On January 26-28, Pastor Lynnae and I attended our annual Tri-Synodical Theological Leadership Conference in Arlington. Pastors and other church leaders from Texas, and Louisiana met to consider the theme, “This Good Earth”.
As I led you in our worship services this past Sunday, three things took on even more meaning for me after attending this conference:
* The first was in the Prayer of Confession: “We confess that we have sinned against you and one another. We have wounded the whole creation by the things we have done and the things we have failed to do.”
* The second was in the Apostles’ Creed: “I believe in God, the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth.”
* The third was in the Prayers of the Church: “Almighty God, by your word creation came into being. Speak to us by your spirit when creation is groaning for rescue and relief, that we may commit ourselves to thoughtful care of all you have made.”
At this conference, we heard from four persons who are very significantly involved in raising the awareness globally that we are facing a crisis of climate change on this planet! Being followers of Jesus Christ, they take very seriously the meaning of John 3:16-- “For God so loved THE WORLD (meaning ‘the whole creation’, or ‘the cosmos’ in the original Greek) that he gave his only Son… “ We are created “in God’s image”, and “God is love”. So, as the people of God we have the responsibility to “love this world” by responding to the crises we face. Yes, we must confess that waste and over-use of resources is creating economic, social and environmental problems that cannot wait to be addressed! As God’s children, the church of Jesus Christ has the unique opportunity in our worship, our service, and in our personal lives to witness to our faith in the God who sustains us and all living things. God has commanded us to “have dominion” over the creation which means to be “caretaker”, or “good stewards” of this good earth in the original Hebrew.
Robert Corin Morris raises some very thought-provoking questions in an article titled, “An Altar of Earth—the Bible as Earth-Book”: “What kind of world will our children and grandchildren inherit? Will it be the bleak world envisioned by some, where we will live not only in the ruins of nature, but in the ruins of the civilization that ruined it? What will be the shape of this world to come? What kind of people will it take to shape it in this direction? And why should this matter to those who call Jesus Lord?”
The teaching and preaching of Jesus proclaims that heaven and earth are joined in eternal life. The incarnation of Jesus, “God’s Word made flesh who dwells with us” teaches us to pray for this good earth: “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven”!
—Pastor David Fetter
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