Eco Theology: Repair Needed

Eco Theology: a series which explores the theology of creation care in bite-size chunks

Repair Needed

I have previously talked about my involvement in a community garden that I set up at my church which benefits the needy in our community. When we began last fall we were overflowing with excitement for the great work that we were doing.  Some initial success bolstered those feelings.  One of the things that I was most excited about was the fava beans that we had planted in our plot.  I had constructed a crude trellis from repurposed wood and was thrilled to see them shoot up toward heaven. 

Early picture of fava beans under the trellis

But them something happened… a black spot showed up.  Then another.  And another.  A closer look revealed these tiny black bugs had infested our beloved plant.  Now you have to know that while passionate, I am still a rookie gardener.  So I picked up some sort of organic bug spray and used that a couple times.  Unfortunately, for some reason (too late, wrong thing to use, not often enough?) it didn’t work.  Our bean plant was broken and dying.  Before long the death sentence caught up with it and it died a sad death.

Weird black bugs destroying our bean plant

We have previously talked about how God made His creation good. In fact, we consistently try to affirm that here at Creation Hope and seek to appreciate God’s creation more and more, especially in our Beauty of Creation series.  But the goodness of creation is only the first act of a much larger story.

Now we all know the story of Adam and Eve and the fall.  However, we often think of the repercussions of their actions only with regard to humans.  The reality though is that sin had an impact on all of creation.

We see in the judgment speech in Genesis 3:17 that the ground is cursed because of them.  It had ceased to have the same level of productivity.  Now it would bear thorns and thistles.  In Redeeming Creation, Van Dyke says, “What was once a garden whose nature was to produce fruit is now a briar patch that can yield food only with backbreaking labor.”  Where there had been wholeness and shalom there was now brokenness and metaphorical black bugs crawling around destroying things.

The extension of this brokenness to the rest of creation is seen throughout the Bible.  Consider Isaiah 24:5.

The earth lies polluted under its inhabitants; for they have transgressed laws, violated the statutes, broken the everlasting covenant. 

The brokenness of the earth is inextricably linked to our sin.  Here Isaiah connects the pollution of the land to the sin of Israel. You see, the earth is cursed because of their actions, because of our sin.

Now, you might be wondering how exactly it is broken.  While now is not the time for an in-depth description of the degradation of creation, let me just list a few of the ways in which this is seen today:

• Rapid species loss – the rate at which creations are going extinct is alarming
• Deforestation – forests, which are so critical to the ecosystems of our world, are being eliminated at shocking rates
• Climate change  – while some may be skeptical, if you believe the scientific data and analysis, the world climate is experiencing key shifts and is at risk for increasingly greater ones
• Water quality – much of the world does not have access to clean water
• Animal treatment – around the globe animals, creations that are precious to God, are brutalized for food, fur, and even sport

This same idea of a broken creation continues into the New Testament.  The most prominent place we see this is in Romans 8:19-23 which we looked at a few weeks ago.

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. We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies.

God’s creation is broken.  This is not just in some abstract, static sense like when a piece of plastic is split in two.  Rather, it is broken in such a way that it groans under the burden.  Creation cries out in its brokenness and longs for the coming day of redemption when it can be restored and made whole. 

Today is Good Friday.  It is the day we remember the sacrifice that Christ made in order to bring redemption to all of creation.  We, along with the rest of God’s creation, eagerly await the restoring work of Christ.  Yes, we (along with creation) are broken.  Yes, we (along with creation) are in bondage.  Yes, we (along with creation) are groaning.

BUT…

My fava beans actually withered and died. But…

{to be continued}

Also consider:

Eco Theology: Rainbows & Promises

Green Adventures: The Strange Things We Do

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