There go the ships to and fro,
And Leviathan,
which you have made for the sport of it.
And Leviathan,
which you have made for the sport of it.
I chose this particular verse because it speaks to us in a very different way about creation, our place in creation, and our relationship with the rest of creation. This verse tells of God creating the Leviathan (whales) simply for the pleasure of creating such a creature; for the sheer joy of it. Such a statement of God’s creative work stands in contrast to much of what theologians, the church, and others have said about creation, through many centuries.
With little diversity, most of us have come to believe in the hierarchical order of the universe and creation set forth by some of the church’s teachers: Origen, Thomas Aquinas, and Protestant theologians Albrecht Ritschl, Wilhelm Herrmann, Teilhard de Chardin and others. These theologians developed and supported a hierarchical theology of creation in which the spirit matters, and matter doesn’t. This is of course an oversimplification of their teachings; however, what these theologians all have in common is a theology of “ascent.” (As a metaphor for the theology of ascent, think of yourself climbing to the top of a mountain to get a better view of what is beneath you. When you arrive at the top, the entire creation appears to be under your feet; there to serve you.) In addition these theologians have an anthropocentric view of creation, which means that human beings are at the top and very center of creation and that all of creation is at our disposal to meet our needs. In this structure, human beings are the only “spiritual” creation, and all of the rest of creation receives its value not because it is part of God’s good creation, but rather, acquires its worth only from its usefulness to human beings (the spiritual creatures). (This view of creation also tends to be androcentric, but that is a topic for another day.) Within this view, creation, aside from human beings, has no intrinsic value. Its value is derived from its usefulness to human beings. It is this theology that excludes all creatures except human beings from being part of the new heaven and new earth that is promised in the book of Revelation.
Yet, the verse from Psalms tells of God creating Leviathan for no other purpose than pleasing himself. Leviathan was not created to be useful to human beings, but “for the sport of it,” i.e. for God’s good pleasure.
With little diversity, most of us have come to believe in the hierarchical order of the universe and creation set forth by some of the church’s teachers: Origen, Thomas Aquinas, and Protestant theologians Albrecht Ritschl, Wilhelm Herrmann, Teilhard de Chardin and others. These theologians developed and supported a hierarchical theology of creation in which the spirit matters, and matter doesn’t. This is of course an oversimplification of their teachings; however, what these theologians all have in common is a theology of “ascent.” (As a metaphor for the theology of ascent, think of yourself climbing to the top of a mountain to get a better view of what is beneath you. When you arrive at the top, the entire creation appears to be under your feet; there to serve you.) In addition these theologians have an anthropocentric view of creation, which means that human beings are at the top and very center of creation and that all of creation is at our disposal to meet our needs. In this structure, human beings are the only “spiritual” creation, and all of the rest of creation receives its value not because it is part of God’s good creation, but rather, acquires its worth only from its usefulness to human beings (the spiritual creatures). (This view of creation also tends to be androcentric, but that is a topic for another day.) Within this view, creation, aside from human beings, has no intrinsic value. Its value is derived from its usefulness to human beings. It is this theology that excludes all creatures except human beings from being part of the new heaven and new earth that is promised in the book of Revelation.
Yet, the verse from Psalms tells of God creating Leviathan for no other purpose than pleasing himself. Leviathan was not created to be useful to human beings, but “for the sport of it,” i.e. for God’s good pleasure.
St. Francis of Assisi and Irenaeus offer a different theological outlook more in keeping with the Psalm. They reflect upon God’s creation not as hierarchical and only spiritual, but see creation as material and spatial, especially in view of the doctrine of bodily resurrection. Not only our work, especially our work of love, remain, but also all creation, (material beings included) is set to be freed from bondage to decay. God’s creation will not be destroyed nor will it disappear. "All creation" certainly comprises more than humans; minerals, plants, animals, mountains and rivers, the heavenly bodies, the sun, the moon, and the stars, from the microcosm to the macrocosm, are included in this process of liberation. Indeed, for St. Francis, the ascent to God is not climbing a mountain to discover the whole earth under your feet, but a descent to the earth, in the image of God's descending and overflowing goodness in the creative act and of the The Word’s (Logos') self-emptying descent in the incarnation and on the cross. (In the metaphor for this view, we climb the mountain of God's creation in order to stand in universal solidarity with all God's creatures, both in this world and in the world to come, for which he we passionately yearn. Then we descend, as we perceive God's love always to be overflowing, in order to embrace all the creatures of God, not only the specially elected and specially blessed human creatures. [St. Francis’ Canticle of the Sun expresses this view of creation]).
Lutherans are in a unique position to understand and appreciate the view of creation put forth by St. Francis and Irenaeus. Luther himself, though deeply concerned with spiritual matters, nevertheless saw God less as "the Good," the world-transcending spiritual ground of all material and spiritual things, than as "Goodness," the Being who grants with overflowing abundance the divine riches to all creatures. God’s abundance is poured out on all creation, and perhaps in a nod to Orthodox theology, Luther looked to the redemption of all creation. Thus, when asked what he would do if the Jesus returned to tomorrow, he replied that he would plant a tree.
As we have time, wandering through these summer months, laying in the sun, leaning against a tree, listening to the ocean waves, or contemplating the night sky, I hope you will take time to contemplate your own theology of the creation and your own human relationship with the rest of creation. Is all of creation at your disposal? Do all other creatures and the planet itself only have value as we exploit them? Do creatures and things we have yet to discover have value? Can we value creation simply because God gives all of creation intrinsic value?
We need to do this work, because as long as it is in our hearts that creation has value only as we use it up, and cannot see God’s grace in the rest of creation, we will never be able to see the true grace of God as it is found in the breadth and depth of the universe, and we will never have a reason to be better stewards of the world around us.
Peace,
Pastor Boehringer
