Creation Sunday 2001

Theme: Human Health: Major Biblical Themes and Texts

Christ as Creator, Sustainer, Redeemer, Reconciler

Christ is the source of the abundant life, including physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health. In creating and sustaining all things, purifying us from our sins, holding all things together, and reconciling all things, Christ makes physical and spiritual health possible (Heb. 1:2-3; Col. 1:17, 19; Jn. 1:1-4; Mt. 8:16b-17; 1 Peter 2:24; cf. Isa. 53:4-5). He is the author, and with the resurrection he will be the perfector, of our health. In harming others, pollution works against the creating, sustaining, and reconciling activity of Christ.

Jesus' Ministry

Matthew 4:23 & 9:35 proclaim that Jesus went about preaching, teaching, and healing. As these verses suggest, bodily healing constituted approximately one third of Jesus' ministry. Jesus' healing acts were both manifestations and signs of the Kingdom of God being realized in history. In his ministry of bodily healing Jesus "did" the Kingdom, he didn't just talk about it. The consummation of his healing ministry was his atoning death on the cross where he took our toxic sinfulness upon himself. His sacrificial death reconciled all of creation to God and provides the foundation of our spiritual health: grace. In understanding Jesus as the Suffering Servant described in Isaiah 53, Matthew and 1 Peter make clear that Jesus is the Great Physician of both body and soul. Matthew states that Jesus "healed all the sick. This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: 'He took up our infirmities and carried our diseases'" (Mt. 8:16b-17; cf. Isa. 53:4). 1 Peter proclaims that "He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed" (1 Peter 2:24; cf. Isa. 53:5). Pollution contradicts Jesus' bodily healings and increases the burden Christ carries for us.

Jesus' Healing Miracles and Concern for the Least of These

Christian tradition has described Jesus as the Great Physician (see numerous texts below). He sought to heal the whole person, not just their physical ailment (Mk. 2:1-12; Mt. 8:16-17). He risked persecution in healing on the Sabbath, connecting rest and health. Just as grace is freely given to all, the Gospels attest that Jesus healed whoever came to him, including many considered unclean and outside the bounds of his community such as the Roman centurion's servant (Mt. 8:5-13). His healing compassion extends to the powerless and most vulnerable - and pollution hurts these the most.

Abundant Life

This is what Jesus came to bring (Jn. 10:10b). Its entirety will only be realized at Jesus' second coming, when the Kingdom of God will arrive in its fullness. Jesus' forgiveness of our sins is the foundation of our spiritual health. The absence of malnutrition, hunger, and disease (dis-ease) are the foundation for our physical health. Jesus' healing miracles (see Texts section below) and his feeding of the multitudes (e.g. Mt. 14:13-21 and Mt. 15:32-39) are manifestations and signs that he is in fact the creator, sustainer, and healer of all things (Heb. 1:3). Pollution and environmental degradation, by bringing about malnutrition, hunger, and disease, works against the abundant life Christ brings.

Kingdom of God

The Kingdom of God in its fullness is an existence where God's will is continuously and completely done. Since God loves all of creation, there will be abundant life for the entire created order. Justice and health in all its dimensions will be a constant reality. Obviously, this isn't the case yet. The health impact caused by environmental problems - especially the suffering of the most vulnerable - demonstrates that pollution and the Kingdom of God don't mix. Empowered by God's grace, guided by the Holy Spirit, Christians are to strive towards the Kingdom of God. We are to follow Jesus' example and create the conditions that help bring about the emergence of the abundant life.

God's Will

Pollution hurts people, especially the vulnerable. As such, it violates the Great Commandments and is therefore inconsistent with the Kingdom of God. In other words, it is against God's will.

Great Commandments

Pollution hurts people. Therefore, pollution violates the Great Commandments to love God and love what God loves (Mt. 22:34-40; Mk. 12:28-34; Lk. 10:25-28).

Righteousness

To be fully righteous is to be in right relation to God by fulfilling His will. To be righteous is to completely and continuously fulfill the Great Commandments. It is the proactive presence of love, not simply the absence of sinful acts. It is the presence of moral health through the exercise of love. In our present context, righteousness or moral health, empowered by love, starts with the reduction of pollution. Full righteousness requires its complete elimination.

