Garbage and the glory of God

Yesterday, in my sermon one of the points I made in showing forth Christ as our King was His kingly commission in Genesis 1:26-28 to exercise godly dominion over the earth. That takes all kinds of forms, and not just overtly spiritual ones. Since beauty, order, public hygiene and stewardship of the earth is part of His commission, Christians should accept a special responsibility for putting trash in its place.

I thought about that this morning as I walked our dog with one of my sons. Now that the snows have melted, a long winter of trash litters our neighborhood gutters and boulevards. I have a choice of response. I can self-righteously become indignant about the folks who irresponsibly littered throughout the winter, or I can see the trash as a positive opportunity to pass on God's commission to my sons by going on a 'trash safari' today, seeking to represent our King in our neighborhood by taking one aspect of what has become wrong and making it right. We'll probably make a contest of it, seeing who can fill up their bag with the most pieces of trash, to make it extra fun.

In God's economy, litter is not just litter. It's an opportunity to engage the world responsibly and push back the dark effects of the Fall in a small but significant way, right where we live to the glory of Christ.