At the beginning of our teaching series on Partnership, we went back to the beginning and were reminded that "In the beginning" God created human beings, male and female "in His own image" and placed them in His newly created earth, giving to them the command ‘Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.’ We looked at the language of humans having dominion over nature and saw that that should be exercised for the good of creation, not the selfish destruction of nature. Yes, the dominion given to humans in Genesis 1:26-29 does imply a human preeminence, and that theme is echoed in Psalm 8 but it opposes a theology of domination
In Genesis 1 we thus see that God enters into partnership with humans in the care of His creation, and since then we have seen that "partnership" best describes our relationship to each other in the church ... we are partners in the Gospel, says Paul ... and we have explored how we are partners with each other and with God in all areas of the life of discipleship: most recently we explored how our money is not our own, but rather it is God's and we partner with Him in its good use; before that how we partner with God in the good stewardship of the truth contained in the Bible; before that how we partner with God in the care of the "other" in our midst. Next week we consider how, amidst so much division and brokenness, we partner with God and with each other in being peacemakers with a ministry of reconciliation. In all this we've hopefully seen how partnership takes our relationship with each other in the church and with God to a deeper level of understanding than the word membership.
Today we examine in more detail our relationship with each other and with God regarding the care of creation, hence my title Creation: Who Cares?
You almost can’t watch the news nowadays without seeing an item on global warming, pollution or climate change. This week the story of a whale whose stomach was full of plastic bottles and bags made minor headlines. Should we care?
Here in Norwich many of us are living with the disruptions caused by the building of the Norwich Northern Distributor Road initially planned from the A47 to the west of Norwich passing to the north of the city and linking to the A47 to the east near Postwick. The project was later scaled back to avoid an important Site of Special Scientific Interest, the Wensum Valley. The scheme is opposed by a number of local and national organisations. The local Green Party highlighted that the road would generate an addition 25,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions in the first year. Norfolk County Council have described the scheme as having 'large adverse' impacts on several protected species, including barn owls and bats and a 'moderate adverse' impact on landscape. Should we care about barn owls and bats? And can't we just build a bridge over the Wensum marshland? And really, who cares about CO2emissions?
In 1712, Thomas Newcomen developed the first steam engine. His single coal burning engine, which he used to drain water from coal mines, operated much more cheaply and efficiently than the alternative – it replaced five hundred horses. The rest is history: Suddenly, instead of turning handles and cranks with their own muscles or with the muscles of their animals ... men and women could exploit the earth’s storehouse of fossilized energy to do the turning for them. First coal, then oil, then natural gas allowed for everything we consider normal and obvious about the modern world, from making fertiliser to making steel to making electricity. These in turn fed all the subsidiary revolutions in transportation and chemistry and communications, right down to the electron-based information age we now inhabit. Thus, because of its newfound usefulness for efficiency and economic growth, the environment became married to the economy without consent. After three hundred years of this marriage, the environment is a shadow of its former self and its accelerating sickness is almost past the point of recovery (from Deep Economy by Bill McKibben). Should we care?
A few weeks ago I preached on Jesus in effect saying to Peter: "We need to talk." We're now at the planetary equivalent of the doctor clearing his throat and saying to humanity ... We need to talk!
In Romans 8:18-25 we are told that all creation waits with "eager longing" for the revealing of God's children. That's you and me, if we are truly in Christ. The creation has been "subjected to futility"and with human salvation it will be set free from bondage and decay. It seems to me human salvation has led to more bondage and decay for creation as we have abused the freedom we have in Christ. Christians have been among those who have hunted elephants, lions and rhino almost to extinction ... should we care? Why did the Christians who flocked to Africa think they could shoot out animals for fun. As we saw a few weeks ago when I preached on Truth, the Bible hasn't changed. Paul says the whole creation is groaning like a woman in childbirth. The human salvation that Christ's atoning work is now accomplishing is meant to release the rest of creation from its sufferings as a result of human sin. But, do we care? Do you care about all these things?
Deforestation, either through lumbering or deliberate burning of rainforests for grazing cattle, is currently progressing at an average rate of a football field per minute (Kingdom Ethics 2016 pg384). Should we care? Forests that it took nature centuries to grow are destroyed in the blink of an eye – and the burning adds carbon dioxide to the air, increasing global warming. Should we care?
