| September 4, 2022 -- And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” Genesis 1:28
The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. Genesis 2:15 One fact we keep forgetting is that when God gave Humankind “dominion” over the Earth, it was to establish us as Stewards of God’s domain, not as Master’s unanswerable to God for our action. Jesus had several parables about people being placed in charge of resources and of other people and how they were eventually called to account for their activities as
stewards of what was put under their control. Perhaps the most familiar is that of the Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30). A master, about to go on a long journey, gives each of his servants a large sum of money to invest while he is gone. Upon his return two of the servants show how well they have invested and increased the value of what was given them. The third servant has not shown any increase in value of what was put in his keeping, and the master becomes enraged at his failure.
Just as the master entrusted part of his wealth to each of his servants, God has entrusted the earth to us. It belongs to us as a trust, not as an outright gift.
A more modern analogy is to consider a car which a father gives to his teenage son for the son’s use, with the following conditions: the father retains title to the car, but the son is responsible for fuel and routine maintenance and is obligated to not break any traffic laws. Imagine the father’s reaction when the son wrecks the car.
When we install Stewards in the Grange they are instructed: “It is required of Stewards that they be found faithful”, [echoing St. Paul’s admonition in I Corinthians]. They are further instructed “It is also your duty to keep safely and in proper order the property of the Grange”. And so, God installed us to be Stewards of the Earth, but requires us to be Faithful and have the duty to keep the Earth safe and in proper order.
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