October 1, 2021
Creation as Singer of Lament: Romans 8:20-22
Diane Jacobson
Saint Paul Area Synod
Sometimes, as I read about the many environmental crises that face us, I honestly believe I can hear the creation crying. In most of the laments in Scripture, humans cry out to God in faith and in despair asking God why the divine promises are so long in coming. Creation does not have a strong voice in these biblical laments, though Psalm 19 says that the heavens proclaim God’s handiwork though no voice is heard.
Indeed, at a recent retreat at Camp
Hiawatha, the Ecofaith leadership teams of NE MN and St. Paul synods held a service of lament in which we sang Psalm 13 as a lament of creation. We heard the cries of the surrounding trees, birds, and waters and, in this hearing, we understood ourselves to embody the “enemy” of the lament – those who, while seeming to be friends, are rather the very bearers of destruction and abuse.
At such times, the words of Romans 8:20-22 give voice to the cry:
...for the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God; for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning in travail until now…
The whole creation groans in travail. How should we respond to lament of the other? First, we should hear the groaning, listening with empathy and compassion. And then we should join in the groaning. Let the lament of creation become our own voiced lament. Let us add words to the groaning. Finally, let us take on the suffering of the other. Let us acknowledge and correct our complicit. And, in so far as we are able and with God’s help, let us alleviate the pain.
Diane Jacobson
Care of Creation Work Group
Saint Paul Area Synod