I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. 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 who one subjected it, in hope that 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. We know that the whole creation has been groaning and in travail together until now; 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. ~ Romans 8:18-23
I’ve spoken before of one of my former pastors who unintendedly started a movement which became a denomination (that’s another story). One story, however, feels particularly apt for our new series exploring the Bible’s perspective on sin and environmental harm. This pastor talks about being confronted by the charismatic changes happening at the church that he was pastoring and being met by an angry mob in the parking lot demanding to know just how far all of these changes were going to go. In a moment of panic, he supposedly grabbed his Bible and told the crowd, “The changes will go no farther than this book.” As he recounted this story he chuckled and noted that the mob took comfort from those words. He then surprisingly asked, “Have they read this book?” As we embark on our new series of Creation Groans I can imagine that many of you might be a little concerned about the topic. Our current political, cultural and religious landscape has been turned into an all out war of us vs. them, right vs. wrong, good vs. evil – leaving us without room to think, friendships in tatters, families torn apart. And I want to begin by saying a couple of quick things: 1) our discussion will go no farther than this book. That shouldn’t comfort you too much but at least place the challenge where it rightly belongs – not in my hands but in the hands of God. And we will see that this issue of environmental harm isn’t a contemporary issue invading our churches but a deeply held conviction of Scripture emanating thousands of years before environmental scientists or activists existed.; 2) I am just as concerned with HOW we have this discussion as why. I would like to suggest that we do so with deep love for another that presents itself with curiosity, honest and open conversation, and good intent. As Christians, HOW we have it matters. All of Scripture, Jesus says, hang on love for God and one another so being right in a wrong way doesn’t work. Perhaps as equally important as our witness is on this issue, or any issue, is how we conduct ourselves; 3) Finally, we must approach this difficult conversation with a complicated mindset. It helps no one to approach a complicated problem in a simplistic way. And we will see that Scripture itself is complicated. But we must avoid the two temptations on either side – that of partisanship, on the one hand, or silence, on the other.
What exactly is the plight of creation, from which it longs for deliverance?
Answering this question has been obscured by the habit of interpreters and translators assuming that the “groaning” of verse 22 is the groaning of a woman giving birth. They do this by essentially linking the two Greek verbs sustenazein meaning to groan together and sunodinein, meaning to be in travail together, into one English verb with an adverb, e.g. the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth (NIV, NRSV is very similar). But the two verbs can equally well be understood as making two points, particularly when we connect them to prophetic passages of the Old Testament. The first verb connects to numerous passages – numerous enough to signal an entire subgenre of lament, which describe the Earth mourning because of the wickedness and victimization of people (Is. 24:4, 33:9; Jer. 4:28, 12:4, 23:10; Hos. 4:1-3, c.f. Joel 1:10, Jer. 12:11; Amos 1:2).
The Earth mourns because of mistreatment and that mistreatment is always at the hands of human beings who are not following God’s ways. The earth is not having a baby, in other words, we’re abusing her. That’s why she groans.
The second verb connects to God’s judgment over sin. Now, along with this Greek of the Week point comes an important element of Biblical theology. Throughout the Old Testament, human wickedness, greed, malice, is spoken of disrupting the created order, even literally undoing creation. And often (not always), the prophets speak of the natural consequences of human evil on creation as the direct interventions of God in judgment (Hosea 4:1-3; Is. 24:1-5). This aims to maintain God’s sovereignty and not suggest God’s desire or doing. This is a world of cause and effect which God has made and God will own that reality generally always, even if not specifically. That’s what Paul means by stating the creation was subjected to futility, meaninglessness, by God.
Let me give you an example. On Ash Wednesday I acknowledged that the prophet Hosea will speak of the Lord offering a judgment against Israel stating, “There is no faithfulness or loyalty, and no knowledge of God in the land.” And because of that behavior, “Therefore the land mourns, and all who live in it languish; together with the wild animals and the birds of the air, even the fish of the sea are perishing.” (Hosea 4:1-3) Hosea wasn’t an environmental scientist but understood the ecological crisis of sin far better than we do. In verse 3 he depicts the effects of human sin as a kind of “un-creation,” because he lists the creatures (humans, wild animals, birds, and fish) in reverse order to the sequence in which they appear in Genesis 1. Likewise, in Jeremiah 4, the prophet will lament that the earth is once again becoming tohu vabohu [waste and void]. That Hebrew phrase only appears in one other place. It occurs in Genesis 1:2, where it describes the earth before anything was created. Friends, the point is that creation groans because of us. It will be called God’s judgment but we are the perpetrators. We are the ones who sinfully practice tohu vabohu not God.
The phrase “going to the dogs” is not a nice phrase, not a positive remark. And yet, according to Paul, this is the whole purpose and goal for the kingdom. Currently “Going to the dogs” is a way of saying, “it’s not as good as it was in the past.” But I’m trying to highlight Paul’s point that God’s kingdom restoration of all that God has made is what dogs, dirt and dolphins wait for. We should rightfully announce, “Yes, yet it is.”
It’s true that human beings are responsible for the destruction and groaning of all creation. That sinfulness is constructed as a one way street. However, we all wait – by “all” I mean the community of creation, everything that is created by God – for redemption. And that’s why Paul will talk about hope even amidst groaning – “hope that 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.” For Paul, like the prophets of the Old Testament, will understand that the degradation of the earth can be reversed through the coming of the kingdom, spiritual renewal, and people behaving differently. We are to be the “freedom fighters” for the rest of creation.
If we accept Paul’s argument that human wrongdoing is responsible for ecological ruin, it follows that those who wish to live according to God’s will for his world must be concerned to avoid and to repair the damage to God’s creation “as far as the curse is found.” Our “revealing” is what creation waits for because we are to be its liberators. We must stop being collaborators.
So each week we will focus on having “hope” even as we lament. We must lament, in other words, as Resurrection people the state of our world. But our lament should drive us to do something. We need to adopt. Adoption acknowledges both pain and promise. We mourn a reality that leaves children, animals, without proper parentage, but lean in to fill the gap.
How can we practice and reveal hope?
1. 1) We have a Psalm 104 clothesline next to our garden window in the lobby. You are invited to share art, poetry, prayers, articles, recipes, Bible verses, favorite hikes, or photographs, which celebrate God’s creation and inspire greater faithfulness and responsibility for all that God has made. . There are plenty of Biblical passages like Psalm 104 which revel in the mystery and grandeur of creation. Let’s inspire one another and remind ourselves that we are a church and not lonely individuals who can join together against tohu vabohu..
2) Learn, to grow, to engage in the problem in a positive way. And this week, I’d love to offer you a resource that is easy to access and invaluable. Get to know Dr. Katherine Hayhoe. Katherine Hayhoe is one of the foremost climate scientists on the planet AND an Evangelical Christian. I placed one of her articles on our Psalm 104 clothesline. She also hosts a great YouTube channel with animations that are family friendly called Global Weirding. Try watching one of her videos with someone each week during Lent and talk about it. What sets Dr. Hayhoe apart from many people is that she approaches the topic with great seriousness balanced by a hopefulness that I believe comes from her own Christian perspective.
3. 3) Final hope – this morning. Our hope for environmental restoration rests on Jesus. Paul in Colossians will declare, “do not move from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven” (Col. 1:23). The choir is going to sing for us an anthem that all of us know, “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross.” As they sing, I want to you meditate on the fact that our faith isn’t first and foremost that we are going to get this done or solve the problem of environmental harm. Our trust is that Jesus is doing it through us and will accomplish it in the end. The salvation we proclaim is the restoration of all things. And even the dogs, the daffodils, the dirt, the dolphins, rejoice!
