God's Community with God's Commission, part 4

The Biblical Creation Accounts

God Deems His Creative Handiwork Good, Good, Very Good

A repeated refrain throughout the first creation narrative in Genesis 1 is "And God saw that it was good." Then, for emphasis, the chapter closes with God surveying his masterpiece and exclaiming enthusiastically: "It is so good, so very good!" (vs. 31). Those of us who are admirers of the handiwork of God we call Nature marvel at the wonders of creation. The recent Emmy Award-winning BBC nature documentary Planet Earth put on display, for those with eyes to see, God's ingenuity, brilliance, resourcefulness, power, attention to detail, and tender care. Amazing. Learning about God's work in nature incites my admiration and inspires my trust. This, by the way, was the lesson God's creation was intended to bring to the puzzled and bereaved. Job is our prime example.

God's Response to Job's Puzzlement

Have you ever noticed that when Job asks God to explain why this horrible series of tragedies befell him the only answer God provides is a preview of "Planet Earth"? Sometime read through Job chapters 38-41 and you'll see what I mean. And as you read, observe the delight, the pleasure, the joy that God seems to take in his creation. There are big lessons for us to learn by reminding ourselves that God commands the morning, feeds the lions, gives birth to mountain goats, unleashes the wild donkey, cares for the wild oxen, puzzles over the ostrich, empowers the horse, lifts up  the eagle, and choreographs the untameable mythic beasts. When he laid the foundation of the earth, "the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy" (38:7). I imagine that God was the "lead vocalist" here of this joyous song. He surely delights in the work of his hands. And so should we.

He Entrusted Humanity as Caretakers for his Masterpiece

Gen 1:28. After making humanity in his likeness, God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.”

Gen 2:15. "The Lord God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to tend and watch over it."

Psalm 8:3-9.

When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers—the moon and the stars you set in place—what are mere mortals that you should think about them, human beings that you should care for them?
Yet you made them only a little lower than God and crowned them with glory and honor. You gave them charge of everything you made, putting all things under their authority—the flocks and the herds and all the wild animals, the birds in the sky, the fish in the sea, and everything that swims the ocean currents.

O Lord, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth!

What Does it Mean to Care for Creation?

[This Q&A section is taken from helpful “Catechism of Creation”  from the Committee on Science, Technology and Faith of the Episcopal Church.]

What Does it Mean?

It means that Christians are commissioned to model for all humankind how to love and serve this earth, the part of the creation upon which we dwell.

What is the source of this commission?

The Holy Bible declares our obligation to care for God’s creation.

What specifically does the Bible say about this obligation?

Genesis 1:26-28 states that human beings are created in God’s “image and likeness” and given dominion over all other creatures. “Dominion” does not mean “domination,” but refers to the need for humans to exercise stewardship over the earth on God’s behalf.  In Genesis 2, the human beings are given the garden to tend and serve, symbolizing our obligation to care for creation.  Human beings do in fact exercise dominion over “this fragile earth, our island home” (Book of Common Prayer, p. 370).  God wills that we exercise it in accordance with God’s desires and purposes.  God declared the whole of creation to be “very good” (Gen. 1:31): earth and all of its living creatures have value in and of themselves.  As “the earth is the Lord’s and everything in it” (Ps. 24:1), we human beings are called upon to tend and serve the earth as a sacred trust for which we shall one day give an accounting. 

What does “created in the image and likeness of God” mean in relation to our obligation to care for the creation?

The God who is Love unconditionally loves all of the creation and not merely us who are able to enter into a conscious relationship with God.  We may express the divine image and likeness by loving the creation as God loves it, and by exercising stewardship and earth-keeping as an act of love.

Why is it difficult for human beings to love the creation as God loves it?

We humans have fallen into sin, and expressions of greed, lust for power, neglect, and a willingness to turn a blind eye work against the mandate to be good stewards and keepers of God’s good earth.  Economic, political, and social structures and processes can also make this work difficult.  But contrition, repentance, confidence in God’s forgiveness and the power of God’s grace, and amendment of life provide a pathway for carrying out earth-keeping as a labor of love.  

An Interdependent Relationship

We humans are to care for the earth. But this is no one-way relationship. The created order is busy non-stop caring for us. Are we not entirely dependent on sunshine, air, water, and plants (and animals, for the non-vegan among us) for our sustenance? The Garden story which speaks of our responsibility for his world, also speaks of the abundance which the world will yield for our welfare and enjoyment. Did I say enjoyment? Indeed! God "richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment" (1 Timothy 6:17).

The link between humanity and the non-human created order is seen in our intertwined fates. When humanity distrusts its Maker and seeks a greater measure of autonomy, the earth too suffers the outfall of our cursed misbehavior. We'll see more of this below.

Our Covenant Relationship with Land and Animals: A Sabbath for All

The 7-day creation account of Genesis 1 could provide no higher reason for our keeping of Sabbath. In fashioning the world, God himself keeps Sabbath. We are made to reflect his image. How could we his children not follow his sabbatarian example of integrating work and rest? 

