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Responses to creation

We all have varying responses to the creation that is around us every day. Some of these responses include wonder, awe, respect, thankfulness, guilt, anxiety, fear and anger. Sometimes we move between these various responses depending on what we have seen, experienced or been subject to. While each of these is a valid human response towards creation, the Scriptures suggest that three responses are most appropriate.

The first and most common response in the Scriptures is wonder and awe towards creation that is seen as vast, untameable and yet intricate and inter-connected. The witness of creation is to point us towards its Creator, God. This first response may well lead us to thankfulness and even worship.

Another response in the Scriptures is that of repentance. Quite often, creation is described as suffering or broken or groaning, which is actually a reflection of human rebellion and sin against God. The spiritual and the physical are mysteriously linked together.

A third response that flows on from repentance (= changing one’s mind) is to change one’s actions and return to following God’s ways of justice and peace and care for all of creation, which is the vocation of humanity according to Genesis 2:15. As we do this, healing and joy and freedom come to creation.

As you contemplate your own response to creation, which of these three are you most drawn to and why?

From the Minister

The voice of indigenous wisdom

There is certainly a wow factor to creation … whether watching the colours of sunrise or sunset, or the power of the ocean waves, or the delicate plants that survive in the most challenging conditions or weird looking insects. There is so much beauty and diversity – and strangeness – in creation that all of us from time to time wonder what lies behind it all.

The Hebrew answer is that the Creator God is responsible for all that we see in creation. This belief was so foundational that the opening chapters of the opening book of the Bible are given to stories about the origins of the world and of humanity’s place in the world. The best known of these stories comes in Genesis chapter 1 which starts with the words ‘In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth’. Written as a poem or song, the chapter outlines six ‘days’ of creation, culminating with the creation of humanity. At the end of the series, God declares all of creation to be very good.

We have often been taught to read this Genesis account with humans – made in the image of God – standing at the pinnacle of creation and given the vocation of ruling over it. Creation is thus seen as under human control and ready to be exploited for our purposes – whether for farming or mining or building cities. Creation is our servant.

Indigenous people – and ecologists – have a vastly different understanding. They see creation as inter-dependent with each element depending on all the other elements. From one perspective, humanity is the most dependent species of all – we cannot survive apart from the rest of creation. So indigenous wisdom – built up over centuries and millennia – is that we must care for creation just as creation cares for us. Part of this wisdom is knowing about which animals or plants can be taken at which time and in which place and in which way – so that the overall balance and fruitfulness of creation is sustained. There is so much that we can learn from this indigenous wisdom, one of the voices of creation that is often ignored.

From the Minister

Creation speaks

We often marvel at the beauty and order of creation. God declares it to be ‘very good’ as the creation hymn in Genesis chapter 1 expresses it. Although it does not speak in the words of human language, creation nevertheless ‘speaks’ to us all the time. As Psalm 19 puts it, creation is speaking every day and its voice goes out through the whole earth, its words to the end of the world.  

Although we may struggle to discern it sometimes, Scripture suggests that there is a connection between the physical and spiritual realms. So in Psalm 19, for instance, creation tells of the glory of God and the commandments of God are righteous and bring life. There is a balance and connection between the two realms.

Hence when the nation of Israel faces God’s judgment for neglecting God’s ways, the land of Israel mourns and becomes empty and formless (Jeremiah 4:23-28). It is as though creation is unravelling and reverting to chaos just as the nation is collapsing and being sent into exile. Conversely, when Israel is forgiven and urged to return to the land, creation rejoices and blossoms, and water flows in the desert (Isaiah 35:1-2). So the health and mood of creation seems to mirror what is happening spiritually within Israel.

If creation continues to speak to us today and if there is a connection between the physical and the spiritual, what is the voice of creation saying? The burning forests, melting glaciers and polluted rivers seem to suggest that humanity’s greed and selfishness is making the planet sick. But if we will repent of our evil ways and look after the poor and care for the earth wisely – rather than seek profit and ever growing consumption – then perhaps creation can again thrive and give glory to God – as intended.

From the Minister

Season of creation

Spring has arrived – and with it the sense that nature is waking up from its winter slumber … wattles and blossoms are in bloom, bees are buzzing, birds are mating and some trees have starting sprouting fresh new leaves. It’s also the time to celebrate the Season of Creation (SOC), which runs through the whole of September each year.

The symbol for SOC this year is the burning bush, which is taken from the story in Exodus 3 where Moses is intrigued by the sight of a bush that is in flame but not burning up. As he approaches for a closer look, God speaks from the heart of the bush and asks Moses to remove his sandals because he is standing on holy ground.

The burning bush as used in this symbol is engulfing the world in flame. It speaks of creation as under stress due to climate change, leading to higher temperatures and more wild weather events. These include fires in western Europe and western America along with new records for temperature in the UK (above 40 deg C) and devastating floods in Pakistan where a third of the country in under water. Nature and ecosystems are suffering.

The theme of SOC this year is listening to the voice of creation, which includes listening to the voices of those who speak on behalf of creation – scientists, ecologists, indigenous peoples, subsistence farmers and fishermen. And of course we can also go to the source and listen to sounds and voices of nature itself by spending some time along a creek or parkland – quietly listening to the various bird calls, frogs and insects.

What message are these voices telling us? Perhaps they are saying that it’s time to take off the sandals of our unsustainable lifestyles that are slowly killing the planet and reconnect with the holy ground of God’s earth.

From the Minister