Readings: Deuteronomy 8: 7-10 Genesis 1: 27-31
Who? By Tui Bevin
Who among us cannot say:
I drove
even though there was a bus?
I used takeaway cups and disposable nappies
even though
I had alternatives?
I kept doing what I’ve always done
because everybody else did?
Who among us can say:
I did my best
even though it was difficult?
I did without
even though it put me out?
I did my bit
even though many may not?
Who among us will:
be another one to
make the harder choices?
be another one to
stand up for future generations?
be another one to
be a voice for the earth?
Who?
We pray: May the words of my mouth and the meditations
of our hearts be acceptable in your sight O God, our rock and our
sustainer. Amen.
Last Sunday we
gathered in Opoho to worship God and chose to focus on the gnarly issue of care
for our environment – and it was wonderful that some of you from Knox joined
with us - really special. Our service
then, like today, concentrated on the issue of climate change and our response
to it. Matthew preached a magnificent
sermon, we sang some of the wonderful hymns we are singing today, our liturgy
spoke of the challenges we face and the answers God gives us which we have yet
to grasp –all of the service confronted us with our lack of respect and valuing
for the world God created and entrusted to our care.
In the
afternoon, we again sat in the church – a seminar this time with a mixed bunch
of people from all walks of life, some with particular expertise, others with agendas,
some hoping for answers, everyone looking for a way of responding to the
climate catastrophes that are finally, finally making themselves heard across
the nation and over the world and, dare I say it, in the church.
I’ve had some
time since then to absorb, to ponder and reflect on what was said on the day - and
to hold conversations with people, mainly those outside the church, who are
excited that we, the church, are finally doing something. Most of these people that I talked to don’t
actually think the church has much of a voice on the important issues like
climate change – and they want to help us fix that. They see where the church could be so
effective and such a vehicle for change and want to encourage us to be part of
the solution, to work with us and alongside us.
Now I didn’t see that coming - that was an unexpected perspective for me? And heart warming. But the question did arise - when did we get
to be so far behind the ball game that others can see our possibilities better
than we can? Where did we lose our connection
with the huge issues of the world – and where has gone our passion to heal and
make whole the brokenness of the world?
I am aware that
I am speaking in Christchurch, in a city that full well knows the brokenness
and hurt of disaster striking. The energy,
the compassion, the healing that is needed in this place has been immense and
continues to be so. And I give thanks to
God for your faith and your love and your serving in the face of such pain.
But I wonder,
as a now Dunedinite, and as a north Cantabrian before the earthquakes, just how
close, how immediate the disaster needs to be before I actually take note? Because I think that I have failed – failed
to recognise the scale of this climate change disaster because it hasn’t
immediately impacted my life in my small corner of the world. I have heard the words of concern in the
church – but more as an exercise in compassion than with any real understanding
of the agony of the earth and my place in its restoration. But now I am
beginning to take note. And so I ask
today – is the church also beginning to take note?
So I am going
to move from the personal to the community of faith that we are part of – and
ask all of us - where are the voices for the earth in the church? Have we forgotten our first charge to protect
the earth as God calls us to do?
The readings chosen for today leave us in no doubt of God’s delight in
creation and of our charge to care for it and nourish it. That God abundantly provided for us was clear
– that we can eat our fill and bless the Lord our God for the good land that is
given us is true – for some of us. Yet we, as a people of faith, have a
commission: to cherish and nurture, build up and protect, share and grow. To provide for future generations and make
decisions that respect God’s good creation for its own sake. Not sure we have
got that sorted really. Maybe we have
let that little phrase ‘dominion over the earth’ become a permission to use and
abuse and subjugate to our purpose! It feels that way sometimes for sure. We
have to take responsibility. These words
from the campaigning group Earth First resonate for me– 'The earth is dying, it is being murdered and the people murdering it
have names and addresses!' Harsh
– but a wake-up call none the less.
Let us just
look at this country of Aotearoa – underpopulated (by world standards),
fertile, with a variety of climates and rich flora and fauna. A perfect Eden
for those early settlers, tangata whenua and European. Yet now our waters no
longer run clear, pollutants fill the sea, our skies are choked and our earth
has no chance to rest. God weeps at our
abuse of the creation entrusted to our care - in Aotearoa. And when we lift our
eyes from our own little corner and see the pain of the whole earth – we need
to do something! The whole world, and
most desperately the vulnerable people in it, are already paying the price of
not just our exploitation but also neglect and disregard – our ‘uncaring’ for
creation. We, the church, the people who heed the word of God, are desperately needed to be voices for the
earth!
Yet let us be
real about this – part of the inertia is around the sheer scale of the issue –
even when the urgency finally hits, the ‘how’ becomes overwhelming. It is understandable that we hunker down,
hope that God has some miracle waiting in the wings. Well so God does! He tangata, he tangata, he
tangata. It is the people, the people,
the people.’ You and me! We are the
answer.
So I want to
turn to the Easter story – the story that changed the face of the world as we
know it –and more specifically the way in which the people responded to the
dire events of those few days – and see if we can find some hope and purpose
that helps us now.
The people who
had followed Jesus were faced with an absolute catastrophe – Jesus had been
betrayed by the very people one might have expected to welcome him, he had
failed to make a difference in the way his followers expected and had been
disgustingly and uncaringly hung on a cross by those whom he had come in love
for. There is some resonance with our
treatment of the earth is there not? Betrayal
of the land, lack of understanding and living to God’s vision, creation hung
out to dry!
We remember the
way the people of the way responded.
They locked themselves in rooms, turned inwards, walked away, gave up –
immobilised by despair. And they didn’t
believe it when the dead Jesus appeared to them again, when he spoke to the
women, walked on the road with them, came into the room with them and said
‘peace be with you’. It was too hard to
imagine, too much to understand or see what it meant. It took time for the news of Christ-with-us
to penetrate, for people to be convinced, for the hope to take hold. But when it did – the absolute belief that in
the risen Christ the world could be turned upside down, love could triumph over
death, justice was not just possible but demanded – when it did we have the fire
that filled the bellies and set the hearts alight to transform the world and
reconcile us to God and each other. What
a vision!
You see in the
end, the people who followed Jesus, who saw him crucified, who had a hand in
his death, who turned away in despair - in the end they got it! They recovered their belief that, in Christ,
all things are possible and that the morass they, and we, find ourselves in now
had an answer –if we would but trust in the power of God to love us and to
change the world through us then amazing things can happen.
Our words, our
actions, our tears and our voice can change the direction this world is taking
– but we have to exercise them! Can we
do that – can we move out of the Easter Saturday doldrums, work our way through
the kernel of hope that grew slowly out of the empty tomb and erupt with the
conviction and energy of the Pentecost presence to change the disaster that is
killing this beautiful creation we call our world?
I finish with
this prayer:
Creating God, you have given us a vision of a
new heaven and a new earth....
Resources conserved
Earth Tended
Atmosphere cleansed
Trees planted
Injustice ended
Oceans teeming
Nations at peace.
Creator, Redeemer, Sustainer
Alert nations, enthuse churches,
Receive our commitment and so entwine our live
with your purpose
Earth and heaven will then sing of your glory.
Amen
Margaret Garland
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