FROM THE PASTOR

Giving From the Heart

Our Old Testament lesson for Trinity Sunday, the story of creation, gives us a deep image for the life of the Christian steward.  “Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image…and let them have dominion….over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that move upon the earth…” 

In the creation of humankind God invites us into a partnership in care for creation.  The idea of dominion has been misused and misunderstood by many to mean that our world and its resources are there for us to dominate, to be used (and used up) at our discretion, for our convenience.  Dominion has come to mean for many that we are masters of the universe, not partners with the creator.  Biblically dominion means that we share responsibility with our Creator for God’s creation, that we are stewards of God’s magnificent world, that God calls each of us into partnership in managing and preserving this precious gift.  Stewardship is central to what it means to be human, created in God’s likeness.  Dominion means to bless, and tend the garden of creation.  Dominion means that, with God, we are in this sweet old world together, a holy mutuality for the life of the world. 

Pastor Stephen Paul Bouman