Public Conflict Undermines God’s Vision for Our Faith

First, please forgive a bit of crankiness today. A few days ago, I read something on a Christian website that I wanted to respond to. Unfortunately, it was one of those Christian websites that is so certain it speaks authoritatively for God that it does not accept comments. So I found the associated Facebook page and made my comment there.

Buried Under a Theological ‘Pig Pile’

Over the next hour — my lunch break — I experienced what I would describe as a theological pig pile. The site’s authors “engaged” me, two on one, generating a string of 40 comments in 60 minutes. The comments included such edifying taunts as “Why won’t you state the gospel? My 11 year old son can.” My suggestion that I was not under their spiritual authority nor required to prove my faith to them was met with similar ridicule. When I noted I had to return to my job, both left “final remarks” to close the conversation.

10 Green Commandments for Earth Day (part 2)

Part 1 looked at God’s commandments that establish the right place of animals and plants in the creation. Here we continue into the built environment and the place of creation in redemption.

Our Responsibilities in the Built Environment

We are only beginning to re-learn the principles of “green” building that were instinctive to our ancestors: place the house above the pond, not below it; give it the shelter of deciduous trees so it receives summer shade and winter sun; orient it and align the windows to capture summer breezes. God commanded “building codes” in Scripture to help us care for each other and our surroundings.

6. “Designate a place outside the camp where you can go to relieve yourself. … For the Lord your God moves about in your camp to protect you and to deliver your enemies to you. Your camp must be holy, so that he will not see among you anything indecent and turn away from you.” (Deuteronomy 23:12-14)

Before the Romans built the first Western aqueducts and sewers, God told Israel to keep waste out of the camp. Waste management is part of how we keep the land holy for God’s presence.

7. “When you build a new house, make a parapet around your roof so that you may not bring the guilt of bloodshed on your house if someone falls from the roof.” (Deuteronomy 22:8)

At a time when flat roofs were as commonly used for living space as they are in cities today, God told people to make sure a wall around the edges kept families and guests safe.

The Place of Creation in Redemption

From what has already been written, we can perhaps see that creation itself plays a larger role in this drama of redemption than we have typically considered. Let’s watch creation as interacts with God and us in the story of redemption.

8. “For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God … 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.” (Romans 8:20-21)

This scripture says nature is waiting on you and me. What we do determines the future of creation, and creation knows it. Creation depends on us and creation trusts us.

9. “Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; let the sea roar and all it contains; Let the field exult, and all that is within it.” (Psalm 97: 11-12)

We are in the habit of treating Psalm 97 and many verses like it as mere poetry. But in light of Romans 8, how can we? If creation as we see it is creation in chains, what would creation look like once liberated into “the freedom of the glory of the children of God”? In this verse, God commands what we consider inanimate creation to celebrate God. Who am I to argue with God? Perhaps Christians from earlier times were closer to the truth when their morning worship included such lyrics as these, taken from Psalm 150 and the book of Daniel:

O all ye Works of the Lord, bless ye the Lord;
praise him, and magnify him forever. …
O ye Waters that be above the Firmament, bless ye the Lord;
praise him, and magnify him forever. …
O ye Sun and Moon, bless ye the Lord;
praise him, and magnify him forever. …
O all ye Green Things upon the Earth, bless ye the Lord;
praise him, and magnify him forever. …
O all ye Beasts and Cattle, bless ye the Lord;
praise him, and magnify him forever.
O ye Servants of the Lord, bless ye the Lord;
praise him, and magnify him forever.

The Place of Creation in Our Testimony

When we speak with those who believe the earth is a living being to be worshipped, we know they are not correct. But their incorrect worship is wrapped around a core of truth, and we can speak to that truth. God has placed great value in all of the creation, not just people.  And God commands creation itself to testify with us to God’s glory, God’s salvation, God’s wonderful deeds, and God’s powerful rule:

10.   “Sing to the Lord, all the earth;
   proclaim his salvation day after day.
Declare his glory among the nations,
    his marvelous deeds among all peoples. …
Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad;
    let them say among the nations, “The Lord reigns!”
Let the sea resound, and all that is in it;
    let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them!
 Let the trees of the forest sing,
    let them sing for joy before the Lord …”
(1 Chronicles 16: 23-24, 31-33)

We are called to give our testimony to God, not alone, but with all creation among all the nations. Together with all of God’s creation, let us bless the Lord. Praise him and magnify him forever!

