The Easter season continues on for fifty days, and that’s where we find ourselves right now. In this month of May, we are preparing for Ascension Day (May 14), forty days after Easter, as we give thanks for Jesus’ ascension into heaven, taking his place at the Father’s right hand. We’re also preparing for Pentecost (May 24), which is the fiftieth and final day of the Easter season, when we celebrate the outpouring of the Holy Spirit,. We still use our Easter greeting: “Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!” This is the Easter “shout out” of God’s people to one another and to the whole world. It’s because of Jesus’ resurrection on the “first day of the week” that Christians worship on Sunday, the first day of the week. Easter is sometimes called the “first day” of the new creation, or the “eighth day” of the week because with Jesus’ rising from death and the grave, there is now a new creation. You and I are part of this new creation.

It didn’t really dawn on me until the last several years that God’s work of redemption in his Son, Jesus, wasn’t just about me. Yes, Jesus suffered, died and rose again “for us and for our salvation,” like we confess in the Creed. I got it that Jesus did this for people because God desires all people to be saved (1 Timothy 2:4). But it never really got through to me that God’s plan was much bigger than this and that Jesus’ work of redemption was for the whole of creation – not just people, but everything God has made. Since Adam and Eve’s fall into sin, all of creation has been under God’s curse (Genesis 3), and as Paul the apostle writes: “For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pain of childbirth until now” (Romans 9:19-22). Not just people, but all creation is in need of redemption and renewal! This is exactly what Jesus came to do and has done through his atoning death upon the cross by which he paid the penalty for our sin. Because of what Jesus has done, the curse has been lifted! We have been set free, and we – together with all living things – are now part of a new creation.

It is fitting that Easter falls in springtime (at least in the northern hemisphere). As we celebrate Christ’s victory over death and the grave, this occurs with the rebirth of the landscape around us. And as we once again enjoy the beauty of the outdoors, here is a call for the redeemed people of Christ to take seriously our calling to care for God’s creation. As Dr. Charles Arand wrote in his article, Caring for God’s Groaning Earth: “The renewal of creation began with Christ, continues with us, and finds completion when the entire creation is renewed. As new creatures raised with Christ, we have been set free from the need to possess the earth for our self-aggrandizement, and free to recover our place within creation as those whom God created to live in a unique relationship with him and with our fellow creatures” (Concordia Journal/Summer 2010, p. 226).

You may ask, “But what can I do?” The renewal of God’s creation is measured in small, faithful steps in daily life. Things like wise energy consumption, careful water use, planting a garden, living more simply, being mindful of the beauty of what God has made, thinking and planning for future generations – these are but a few things that each of us can do. And as we do these things, we serve as stewards in managing faithfully the work of God’s hands. My congregation’s Community Garden began last year, and is continuing on again this year. We’ve even expanded the size of the garden and added additional planting beds! This outgrowth from my 2023 sabbatical in exploring stewardship of God’s creation has found its place among like-minded fellow believers. They have caught the vision of how much good can come about through planting a garden, sharing the produce grown in it with our neighbors in need.

As we manage God’s good earth, my congregation is striving to manage wisely its physical plant and facilities. For two years now, we have been moving forward with plans to do much-needed renovations and updates, as well as some modest expansion. Now, we are preparing for an important hearing before the county’s Board of Zoning Appeals on May 13 in order to get approval to do this renovation and expansion. We have been working closely with architects, civil engineers, land use attorneys, as well as county staff. We have reached out to neighboring homeowners and civic associations around us, alerting them to our plans and soliciting their support. We are praying that the Lord would grant a favorable outcome from our hearing on May 13 so that this project can move ahead. If you are reading this, I would ask for your prayers as well.

From our perspective, the renewal of all creation sounds daunting; perhaps impossible. But I take heart from what Paul the apostle writes in his letter to the Ephesians:

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. (Ephesians 3:20-21).

“Far more abundantly than all that we ask or think.” That should give us hope. So when we say to one another in this Easter season, “Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!”, remember and rejoice that this is good news for all of creation.