GOD’S CARE FOR HIS CREATION WILL NOT CEASE.
In the name + of Jesus.
Thanksgiving
is a time when we remember God’s blessings and praise him for his goodness. As St. James reminds us, “Every good gift
and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of
lights” (James 1:17). Even though
all God’s gifts are good, not everything in this world is good. While we are grateful for our blessings, we
are also grieved and frustrated by the evils we endure. Some are evils that we observe in this
world. Other evils affect us personally. The evils of a broken, sinful world cause us
to cry out to the Lord.
One question that gets asked of God is
this: “How bad do things have to get before God does anything about
it?” That question is often asked out of frustration. We
see how much wickedness goes on in the world. There is
injustice. There is violence. There is
perversion. It seems to go on unchecked. In some cases,
it is celebrated. The wicked seem to prosper as they defy
God. Perhaps you’ve even wondered, “If the wicked prosper, what is
the point of being godly?” If so, you are not alone. The
Psalmist Asaph complained, “My feet almost slipped out from under
me. I almost lost my footing. I even envied the arrogant
when I observed the peace of the wicked. For there are no struggles
at their death. Their bodies are sturdy. They do not have
the trouble common to people. They are not plagued along with the
rest of mankind. Therefore pride is their necklace” (Psalm 73:2-6).
“How
bad do things have to get before God does anything about it?” Sometimes
that question is a charge against God. It
seems like God does not care. If he did,
he would surely do something about it, right? Perhaps it is a suspicion
that he will do nothing. The
wicked surely hope so. “They say, ‘How can God know? Does the Most High have knowledge?’ See, this is what the wicked are like—secure
forever, they increase in strength” (Psalm 73:11-12). There is a day of retribution which will
consume the wicked, but as long as it delays, the wicked are emboldened in
their actions. And it gets bad.
While
some accuse God of inaction and indifference, others have found fault with God when
he DID act. Recall God’s assessment of the world in the days of
Noah: “The Lord saw that the wickedness of mankind was great on the earth,
and that all the thoughts and plans they formed in their hearts were only evil
every day. The Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and
his heart was filled with sorrow. The Lord said,
‘I will wipe out mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth,
along with the animals, the creeping things, and the birds of the sky, because
I regret that I have made them’” (Genesis 6:5-7). When the Lord
saw man’s wickedness running unchecked, he responded with stern judgment. Because
he did, many complain that he is a blood-thirsty God who should have
demonstrated more patience or mercy. Sinful
people can be so double-minded—accusing God of failing to bring justice and
finding fault with him when he does.
The
Lord is a good and gracious God. His goodness does not depend upon
us. It never has. God created the world because he is
good and because he wanted to shower his goodness on his
creation. He supplied mankind with abundance. Everything
people need to live, God provides faithfully and generously. God had hoped that people would respond to
his grace and goodness with thanksgiving and obedience. But mankind does not have the goodness with
which God created him. The Lord had decreed before the Flood: “The
Lord saw that the wickedness of mankind was great on the earth, and that all
the thoughts and plans they formed in their hearts were only evil every day”
(Genesis 6:5).
We
probably conclude that people in the days of Noah were committing violence,
thievery, murder, fornication, and so forth. It was the kind of
world in which you would not be safe on the streets at night. And
perhaps it was that bad. But such actions are not the root of
evil. They are only the evidence that people are evil. “The
thoughts and plans they formed in their hearts were only evil every day”
(Genesis 6:5, emphasis added). Their hearts were evil because
they had turned from God. St. Paul explains in his letter to the
Romans: “Even though they knew God, they did not honor him or give him
thanks as God. Instead, their thinking became nonsense, and their
senseless heart was darkened” (Romans 1:21). Our sinful
condition means that we do not have true fear of God or true faith in God. We are turned in on ourselves. People
decide their own truth, each one different from another, which results in
people belittling, slandering, cursing, striking, or even killing those who
disagree.
God
saw how bad things had gotten, so he responded.
God sent a Flood to destroy all mankind, in fact, everything he had
created. To preserve his promise that he would send a Savior, the
Lord preserved Noah and his family in the ark. And because God loves
what he has created, he also preserved the animals with Noah. Both
people and animals were charged to repopulate the world. The world
after the Flood had changed. It was a
fresh, new start for people and for animals.