Some asked out about what it means for a Christian, living in this hectic, fast-paced culture, to keep Sabbath. A book by Marva J. Dawn is helpful here: Keeping the Sabbath Wholly: Ceasing, Resting, Embracing, Feasting (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1989). (For more info on this book, see the listing in our small group library.)

To reinforce the centrality of this pattern of work and rest, God inscribes it into the decalogue, the Ten Words of command. In the fourth commandment, notice who is enjoined to rest. Is is just the human workforce? Or is God also looking out for his domesticated creatures?

Deuteronomy 5:12-15. Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the Lord your God has commanded you. You have six days each week for your ordinary work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of rest dedicated to the Lord your God. On that day no one in your household may do any work. This includes you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, your oxen and donkeys and other livestock, and any foreigners living among you. All your male and female servants must rest as you do. Remember that you were once slaves in Egypt, but the Lord your God brought you out with his strong hand and powerful arm. That is why the Lord your God has commanded you to rest on the Sabbath day. 

The Sabbath rest is a gracious provision of God for his people and for his animals. But it also extends to the land itself.

Leviticus 25:1-7. While Moses was on Mount Sinai, the Lord said to him, “Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. When you have entered the land I am giving you, the land itself must observe a Sabbath rest before the Lord every seventh year. For six years you may plant your fields and prune your vineyards and harvest your crops, but during the seventh year the land must have a Sabbath year of complete rest. It is the Lord’s Sabbath. Do not plant your fields or prune your vineyards during that year. And don’t store away the crops that grow on their own or gather the grapes from your unpruned vines. The land must have a year of complete rest. But you may eat whatever the land produces on its own during its Sabbath. This applies to you, your male and female servants, your hired workers, and the temporary residents who live with you. Your livestock and the wild animals in your land will also be allowed to eat what the land produces.

God goes on to warn the people what will happen if they obstinately refuse his direction, abuse their relationship with him, and shirk their "caretaking" stewardship over the land. Such foolish obstinancy would forfeit the protective hand of God that keeps their political enemies at bay. In the section that follows, God speaks as though the consequences of their rebellion were his direct doing in order to emphasize their moral character. In reality, the consequences would be mediated through internal conflicts and invading armies and starvation-producing military seige. 

Leviticus 26:27-35. If in spite of all this you still refuse to listen and still remain hostile toward me, then I will give full vent to my hostility... I myself will devastate your land, and your enemies who come to occupy it will be appalled at what they see. I will scatter you among the nations and bring out my sword against you. Your land will become desolate, and your cities will lie in ruins. Then at last the land will enjoy its neglected Sabbath years as it lies desolate while you are in exile in the land of your enemies. Then the land will finally rest and enjoy the Sabbaths it missed. As long as the land lies in ruins, it will enjoy the rest you never allowed it to take every seventh year while you lived in it.

If ancient Israel refuses to let the land rest, then God himself will have to see that it gets its Sabbath, even it that requires the expulsion of the people from the land. These words in Leviticus provided our forebears with a hypothetical if/then scenario. God was laying out to the people how things would be for them if they were to rebel. Unfortunately, these warning came true historically, as the Chronicler reports.

2 Chronicles 36:15-21. The Lord, the God of their ancestors, repeatedly sent his prophets to warn them, for he had compassion on his people and his Temple. But the people mocked these messengers of God and despised their words. They scoffed at the prophets until the Lord’s anger could no longer be restrained and nothing could be done. So the Lord brought the king of Babylon against them. The Babylonians killed Judah’s young men, even chasing after them into the Temple. They had no pity on the people, killing both young men and young women, the old and the infirm. God handed all of them over to Nebuchadnezzar. The king took home to Babylon all the articles, large and small, used in the Temple of God, and the treasures from both the Lord’s Temple and from the palace of the king and his officials. Then his army burned the Temple of God, tore down the walls of Jerusalem, burned all the palaces, and completely destroyed everything of value. The few who survived were taken as exiles to Babylon, and they became servants to the king and his sons until the kingdom of Persia came to power. So the message of the Lord spoken through Jeremiah was fulfilled. The land finally enjoyed its Sabbath rest, lying desolate until the seventy years were fulfilled, just as the prophet had said.

Can you see that God cares for ALL of his creation, not just that portion that was made in his image? All parts of his "very good" creation are valuable to him--humanity, oxen, donkeys, livestock, and land. This is God's world--all of it. We are but stewards of his creation.

The Earth Suffers

We've already seen above how the earth bears the consequences of our moral failures and abuse. Hosea makes the point plain (4:1-3).

Hear the word of the Lord, O people of Israel!
      The Lord has brought charges against you, saying:
   “There is no faithfulness, no kindness,
      no knowledge of God in your land.
 You make vows and break them;
      you kill and steal and commit adultery.
   There is violence everywhere—
      one murder after another.
 That is why your land is in mourning,
      and everyone is wasting away.
   Even the wild animals, the birds of the sky,
      and the fish of the sea are disappearing.

