“To you, LORD, I call for fire has devoured the pastures in the wilderness and flames have burned up all the trees of the field. Even the wild animals pant for you; the streams of water have dried up and fire has devoured the pastures in the wilderness.” – Joel 1:19-20

The church that I belong to has undertaken a really interesting project.

We’ve adopted a small plot of land in the city of Montague and have been working over the past year or so to “redeem” it. The plot is right off of the Montague-Hart Rail Trail and butts up against the White River. It’s rather small; and if you saw it, it might not stand out to you. But if you were to dig just under the surface, you’d quickly find out that it used to be the city dump.

This small plot of land used to be the location of a refuse dump as well as the place where a local iron works facility used to deposit their industrial waste. In the 1980’s, Montague decided that they did not like such an eyesore so close to the White River so they leveled it off and added a layer of fill-dirt and sod over top to hide what was underneath. Someone from my church has aptly described this land as “icing on a burnt cake.”

My church has been helping to tend this property for about a year now. We’ve had wetland surveys taken. We’ve removed invasive plants. We’ve hired an excavation company that will soon dig out the waste, and we will then refill the space with healthy soil and re-plant native plants. And we’ve been doing this with the hope of presenting this land as a living image of Christ’s redemption of sinners.  

Jesus paid the debt our sins incurred through his death on the cross. This was not something we ever could have paid on our own. Jesus’ blood was required. Jesus has called us into repent and to turn away from our old lives marked by sin. When we do this, God begins the work of sanctification within us which enables us to continually grow into that which God would like us to be. This process, in a sense, is what we’d like to use this land to portray. We have acquired this plot of land with the hopes of healing it’s wounds. The land would never naturally rid itself of its waste. And we are cleaning the land from that which burdens it and are taking the steps to ensure that pollutants won’t return once it is cleaned.

Again, this has been a fun project to work on with my church. We’ve had a number of great opportunities to partner with local communities and churches. We’ve also had a number of opportunities to explain to people why we are doing what we’re doing, and to share the gospel message with them when we do!

Creation Care and Christianity

This project has also allowed me some time to reflect on the role Christian’s might play in the care of the Earth.

God’s creation is a gift to everyone. Its beauty stands as a testament to God’s glory.

God’s good Earth was something that humans were called to tend to and protect in the first chapters of the Bible (Genesis 2:15-20). But creation is also something that’s been affected by the Fall (Genesis 3:17-18) and fallen humanity continually has a negative effect on creation. The soil cries out after Abel’s blood spills upon it after Cail murders him. Human warfare and the neglect of the land causes non-human creation to cry out to the LORD in protest (Joel 1:19-20, etc).

In the Old Testament, the LORD actually specifically instructed Israel to be mindful of this. They were to farm responsibly, let their land rest, treat animals respectfully, rescue animals in need, and were given strict guidelines on what trees they could or couldn’t remove in times of war (Genesis 9:3-5, Exodus 20:10, Exodus 23:19, Leviticus 25:4, Deuteronomy 20:19-20, Deuteronomy 25:4). Furthermore, Israel’s prophets foretold of a day in which sin’s curse will be lifted from the soil (Joel 2:21-22, Joel 3:18, Ezekiel 47:12). And the apostle Paul links the redemption of humanity to God’s ultimate restoration of the entirety of creation, both human and non-human, in Romans 8:18-24.

With all of that said, it seems abundantly clear to me that this type of creation care is still important for believers today.

Helping to maintain the beauty of the earth allows creation to continue to stand as a testament to God’s goodness and glory. Paying attention to the waste we generate, recycling where we can, and interacting with the world around us respectfully is fully in line with what it means to be good stewards of God’s gift to us.

Setting an example in environmental care, even when it proves costly or inconvenient, is an excellent way to live out Jesus’ command to put the good of others before our own.