Resurrection

Death is the ultimate failure of bodily health. The resurrection is the ultimate restorer of holistic health; indeed, it will surpass the health possible in this life. Christ's bodily resurrection as a spiritual body is the firstfruits of the coming resurrection of everyone at his second coming (I Cor. 15:20, 44, 51-55). Rev. 21:1-5 proclaims there will be a New Heaven and a New Earth, where God will dwell with humanity. "He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away ... I am making everything new!" (4-5a).

The Body: Temple of the Holy Spirit

We are to be proactive in maintaining our health because each Christian's body is the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 6:19-20; 2 Cor. 6:16b-7:1). Pollution that harms the body degrades and possibly destroys the temple of the Holy Spirit.

Messianic Banquet

In keeping with the OT, Jesus compares the Kingdom of God to a great banquet, and emphasizes that the poor and the lame are invited. (Mt. 22:1-14; Lk. 14:13-24; Mt. 8:11, cf. Isa. 25:6-9). Jesus' first miracle is at a wedding in Cana, where he turns water into wine (Jn 2:1-11). He's accused of being a glutton and a drunkard (Mt. 11:19; Lk. 7:34), and he eats with societal outcasts (Lk. 5:29-32) as well as Pharisees (Lk. 14:1-24). The messianic banquet proclaims inclusiveness and joy. It is a picture of the abundant life, which is what we will have in the Kingdom of God. Food polluted with pesticides and water and other beverages contaminated with toxic chemicals will not be served at Christ's banquet.

The Lord's Prayer

Illness caused or exacerbated by pollution is not in keeping with the Lord's Prayer, that God's Kingdom come, that his will be done on earth as it is in heaven (Mt. 6:9-13; Lk. 11:1-4).

The Lord's Supper or Communion

Physical and spiritual health are melded in the Lord's Supper. Jesus chose food to symbolize how much we need the forgiveness of sins wrought by his body and blood. Just as we need food to sustain us physically and keep us healthy, so too do we need the grace of his atonement to sustain us spiritually. As our bodies need food free of toxic substances, so do our souls need to be cleansed from the toxicity of our sins and unrighteousness. Just as our spiritual food must be pure, so too does our physical food need to be pure. Both are ultimately provided by Christ.

The Sabbath

Even knowing he would face dangerous opposition, Jesus heals on the Sabbath to demonstrate the powerful connection between health and the day of rest, dedicated to the LORD. The Sabbath's dual purpose of worship and bodily rest promotes the holistic health God desires. Pollution denies such holistic health.

Shalom

The Hebrew word shalem, meaning "healthy, whole," comes from the same root as shalom. For an individual, shalom is made up primarily of health and safety. There is no shalom without health. The harmful effects of pollution prevent shalom from coming into existence.

The Promised Land

Abundant life in the OT is intimately tied to the promised land and the bounty derived from it (Gen. 26:3; 50:24; Ex. 3:16-17; 32:13-14; Dt. 6; 8; 26:15; 28:11-12; 30:19-20). However, God's chosen people were warned not to disobey the commandments of the LORD, otherwise abundance and health might disappear (Ex. 15:26; 23:20-26; Lev. 26:14-16; Dt. 7:12-15; 28:27-29, 58-62; Prov. 3:7-8). Sinful acts can lead to the absence of health.

The Law

Many of the commands in the Old Testament help to maintain health by practicing prevention. The Sabbath provides needed rest, not only for humans, but for animals and the land (Ex. 20:8; Dt. 5:12-15; cf. Lev. 25:1-4). Dietary laws (Lev. 11) and those concerning contact with bodily fluids (Lev. 12, 15, 17:10-14), infectious skin diseases (Lev. 13), and contact with dead animals (Ex. 22:31; Lev. 7:24; 17:15), helped to avoid potential health threats.

Choose life

Pollution produced by humanity can be stopped. Less polluting and non-polluting ways are now possible or can be found. Ultimately we have a choice. The choice before us is quite similar to the one Moses set before the children of Israel: "Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach ... I have set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction ... Now choose life, so that you and your children may live" (Dt. 30:11, 15, 19b).