Today’s author is Prince of Peace member and a retired ELCA Pastor, Gary Olson.
This devotion is based on Romans 8:18-25. It would be helpful to read it. Any words in parentheses in this writing are my attempt at inclusiveness.
Paul writes, “For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God; for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 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.” Rom. 8:20-21.
It isn’t only for people that God cares. God cares for the squirrels and rabbits, the Polar Bear and deer, the Walleye and whales, the soil and minerals, the forests and fields of grain. You get the point.
Martin Luther had an appreciation for God’s creation. He writes in his interpretation of the First Article of the Apostles’ Creed: “I believe that God has created me and all that exists. (God) has given me and still preserves my body and soul with all their powers. (God) provides me with food and clothing, home and family, daily work, and all I need from day to day… All this (God) does out of fatherly/(motherly) and divine goodness and mercy.”
Nature, the created world, is a gift of God to us and to all creatures.
A Roman Catholic priest friend of mine once told me, “You Lutherans emphasize Jesus and personal salvation so much it seems nothing else matters.” “That’s a little unfair,” I said. “What I mean,” he said, “is that God is also creator and sanctifier.” Good point. I once heard Paul Sponheim of our congregation say, “The First Article of the creed is the First Article (emphasis mine)! I respect Paul immensely and I think what he meant is that we wouldn’t be here without creation, without nature we could not survive. We are physical creatures living in a physical world. Creation is a gift of God.
Jesus loved nature. He used examples from nature in his teaching: the water into wine, the lilies of the field, the loaves and fish, a Roman coin, the breeze through the trees, the grain in a field, etc.
I’ve read that what the Apostle Paul is referring to when he writes, “the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God… in hope 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,” is the future. That is, life after resurrection—the new world.
But I’m holding out for a minority view: That creation is longing “for the revealing of the children of God” because it is the children of God who are given the responsibility to care for creation—to nurture it and do the things that will help nature recover and be healthy. Nature renews itself, heals itself when we stop hurting and damaging it. Nature, the created world, is God’s gift to us. We cannot live without it. As Genesis says to us, “The Lord God took the man (and the woman?) and put him (them) in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it” (Gen. 2.15). That is, care for nature, see to it that we use it and manage it so nature will be healthy and thrive. It is a gift of God to all.
It is a matter of Christian love to care for nature, to advocate for it: Vote for candidates who will fight for carbon cleanup. Put pressure on corporations to take ecological action. Do the little things like buying a battery-powered lawn mower, automobile, or hybrid vehicle. Consider your efforts a faith in God’s ability to heal. Then pray that God’s will and wisdom will prevail in the world.