Season 3 - Episode 15
To listen to an audio version of this post, visit www.covenantchurch.ca/podcasts/covenant-weekly.
In our rotation of themes for Covenant Weekly this year, we are set to look at an Old Testament story. To correspond with Earth Day, which was yesterday April 22, we are going to read a part of the creation story as told in Genesis 1. This is the Covenant Weekly for April 23, 2024.
Genesis 1:26-28
26 Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.”
27 So God created human beings in his own image.
In the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.
28 Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.”
Earth Day is a day set aside to, in their words, “diversify, educate and activate the environmental movement worldwide.” Long before an awareness of climate change, documentaries promoted by Al Gore, and even before Greenpeace, the awareness that how we live impacts the well-being of our planet led to the establishment of the first Earth Day in 1970. Those of us who have lived through the elimination of leaded fuel and the gradual banning of CFCs have witnessed the impact that united action can have for the good of the planet - and subsequently for the good of humanity. It seems, though, that things have changed when it comes to conversations and attempted actions related to care for the earth.
Today, I’m not going to talk about the various political, social, economic, or even theological issues that come up when discussing shared action related to the environment. I will, however, look at what I just read from Genesis 1 about God’s intention for humanity’s relationship to the rest of creation.
In Genesis 1 we have this beautiful poetic story of God coming into the chaos and, from it, forming the beautiful realities of the cosmos and filling it with purpose as it sustains life. At the tail end of God’s work of forming creation, we read about humanity being formed. Let me highlight three quick things about the creation of humanity.
- We were created in the image of God - to be like God. Humanity was created to image God - to embody God’s presence - within the rest of creation.
- We were created to reign within creation. As created creatures, we have been given a special task within creation.
- With that special task came a special blessing to expand our reign over the whole of creation.
The idea that humanity had a special place over creation is not new. The King James Version of the Bible talks about humanity having dominion over creation. That dominion became a defence for people travelling around the world to take quality things from around the world for the benefit of the empire nations. This idea of humanity ruling the world was used as license for incredible ecological damage being done.
In contrast, humanity as a part of creation is something that many have sought to emphasize in recent years. Many view humanity as no more significant in the world than trees, slugs, whales, or dogs. There are, in fact, groups that advocate for violence - even deathly violence - against humans if it benefits the rest of the created order.
The story of Genesis holds together both that we have a unique place of rule within creation and that we are a part of creation. Losing either of these things has the potential to lead to devastating consequences.
Because we are a part of creation we cannot claim divine providence over it. Whatever happens to it happens to us. If we abuse it, destroy it, use it as an economic tool without thought to the long-term impact - any of these things that harm it will inevitably harm us. Likewise, because we have a unique place and power within the world, we cannot deny responsibility for it. But our responsibility is to act within it in a way that aligns with God’s heart for it. We are to embody God’s image within it.
That doesn’t mean we don’t reign. It means we reign in a way that aligns with God’s way of being and ruling. We’ve talked about that on Sunday mornings when we talked about what kind of king God is and when we talked about power this past Sunday. God’s heart is to work with humanity and creation to help it to flourish and thrive. And when creation thrives, so will humanity!
I can only begin to grasp all the science and data related to climate change, its causes, and its long-term trajectory. I don’t have the answers to extensive public policy measures that seek to pursue long-term creation care and short-term economic concerns. But as I see our mandate from the very beginning, I can’t escape my responsibility - our responsibility - to ask, “How can I exercise my rule of creation in a way that aligns with God’s heart and works for the flourishing of the world?”
And even making it personal doesn’t make it easy to answer! How much should I drive or ride a bike or walk? Should I buy more locally produced things…or can I financially afford to? How should I think about things like meat consumption? (I know some people who have felt that they should become vegetarian to best care for all of creation. I respect that deeply. And I struggle with it because I love a good hamburger or steak.) My point is that while we may not agree on how to answer these questions, and we may not even really understand all of the potential questions, as people trying to bring God’s peace - God’s reign - to bear in this world we should be willing to consider how to do so in relationship with the creation God’s entrusted to us.
I’d love to hear some of the things that you’re asking yourself or some of the answers you’re being led to when it comes to caring for creation. Use the comment section below to weigh in and contribute to the conversation!