Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God; for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.”
NL Daily Devotion for Wednesday, August 5, 2020
by R. M. Fergus, Clergy Stuff
Throughout much of the history of the Church, Christ’s redemption has been reserved for human beings. It’s true. After about 1000CE, the Christian church jumped on the bandwagon of a guy named Anselm, who’s understanding of Jesus’ death on the cross was all about Jesus paying God back for all the rotten things people do. It’s so pervasive throughout Christian theology, most of us accept it without even thinking about it.
The truth is that this theology is problematic on a whole lot of levels. I’m just going to look at one of them. The one where Jesus died for people and people alone. Creation—the natural world, animals, the rest of it—simply didn’t matter to God. This under-the-radar implication of Anselm’s theology has been used for a thousand years to justify the destruction of nature. And it has to stop.
The Bible is full of straightforward proclamations that God loves all of creation. Every lake, tree, and mountain, every Amur leopard and honey bee. Paul here proclaims that creation itself will be “set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God!” How amazing is that? If creation is so precious that Jesus’ death redeems it along with us, shouldn’t we all be striving to love and preserve it?
God of all creation, inspire me to care for all that you have made, and to strive for its restoration. Amen.
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