What is it that the world is hearing? What is driving everyone toward "greener" lifestyles? Is it just that necessity is once again the mother of invention, or is there something else going on in the souls of men? Everywhere I turn, from the most impoverished communities to the glitz of Hollywood, I hear the same anguished cry, "We must be better stewards of our resources." But what are they really saying?

 

 

I want redemption's cry to be in my heart. More than a mental exercise in which proud intellectuals engage, I want redemption to rack my soul with the pains of labor until life is birthed once again in our hearts, in our hopes, and in our homes. I hear all of nature crying out for release from its bondage to corruption. And seeing that it is only the distant echo of men's souls, I cry out all the more in desperate travail for the fullness of life.

 

Mankind is finally approaching the recognition of his own limits. He has found that he cannot be his own master -- that the world is both too big and too small for selfish ambition. It is too big because once human ambition is loosed mankind cannot control the chain reactions of its aftermath. It is too small because the world cannot so easily absorb human negligence. It is only when we are restored to harmony with God, with our fellow man, and with the earth, which is the sole context of our material lives, that we can begin to dwell peaceably within our limits.

 

The earthquakes, the volcanoes, the tsunamis, the famines, the floods, the plagues, the greed, the wars, and the sickness of mankind -- they all call out with one loud voice -- we need redemption! We cannot satisfy our hunger, because food will not ease redemption's pain. We cannot satisfy our thirst because water will not quench redemption's craving. What we long for cannot be wrought by the hands of men, attained by his skill, or grasped by his knowledge. Rather it must be met with faith and humble surrender.

 

Redemption is not a commodity that can be bought and sold on the free market of men's ambitions. It is paid for only once. After that, it is either accepted with thanksgiving and with love or it is trampled in the mud of pride and unbelief. It cannot be exchanged for good works or noble intentions. Lofty words cannot elevate it or diminish its worth. Redemption is beyond the skill of men to obtain by their own efforts. It must be granted, and in the receiving we are forced to recognize the Giver.

 

This is the primal cry of all mankind, to receive a Father's redemption of a world gone horribly wrong. But the tragic truth is that this gift has lain neglected, ignored, and mostly forgotten for two thousand years. In love with itself, mankind has failed to see the Father that so loved mankind that He gave His only Son to redeem what we so stubbornly insisted on defiling. The cry for a greener tomorrow is the cry of all creation for new life. It is a cry that is echoing mankind's desperation for a father's love. It is the cry of a prodigal son longing to be restored to his father's household, to be embraced in his father's arms.

 

This is redemption's cry, a cry that all the world is screaming and far too few are hearing. It is not merely the culmination of chance, ignorance, and neglect. It is the one voice of mankind, finally united with that of creation, raised in a desperate bid for liberty from the bondage in which it has wrapped itself. Nature is urging mankind to seek God and to finally learn His ways -- to mimic His compassion, to revere His forethought, and to accept His boundless love.

 

Redemption's cry cannot tolerate pregnancy much longer. It must give birth. It is stretching, heaving, convulsing because its time has finally come. Jesus, in Luke 21:28, having warned men of the desolation and signs preceding His imminent return, says this, "Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near." And how do we know that it draws near? Because the fig tree, and all the trees are already budding! So also, when we see these things happening, we know that the kingdom of God is near (Luke 21:29-31).

 

 

I want redemption's cry to be in my heart, to wrack my soul with its desperate longing for life, to birth me and the whole world into the hour for which creation so eagerly waits -- the revealing of the sons of God, deliverance from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God (Romans 8:19-23). And with the Apostle Paul I say, "that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us" (Romans 8:18). In that day, redemption will finally possess what it has spent itself to gain.

 

Redemption's cry is Jesus' cry, echoing in the heart of every man -- sometimes tolling loudly like a bell that demands attention, sometimes crossing, like a whisper, through the landscape of men's conscience. But always it is there because we were born in the image of the One who lived and breathed, wept and bled that cry for those who are His own -- that we should inherit what He alone could give -- eternal life.

 

Born again in every heart that loves God, redemption's cry also weeps its tears and sings its songs in me. Until that which is perfect has come and that which is in part is done away, redemption's cry is my love song.