Knowing that God Never Abandons God’s Creatures
The third in our series of articles on “Why care for creation?“
Consider the flowers
“Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these.” (Luke 12:27)
The teaching of Jesus encourages us to pay loving attention to all that God has made. Jesus clearly was at home in what we call “nature” and the way he speaks of it in parables and imagery indicates a respectful attention to the natural world, as he commands disciples to learn from animals, plants and ecosystems. This promotes care rather than disdainful disregard. There is a sense in which Jesus sees in the wider-than-human creation, something that can speak to us of God and God’s ways. If we fail to take good care of nature, we diminish our opportunities to join with God’s delight and attention to creation and to learn from God through it.
He reconciles himself to all things
“He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together” (Colossians 1:17)
The Incarnate Jesus dwelt amongst us, living as human neighbour to all creatures. We believe that he was fully human; like all humans, he breathed the oxygen photosynthesised by plants, ate from the fruits of the earth, and fished alongside his disciples. His body will have provided a home to a host of microorganisms, and his breath contributed to the life processes of plants and algae. In his Incarnation, Jesus shared in all conditions of creaturely life, both sustaining and being sustained by creation.
Reminding ourselves of this radical scope of the Incarnation means realising that our God is not merely of the heavens but also of things on earth. All things are created in Christ (Colossians 1:16) and in that same Christ, God reconciles himself to all things (Colossians 1:20); here is our call to follow Christ by extending our concern to all things visible and invisible, of the heavens and of the earth.
Humans and animals alike
“Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains,
your judgments are like the great deep;
you save humans and animals alike, O Lord.” (Psalm 36:6)
Scripture tells us of God’s deep concern for all creation. Throughout the psalms and stories of the Old Testament are reminders that humans, plants, and animals are all objects of God’s loving care.
The book of Jonah is packed with imagery of the natural world, stressing the inter-relationship between all creatures as well as the need for humans to accept our accountability to God. Whilst the nonhuman world is obedient to God’s will, Jonah battles with acceptance of his lack of control. He allows his feelings of self-entitlement to cloud his judgement (Jonah 4:9). God reminds Jonah that creation is not for an accessory for humankind but rightfully finds its purpose and belonging in him alone.
As Christians, we must recognise that God’s care for humanity is partnered with his care for creation. God’s care for humanity does not come at the expense of other creatures- like Jonah, we must resist the temptation to run away from our responsibilities to God and his creatures.
Ask the animals
“But ask the animals, and they will teach you;
the birds of the air, and they will tell you;
ask the plants of the earth, and they will teach you;
and the fish of the sea will declare to you.
Who among all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this?
In his hand is the life of every living thing
and the breath of every human being.” (Job 12:7-10)”
It is an all too familiar experience to many of us, to be confronted with moments of awe and wonder when we immerse ourselves in nature. Clearly Jesus himself did this and the fruit of that can be glimpsed when we read Jesus suggesting that followers learn from the flowers and grass and from the birds of the air. It suggests that Jesus himself had spent time in loving contemplation of the creatures around him.
CS Lewis among others wrote about the joy and awe of nature and of being more fully in the wild of the world. He saw it as a whisper of God’s presence and glory to us. Hymns such as “How great Thou art” remind us of how God’s people have found in nature a sense of God which many do not find in humanly fashioned structures and artefacts.
So we care for God’s creation because it draws us closer to God and because it speaks to us of God. As we might tend a church building, so we must tend to the temple of God’s presence which is creation.
Discerning God, healing the earth
God is at work. Jesus talked about his earthly ministry in terms of doing what he saw the Father doing. This is the way that the fourth Gospel typically talks about what the other gospels label “the Kingdom of God”. It is the fundamental posture of all Christian ministry and mission that we follow God’s leading and collaborate with God.
God’s ultimate mission is to bring about a new creation which weaves together the best of this present creation by redeeming it and giving it right relationship to God and to the other created beings and forces. Christian theologians and missionaries often talk about different facets or marks of what God is doing in Christ by the Spirit. These include but are not exhausted by evangelism and proclamation. Also discerned in scripture and in the world is that God is at work in all other aspects of life. In nurturing Christians for mission, inspiring and leading in works of compassion, in service of the vulnerable and marginalised, poor and sick. But also in addressing the causes of want and violence which lie in injustice and the way that we organise things in communities and countries. And also, of course, in the nurturing and sustaining of the earth’s ecosystems that sustain our own lives.
We discern God in these things and within that discerning many Christians come to hear their own call to participate in what God is doing in one or more of those areas of the Kingdom reign of God. All of us share the creation mandate to serve and guard the earth, some have more particular callings in relation to that. Just as we all share the call to be healthy and to care for the health of others while some are called to medicine or related practices, so some are called to be ecologists or environmentalists of various kinds bringing health and healing to the earth’s living systems.
This is the third of four articles trying to answer the question, “Why care for creation.”