Daily Worship

Challenge of eco-responsibility

February 24, 2013 0 0

Revelation 21:1-3; 22:1-5

Revelation 21:1-3

 

A New Heaven and a New Earth

Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,”for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.

 

 

 

 

 

Revelation 22:1-5

 

Eden Restored

 

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city.On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.

​It has often been noted that the biblical story begins in a garden and ends in a city – but this is the city of John’s vision, a garden city, through which the water of life flows and in which the tree of life is found to be for the healing of the nations. Though symbolic, this offers an interesting angle on the challenge of eco-responsibility; our quest is nothing less than the kingdom of God, heaven on earth – the renewal of the earth, its ecosystems, peoples and nations.

God our Father,

daily we pray for the coming of your kingdom

and daily we can miss the signs of its dawning.

Help us, help your church, 

to be at the forefront of care for the environment,

as we see it to be your will that the earth should be healed.

We pray for Eco-congregations

and for all Christian organisations dedicated to waking us up

to the threats our way of living poses to the world.

Turn us around – give us repentance – 

that we may share with those of all faiths and none

who care about the earth and its future.

Thank you for the vision that inspires us,

that in and through Jesus Christ

all things will be made new

and your kingdom come. Amen.

-

written by Tony Bryer