Humanity in Relation to Nature
A sermon preached by the Reverend Dr Trevor Jamison at Saint Columba’s United Reformed Church, North Shields, September 22nd, 2024
Genesis 1:26-31; Philippians 2:5-11
Then God said, ‘Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.’ So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them, male and female he created them. (1:26-27)
What’s the relationship between us – humankind – and the rest of creation; the rest of nature? Particularly, who’s in charge around here on earth? If you read your Bible in a literal sort of way then it appears to be us, humankind: God said, ‘let us make humankind in our image … and let them have dominion …’ Well, that appears to be pretty straightforward. God has given humankind ‘dominion’ – lordship – over the earth. What appears to be straightforward, however, is also very controversial.
Some people hear Christians make a claim about possessing a God-given human dominion over the earth, and it’s the last straw for them. It confirms what they already suspected or thought they knew about the Church; we are people who don’t really care about the fabric of this planet, which we share with other species, except when we can boss it and everything around for our own benefit.
It’s not just people outside the Church who are concerned by talk of human dominion over the rest of creation. Increasing numbers of church folk look at the world around us and are very, very worried. They accept the solid scientific consensus that the climate of the planet is changing in unprecedented ways and at unprecedented pace. This leads to situations and events – floods, storms, droughts, rising sea levels, species loss – that also impact humankind.
Some talk about Christian stewardship. We are not completely in charge, but we do have an important office or role in looking after the owner’s property. This, they suggest, is what ‘dominion’ in Genesis 1 really means. It’s a ‘soft’ version of ‘dominion.’ Some might want to call it Christian “greenwashing,” but that’s not my problem with the word ‘stewardship.’ My problem is that in relation to nature … it’s not biblical.
Yes, stewards and stewardship do appear in the Bible. Jesus tells parables that involve stewards and stewardship, but these words are completely absent from Genesis chapter one. God said, ‘Let us make humankind in our image … and let them have dominion …’ As far as Genesis chapter one is concerned we have dominion. You and I are lords (and ladies) of creation here on planet earth … but what sort of lords?
Well, we’re lords who have got ourselves into a right fix. We have got the whole planet into a right fix, through our massive consumption of fossil fuels – coal, oil and gas – for heating and lighting, for manufacture and for travel. This is pumping, so much CO2 into the atmosphere that we’re changing the climate, and with it, changing the planet on which we live, and not for the better.
But we are also the lords of creation that the rest of the planet is depending upon to get us out of this fix. You see, it’s not a question of whether we have dominion; we obviously do. No one is looking to the polar bears to find a solution to the problems arising from climate change. They do not have the capacity to plan and organise on a worldwide basis in the face of a worldwide catastrophe. The question is, what are we going to do with this dominion that we have been given? How do we relate to the rest of nature? In other words, if we are lords of creation what sort of lords will we be?
Answering that question takes us back to the Bible again. Today, the Spirit is nudging us to look around for the best biblical example we can find of how God intends human beings to live out ‘lordship’ or ‘dominion’ here on earth, in relation to the rest of nature. When we go looking for an example of how to live our lives in ways that are faithful to God’s intention for us, then, of course, we look to Jesus Christ, ‘the pioneer and perfector of our faith.’ (Hebrews 12:2)
In fact the Apostle Paul wrote specifically about how the lordship (or dominion), as practised by Jesus, should direct our own approach to life; the life which God has given us here on earth. And this approach to life in turn (should we adopt it) will affect how we relate to the rest of nature.
‘Let the same mind be in you,’ Paul wrote to Christians in Philippi, ‘that was in Christ Jesus, who though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness.’ (2:6-8) Today, I am urging us to re-read or rethink Genesis 1, with its talk of ‘dominion’ in relationship to the rest of creation in the light of Paul’s challenge: let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus.
So let’s not try to tone down what Genesis one says about ‘dominion,’ by substituting for it terms like ‘stewardship.’ Instead, let’s emphasise dominion, emphasise human lordship in creation, for all that it’s worth; but a human lordship that must be modelled on the lordship that Jesus practised, which is a chosen servant-like, slave-like lordship.
In the New Testament Gospels Jesus instructed his disciples that in relationship to each other greatness is expressed through servanthood: ‘whoever wishes to become great among you must become their servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all.’ (Mark 10:43-44) Now, today, as we interpret Genesis in the light of what Paul says about Jesus, we discover that Christian lordship – Christian dominion here on earth – is only Christian when it is about self-emptying service.
And look; notice what the outcome is when Jesus Christ humbles himself, becoming obedient to death – even death on a cross. (2:8) God, Paul tells us, ‘highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name,’ (2:9), which leads every knee in heaven and earth and under the earth (all creation, all nature!), to bend in adoration. And ‘every tongue [in creation, in nature!] … confess[es] that Jesus Christ is Lord’ (2:11); and makes him Lord of all creation.
Like it or not, we are lords of creation here on earth. The Bible says so, and our observation of the power we hold in this world, compared to other species, confirms that. Yes, we are in the image of God, and yes, we have dominion. But it’s Jesus Christ, the Lord of all, before whom we must bend the knee; it’s Jesus Christ whom we confess as Lord, whose life dictates our understanding of what constitutes true dominion or lordship in relationship to the rest of nature.
So, our relationship with planet earth can never be about exploitation of the rest of nature, because our Christian lordship can only be expressed by employing our human capacities in Jesus-like serving of the earth. It’s has to be that way for us because, in Jesus Christ, that’s been God’s way with us, and with the rest of the earth – with nature. As Christians, we seek to follow the way and life of our Lord Jesus Christ; God who is with us.
So we can and should lord it over the earth, over the rest of nature, but only ever in a deeply, deeply, servant-like, Jesus-like way. Amen.