Pastor Devin Strong, Spirit of Peace Lutheran Church

At Spirit of Peace, we follow what is called the Revised Common Lectionary. This is a set of assigned scripture readings for Sunday mornings. Generally, it includes a reading from the Old Testament, a psalm, a reading from one of Paul’s letters, and a Gospel reading.

The RCL was established by an ecumenical group of Christians, so if you are in a Methodist or Presbyterian church this Sunday, there is a good chance that you will be hearing a sermon on the same Bible readings as your Lutheran, Episcopalian, or Roman Catholic neighbors. The Revised Common Lectionary brings Christians of all stripes closer together. The assigned readings also take us through a wide swath of Jesus’ life and teachings as reported in all four Gospels to give us the big picture. Finally, blessing both preachers and hearers, the Revised Common Lectionary suggests what lessons that we should wrestle with, helping to ensure that your pastor doesn’t get too repetitive!

I sing hearty praises for the RCL to explain why I, only rarely, opt to depart from it. Despite the importance of these assigned readings, sometimes it is necessary to pause and preach a sermon series on a topic of deep, current relevance. As you read this, I will be halfway through a September Sermon Series on our relationships with God’s creation that I am calling, Let All Things Now Living. Those of you who read these articles faithfully or listen to my sermons regularly know that matters of justice and equality are dear to my heart, but my passion usually extends to people, only. A naturalist, I am not, but I am working to expand my definitions of love and responsibility.

It is time for us all to take a hard look at our Christian relationships with trees and forests, land and prairie, wilderness, and river and stream.

We who live constantly tethered to our screens need to be reminded that there is a whole beautiful world out there. You and I have a responsibility not only to enjoy the incredible gifts of creation that our Lord has given us but also to care for and protect the Earth that has been entrusted to us. This is not a liberal thing or a conservative thing, not a Baptist thing or a Lutheran thing. It is a Christian thing. The very first line of the Apostles’ Creed, which we all profess, says, “I believe in God the Father who created Heaven and Earth.” This means that the planet and everything on it, above it, around it, and beneath it is not mine or yours.

It is God’s, and we are put here, in part, to protect what God has made.

There is an age-old tension when it comes to creation theology between Genesis 1 and 2. Genesis 1 speaks of our “dominion” over creation while Genesis 2 says that God assigned us to “till and keep” creation. You and I are the crown jewel of the Lord’s handiwork. People are the best and the brightest, but I think that makes us not the rulers over the trees and the oceans but the janitors of them. Come and think through these complex issues with me.