The Earth Longs

Romans 8:18-23. Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later. For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are. Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope, the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay. For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us.

The earth was to have faithful stewards who would care for her as God himself would care for her. But we haven't done such a great job. Now the earth longs for the day when her stewards will be restored to full capacity and full faithfulness. Then, as we are liberated from the sin that binds us, the earth too will experience freedom from death and decay.

What that will look like we can't say for sure. Here we are looking into the fog at something beyond our capacities to fully comprehend. We explored this subject a bit in our discussion of hope. Prior essays on our future might also be helpful. For further reading, consider Tom Wright's book Surprised by Hope, found in our library.

For more on the biblical theme of God's creation, see David Wilkinson, The Message of Creation: Encountering the Lord of the Universe, The Bible Speaks Today Series (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2002), also found in our small group library.

Love for God and Love for Others

Good stewardship of God's good world not only demonstrates our love for him. It also shows our love for others. If we ruin the world we ruin it for others, too. If we care for it, we allow others to enjoy its rich fruit for generations to come.

How then might we responsibly care for the world? The links below will point us in the right direction.

FURTHER READING 

The two informative links below provide an excellent introduction to our stewardship of the earth. The first one we've mentioned above.

The Biblical Roots for Environmental Care 

Prepared for study in congregations by the The Committee on Science, Technology and Faith of the Episcopal Church.

Through Christ all things were made.  “A Catechism of Creation” helps us to think about what that means.  It is written in question-and-answer format... Part III presents the biblical roots for environmental care. Each section’s bibliography encourages further study. 

CARING FOR CREATION

Here is the full-text of Part III: Caring for Creation 

Sharing God's Planet: A Christian Vision for a Sustainable Future

The following excerpt is taken from the introduction of a book prepared by the Church of England to address a Christian view of the planet that God entrusted to our care. The full text can be found below.

The earth is ailing, and every creature in it, including humankind, is affected. The evidence suggests that human activity, particularly in the last 100 years, has contributed significantly to the suffering. Humans treat the earth according to their perceptions of it. If people see each other as alien and the earth as inert matter, their behaviour will reflect that perception. If people see each other as part of the same family, and the earth as connected to them because of its sacred origin in the same God who made them, they may be motivated to live in harmony under God...

The unitary, sacred origin of all that is informs the premise of this book, which is that it is possible and desirable for people to live and work within their environments, not as enemies, nor even as uneasy bedfellows, but harmoniously under God. If humanity can understand that all creatures, including humans, are under God, it might then use its God-given intelligence to find out how to ‘safeguard the integrity of creation and sustain and renew the life of the earth’ (the fifth mark of mission of the Anglican Communion) rather than thinking of the earth as an adversary and using human intelligence to dominate and control it.

The idea of nature as alien and frightening, needing to be commanded and controlled, has governed many human actions in the past and people still live under that legacy. This book will describe the size and magnificence of the world, and how well humans can live in it if they so choose. The book will also speak of human failure to live well, something for which, historically, Christians have been partly to blame because of the way they have interpreted their tradition. Within Christian teaching, however, there are insights that can undo some of the damage of the past.

Outline of the Book

The first part of the book will look at the history of Western human engagement with the environment, showing how thought patterns have contributed to human industrial and post-industrial treatment of the world. The focus is on Western thought because the readership of this book will largely consist of those living under its legacy. Part One will then investigate the ways in which humans may have caused harm in the different spheres: the atmosphere with pollution and overheating; the hydrosphere with water pollution and ‘replumbing’; the lithosphere with mineral extraction; the pedosphere with soil erosion; and the biosphere with the expansion to ‘rogue’ status of the human species, the loss of other species’ habitats and the threat to biological diversity on which every living thing depends. By describing the world in this way, as well as gaining an understanding of the effects of human activity, the reader should see the size and complexity of the world and the extraordinary intelligence of its Maker.

The second part of the book will begin to construct theological and biblical foundations for a loving, Christian perception of the world. These foundations will start with the basic teaching that the world was made by God and belongs to him, and human beings are stewards of the creation under God’s sovereignty. Four theological principles will be explored to expand this role: God’s covenant with creation; the sacrament of creation; the prophetic, priestly and kingly role of humanity; and the feast of the Sabbath. Fianlly, there are some topics for group discussion, a meditation, and some practical exercises to help the reader connect with the elements of the world.

The third part of the book will describe ways in which readers can start to live according to new perceptions that, it is hoped, will have been produced by reading thus far. This part includes suggestions for practical, community and spiritual activities for individuals and churches.

Part Four has a description of the main Christian environmental organizations and how to contact the Church of England Diocesan Environmental Officers, together with a list of useful web sites. This part ends with the references for this book, as well as other books that may be of interest for further reading.

Sharing God's Planet: A Christian Vision for a Sustainable Future (London: Church House Publishing, 2005). Full-text pdf here.