This year Good Shepherd Sunday (the 4th Sunday of Easter) falls the day before Earth Day. As Christians, we believe that God created all things (Genesis 1-2) and that at the end Jesus will come to redeem all creation (Revelation 21-22). Because of this, we are intimately connected to all of creation and our Creator. Just as Jesus is our Good Shepherd, who cares for us, so we are called to steward our beautiful planet and its many creatures, resources, and gifts. Jesus shepherds us all, and we are ourselves shepherds, us all.
In 1993, the ELCA published a social statement entitled “Caring for Creation: Vision, Hope, and Justice.” One line in the document sums it up well, “Made in the image of God, we are called to care for the earth as God cares for the earth.” May our worship today call us to confess where we have fallen short, receive forgiveness for harms we have caused, and rekindle our call to our caring work in God’s name!
image: Lamb in Groningen, Netherlands by Ger Bosma. Copyright © 2022 Getty Images Plus via Getty Images. Used by permission.