Sights and Insights
Devotion for April 20, 2021
You take care of the earth
and send rain
to help the soil
grow all kinds of crops.
Your rivers never run dry,
and you prepare the earth
to produce much grain. – Psalm 65:9 (CEV)
Earth Day is coming up this Thursday. I always find it appropriate when Earth Day falls in the midst of the Easter season. In the season of Easter we celebrate the power of God’s love to overflow all boundaries, even the boundary of death. God eternally brings forth new life. While this is true for the realm beyond this world, it is also very much true of the renewal of life within this world as well. The Good News of the Gospel is not simply that God remains with us beyond this world but even more that the risen Christ brings new life to us in this world. The gospel calls on us to live life fully, witnessing to God’s pervasive love of life.
Earth Day, meanwhile, aims to recognize the value and broadness of life on Earth, and to seek to identify and address the threats to it that are present. From a Christian point of view, it can be seen as a day to celebrate the goodness of this world that God has given us, and to recognize our call to tend to the well-being of the Earth responsibly. In this, it is an extension of the Easter message of God’s renewing love of life to which we are called to participate.
The group Lutherans Restoring Creation, dedicated to the Earth-keeping aspects of our faith, has prepared a pre-recorded worship service for this Sunday as part of both the Easter season and the celebration of Earth Day this week. Bishop Elizabeth Eaton is the preacher for the service. It will be available on the group’s YouTube channel. You can find more information and register to receive a link for the service at: https://lutheransrestoringcreation.org/creation-focused-service-for-earth-day-2021/ I invite you to include this as part of your worship and Earth Day celebration this week.