Creation Groans

The Apostle Paul describes all of creation as longing for redemption in his letter to the church in Rome.  All the baby polar bears that get eaten by their dads, all the trees that are sacrificed to expand suburbia, all the ocean waves congested with plastic—all of creation—is crying out for God to make things right.  It is longing for God to fulfill his promised redemption to us.  

“We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.” (Romans 8:23) 

Creation groans, but we do too.  Our deepest longings betray us.  They crack our denial.  They thaw our numbness.  They admit things are not great—they are not as we want them to be.  In that longing, I can connect to anyone who longs too.  Yet, longing is dangerous.  What do you do when your longing is not realized?  When you are disappointed?  When your hopes are dashed?  Longing can lead to despair if it is up to us to fulfill it.  In 12-Step groups for addicts of all types, there is a saying, “Our best thinking got us here.”  It’s dangerous to long for better things if we are the answer.  There is a trail of blood that says we are not. 

A Christian’s hope hangs on God’s ability to come through, not ours.  Paul says we were saved in this hope.  He adopted us as children and heirs of his kingdom.  He promised us new bodies that would not hunger, thirst, or die.  He promised.  He will make good on it even though we wait for it to be fulfilled.  Longing and hope are fused by Jesus.  His death validates our pain and his resurrection triumphs over it.  He is our hope made flesh. 

Jesus has gripped people so tightly with this hope that they get very bold about the problem around them.  They are safe in a world that is not.  They are safe, even though their own hearts so often betray them.  I am struck at the anguish presented in the Psalms of lament.  The writers are so free to name the enemies within and without because they know God is for them (Psalm 31:7 comes to mind: “I will rejoice and be glad in your steadfast love, because you have seen my affliction; you have known the distress of my soul”).   Martin Luther King Jr. nor Harriet Tubman minimized their problems.  They named them because they knew there was a hope beyond this world.  We groan and long and pray for God to come and make his redemption known.  We eat, breathe, and sleep in hope. We long because there is hope.   

“And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.  For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees?  But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.” 

(Romans 8:23-25) 

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