Celebrating Environment Sunday

As June 5, 2002 has been designated by the United Nations Organizations "World Environment Day", Christians have set aside June 2 as Environment Sunday. In Hong Kong, a group called the Christians for Eco-Concerns of the Hong Kong Christian Council came up with the following liturgical resources to help churches in their celebration of Environment Sunday. The CCA News is printing these materials in order to encourage churches whose celebration of Environment Sunday will, for one reason or another, be later than June 2 this year.

Scripture Lessons: Genesis 1.26-28, 1 Peter 4: 7-11, Luke 12: 42-46

Genesis 1.26-28:

Then God said, "Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth." ²⁷ So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. ²⁸God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth."

I Peter 4: 10

Like good stewards of the manifold grace of God, serve one another with whatever gift each of you have received.

Luke 12: 42

The Lord said: Who then is the faithful and prudent steward whom his master will put in charge of his servants to give them their allowance of food at the right time? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find at work when he arrives. Truly I tell you he will put that one in charge of all his possessions.

Sermon Notes: The Good Steward

The good steward is an increasingly important biblical concept when it comes to describing the calling of a mature Christian in today’s world, which is threatened in so many ways. (See e.g. Douglas John Hall: The Steward, A Biblical Symbol Come of Age). It is easy to apply to our way of treating God’s creation. From the first chapters of the Bible, the task of the human being is described as that of a steward, the one who rules over creation in order to use it and preserve it and be responsible for it on behalf of God. Man and woman, Adam and Eve together, should function as ’the image of God’, which here means to describe their responsibility to be God’s representatives and stewards over against the animals and the other creatures in God’s holy creation.

This means that the ‘dominion’ or ‘sovereignty’ that humans were given over the Earth did not give us the right to abuse or destroy it or use it only for our own selfish means. True dominion here means restoring a proper balance to Creation once again, to express the goodness and beauty of the Divine Creator. True dominion means treating one another and all of Creation with justice and care.

Jesus himself several times uses the concept of the Christian as a faithful steward (Greek: oikonomos), who will have to give account for his stewardship to God one day. Mt. 25:14-30 tells the parable of the talents: Luke 16: 1-10 the parable of the dishonest steward. It should be noted however that the word ‘manager’ used in some English translations is not appropriate to the meaning of ‘oikonomos’ in the Bible. The word ‘manager’ comes from modern business life and describes a person who plans and sets up a goal in order to later find the resources needed to achieve that goal. The biblical understanding of ‘steward’, on the other hand, starts with the available resources and speaks much more of the dependency of and responsibility towards the true owner of the enterprise – always Godself! ‘Steward’ in the Bible has deeply religious connotations! Both Luke 12: 42-48 and 16: 10-15 describe the life of the steward. In Luke 16, good stewardship is directly related to the handling of money. ‘No slave can serve two masters…v. 13. Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much…v. 10. The good steward has a close, loving, never-ending relationship to his master. He knows that the things he is put in charge over are not his own. They should never be used in his own selfish interest. There is nothing in creation which does not belong to the realm of God.

It might not be explicitly said in the NT that the Christian steward cares also for creation. But if we take the whole biblical material into account it is a necessary and natural conclusion. Creation is certainly also part of the saving act of Christ (Rom. 8:18-21 Col. 1: 16-17, 1 Cor. 15:28, Rev. 5:13). Good stewardship is a characteristic of the Christian. (I Peter 4:7-11, Eph. 3: 2). It comes out of God’s great trust in the human beings who are God's beloved children and hands in the world. It tells much about the value of humankind in God’s eyes. Stewardship gives a clear, holistic view of human beings and their position and task in this world. The steward has been given a very special position in creation. Luke 12: 7 ‘…you are of more value than many sparrows. Even if a human being also is certainly one among the many species of animals God has created, Christian faith strongly stresses the special value of humankind over against tendencies which try to reduce this value.

All words connected with ‘economy’ in present day language are derived from the Greek word ‘oikonomia', stewardship. An ‘oikonomos’, a steward, is therefore in a biblical sense an economist with profound awareness of his responsibility, affection, love and dependence on the chief owner of the enterprise, namely God. Is there in reality any more important word than ‘economy’ in the world of today? Often it is said, not least in Hong Kong: ‘Everything today is ruled by money’. ‘Economy’ is experienced by the poor of the world today as a harsh, unforgiving, technically very merciless and cynic reality, exploiting both them and their surrounding environment. It had however a clear, strong, beautiful, spiritual, religious connotation from the beginning. We should ask ourselves: Will the church ever again be able to bring God, the creator and owner of all things, into the minds of those who rule the economic thinking and endeavors in our world?

Nowhere in the Bible is it said that since this age has an end it does not matter how we treat creation. Nowhere it is said that the promise of heaven gives us less responsibility for the creation, for justice, peace and the natural environment, which we should safeguard.

Have you thought of yourself as part of the good stewardship of God’s creation in your context? Have you understood that you and your congregation are called to be part of God’s plan to save this part of God’s creation for the joy of future generations, your children and grandchildren? It is a great and wonderful task. We have only just now begun to understand the role of the Christian church in this. It might seem overwhelming and impossible. The trends working in the opposite direction seem to be much stronger. We Christians are called to give hope and motivation to other people for this work. Do we not know who is the Creator better than anybody else? We know God's love and care for us all. We know that Jesus came for the salvation, not only for people but also for creation (Rom 8: 18-21).

Some suggestions for concrete action in the congregation and by individual Christians:

1. Invite a member of the environmental group to speak to the youth group or to the congregation on concrete environmental protection.
2. Begin to demand recycling in the congregation – and in the housing estate where you live!
3. Encourage the congregation to use only environmentally friendly paper and washing powder.
4. Start to think about the waste of energy in the church premises – why keep lamps burning during daytime when it is not needed? How much air-conditioning is needed?
5. Use less cars and more communal transport. Consider not using flights for short holiday trips.
6. Start a Bible study group on Ecology and the Bible.
7. Include the care for God’s creation in the Sunday prayers of your church.

Confession of Sins

Leader: Giver of Life. In the midst of a plundered world we groan with creation:
People: Lord, have mercy on us. Christ, have mercy on us. Christ, have mercy on us.

Leader: Giver of Life. In the midst of poisoned waters we groan with creation.
People: Lord, have mercy on us. Christ, have mercy on us. Christ, have mercy on us.

Leader: Giver of Life. In the midst of polluted air we groan with creation.
People: Lord, have mercy on us. Christ, have mercy on us. Christ, have mercy on us.

Leader: Giver of Life. In the midst of mountains of waste we groan with creation.
People: Lord, have mercy on us. Christ, have mercy on us. Christ, have mercy on us.

Leader: Giver of Life. In the midst of a world at war we groan with creation.
People: Lord, have mercy on us. Christ, have mercy on us. Christ, have mercy on us.

Leader: Giver of Life, we who are made in the image of God have gone astray, and creation groans with us:
People: Lord, have mercy on us. Christ, have mercy on us. Christ, have mercy on us.

Unison Prayer

Merciful God, in your presence we confess our sin and the sin of this world. Although Christ is among us as our peace, we are a people divided against ourselves as we cling to the values of a broken world. The profit and pleasures we pursue lay waste the land and pollute the seas. The fears and jealousies we harbour set neighbour against neighbour, and nation against nation. We abuse your good gifts of imagination and freedom, of intellect and reason, and have turned them into bonds of oppression. Lord, have mercy upon us. Heal and forgive us. Set us free to serve you in the world as agents of your reconciling love in Jesus Christ.