Responsibility: Taking Care of God's Creation

Our children at church will be asked some tough questions over the next two months as they learn about responsibility. During the month of June, all the questions begin like this: "What in the world are you doing to ...." First, I like this because already I know each individual is to be held accountable for something. The tendency to put responsibility onto someone else is removed from the equation. Second, the suggestion that there must be an action of some sort lets me know that no one will be able to simply know the truth; the expectation of taking action is explicit. Finally, establishing the world as the context for our "doing" makes a clear statement - we aren't called to ignore what's going on around us. Taking care of God's creation and his gifts - the World and all that's in it - is a responsibility we have been given to fulfill.

Genesis 1:26-29 explains that God decided to create man in his image and give man responsibility for the earth - all the animals, fish, birds, and plant life. He gave us meaningful work to accomplish. It's easy to see how we haven't always been as responsible as we should have been. Each generation has its own version of environmental awareness. The slogans that branded my generation were "Give a Hoot; Don't Pollute" and "Don't be a Litterbug." Today, we are rightfully concerned with catastrophic oil spills in the Gulf of Mexico and waste management. People may go to the extremes of responsibility either way, from those who scoff at global warming and its ramifications, to those who radically protest the death of animals for any reason or purpose. I suggest that God created us in his image; therefore, he gave us the ability to exercise common sense and to genuinely care for what's been put into our keeping.

We can take our cues from Jesus on how best to care for God's creation, which does include our fellow human beings. In John 17, as Jesus was preparing for his crucifixion and ascension to Heaven, he prayed for those whom the Father had given him, the disciples and all who would come to claim Christ as their personal savior (John 17:6, 20). God had made Jesus responsible for all flesh (John 17:2) so we might know eternal life. Jesus gave to us all that the Father asked him to give, and he prayed that the Father would keep us from evil and make us one with them (John 17:8, 15, 21). At this particular moment in his life, Jesus could have chosen to shirk his responsibility, but instead, he sought the safekeeping of those for whom he was responsible, and then he fulfilled what he was sent to do by dying on the cross that we might have life everlasting. 

Maybe John 17 is an unusual example of what it means to "take care of God's creation," but I suspect we can gain insight into what it means when God makes us responsible. God gave us an incredible gift when he put us in the position of caretaker for his creation. We can choose to be reckless with the trust, or we can step up, be responsible, and treat God's creation with the care and respect it deserves. Someday, he will hold us accountable for how we answer the question, "What in the world are you doing to take care of what God made."

"He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much...." Luke 16:10a

Heavenly Father, thank you for sharing your creation with us. Please help us to remember our responsibility to all you have created and to care for it as you would expect. Thank you for giving us the wisdom and the strength to do what you have asked us to do. Amen.