What I wish I had said
A day ago, I took part in a thirty minute panel discussion of climate change, Christianity, and the Scriptural call to action where the environment is concerned for a new show on the Loma Linda Broadcasting Network (LLBN). While I don't want to give away too much since the conversation we taped has not yet aired on LLBN, I'll mention that the conversation began with an anecdote about Al Gore. (You can read my report of the show's taping here.)
Two things occurred to me, both of which I wish I would have said, but neither of which I actually said. First, many viewers of LLBN will probably take exception to Al Gore as a reason for Christian care for the environment because Gore has gone beyond the science by politicizing the issue in many people's view. Secondly, this issue has gone well beyond Al Gore. It's bigger than Al Gore. While he remains a prominent voice stirring conversation about the environment, this isn't about him. It never really was. It's about understanding the problems and finding viable long-term solutions. I wish I had said that while doing the show for LLBN.
I also wish that I would have said what occurred to me today in a class entitled "Issues in Adventist Theology" at La Sierra University. It occurred to me that two central themes in Adventism - Sabbath rest and God's grace - lie at the heart of why we care for the Earth.
A brief explanation is in order.
God's Grace
I haven't heard too many Adventist theologians who make the following point, and yet it is essential to our understanding of Creation. God's first action recorded in Scripture, Creation, is clearly, undeniably, and unmistakably an act of sheer grace. Creation is undeserved. God's giving this planetary home to all its living things is an act of unmerited favor toward all living things on Earth. Creation happened as an expression of God's loving generosity. Creation is a demonstration of God's grace!
The Sabbath
If Creation is a demonstration of God's grace, then Sabbath is a perpetual reminder of God's graciousness. It is accentuated by the command to rest. The culmination of Creation Week is rest, and humanity's first act is rest! No action on the part of humanity, no quality humanity possesses can account for the Sabbath rest. It is a manifestation of God's grace. Every time we celebrate Sabbath, we acknowledge that it is God's acts in the world, not our own that give life, that renew, that sustain. It is because of God's gracious gift that we are, and Sabbath rest is the invitation to revel in that graciousness on a weekly basis.
What has all that to do with environmentalism, climate change and all that? Plenty, I think.
The majority of what I have read (and written myself) concerning care for creation and environmental stewardship has had to do with the command to care, the moral imperative, the necessity of action. To be sure, those things matter. To be sure, they are biblical and true. And yet the primary reason why we care--why we act as stewards of the environment--flows from the grace of God.
Grace precedes Creation. Grace provides Sabbath. Grace is God's undeserved, lavish giving seen in all that we are and all that we have. In response to God's gracious giving, we honor God and honor Creation as God's primary act of grace. From a sense of thankfulness, we take up the task and priviledge of caring for the Earth.
I wish I would have said some of that when the cameras were rolling and I had a brief moment to articulate in front of tens, even hundreds of thousands of people, what forms the basis of my interest in caring for the environment--God's grace does. But you know what they say about hindsight...