A few weeks ago I preached on Jesus in effect saying to Peter: "We need to talk." We're now at the planetary equivalent of the doctor clearing his throat and saying to humanity ... We need to talk!
In Romans 8:18-25 we are told that all creation waits with "eager longing" for the revealing of God's children. That's you and me, if we are truly in Christ. The creation has been "subjected to futility"and with human salvation it will be set free from bondage and decay. It seems to me human salvation has led to more bondage and decay for creation as we have abused the freedom we have in Christ. Christians have been among those who have hunted elephants, lions and rhino almost to extinction ... should we care? Why did the Christians who flocked to Africa think they could shoot out animals for fun. As we saw a few weeks ago when I preached on Truth, the Bible hasn't changed. Paul says the whole creation is groaning like a woman in childbirth. The human salvation that Christ's atoning work is now accomplishing is meant to release the rest of creation from its sufferings as a result of human sin. But, do we care? Do you care about all these things?
Deforestation, either through lumbering or deliberate burning of rainforests for grazing cattle, is currently progressing at an average rate of a football field per minute (Kingdom Ethics 2016 pg384). Should we care? Forests that it took nature centuries to grow are destroyed in the blink of an eye – and the burning adds carbon dioxide to the air, increasing global warming. Should we care?
The Bible gives a very clear YES! The Law given to Moses to give to Israel included obligations to plants, to livestock and to wild nature.
‘For six years you are to sow your fields and harvest the crops, but during the seventh year let the land lie unploughed and unused. Then the poor among your people may get food from it, and the wild animals may eat what is left. Do the same with your vineyard and your olive grove.
‘Six days do your work, but on the seventh day do not work, so that your ox and your donkey may rest, and so that the slave born in your household and the foreigner living among you may be refreshed. Ex 23:10-12
In Leviticus 25 we read of the Jubilee Year every 50th year, where all land is meant to rest and recover. In Deut 20:19-20 we are told not to destroy fruit trees when we go to war ... so no mass bombing or napalm or nuclear weapons which destroy everything. God cares for His creation and expects us to. Listen to this from Deut 22:6-7
If you come across a bird’s nest beside the road, either in a tree or on the ground, and the mother is sitting on the young or on the eggs, do not take the mother with the young. You may take the young, but be sure to let the mother go, so that it may go well with you and you may have a long life.
Your long life dependent on how you've treated birds. Where did we humans ever get the idea that we can treat creation as we wish?
The roots of Jesus' teaching on peacemaking, "Love your enemies and do good to those who hate you" Lk 6:27 are found in Exodus 23:4-5 ‘If you come across your enemy’s ox or donkey wandering off, be sure to return it. If you see the donkey of someone who hates you fallen down under its load, do not leave it there; be sure you help them with it.'
The roots of Jesus' teaching on peacemaking, "Love your enemies and do good to those who hate you" Lk 6:27 are found in Exodus 23:4-5 ‘If you come across your enemy’s ox or donkey wandering off, be sure to return it. If you see the donkey of someone who hates you fallen down under its load, do not leave it there; be sure you help them with it.'
God cares for His creation and He expects us to as well. But perhaps through all this you have let Satan speak into your ear and say: "But I can't make any difference and even if I wanted to, where would I start." The world thinks that way, but remember, we are no longer of the world John 15:19.
We are now Kingdom people and The kingdom of God is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about thirty kilograms of flour until it worked all through the dough Mt 13:33 . Your "little" difference makes a difference. This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. All by itself the soil produces corn – first the stalk, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. The little things you sew, your little bit of recycling, the few free range eggs you decide to buy at much greater cost than battery produced eggs, your energy saving light bulbs, your signature on a petition to keep fox hunting illegal, your cycling rather than driving your car, any little thing you do to show your care for creation has a Kingdom impact bigger than you can imagine. Well done and keep it up! Pray for strength and power to do even more.
Every "little thing" we don't do has an impact far bigger than we can imagine as well. Shame on us for not caring. Pray for forgiveness for our role in the destruction of God's creation and we will be forgiven.
Caring for God's creation is a responsibility that belongs to all humans. Christians, as trail blazers for God's kingdom, should lead the way rather than drag behind. In our personal and family practices, in congregational life, and in policy activism and governmental leadership roles, Christians have both an opportunity and a responsibility to serve Jesus and our neighbors in this pivotal area of life.
