV)?</p>
<p>
	I began to wonder this: if a major interpretive role our pastors play in preaching is to provide in-depth cultural and linguistic analysis for our understanding of scripture, aren&rsquo;t we complicating matters further through species and habitat extinction? &nbsp;If creatures and landscapes are interwoven so fluidly throughout the Bible &ndash; and they are &ndash; then we heighten our challenge of interpreting scripture by navigating not just a different cultural setting, but a different ecological one as well.</p>
<p>
	It is not as if our pastors are deft at studying creation for biblical interpretation as it is. &nbsp;The only one that immediately comes to mind is Christ&rsquo;s faith as a mustard seed analogy. &nbsp;Mustard seeds are tiny, thus with even the tiniest bit of faith, we can do big things.</p>
<p>
	So I guess our challenge is two-fold: 1) pastors, an appreciation of basic ecology and a love for God&rsquo;s creation pays dividends in grasping and communicating the riches of scripture; and 2) Churches, become advocates for the worth of creatures and landscapes in communicating God&rsquo;s goodness as well as God&rsquo;s wisdom found in both Word (special revelation) and world (general revelation).&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	Diminishing creation diminishes our understanding of God&#39;s Word.</p>
