So, why are you an environmentalist vicar?

An oft-asked question! Briefly, Adam was put into the garden to tend and care for it; the word used ‘subdue’ also has the dictionary meaning ‘to cultivate.’ The fall of Adam caused God’s curse to fall upon the earth and Adam to return to the earth when he died. Jesus died not only to release from the bondage of sin those that would accept Him, but also to release the earth from the bondage of Adams sin, in Romans 8:22 Paul writes ‘and we know that the whole of creation has been groaning.' Matthew’s Gospel tells of one earthquake when Jesus was laid in the tomb and another at the resurrection; the earth was not mute to these two events. The first person to meet Jesus after the resurrection was Mary Magdalene who mistook Him, the second Adam, for the gardener, and surely there is a message to us all there. While each of us lives creation is Jesus gift to us, but creation does not exist for us it exists for Him. The Bible tells us that the earth is God’s footstall, but the word footstall in the context that it was written meant a resting place. So the earth is where God’s presence is to be found and as far as I am concerned, our respect and care for the earth must follow. We may never know our great grand children, but by what we leave to them, they will certainly know of us, because, in the words of Exodus 20:5 our sins will surely punish them.