Good news to the whole creation
By Stanley W. Green
Repeatedly since I was ordained in 1977, I have returned to the words of the hymn written by George Rawson (1807-1889). Rawson based the lyrics on pastor John Robinson’s address to the early Pilgrims in 1620, just before they sailed from Holland to New England. The text, penned in the 1850s, had these words in the first stanza:
We limit not the truth of God to our poor reach of mind—
By notions of our day and sect—crude, partial and confined.
No, let a new and better hope within our hearts be stirred
For God hath yet more light and truth to break forth from the word.
I have returned to the last line of that stanza many times in my journey. Sometimes I have turned to it for comfort and encouragement, and sometimes to allow myself to be challenged. Am I limiting God to my current understanding? Is there yet more of God’s plan and purposes to be discovered?
We humans have a hard time admitting that we do not have the whole truth. Both the Nazi regime during World War II in Germany and the Christian Nationalist Party in South Africa during the apartheid era were convinced that there was warrant in the Bible for their policies and practices that inflicted unspeakable atrocities. Those who defended the institution of slavery in North America believed similarly that the Bible supported their practice. Many in the churches in each of these situations supported the convictions of those who implemented these policies and practices, never questioning whether the Bible may have other light and truth. I am grateful, however, that in time most believers became open to more light and truth from God’s word, and the abhorrent practices of slavery, anti-Semitism and apartheid were disavowed.
During the medieval era, humans seemed so small and vulnerable. Within the created order, there were malevolent forces that seemed threatening and even terrifying. The goal was to subdue creation, to gain control. The creation was often seen as the enemy.
During the industrial era, our potential to feed our greed grew, and again the creation suffered. No thought was given to the destruction of biospheres and the forced extinction of many life forms. It was only toward the end of the 20th century that we discovered that through our fear and our greed we were hurting ourselves and hurtling toward self-destruction. In that desert of destructiveness, some began to read God’s word with fresh eyes. When we were ready to pay attention, we came to understand anew that God loves the created order and intends for its restoration (Romans 8:21). We learned that our destiny is intimately bound up with that of the created order—we groan with creation as we wait in hope for the restoration of God’s good purposes in the created order (Romans 8).
Jesus told his disciples in Mark 16:15 to “go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation.” The effect of God’s reconciling and restoring work in Jesus is upon the whole created order and not just limited to human beings. This is a confirmation of our common destiny with all of creation. In recent years, we followers of Jesus have been discovering a transformed relationship with the created order.
Illumined by the new light and truth from God’s word, we are overcoming our fear and blind greed. We are learning to repent our wanton destruction of God’s creation. We are hearing the call to become more loving and caring and more appreciative of creation. Moreover, we are learning that our transformation requires that we embrace the good news of God’s purposes in all of creation.This transformation demands that we commit to live with greater care for that which God has created.
This change is not just for God’s sake, but also for our own. Our destiny is entwined with that of God’s creation—in its ruin, we are ruined; in its healing, we are healed. Through Jesus, we are together made whole.
My slowness in learning, and our failure together to be open to God’s whole gospel, forces me to return again to pray with George Rawson the words of his final stanza:
O Father, Son, and Spirit,
Send us increase from above;
Enlarge, expand all Christian souls
To comprehend thy love.
And make us to go on, to know
With nobler powers conferred:
The Lord hath yet more light and truth
To break forth from his word.