Tri Robinson - Saving Gods Green Earth: Rediscovering the Churchs Responsibility to Environmental Stewardship

CHAPTER SIX

Noah: Man of Action

We can gather that all the creatures of the world lead the mind of the contemplative and wise man to the eternal God. For these creatures are shadows, echoes and pictures and vestiges proposed to us and signs divinely given so that we can see God.

Sometimes big visions call for small steps. While you may dream the grandest of dreams, nothing puts you on the path toward accomplishing them except the first step. Likewise, when God plants a dream in your heart, the process toward bringing that dream to fruition starts through simple obedience by doing what He asks you to do.

This concept holds true when we consider making a difference in this world. How quickly we forget that the Christian faith was spread and mobilized through Jesus patient mentoring of 12 men. The idea of changing something that has become so ingrained in our culture almost immediately dials up thoughts such as impossible or that will never happen in my lifetime. Its easy to become paralyzed when looking at such an overwhelming problem. We want to ask ourselves, Will recycling this soda can really matter? Will replanting a tree make a difference? Will drinking purified water from a cup rather than buying bottled water when its not absolutely necessary make a significant impact?

When we are faced with such questions, we have two options: do nothing or get started. In looking at the troubling issues with the way we handle our environment today, we must first admit that we havent been great environmentalists. I will be the first to raise my hand and say that I have not done my share in the past. But I am taking small steps toward becoming an environmentally conscious person. Instead of drinking bottled water, I drink out of a Nalgene bottle with filtered water when possible. Instead of having to answer the age old question of paper or plastic? I take my own bags when I go shopping. Instead of driving my ranch truck to town on a daily basis, I use my smaller, more economical car. Our journey toward honoring God by caring for his creation begins with the first step, much like one of the worlds most well-known environmentalists did when he was tasked with one of the most daunting projects imaginable: build an ark to save the life on planet earth.

NOAH, THE CONSUMMATE ENVIRONMENTALIST

Almost everyone knows the story of Noah, including people who have never studied the Bible in any detail or even call themselves Christians. With the people in the world turning their back on God, Gods grace won out over His anger, as He chose to preserve the life of this planet through a man named Noah. Picking a man He could trust, God goes to Noah and asked him to build a boat that would house at least two of every animal.

What an enormous project! When I think about how God sometimes plants seeds of what I first consider to be impossible dreams in my heart, I reflect on what it must have been like for Noah when he dragged that first gopher wood tree to the shop and asked his sons to saw it up into planks because they were going to build a gigantic boat to save the earth from a devastating flood. Was Noah bored with nothing else to do? Was Noah filled with that much faith? Was Noah simply crazy?

Through the way Noah responded and the way others wrote about him later in the Bible, its easy to see why Noah beganand finishedthe seemingly impossible task that God called him to do: Noah had the fear of God in him. Noah had so much respect and reverence for God that if God called him to do something of this magnitudeas crazy as it might soundhe was going to honor God through obedience. Noah said yes to God through the act of chopping down a gopher wood tree and beginning to build a boat. (Yes, God began to preserve mankind and the environment by having Noah and his sons chop down trees to build a boat! Ironic, isnt it?)

In Hebrews, Noah was listed among the heroes of the faith, a compilation of those men and women throughout the Bible who did things without the evidence of what they could see. It was by faith that Noah built an ark to save his family from the flood. He obeyed God, who warned him about something that had never happened before. By his faith he condemned the rest of the world and was made right in Gods sight (Hebrews 11:7). Theres something that happens when people of God rise up in faith. They come to an epiphany about something, yet they dont become overwhelmed. They recognize theres not much they can do individually on their own, but they say yes to the Lord and take that first step.

Theres something that happens when people of God rise up in faith. They come to an epiphany about something, yet they dont become overwhelmed.

There is much to learn about Gods heart and the importance of stewardship through a closer examination of the life of Noah.

HOW GOD RECYCLES, RESTORES

In Genesis, we uncover a true picture of who Noah is (he certainly wasnt perfect) and we find a heart that is committed to serving God. We also find the foreshadowing of Gods great story of redemption, the one that is still in progress within our own lives as followers of Jesus. And what comes through loud and clear is Gods heart: He loves to recycle.

Instead of throwing us away the first time we veer off the path He sets before us, God meets us along the rough terrain we have chosen and points the way home through the midst of our confusion. He is into taking people who are in a poor state of life and purifying and restoring them, making them new. Through such action, we see the heart of God. Stories like Noahs reveal that recycling and redemption is at the very core of the nature of God.

Simply look and see who was on the ark: faithful followers and Gods creation. Its what was important to the Lord. We have all pondered the answer to a question like, If your house was burning down and you could only get one thing out of it, what would it be? Gods creation needed cleansing, but what was He going to save? God wants to restore people so they can have a deeply intimate relationship with Him. And in doing so, He calls us to participate. Likewise, God wants to preserve His creationand once again, He is calling us to participate.

GODS HEART TOWARD CREATION

We know that an omnipotent God could have just thrown His hands in the air and started afresh with a new earth, new people, new galaxies and solar systems. But what happens when Gods omnipotence collides with His grace? He powerfully provides a way for redemption.

In the story of Noah, the rainbow is not just his way of leaving an indelible mark on creation; rather, it is his way of showing that his covenants are lasting and unbreakable. However, this covenant wasnt just between God and humanityit was also between God and His creation.

I have placed my rainbow in the clouds. It is the sign of my permanent promise to you and to all the earth. When I send clouds over the earth, the rainbow will be seen in the clouds, and I will remember my covenant with you and with everything that lives. Never again will there be a flood that will destroy all life. Genesis 9:13-15, NIV

God keeps His promiseand as His people, we should endeavor to honor what God thinks is important. In this story, we undoubtedly realize how precious God considers lifeall lifeand how much God treasures His creation of earth. While the church has increasingly ignored this value of environmental stewardship, its never too late to take that first step toward saying yes to making a difference in this important area of our world.

AGENTS OF CHANGE

If we desire to become agents of change within the church as we address the issue of environmental stewardship, there are a few steps we must take.