Lynne Baab • Tuesday July 5 2016
I majored in biology in college. Some of my most intense worship experiences occurred in biology lab looking through a microscope at algae’s glowing green complex structures or the diverse shapes of bacteria. For my last two years of college, I worked as a lab assistant for an astronomy professor, and I loved learning about the vastness of interstellar space. The hugeness of the universe and the smallness of tiny biological structures spoke to me of the greatness of God the Creator. I had then, and I still have today, a deep reverence for the creation as God’s handiwork. It seemed obvious to me then and it seems obvious to me today that caring for the environment is part of Christian discipleship.
When I graduated from college in the mid-seventies, no one else seemed to share that conviction. I have been delighted in recent years to watch an increasing commitment among Christians to care for the environment. A Christian college in Seattle sponsors a seminar for freshman on Christians and the environment. Many of the quotations in this series of blog posts come from a book of sermons on caring for creation, The Best Preaching on Earth: Sermons on Caring for Creation. Another book, Cherish the Gift: A Congregational Guide to Earth Stewardship, by Cindy Ubben Causey, provides practical suggestions for Christian congregations that would like to be more faithful in their stewardship of the earth, and that is only one of many books on that topic. All of these are signs to me that Christians are increasingly engaged in the issues of caring for the earth.
Most of us have also experienced sadness at the way nature has been damaged by human carelessness and greed. This abundant earth that God created no longer feeds all its inhabitants because humans have selfishly divided up its riches in inequitable way. Natural disasters and droughts have stunned us by their impact on people we care about.
For many, all the evil we have glimpsed makes the beauty of creation even more precious. It is a mystery how our awe and wonder at God’s creation can coexist with so much sadness because of the evil that pervades nature and human nature. Yet the creation keeps speaking to us, telling us how awesome God is.
In Romans 8, the Apostle Paul talks about the fact that the whole creation was subjected to futility because of human sin. In fact, Paul writes, the creation itself groans, just as we do, waiting for the time of final redemption. The earth is not in its normal state, the way God created it. Human sin has marred human life; our sin has also had a disastrous impact on the creation.
In Hosea 4:1-3, the prophet describes human sin: faithlessness, lack of loyalty, lying, cursing, stealing, murder, adultery, and bloodshed. Because of this, Hosea says, “The land mourns, and all who live in it languish; together with the wild animals and the birds of the air, even the fish of the sea are perishing.” This passage could have been written today.
Howard Snyder writes that the Biblical picture is not just a story of God and his people. “It is the story of God, the people, and the land. . . . Thus the Bible shows us that mistreating the earth is one of the clearest evidences of human sinfulness. We continue to sin against the earth – God’s creation – when we pollute the earth, waste the earth’s resources, or fail to practice good stewardship of the land entrusted to our care.” [1]
As the preciousness of God’s good creation becomes more real and more vivid, we realize the fragility of the beautiful earth. Many become more motivated to work for the protection of the environment as a part of their Christian commitment.
This movement towards creation stewardship by Christians coincides nicely with an increased interest these days in mindfulness and in thankfulness prayers, which help us experience an increased awareness of the wonder of creation.
This is the sixth post in a series on worshipping God as Creator. Earlier posts:
Nature calls us to worship
The Creation invites us to join in praise
The Bible and Creation
Some thoughts from midlife interviews
The good creation
(Next week: the spiritual practice of simplicity as a form of caring for Creation. This post is excerpted from my book, A Renewed Spirituality. Illustration: Field National Park, Tasmania, by Dave Baab. If you'd like to receive an email when I post on this blog, sign up under "subscribe" in the right hand column.)
[1] Howard Snyder, “This World is Not My Home,” in The Best Preaching on Earth, Stan L. LeQuire, ed. (Valley Forge, Penn.: Judson Press, 1996), p. 46.
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Lynne M. Baab, Ph.D., is an author and adjunct professor. She has written numerous books, Bible study guides, and articles for magazines and journals. Lynne is passionate about prayer and other ways to draw near to God, and her writing conveys encouragement for readers to be their authentic selves before God. She encourages experimentation and lightness in Christians spiritual practices. Read more »
Lynne is pleased to announce the release of her two 2024 books, both of them illustrated with her talented husband Dave's watercolors. She is thrilled at how good the watercolors look in the printed books, and in the kindle versions, if read on a phone, the watercolors glow. Friendship, Listening and Empathy: A Prayer Guide guides the reader into new ways to pray about the topics in the title. Draw Near: A Lenten Devotional guides the reader to a psalm for each day of Lent and offers insightful reflection/discussion questions that can be used alone or in groups.
Another recent book is Two Hands: Grief and Gratitude in the Christian Life, available in paperback, audiobook, and for kindle. Lynne's 2018 book is Nurturing Hope: Christian Pastoral Care for the Twenty-First Century, and her most popular book is Sabbath-Keeping: Finding Freedom in the Rhythms of Rest (now available as an audiobook as well as paperback and kindle). You can see her many other book titles here, along with her Bible study guides.
You can listen to Lynne talk about these topics: empathy, bringing spiritual practices to life. Sabbath keeping for recent grads., and Sabbath keeping for families and children.
Lynne was interviewed for the podcast "As the Crow Flies". The first episode focuses on why listening matters and the second one on listening skills.
Here are two talks Lynne gave on listening (recorded in audio form on YouTube): Listening for Mission and Ministry and Why Listening Matters for Mission and Ministry.
"Lynne's writing is beautiful. Her tone has such a note of hope and excitement about growth. It is gentle and affirming."
— a reader
"Dear Dr. Baab, You changed my life. It is only through God’s gift of the sabbath that I feel in my heart and soul that God loves me apart from anything I do."
— a reader of Sabbath Keeping
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