We woke the neighbors today. Well, I don’t know for sure that we woke them. It wasn’t crack of dawn early. But early ish. On a Saturday. We had asked at church is anyone had a wood chipper. We had a growing pile of sticks that came from the old trees in our yard, every time the wind blew there were more and more, sticks. Branches, limbs, sticks, everywhere. We picked them up from time to time. Put them in a pile in the back yard. On the firepit, actually. Thinking that we would burn them. But the pile kept building, getting bigger and bigger. Now it was bonfire size, threaten the neighboring dwellings size. We thought it might not be a good idea to burn it. So, we asked about a chipper.
Turns out someone had one, and was willing to bring it by, and stay for the chipping party we had in the back yard this morning. It was a loud party. Grinding those sticks and twigs and branches makes a bit of noise. A bit. OK, a lot of noise. Gnawing, grinding, coughing, chewing and spitting out sticks and branches and twigs. Making mulch to spread on flower gardens and lawn edges, but also not adding to the stuff in the air that we breathe by burning all that pile. But then it was a gas powered chipper, the little bit of gas that we burned smelled worse than the wood smoke would have smelled. But was it worse? Did it do more damage to a fragile environment than a bonfire in the back yard? Sigh. You can’t win it seems.
Years ago La Donna came to one of my bible studies because the members had heard me talk about all the things we do or don’t do in order to be “green”, to be ecological. So she came and made a presentation about the choices we make on a daily basis, the homework we have to do on companies and their impact on the environment and which ones we should support and which ones we should avoid. There were weights and counterweights, balances and trade-offs, choices around every turn. Finally after some time sharing all of this, members of the class said, “this is hard! Maybe too hard.”
Why should we bother? Worrying about our impact on the environment, reducing our carbon footprint, reduce - reuse - recycle? Surely my little bit isn’t going to make the much of a difference. And are things really all that bad? Aren’t we being alarmist? Aren’t there conflicting views of the human impact on climate and the planet as a whole? Can’t we just wait and see? Go about our business and trust that it will all come out ok? And if not, if worst comes to worst, aren’t we as Christians not really all that worried about this world anyway? It’s just temporary, we’re just passing through, right? It’ll all get swept away and the new heaven be established, better than this one by far. Right?
Who better to look beyond this world to the next one than Paul? Who better to get our priorities straight, our vision properly focused, our eyes on the prize. We’re straining forward, he tells us, for the finish line, the goal that lies ahead. Surely, he won’t be concerned about this world, his whole focus is on the next one. Right?
Romans 8:18-25 I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. 19 For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God; 20 for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now; 23 and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.
Well, now that’s a bit of a surprise. The whole creation, he writes. Groaning in labor pains, hurting because of what it wants to birth, what it wants to bring forth. Of course, we say, he’s talking spiritually, he’s talking metaphorically, about spiritual matters not physical ones. Or is he? It seems like Paul is hinting that our salvation is tied up with the bondage and decay of all of creation. The fate of the world, the fate of the planet is woven into our fate, into our future and our hope.
Not only that, but all that God has made relies on us. Not just us, but our better selves, our true selves, our lives as the sons and daughters of God. Which is a round about way of saying that we treat our world as though it was a part of God, and a part of us.
It is not God, that’s an important distinction to make. We don’t worship the creation. We aren’t tree worshipers and mountain disciples, we’re not grass gurus (any kind of grass, for that matter!) or flora and fauna followers. No, we are followers of Jesus the Christ, worshipers of the Creator of all that we see and all that we are. Creation is not God. Yet, we get a glimpse of the Creator when we comprehend the creation. We know the artist when we examine and protect the work of art. We commune with the author when we spend time in the writing.
Psalm 8:1-9 O LORD, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. 2 Out of the mouths of babes and infants you have founded a bulwark because of your foes, to silence the enemy and the avenger. 3 When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have established; 4 what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them? 5 Yet you have made them a little lower than God, and crowned them with glory and honor. 6 You have given them dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under their feet, 7 all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, 8 the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas. 9 O LORD, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
In order to approach God, we need a better sense of ourselves. We need a proper perspective on who we are. One of the places to grasp that perspective is in the contemplation of nature. You can’t stand on the rim of the Grand Canyon and not be humbled by the grandeur and the beauty of the place, overwhelmed by the forces of time and nature that carved such a structure, a natural wonder. You can’t walk the beach of any ocean and watch the pounding of the surf and the power of the currents and not feel small and helpless despite our ability to fashion machinery and dwellings we think can withstand this power, until the storm surge comes and our efforts are swept away in a few tumultuous seconds. You can’t contemplate the vastness of the universe and feel more significant than a speck of dust. And yet, the psalmist tells us, God loves us. Cares for us. Blesses us. Honors us. And gives us dominion.
Now there’s a word that needs another look: dominion. It’s a word that has gotten us into trouble, I believe. Because we only look at one side. The power side. The authority side. “You have made them” – people, that is, you and me – “a little lower than God.” “You have crowned them with glory and honor.” Woo hoo. I don’t know the Hebrew for woo hoo, frankly. And even if I did, I wouldn’t find it in this psalm. It’s not there. This isn’t about power. This isn’t about dominating, about using, exploiting, abusing and casting aside. No, it is about caring for, like God cares for creation. It is being mindful of the planet where we live. It is caring for creatures and habitats like God cares for us. Don’t think creation deserves that care? Do we? The psalm begins and ends with a doublet about God. In our translation it reads “O Lord, our Sovereign.” Older translations read: “O Lord, our Lord.” It is a reminder that all of our “dominion” is the power to care like God cares, to be mindful - to be woke! - like God is mindful of all of creation. Including us.
Yeah, it’s hard. It takes effort and energy. It takes planning and going out of your way to be mindful, to be caring. But it’s worth it. Because it’s our home, and it is the world that is dying to be born again. Groaning to be fulfilled as God intended. Groaning in hope. I see more sticks fell today. Sigh.
Shalom,
Derek
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