Dear Rose Park,
The Old Testament begins with a beautiful story of creation. It is beautiful and at the same time an explosion of God’s power. Light rushes in, ground rises from the depths, water is swirling and bubbling, vegetation is spreading and growing, living creatures of every kind are flying, running, climbing and crawling, and even humankind is being formed and molded in the image of God. It is a beautiful story of God’s power, creativity, and love for His creation. Throughout this narrative we hear a phrase that sets the rhythm of creation: “And God saw that it was good.”
This is good?! Are you kidding me? There are 136 fires burning across Australia as we speak consuming over 14 million acres and claiming the lives of 480 million animals. To put this into perspective, in the 2018 California wildfires just less than 2 million acres were scorched. This is good? Are you sure? We’re only eight days into 2020 and there have already been over 200 deaths related to gun violence in the United States. The World Health Organization estimates there are 7-million people who die annually from air pollution alone, over 780-million people lack drinking water, and an astounding 2-billion people who use a drinking water source that is contaminated by feces. Creation is good? Are you sure?
Simply put, yes.
Despite all these heartaches, pains, and global tragedies creation remains good. Creation remains good because the Creator has not left His creation. Creation remains good because though these tragedies stand are the forefront of our mind, we also hold in tension in the depths of our hearts and souls the words of the Psalmist, “the earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord.” (Ps. 33:5) Creation remains good because God’s love cannot be burned, extinguished, eradicated, or washed away. Creation remains good because God still uses the church and His people to bring about reconciliation and redemption.
It can be so easy to become hopeless when watching the news or the most recent headlines when it comes to our political cultural, the future of our global climate, the present reality of hungry children and families, seniors having to decide between groceries or medication, or the painful stories of wrongful imprisonment. Our hearts should break and our spirits should be moved to act to bring about redemption and reconciliation because we cannot give up hope. Our eyes might not see it and our fingers might not feel it, but the earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord and the rhythmic phrase of Genesis still rings true: And God saw that it was good.
Grace & Peace,
Pastor Mark