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The Cry of Creation

AdventClimate Justice and Creation Care Week 3 · Day 3

Scripture References

Read First

Old Testament

Hosea 4:1-3

¹ Hear the LORD’s word, you children of Israel, for the LORD has a charge against the inhabitants of the land: “Indeed there is no truth, nor goodness, nor knowledge of God in the land.
² There is cursing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery; they break boundaries, and bloodshed causes bloodshed.
³ Therefore the land will mourn, and everyone who dwells in it will waste away, with all living things in her, even the animals of the field and the birds of the sky; yes, the fish of the sea also die.

New Testament

Romans 8:18-25

¹⁸ For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which will be revealed towards us.
¹⁹ For the creation waits with eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed.
²⁰ For the creation was subjected to vanity, not of its own will, but because of him who subjected it, in hope

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²¹ that the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of decay into the liberty of the glory of the children of God.
²² For we know that the whole creation groans and travails in pain together until now.
²³ Not only so, but ourselves also, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for adoption, the redemption of our body.
²⁴ For we were saved in hope, but hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for that which he sees?
²⁵ But if we hope for that which we don’t see, we wait for it with patience.

Thought for the Day

Hosea speaks with aching clarity: there is no faithfulness, no steadfast love, no knowledge of God in the land, and the consequences spill outward. People break covenant with one another, and the earth itself mourns. It is a hard and holy reminder that sin is not sealed inside the soul. It leaks.

Paul, in Romans, listens for the same groaning. Creation waits with longing for the revealing of the children of God. It is subjected to futility and yet held in hope: not abandoned, but waiting for liberation. Even our waiting is caught up into God’s patience.

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Some climate talk is full of accusation; some is full of denial. Scripture offers something deeper: lament with responsibility, and hope without escapism. We can confess what we have done, and still expect God to renew.

So bring your grief honestly. Ask for the grace to repent without performing. Pray for those already suffering: those facing drought, flood, hunger, and displacement. Pray, too, for truth-telling that does not harden the heart. And pray for the Church to live as God’s children, not merely as consumers: people whose hope is large enough to hold creation’s pain, and whose love is steady enough to change how we live.

Prayer Points

Respond

Lord, forgive our covenant-breaking that harms neighbours and land; teach us faithful, truthful living.
Have mercy on communities suffering climate-related loss; provide relief, protection, and just repair.
Give wisdom and courage to those making difficult environmental decisions; keep them from despair and denial.

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Form the Church in lament and hope: repentant, steady, and compassionate rather than performative.
Teach me habits of restraint and love that honour your world and protect my neighbours.

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