We’re continuing this morning in our series entitled Holding Out Hope for a Wounded World.
- In particular this morning I want to help us understand our responsibility to environmental concerns in light of God’s heart and word.
…The topic of environment may strike many of us in different ways. There are two feelings in particular that I want to address up front… because I believe they may effect our ability in hearing God’s heart this morning.
1. The first is simply the feeling of being OVERWHELMED
- You may feel that at this point in our series you simply can’t respond to another concern… I can’t become a civil rights activist, a proponent of sexual wholeness, an advocate for the unborn, AND an environmental activist… I’m already overwhelmed and now I have to carry a concern for an issue as global as the environment?
- Let me assure you I know that feeling, and it’s not my intent nor God’s that we become activists in every area of life.
- God may call some of us, and indeed he IS calling some of us, to play a special role in racial reconciliation, others in the healing of sexuality, others to the sanctity of life in the womb, and some to environmental concerns.
- God is not calling all of us to make a priority of every issue; but he is helping us shape our response to every issue… and I want to make that distinction clear.
- We’re not all called to be revolutionaries of every cause, but we are called to responsibility.
- We’re not all called to be equally passionate, but we are called to be equally positive.
- We’re not all called to hold up signs, but we are all called to hold out hope… and that’s our goal.
But perhaps an even more fundamental concern than seeing this issue as one which overwhelms us, is seeing it as…
2. OUT OF PLACE
- Many of us may see the issue of environmental concern as a big change from the topics we’ve dared to consider in recent weeks.
- We may feel it’s only a critical issue for extremists and ECO-nuts, whose ‘Save Our Planet’ t-shirts hint at having wandered outside Christian & Biblical perspectives on life.
- We may feel it’s worthy of a bit of conscious effort, such as bringing our recycling to the church, but we’re a little unsure of a topic for a sermon.
- WHY SHOULD THE ISSUE OF THE ENVIRONMENT CONCERN US? (as I noted in your outline, I believe there are several reasons).
o Because it IS on the minds of Americans… and clearly rising with each generation.
In 1989… 76% of Americans considered themselves environmentalists and those numbers rise with each generation.
One of the issues that most concerns those in their 20’s is the future of the environment.
o Because there are many REPUTABLE voices saying it is critical… a tragedy threatening human life… a tragedy born of past ignorance, we are facing the consequences of failures that once were innocent… is now are immoral.
o Scientists from around the world are crying out for political and industrial leaders to face the facts of our future in a number of areas… some point to
Endangered Species
• Between 1 and 3 species of plants and animals are lost to extinction… EVERY DAY.
Garbage Overload
• In 1960 Americans threw away 200,000 tons of plastic; in 1989 it increased to 15 MILLION tons.
• They note that every American is now generating on ton of trash every year… and that our landfills are filling up fast.
Global Warming and Vanishing Forests
• We’re putting more carbon dioxide into the air with the fuels we burn, and over-foresting the trees which consume carbon dioxide and turn it into oxygen.
• In the last 30 years, 25% of the earth’s forests have been cleared.
• The U.S. National Academy of Sciences estimates that 124,000 square miles of tropical rainforest are being cleared every year; a rate at which all forests will be gone within 50 years.
And the list of concerns goes on… ACID RAIN, TOXIC WASTE, WATER AND AIR POLLUTION, OZONE DEPLETION.
o Because the issue of ignorance is directly related to a worldview, if we fail to capture and communicate a basis of response based on God’s Words, false spiritual ideas will be turned to… and indeed they are.
As environmental concerns increase, especially within the younger generation, there is a natural desire to look for spiritual foundations that will awaken our sensibilities. So many see a critical concern and want a source of meaning for their cause; but we as God’s people have been slow to appreciate the cause.
Too easily we can see those environmentally concerned drawn into New Age spiritual ideas and then call it a New Age agenda, when in fact we simply haven’t captured and communicated God’s agenda.
…which leads to the most central and compelling reason why the environment should concern us…
o Because it is GOD’S creation… declared as “good”… designed to give Him glory… and entrusted to us.
God has made clear the role of creation and our role as stewards, and this is the calling that must compel us.
Apart from God’s Word, the issue of creation is an easy subject to become subjective and sentimental about.
