Earth Day/Election Day 2008
Do we vote to save the earth?

Today is Earth Day and Election Day in Pennsylvania. The whole world knows that. Earth Day is like Halloween, a big secular holiday. And, Election Day in PA is known the world over because of the Hill/BO battle. Closer to home, there is a primary for the 5th Congressional District seat being vacated by John Peterson [R]. It has been particularly nasty in the final weeks of the campaign which has been of particular interest to us because a nephew is one of the candidates on the Republican side.

What gets buried in all of the hoopla surrounding the environment and politics is the “God factor”. On Sunday, I read as our call to worship Psalm 24. It begins:
The Earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof,
The world and those who dwell therein.
Note, the earth and all its inhabitants belong to the Lord. Does that mean we are not to be good stewards of the environment? No. But, we must keep in mind, no matter how often it is repeated, that we are not “saving our” earth. We are to exercise dominion over what we have been given for we answer not to any agency of men, but to God. Likewise, when electing officials as public servants [Do the candidates know what they really are?], it is to be a civil magistrate for God…to do good and restrain evil. The world and all in it belongs to God as much as the physical earth. For, He is the Creator and Sustainer of all.

So on this combined Earth and Election Day, remember we do not vote to save the earth. Each of us is individually responsible for using what has been given to us in a responsible way. And, we are to vote for those candidates who would make good rulers, discharging their duties to all folk under their jurisdiction so that good would be able to be done and evil punished. So, go to the voting booth if you are in PA and then plant a tree. By keeping this in mind, you will be glorifying God Who is in charge and has set forth a way to do all things from eternity.