October 1, 2021
Creation as Singer of Lament: Romans 8:20-22
Dr. Dn. Diane Jacobson
Saint Paul Area Synod
Care of Creation Work Group
Sometimes, as I read about the many environmental crises that face us, I honestly believe I can hear the creation crying. In most of the laments in Scripture, humans cry out to God in faith and in despair asking God why the divine promises are so long in coming. Creation does not have a strong voice in these biblical laments, though Psalm 19 says that the heavens proclaim God’s handiwork though no voice is heard.
Indeed, at a recent retreat at Camp
Hiawatha, the Ecofaith leadership teams of NE MN and St. Paul synods held a service of lament in which we sang Psalm 13 as a lament of creation. We heard the cries of the surrounding trees, birds, and waters and, in this hearing, we understood ourselves to embody the “enemy” of the lament – those who, while seeming to be friends, are rather the very bearers of destruction and abuse.
At such times, the words of Romans 8:20-22 give voice to the cry:
...for the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God; for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning in travail until now…
The whole creation groans in travail. How should we respond to lament of the other? First, we should hear the groaning, listening with empathy and compassion. And then we should join in the groaning. Let the lament of creation become our own voiced lament. Let us add words to the groaning. Finally, let us take on the suffering of the other. Let us acknowledge and correct our complicit. And, in so far as we are able and with God’s help, let us alleviate the pain.
Dr. Dn. Diane Jacobson
Care of Creation Work Group
Saint Paul Area Synod
Dr. Diane Jacobson is professor emerita of Old Testament at Luther Seminary in Saint Paul, MN where she taught from 1982-2010. She also served as director of the Book of Faith Initiative for the ELCA from 2008-2016. She is a rostered deacon of the ELCA. Jacobson has been a frequent speaker throughout the Church, including the 2011 and 2013 Churchwide Assemblies, the LWF 50th Anniversary Assembly in Hong Kong, and numerous synodical assemblies, rostered leaders gatherings, and churchwide consultations.
Jacobson currently serves on the St. Paul Area Synod Caring for Creation Workgroup and the EcoFaith Planning Team for Ecofaith Summits. She was one of the writers of the 1993 ELCA Social Statement, Caring for Creation: Vision, Hope, and Justice.
Jacobson’s main academic areas of teaching and publishing have been in Wisdom and Psalms. She wrote her dissertation on creation imagery in the psalms and was a principal translator of the psalms for the ELW.
Jacobson is, first and foremost, a lover of Scripture. "I'm in love with this Book," she says. "My calling is to teach Scripture for the sake of God’s world, and to invite others into the wonders and rewards of exploring the Bible together."
Dr. Diane Jacobson, professor emerita of Old Testament, Luther Seminary and retired director of the Book of Faith Initiative for the ELCA
https://www.luthersem.edu/faculty/djacobso/