Common Good

Common Good

Stewardship of the Land

Scripture References

Read First

Old Testament

Genesis 1:26-2:15

26 God said, “Let’s make man in our image, after our likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the sky, and over the livestock, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

1 The heavens, the earth, and all their vast array were finished.

2 On the seventh day God finished his work which he had done; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had done.

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3 God blessed the seventh day, and made it holy, because he rested in it from all his work of creation which he had done.

4 This is the history of the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens.

5 No plant of the field was yet in the earth, and no herb of the field had yet sprung up; for the LORD God had not caused it to rain on the earth. There was not a man to till the ground,

6 but a mist went up from the earth, and watered the whole surface of the ground.

7 The LORD God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

8 The LORD God planted a garden eastward, in Eden, and there he put the man whom he had formed.

9 Out of the ground the LORD God made every tree to grow that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food, including the tree of life in the middle of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

10 A river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from there it was parted, and became the source of four rivers.

11 The name of the first is Pishon: it flows through the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold;

12 and the gold of that land is good. Bdellium and onyx stone are also there.

13 The name of the second river is Gihon. It is the same river that flows through the whole land of Cush.

14 The name of the third river is Hiddekel. This is the one which flows in front of Assyria. The fourth river is the Euphrates.

15 The LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate and keep it.

New Testament

Romans 8:19-21

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

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.

Thought for the Day

Genesis gives humanity a high calling: to bear God’s image and to exercise dominion. Yet the story immediately refuses tyranny. The garden vocation is not to exploit, but to serve and guard. In Genesis 2:15 the verbs are earthy and precise: עָבַד, to work or serve, and שָׁמַר, to keep or watch over. Dominion is meant to look like careful, loving responsibility.

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Romans 8 deepens the urgency. Creation is not silent; it waits with eager expectation. It groans under futility and longs for liberation. Christian hope does not abandon the material world. It prays for its renewal.

So we reject both cynicism and sentimentality. We can give thanks for land and harvest, and we can repent of practices that strip soil, poison waters, and leave communities exposed. The neighbour at the Lord’s Table is also the neighbour downstream.

Creator God, make us faithful stewards. Give wisdom to those who farm, regulate, and research; give courage to change what must be changed. Teach your Church to love the land without worshipping it, and to protect the vulnerable without despair. And as creation waits, make us people of hope: heirs in Christ who live as careful subjects in the world you will one day renew.

Prayer Points

Respond
  • Give thanks for the goodness of the created world, and ask for hearts trained in reverent care rather than possession.
  • Pray for farmers, land managers, and scientists: wisdom, humility, and courage for long-term stewardship.
  • Pray for communities harmed by pollution, soil loss, or unstable food production, and for just repair.
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  • Ask God to guard us from despair and from denial; form us into hopeful, truthful people.
  • Pray that public decisions about land and environment would be marked by restraint, mercy, and neighbour-love.