After a sermon by Bishop Scriven and a suggestion about explaining what creation care is, I thought I might share some thoughts on the matter.
He (Jesus) said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. – Mark 16:15 NIV. When it comes to the Great Commission we Christians don’t often quote this version of the Commission. A version I use has it translated as ‘to everyone’ and other versions ‘to the whole creation’. We have made the faith very personal when in fact it seems to say on face value to all of creation.
I think a lot of us will shy away at the word preach, I know, I do. But how does one preach anyway? It seems a little odd to preach, for example to a tree, our pets or the sky, although saying that a previous minister I know used to practice his message by preaching to trees!
There may be something mystical going on here but it could also mean when we declare out through ‘preaching’ in whatever form, it will affect the whole of creation through redeemed and changed lives when taken to heart.
So we can preach or share with our words and also through our actions. This is encouraging for two types of people those who ‘do’ and those who preach.
If we look at Psalm 19, the verbs used in regards to speaking (or preaching if you like) which the author uses, convey communication in a different way to our use of language. The first part of the Psalm describes in a beautifully descriptive way how God uses His creation to speak. Should we stand by and watch the destruction of species which are declaring their Maker’s praise by their very lives?
The Bishop said that God invites us to join in his mission. The commissioning for that mission comes with authority from Jesus himself (Matthew 28:18).
And to finish. You can’t love God without loving what he loves and he loves this earth (‘God saw what he had made and it was good’). Think about it: the Great Commandment (Luke 10:25-29) includes loving your neighbour. That I believe means non-human as well. Remember what love is? Take a fresh look at 1 Corinthians 13: 1-8
In John 3:16 the word ‘world’ in Greek is actually ‘kosmos’ where we get our word cosmos from. The root of the word interestingly comes from ‘komidzo’ the meaning of which is to care for, take care of, provide for!
For further reading a book recommendation: Planetwise by Dave Bookless (A CMS partner).