A few notes about the readings
Genesis 1, like creation stories of other ancient peoples (Egyptians, Babylonians, etc) depicts Earth's creation as progressive emergence of order out of primordial chaos.
But there are significant differences in the Hebrew story. Other people, especially the Babylonians, tell Earth’s creation as a battle story, with Earth and life as we know it coming to be through a series of battles won by a Great Hero, usually a warrior-king. They see warfare as creative – a good way to bring order out of chaos. The warrior-king is revered as the agent of the divine will. And the message is that as long as the king is in power and ruling the world as he sees fit, life will be good.
The Hebrew story is different. Earth and life as we know it come to be peacefully through obedience to a progressive revealing of God's good will. Chaos is resolved not through war between competing forces and the defeat of one by the other, but by making places for everything to be. And in the end the great hero of Earth, if there is a hero at all, is neither a warrior-king nor a warrior-nation, but all humanity -- ordinary men and women of the earth together who listen to God and act as God would for the well-being of earth and life on it.
Paul's Letter to the Romans is written to a community of Christians in the capital city of an empire that sees itself as Earth's lord and saviour. Rome sees its culture, economy, technology and power as the envy of all people and the solution to the world's problems, and believes that it is for Earth's good that they impose their will and spread their culture over as much of the world as they can.
But Paul has been converted to a different point of view. He has come to see Christ (crucified and risen) as the supreme revelation of God’s good will, and to see in the Christian community (open to, and filled with the spirit of Christ) the beginning of the kind of humanity that Earth is in need of.
First thoughts towards Sunday's worship -- Earth Sunday
“…The creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the
children of God…”
Two generations ago it was suggested that Earth’s ecological crisis is
due in part to Western Christianity, in how we have interpreted “dominion” as
“domination” and have justified the West’s conquest of other people, other creatures
and Earth itself. Some have also suggested
that humanity as a species is the problem, and that even though Earth’s
evolution led to humanity’s emergence, Earth now needs to expel us from its bio-system
(or at least limit our existence) for its own good.
Science and Genesis 1 both see that humanity is a relative latecomer in
the evolution of Earth, with a huge impact because we imagine, control and
shape the world in ways that other creatures do not. Need this be a problem, though? Are we necessarily destructive just because
we are powerful? If so, (to use
scientific language) is the evolutionary direction of life on Earth ultimately wrong
and self-defeating? Or, (to use biblical
language) was God wrong to put Earth into our hands?
Perhaps the problem is that (to use scientific words) we haven’t evolved
enough, or (to use biblical words) we haven’t yet grown into the fullness of
God’s wisdom? Maybe we are still too
much like a rebellious adolescent in household Earth, newly aware of our
personal power, thinking it’s all about us and what we want, imagining that
what we want is what all the world needs, making everyone else in the household
accommodate us and our desires, and not yet willing to live within appropriate
limits and boundaries for the good of the whole.
Are there signs of hope (always hope?), though …
- using biblical language, that God's gamble in putting Earth into our hands might yet work out well?
- using scientific language, that we can evolve into life-serving rather than life-jeopardizing creatures within Earth's biosphere?
- that Paul is right, that through Christ and openness to his spirit a new humanity can be seen (either within or without the church) -- the community of mature, divine Wisdom that Earth is in need of?
From a political standpoint, absolute power corrupts absolutely, and so it would be fairly easy to point to where we are in today's world and say, "See? Human beings intentionally destroy the world when left as the most powerful creatures." I, too, often feel like the ratio of earth-savers to earth-damagers is skewed towards too many earth-damagers and people who are apathetic towards the environment, but I still find myself compelled to believe that human beings are basically good and that when presented with options and education about God's will, can and will elect the option that preserves and upholds Creation.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if the damage is always intentional ... or if it's also just the case that hubris and ignorance go a long way ... maybe it's for good reason that most religious traditions hold up humility and vision as gifts ...
DeleteAnd yes, the proportions of each kind of humanity, and of each kind of act within each of our lives, is discouraging ... but then there are those wonderful images of a mustard seed, and leaven, and salt that all have their effect ...