(A sermon preached in Newport Minster, 8th Feb 2026)
For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God. (Rom 8:19)
When was the last time you stood on tiptoe for anything? I don’t mean ‘when did you last reach up on tiptoe to get down a dish from the kitchen cupboard or a book from a high shelf?’ That’s not very interesting. I mean, when did you stand on tiptoe to see something in excited anticipation? I would guess a long time ago. I remember aged 12 standing on tiptoe on the terraces of Stamford Bridge football ground to see my team at the time- Chelsea- , and my favourite players Peter Osgood, Charlie Cooke, Peter Bonetti – run out of the tunnel onto the pitch. (Remember- there were no screens back then.) Then, 25 years later, 42 years ago, at Wembley Stadium, standing on tiptoe on a warm July evening with Sarah, my wife-to-be, as my musical hero, now as then, Bob Dylan, came on stage. It was the first time I’d seen him and I was excited at this tiny figure in black 200 yards away. (Again, no screens).
Why am I telling you this? Because there’s a phrase in our first reading from Paul’s Letter to the Romans chapter 8 which talks about ‘standing on tiptoe.’ Only you won’t find it in the text. The eminent NT scholar, Tom Wright- no relative, but he did teach me Greek at university- , who wrote a whole book on this one chapter, says that the phrase ‘waits with eager longing’ should be translated from the Greek ‘the creation itself is on tiptoe with expectation, eagerly awaiting the moment when God’s children will be revealed,’ What a strange idea! The whole creation – the land and sea, plants and animals, planets and stars – is standing on tiptoe on the terraces or auditorium of life to see, not a sportsman or musician but God’s children appear on the stage or pitch.
Paul goes on to say, ‘the creation was subjected to futility.’ To understand this we need to think of the Garden of Eden in Gen 2. According to that story, when the first humans appeared- symbolic creatures Adam (son of the earth) and Eve (mother of all living), we were made as gardeners to look after the world, with all its animals and plants, which gave them everything they needed. Human beings were at one with creation. But then they disobeyed God, giving in to the snake’s temptation to eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, and banished from the garden, at odds with each other, becoming enemies with wild animals and struggling to scratch a living from the hot, dry earth. For inhabitants of the Middle East countryside, this must have been a daily reality.
Yet, Paul tells us, Jesus came as the ‘second Adam’ , to get us back to the garden and ‘obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God’. Tom Wright interprets this word glory as ‘the …presence of God himself dwelling within us by his spirit and the wise, healing, reconciling rule of God’s people over the whole creation.’ That’s interesting. I’ve heard a lot of sermons and testimonies about the importance of transformed by God and being filled by the Holy Spirit, giving us new birth, and a change in our lives,(stopping drinking and swearing) and leading us to an assurance of a place in heaven. I’ve heard very few about the Holy Spirit leading human beings to become more responsible stewards and carers for the non-human creation. Yet Paul is saying this is what the whole creation is on tiptoe to see- to catch the first glimpse of human beings becoming the children of God they were made to be.
In this, of course, we have the greatest of role models, the Lord Jesus Christ. When Jesus was trying to teach people about trusting in God and not worrying, who did he point to? Great saints from Jewish past or present? No- ‘look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.’ Or ‘look at the flowers of the field, they neither toil nor spin, yet your heavenly Father clothes them.’ So, would Jesus care if some of those species He was pointing to were now extinct? I think he would.
We have another good role model, I believe. The Minster is a royal foundation, chosen- for example- as one of a few to host the Princess of Wales’ service just before Christmas. On Friday I also really enjoyed watching His Majesty the King in his first film ‘Finding harmony: a King’s Vision’ . I am old enough to remember the press reaction to Prince Charles in the 70s and 80s as an (at best) eccentric philosopher who likds to ‘talks to plants’ . Well today we can also see the vindication of the King’s words 40 years later. The theme of this film is what I have been highlighting from the letter to the Romans and the Gospels: our closeness to the suffering creation and our need to get back to the Garden. ‘We are part of creation,’ says the King, not ‘apart from it.’ I recommend it to all.
The natural world is in a bad way, as this film highlights St Paul compares it to ‘groaning in labour pains’. Yet, continuing the theme of labour, he also speaks about waiting in hope. Not for him, the gloom and doom that seems to mark the attitude of many who highlight the needs of the natural world. He speaks of creation being ‘set free from the bondage to decay to obtain the glory of the children of God.’
Yet can we see those children of hope as we stand on tiptoe to look for them? And could we be one of them? On Tues & Weds 17-18th February this church will be receiving the Coat of Hopes. The Coat of Hopes, which started its life in the buildup to COP 26 in Glasgow in 2021, is a patchwork coat on an ongoing walking pilgrimage through the UK with the purpose of highlighting the climate and ecological emergency. It has been made by and worn and walked by many hundreds of people on a journey on foot of over 1900 miles so far. It carries people’s hopes for the places they live, sewn into the blanket patches of which it is made. It now comes to the Isle Wight for 5 weeks , of which two days will be here.
Do come and see it, read the hopes inscribed and sewn into it, and ask yourself, ‘what can I do to become the child of hope God has intended us to be, and for which all creation is on tiptoe to see? Secondly, what would that mean if I did become such a child? This is not about being an eco-warrior, but a responsible steward. I would have been very disappointed if my sporting and musical heroes had not showed up on stage or pitch all those years ago. Will we show up for the creation that waits for us?
Hugh's Views 