The Edge Effect

Matthew 4:18-22

Today I want to talk about the place where two adjacent ecosystems intersect. For example where the land meets the sea, the edge of forest and a field, or the shoreline of a rolling river. Each separate ecosystem supports a unique set of species and life processes. But where the edges of these two ecosystems overlap something amazing happens: this overlapping region contains a greater diversity of species than either of the separate ecosystems combined, even species that wouldn’t be able to thrive in either of the separate systems. This is known by ecologists as the “edge effect.” “There is a great deal of mutually beneficial relationships between elements at the edges.”[1]

So I first heard about the “edge effect” while listening to an interview with the classical cellist, Yo Yo Ma. He formed a musical group with the intention of mingling artists from diverse cultural and musical backgrounds. He was intrigued by the concept of the edge effect and wanted see if similar mutual benefits could be gleaned from an overlap between musical genres. “This happens in nature,” Yo Yo observed, “and so I was wondering, does this also happen in the human world? What would [the edge effect] mean in human terms? I started looking around and thinking about things…when were some of the most creative moments in human history? What are the preconditions for something to become creative?”[2]

He’s not the only one to ask these questions or apply the edge effect concept to human cultures and communities. There is a social scientist, Adam Galinsky, who has done research that shows people who form deep relationships with people from other cultures and countries score higher on creativity tests. What does this mean? “There is great comfort in the familiar. It's one reason humans often flock to other people who share the same interests, laugh at the same jokes, hold the same political views. But familiar ground may not be the best place to cultivate creativity.”[3]

Why is creativity so important? Because the alternatives are destruction and apathy. Creativity is especially important to the church and to our life of faith together, because God calls us to oppose sin, injustice, destructive living, and apathy, and to follow him, to learn from him, to learn how to be creative, to learn how to show compassion, to help build up the Kingdom of God.

Look at Mark chapter 12 when a teacher of the law asks Jesus what the most important commandment is. Jesus goes first to Deuteronomy 6, “Love God with all your heart, mind, and strength,” and then he cites from Leviticus 19, “and love your neighbor as yourself.” “‘Well said, teacher,’ the man replied. ‘You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.’ When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, ‘You are not far from the kingdom of God.’”

Leviticus 19 also includes verses 33-34, “When immigrants live in your land with you, you must not cheat them. Any immigrant who lives with you must be treated as if they were one of your citizens. You must love them as yourself, because you were immigrants in the land of Egypt; I am the Lord your God.” Why would God say this, apart from wanting to push all the political hot buttons of 2018? God has cared about this long before the mess we’re currently dealing with. Why would Jesus say the Kingdom of God is not far from understanding the commands to love God and neighbor? And why, in Luke, when this great command is questioned, “So who is my neighbor?” does Jesus tell a story that demolishes social and cultural boundaries? In the story a man is robbed and beaten and left to die on the side of the road. He is passed by many familiar faces. Why does Jesus tell a story where the relationship formed between two would-be enemies becomes a creative crucible of compassion, and healing, and life? And why does Jesus stand on the edge of the water to call his disciples?

It occurs to me that the Kingdom of God is an “edge effect ecosystem”. The Kingdom of God is built in the intersection between heaven and earth, the overlap between what is already here and what is yet to come, the place where what is currently known and experienced in sin mingles with the hope of what is possible in Christ. This is why God insists that we embrace diversity, care for the foreigner, love our neighbors, love our enemies, because the Kingdom of God must is cultivated and grown with the creative energy of compassion, healing, and life that results when such diverse relationships are formed, nourished, and celebrated.

Think about all the places where Scripture describes God’s intersections with humankind. Just last week we looked at the creative power of God at the chaotic and terrifying intersection of darkness and deep waters. It was there, in that intersection, where God’s word called forth light and life and goodness, because the Kingdom of God is an edge effect ecosystem. Humankind gives in to the temptation of sin and is kicked out of the garden with the expectation that we must toil and work at the edge of chaos to cultivate the healing and life that was freely given in the garden, because the Kingdom of God is an edge effect ecosystem. God tells Abraham to leave the familiar and go to the foreign. “Leave your land, your family, and your father’s household for the land that I will show you.” “I will bless you,” God tells him, “and through you will all families of the earth be blessed.” God’s blessing bubbling forth at the intersection between the familiar and the unknown, because the Kingdom of God is an edge effect ecosystem.

A few weeks ago we looked at the night-time boat ride that Jesus and his disciples took across the Sea of Galilee, going from a familiar land to a foreign one. They got caught up in a storm and the disciples were caught up in fear. Jesus stood up and spoke words of peace to the intersection of wind and waves and boat…and to the fear in the disciples’ hearts. The disciples feared for their life in the storm, but perhaps they were also afraid of how their lives might change on the other side of the sea, where they were being called to form new relationships with people who looked and thought and acted differently than they did. But Jesus calmed the storm so they could continue their journey to the other side, and the disciples were in awe. The Kingdom of God is an edge effect ecosystem.

Today’s Gospel lesson reminds us of the beginning of Jesus’ transforming relationship with his disciples. He stands on the edge of the water and calls out to Peter and Andrew, and James and John, and in a scene reminiscent of God’s call to Abraham, they leave the familiar to follow Jesus towards the Kingdom of God.

All of us are called by God in such a way: called to cultivate compassion and health and life and justice, called to step out in faith, called to leave the familiar, called to be transformed. We are called to step to the edge of our comfort zones. This can stir up storms of sin that frighten and frustrate and paralyze us. What do we tend to do when we reach the edge of our comfort zones? When we are faced with the fear of the unknown beyond? When we hear the sounds of God’s footsteps in the garden? We tend to turn and run back and hide in the depths of our familiar ecosystem.

The word “ecosystem” is derived from the Greek work oikos, which means “home”. To say that the Kingdom of God is an edge effect ecosystem is a reminder that we do not belong to this world nor do we belong to sin; we belong to God and God is calling us from the familiar, through the frightening, and to a place of Shalom, of peace and healing and wholeness. God is calling us home.

Can you imagine the 14 children and their soccer coach trapped in a cave for over two weeks? Stuck in pitch blackness as water levels rise. They were literally caught in the intersection between darkness and deep waters. Days pass. Weeks pass. And then…a light and a voice and a way home. We have not all been literally stuck in such a place…but all of us who seek to heed Jesus’ call to follow have and will face the frightening intersections between our life, our will, our world and the transformed life and world to which we are being called by the will of God.

Vacation Bible School is an edge effect ecosystem, a place where the life of our community of faith has intersected the lives and faith of so many children. And in this overlap there is such diversity, creativity, beauty, and new life. There will be children hearing the story of Jesus standing on the shore and calling his disciples to follow for the first time. This will bring some of them to the edge of their comfort zones. They might doubt their next step. Will they retreat to the familiar or will they move forward in faith? Can you remember what it’s like to stand in their shoes on the shore between familiar waters and a new life of faith? This week we have the opportunity to be a light and a voice to children in the darkness, to give them opportunities to be creative and show compassion, and to teach them the stories of our faith that tell of a loving God who stands on the edge and calls us home. Amen.

[1] https://deepgreenpermaculture.com/permaculture/permaculture-design-principles/10-edge-effect/

[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoGUdPsOM2M

[3] https://www.npr.org/2018/07/02/625426015/the-edge-effect