When you drive onto the Trinity Lutheran Church property, you enter Sacred Grounds – officially certified by the National Wildlife Federation. Earlier in 2023, TLC received Wildlife Habitat certification. Why is this significant? It recognizes that Trinity Lutheran Church takes Scripture seriously. We are caring for God’s very good Creation on our 25 acres. Within those 25 acres are 14 acres of protected wetlands.
What does it mean to be “official” Wildlife Habitat and Sacred Grounds? As stewards on behalf of our Creator, TLC is providing a source of food, water, cover, and a place for the creatures living on our 25 acres to flourish and to raise their young.
But, to continue our story, we need to turn to the beginning – when God (Father, Son, and Spirit) Created heaven and earth (Genesis 1:1). In “Corner #24: Mystery, we considered the wonder of Creation – it’s total majesty and that Old Testament Theologian John H. Walton suggests in his book, The Lost World of Genesis One, that Genesis chapter one describes the creation of God’s holy temple. That would encompass the entire created order – heaven and earth as described in Scripture. Isaiah 66:1-2 describes it this way:
This is what the Lord says:
“Heaven is my throne,
And the earth is my footstool.
Where is the house you will build for me?
Where will my resting place be?
Has not my hands made all these things,
And so they came into being?”
Declares the Lord.
Bruce Waltke, renowned Old Testament scholar, writes on the back cover of Walton’s book that it is “a landmark study…. His view that the seven days refer to the inauguration of the cosmos as a functioning temple where God takes up his residence as his headquarters from which he runs the world merits reflection by all who love the God of Abraham.”
Next time you step out of your car at Trinity Lutheran, contemplate what it means to walk on sacred (holy) ground. If you feel the urge, take off your shoes! Do you sense that you are walking within God’s holy temple? If so, what does it mean to you as a Christ follower? If Walton and Waltke and other theologians are correct, the true holy temple also includes your own backyard and all that there is. You may believe that your home belongs to you, but you only hold the mortgage. God holds the title. Does that make a difference?
Our prayer: “All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.” 2 Cor 5:18. Lord God, help us to feel Creation’s groaning and its long waiting for us to do our part in bringing healing to your precious temple.
Thanks for listening.
— Joe Sheldon
Direct comments to Joe Sheldon at [email protected]
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