But mankind had not changed. Listen to God’s assessment of
mankind after the Flood: “The intention of man's heart is evil from his
youth” (Genesis 8:21). Nevertheless,
this has not changed God’s goodness.
Once
Noah had left the ark, he sacrificed thank offerings to the God who delivered
him and his family. Then the Lord made a promise. It is a promise that stands to this very
day: “I will never again curse the ground because of
man…. Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as
I have done. While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and
heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease” (Genesis
8:21-22). God’s care for his creation will not cease.
To
this day, mankind’s sinful condition has not changed. We do not fear, love, and trust in God above
all things. We fear that we might lose
our money; we are not as fearful about losing our faith. We do not trust God when he puts us to the test;
we trust our feelings and emotions. We
do not love God above all things. We
rank our own pleasures much higher. And
yet, God’s goodness and God’s care for his creation does not cease.
It is still God’s practice to bless everyone
in this world with all that we need to live.
He does it faithfully, year after year.
It is still God’s hope that people would love him and obey him. From many, God gets scorn. Many do not believe that God is worthy of
praise and obedience. And yet, God’s
care for his creation does not cease.
Jesus declared, “Your Father who is in heaven … makes his sun to rise
on the evil and the good and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous” (Matthew
5:45). God does not play favorites
when he comes to blessing his creation.
We might think he should. But God’s
goodness does not depend upon us. “While
the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and
winter, day and night, shall not cease” (Genesis 8:21-22). God’s
care for his creation will not cease.
God’s goodness is on display at every
harvest season. But God’s greatest
goodness was displayed in sending his only begotten Son into the world. God did do something about the wickedness in
this world. He came to make himself the
sacrifice to be slain on behalf of sinners.
This is not because we are good, but because God is good. St. Paul emphasized that in his letter to the
Romans: “At the appointed time, while we were still helpless, Christ died
for the ungodly. It is rare indeed that
someone will die for a righteous person. Perhaps someone might actually go so far as to
die for a person who has been good to him.
But God shows his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners,
Christ died for us” (Romans 5:6-8). God
loved the loveless. God was good to the
wicked. Jesus befriended his
enemies. Jesus lived and died for those
who live for themselves. Jesus did all
this because he is good and kind and merciful.
God’s care for his creation will not
cease. God extends his mercy and
proclaims his forgiveness to everyone in the world for as long as the world
endures. And while it seems that God is letting
all kinds of wickedness go on without interruption or intervention, St. Peter
clues us in on what God is doing. Peter
wrote, “The Lord is not slow to do what he promised, as some consider
slowness. Instead, he is patient for
your sakes, not wanting anyone to perish, but all to come to repentance” (2
Peter 3:9). The Lord knows how bad
things are in this world. That is why he
sent a Savior. God loves his
creation. God loves the people he has
created. He takes no pleasure in the death
of anyone, but rather that they would turn from their wicked ways and
live.
Therefore, Jesus suffered and died so that
no one would have to perish. Jesus
suffered and died for all. He paid for
the sins of the world, even for those who were mocking him and cursing him as
he died. He bore the sins of all, even
of those who gorge themselves on God’s gifts without any acknowledgment of God
or gratitude. No matter how wicked people
are, God remains good. No matter how
ungrateful people are, God remains generous.
No matter how little people care for God and his word, God’s care for
his creation will not cease.
Jesus has revealed the love and mercy of
your heavenly Father. He provides all
you need to live in this life. No matter
how bad things might get, God remains good.
You may lose blessings in this world, but God remains the giver of good
gifts. He assures you that “While the
earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day
and night, shall not cease” (Genesis 8:22).
As long as the earth endures, God’s care for his creation will not cease. But this world will come to its end. God will do something about the wicked in this world when he comes to judge the living and the dead. But God did something about your sin through Jesus Christ. Jesus has removed your sin from you. He has cleansed you in the flood of baptism, and he has brought you into the ark of the Church where you are safe. He will come again to deliver you to everlasting goodness. He will deliver you to a new creation—a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness. There, God’s love, God’s mercy, and God’s kingdom will not cease. Neither will our thanks and praise.
In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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