• At one moment we hope God won’t care about our exploitation, and at another moment we cherish our loyal pet and want assurance from God that they’ll be in heaven.
• At one moment we take creation for granted, and at another we stand in awe.
- LET’S LOOK BRIEFLY AT JUST WHAT GOD HAS SAID ABOUT CREATION
1. CREATION AS A SACRED TRUST.
Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” So God crated man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. Genesis 1:26-28, 31
- As human beings, we are not called to be equals nor exploiters, but those entrusted to rule over creation. It is important that we really understand our place and our role in creation.
- We are neither the same, nor entirely separate from the rest of creation.
- For a long time I thought of ourselves as unique… as those specially formed and given the breath of life… that only we had souls.
- But the very same words describing us having been formed… and receiving God’s breath of life… and thus becoming a living soul, are used of animal life as well.
- What is clear is that WE ALONE BEAR GOD’S IMAGE, and the consequence of that image is that we are given rulership…
- Many translations “dominion”=LORD… just as God is the ultimate Lord over all, so He created us uniquely in his image to serve as Lords of creation. The nature of our relationship to creation must be clear.
o 2 dog stories…
o Not equals, but neither exploiters… Consider God as Lord, no sense of destroying or exploiting involved.
2. CREATION IS A SPECIAL WORK OF GOD.
- But if not equals, neither exploiters of God’s love for creation becomes clear…as we hear the poetic clarity of ‘good’ at each point of His completed parts of creation.
- In contrast to pantheism (“God is all”), God as creator remains “other”. God is never reduced to creation but is reflected in it.
- TO EXALT OR EXPLOIT CREATION IS AN OFFENSE TO THE GLORY OF GOD.
3. CREATION IS A SOURCE OF REVELATION
- Those who have known the true God have often recognized that creation declares his glory.
o Nehemiah—“You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all the starry host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship you. (9:6)
o Ps 65:11-13 ‘You crown the earth with your bounty… the hill are clothed with gladness. The meadows are covered with flocks and the valleys are mantled with grain; they shout for joy and sing.’
o Isaiah 55:12-13 ‘The mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands… All this will be a memorial for the Lord, a sign that for all time will not be cut off.’
- These prophetic and poetic expressions are given their practical meaning by the apostle Paul in Romans 1: For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened… They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen. (20-21, 25)
> True Knowledge of God recognizes creation as a Source, rather than a Substitute for worship.
- This reveals the significance of our modern paradox; we can be inclined to both exalt and exploit creation
- We see exalting of creation is both obvious and subtle… New Age spiritual ideas… but I wonder too at… if we don’t also face a potential more secular in nature… a recreational idolatry.
- But equally we see the tragedy of Exploiting God’s creation
- When we consider that every element of creation is a source of revelation… designed to give God glory, we must consider what it means to God
o That plants and animals alike are becoming extinct under our stewardship
o That mountains which speak of his majesty are barren and unseen
o That forests filled with wonder are disappearing
o That His abundant provisions intended to give life to all creatures are often destroyed by greed and vanity.
4. CREATION HAS BEEN SUBJECTED TO THE CONSEQUENCES OF THE FALL AND SHARES IN GOD’S ULTIMATE REDEMPTION
- Too quickly we have thought of the earth as simply that which is a backdrop to our spiritual significance… a neutral context that feels no tension and knows no future.
- But as Paul declares in Romans 8:19-22: The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of god to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.
> Creation was SUBJECTED TO FRUSTRATION!
Why? Because of the consequences of our separation from God. When we, who in the divine/spiritual order of things, turned from God… our separation was one of death… and creation, no longer under the divine order… under the consequences of a fallen stewardship, also cannot enjoy God’s eternal purposes and is given to death and decay.
- That is why it “waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed”; as God redeems his children as stewards, and prepares eternity anew, creation shares in it.
- Note v. 21 “Creation itself will be liberated from its bondage”
- Revelation 21:5 declares that God will make ALL things new
- Isaiah 11:6-9 describes peace in the kingdom to come as peace among the animal kingdom and with them.
… The more we understand the role of creation as a special work of God, designed to give him glory, we can understand that GOD LOVES ALL OF CREATION.
