Every Wednesday, Sharon Stone comes to Bethany Church to gather the
plastic that members have saved for re-cycling. James Apisai changed
his college major from Communications to Environmental Science. Nick
Jeffries teaches care for creation by having an active farm on the grounds of Camp Chestnut Ridge. At my county dump, there are separate containers for things that can be re-cycled. When Gary and Michael Corsi-OConnor had a florist shop, they had a day each year when friends could come and get free flowers and plants to share with shut- ins. Octogenarian Eddie Jenkins told me that today he worked to fertilize some bushes in his yard. Major League baseball player Adam Wainwright (Go, Cardinals!) has noted that taking care of one’s body is a way of caring for God’s creation.
These examples show how some of us have worked to live out the
instruction from God that we human beings take care of what God has
created (Genesis 1:26). The word translated “dominion” suggests that
we have responsibility for God’s creation. After all, we are created
in God’s image (Genesis 1:26). (The Hebrew word used here for “image”
is tselem. It means “a representative figure”. We are created to
represent God.)
Psalm 8 is a reminder that God has made us responsible for the care of
things that belong to God. When I hear an analyst speak of the major
negative changes in our climate that are due to human action and
inaction, I recognize that we are not always doing such a good job
taking care of what God has created and given us to maintain and
enjoy. That eighth psalm reflects the account in Genesis 2 when God
puts Adam in charge of God’s Garden. That didn’t go too well, did it?
Even for folks who are serious about caring for the environment, there
is one dimension that is often overlooked as part of “creation care.”
Go back and re-read the last sentence of the first paragraph. When I
get on the scales next Thursday, I wonder if God will think I am
caring for God’s creation, my body. When I decide to stop keeping
track of my daily steps, I wonder if God thinks my pedometer was
telling God how I care for my body, God’s creation.
Everything God made was good (Genesis 1:31). What can we do to keep
it that way?
What Someone Else Has Said:
Greta Thunberg (No One Is Too Small to
Make a Difference Penguin Books) wrote: “Erosion of fertile top soil.
Deforestation of our great forests. Toxic air pollution. Loss of
insect’s and wildlife. The acidification of our oceans. Here are all
the disastrous trends being accelerated by a way of life that we, here
in our financially fortunate part of the world, see as our right to
simply carry on.”
Prayer:
As you prepare this lesson, let our prayer begin: “Creator
God, use me...”