Ten Green Commandments for Earth Day (Part 1)

When we seek God’s direction for care of God’s world, it is easy to skip from dominion to fall to new creation, entirely missing critical “green commandments” that fall in between. In the interest of opening a bit more of the “whole counsel of Scripture,” here are 10 green commandments for the care of the earth we often miss.

The Right Place of Animals in the Creation

Humans may have been created just below the angels (Psalm 8:5) and we have some kind of responsibility for animals, since God allowed us to name them (Genesis 2:19-20). But animals are not so far from us in the order of creation as we are in the habit of thinking.

1. “If you come across a bird’s nest beside the road, either in a tree or on the ground, and the mother is sitting on the young or on the eggs, do not take the mother with the young. You may take the young, but be sure to let the mother go, so that it may go well with you and you may have a long life.” (Deuteronomy 22:6-7)

The blessing for treating the mother bird well when taking a baby bird or eggs from the nest is the same blessing we receive for honoring our human parents (Exodus 20:12, Deuteronomy 5:16, Ephesians 6:1-3). What does this say about the importance of the mother bird in the created order according to God’s commandments?

2. “If a bull gores a man or a woman to death, the bull must be stoned to death, and its meat must not be eaten. But the owner of the bull will not be held responsible.” (Exodus 21:28)

The dangerous animal is not slaughtered; it receives the same penalty as a human murderer according to God’s commandments. Its owner is only held responsible if the animal has a habit of goring people, according to subsequent verses. If the bull habitually gores people and the owner has not adequately controlled it, the owner is treated as accessory to murder. Owner and animal die together. Animals hold great responsibility in this world God describes.

3. “Six days you shall labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns.” (Exodus 20: 9-10)

Beasts of burden and beasts that carry people get the same day off as people. Perhaps this is just another way for God to emphasize that his people cannot work. God has made it impossible for us to delegate Sabbath day work to slaves and immigrants, allowing them to use our farm animals. Or perhaps it extends the honor and holiness of the Sabbath observance to all alike, including farm animals.

The Right Place of Plants in the Creation

God makes it clear that plants are not the same as people. At the same time, he establishes protection and care for plants.

4.  “When you lay siege to a city for a long, time, fighting against it to capture it, do not destroy its trees by putting an ax to them, because you can eat their fruit. Do not cut them down. Are the trees of the field people, that you should besiege them?” (Deuteronomy 20:19)

God reminds people that plants – in particular fruiting trees – are not to be destroyed in the process of fighting a battle. The trees are not enemies and can become a blessing.

5. “‘When you enter the land and plant any kind of fruit tree, regard its fruit as forbidden. For three years you are to consider it forbidden; it must not be eaten.”  (Leviticus 19:23 )

For any who are unacquainted with basic agriculture or so greedy as to attempt an early harvest, God is setting a boundary. Give the fruit tree enough time to mature so it will have quality fruit for years. Do not ruin the tree before it has time to become established.

Continued on Monday, Earth Day!

Commandment: Wait for Enough Witnesses

I used to live close to where the bombing happened yesterday and drove across the Marathon route daily to work. Someone I know used to lead volunteer efforts for a major corporate sponsor of the Marathon. If she hadn’t changed jobs, she could have been at Ground Zero. One friend I checked in with described the wildly circuitous detour she had to take to get home last night because of all the closed streets. Another friend wept when he saw the front of the sports section in today’s Chicago Sun-Times, declaring that city’s solidarity with Boston. “We are Chicago Patriots.”

Soon, we will stop reeling from the shock of it. We will have run out of opportunities to assist those in crisis (although God bless the many, many people whose first response was to become first responders with hospitality and support!). When impotence leaves room for fear, let us not allow fear to open the door to unjust judgment.

In the words of a former Homeland Security official:

“It is smart now not to make conclusions, because if you lead in one direction, it means the real perpetrator has time to leave, has time to get out of the investigators’ sight …”

Juliette Kayyem, CNN, Former Asst Sect’y for
Intergovernmental Affairs, Dept of Homeland Security

Commandment: Work Two Kinds of Job

For those who are juggling multiple income streams trying to make ends meet, isn’t it good to know that God has seen this before? Not only has God seen it, God has a strategy for successfully managing this situation.

Morning Job, Evening Job

“Sow your seed in the morning” and then work at something else in the evening, God says, because you don’t know whether one or the other or both will be successful. God knows, but you don’t. So keep working at things.

What If There Are No Jobs?