- What does John 3:16 say? “For God so loved the WORLD that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
- World = Cosmos; Jesus came to save ALL of creation.
- Should it surprise us that:
o Jesus spoke to the stormy sea saying Peace “shalom” and it became calm (Matthew 8:23-27)
o Upon his death on the cross, at the very moment God paid the price of all sin… the earth responded… the sky darkened and the earth shook.
- Jesus came to save the WORLD by saving those entrusted with it; by saving us.
- There is a natural relationship between redemptive love of people and planet… natural for God & for us.
- The kingdom of God includes the restoration of creation.
Are we all to be activists in the most full sense? No! but all to be accountable to God. This involves…
1. CONFESSION… we serve a God whose nature is mercy & forgiveness
He wants us on the same side of the issue
2. SUPPORT CONVICTIONS RE CREATION
- We need to look at those wearing ‘Save the Planet’ t-shirts with new appreciation. We need to convey to those who are concerned for the future of the environment, especially the younger generation, just how right their convictions are. But here we have good news, God who is wholly other… is on their side… He who gave us this sacred entrustment that they feel, has also come to save, redeem, and restore its goodness.
- God who made all things and sustains all things… knows the travails of Creation, and has come to destroy the work of both death and destruction.
- Indeed Jesus is the great care-taker… environmentalist
- What we convey in our convictions and actions, he will consummate and complete in establishing the kingdom of God.
FINALLY,
We can all share in A FEW SIMPLE STEPS FOR GOOD STEWARDSHIP… Those leading the call to care for creation, remind us to ‘Think globally, but act locally’
1. RESTORING GOD-GIVEN ELEMENTS
- There are several ways to replenish or restore what God has given… activities we can do among ourselves or join in existing community projects
- Tree planting
o If every American planted one tree, more than a billion pounds of greenhouse gasses would be removed every year.
- Beach clean-up
o Last year I was reading an article on annual beach clean-ups and thought what a fitting expression of our community outreach
o So this year we plan to join the annual clean-up in September sponsored by Heal the Bay and other groups.
o Some might say, ‘Won’t this be a bunch of New Age type people?’ ‘Wouldn’t that be a great place to be?’
2. RECYCLING PRODUCTS
- Recycling materials- as we do here at church
o Not only have we raised over $8,000 for our building fund, we’ve salvaged and redeemed elements of God’s creation.
Cans-We have collected from our homes… 5,892 lbs
Plastics- Over 14,000 bottles=over 2,200 lbs
Glass- Over 41,000 lbs!
o If that inspires your sense of stewardship, how about helping them… simply committing once or twice a month to helping the Fullers and Stevens after service.
o Use recycled materials
Products which use recycled material in their make-up or packaging cost about 5% more on average, but save between 60-100% of the costs to the environment.
- Offer and Utilize sales of Used items, by participating in thrift stores, garage sales, and rummage sales like we held at the church last year.
- Using recyclable batteries which are becoming increasingly common and can reduce the acids put into our soil and water.
3. CONSERVING ENERGY
- Turn off lights when not in use
o I’ll remember as a teenager… drawn into concerns for nuclear power and nuclear waste… laying out such concerns to my Father… who simply asked ‘If I’m concerned for limiting our need for unsafe power sources, why do I leave the lights on in my room.’
- Installing Water Saving Shower Heads and Toilets
o Something Leah and I found simple enough to do and found can not only save on our water bill but can save literally gallons of water every day.
- Keep Tires Inflated
o May surprise us. It’s been estimated that low tire inflation can waste up to 5% of our cars fuel efficiency. They say if all Americans simply kept our tires properly inflated we’d save up to 2 billion gallons of gasoline each year.
- Cut Down on Junk Mail
o Here’s one we can all appreciate
o The average American will spend 8 full months of his/her life just going thru junk mail.
o Just cutting down on the junk mail you receive over the course of a year could save 1½ trees.
o We all know how easy it is to get on mailing lists we don’t have time to make use of.
o This past year I finally wrote to several organizations…canceling a lot of written material.
4. ENJOY GOD’S GOODNESS IN CREATION…
- Appreciate its provision… reflect on its wonders… and share in its praise
- Examples of Alps… Grand Canyon… Lightening storms that fill the sky… birds singing.
Closing worship: How Great Thou Art
