Sunday 6th September 2020 - Repenting for Creation

Creator God, I pray that my words may be to your honour and Glory. Amen.

I’ve always been an avid reader of science fiction books, and recently, have been reading the Fifth Season. The story is set on a planet, like earth, which could be a far-future earth, with just one super-continent, called the stillness.

Which is anything but still, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and tsunami are frequent. They have four seasons, as we do, but occasionally, there is a fifth season, it can be caused by a volcano filling the air with ash and dust, by poisoned air causing crops to fail, by sea levels rising and so on.

The fifth season can last months, years or centuries. People plan to survive a season, but know that one day, they may not survive, and perhaps their race will end. A quote from the book is,

“Winter will come early, and hard, and it will last a long, long time. It will end, of course, like every winter does, and then the world will return to its old self. Eventually. Eventually.”

In our world, created by God, today, thanks to the build-up of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, since 1906, global surface temperatures have risen by 1-degree C. Sea levels have already risen by 18 cm since 1900 and the rate of sea level rises is increasing.

This is global warming which exceeds what we might have expected in a pattern of ice ages before the industrial revolution. For example, in 1910, there were 150 glaciers in Montana's Glacier National Park, now there are only 30.

Temperature rises at the poles are much higher, so that globally, glaciers, ice sheets and polar ice are melting and sea levels are expected to continue rising, and while studies don’t agree, estimates say that sea levels will rise by between 10 and 32 inches, and by the end of this century, in just 80 years, some think that a 6 foot sea level rise is possible.

Average rainfall across the globe has increased while drinking water will decline in availability as it becomes sea water. Wildfires will increase in frequency as variations in weather patterns increase, with more flooding and more droughts a result.

Now this sounds almost catastrophic, and perhaps it is, there is little point is thinking it’s all going to be okay when doing nothing may allow things to get worse. There is hope, but it needs prayer, support and a lot of work.

Today is the world day of prayer for the care of creation. This is an ecumenical matter, Pope Francis, Archbishop Justin and many other church leaders have called for this season of creation, or creation-tide to be marked and become a way for the world’s 2.2 billion Christians to pray and care for creation in unity. It runs annually from September 1^st to October 4^th

The Season of Creation unites the global Christian family around one shared purpose dedicated to God as Creator and Sustainer of all life.

While the season of creation is a relatively new initiative, being perhaps 4 or 5 years old, in the life of our world, it is ancient. Traditionally, we celebrate the Harvest at this time of year, and October the 4^th, the end of creation-tide, also commemorates St Francis of Assisi, who, of all the saints, is most associated with his love for all living things.

He lived in the eleventh century and his care for the natural world, combined with his simple, humble way of living, inspired Pope Francis to take his name.

There are many things we can do to care for creation, one of these is to simply talk about the environment, about creation, about the world where we live and the things we can do ourselves, like recycling, using less plastic and fewer fossil fuels.

We can also campaign and lobby people in power to make long term decisions which will help people a hundred years from now, and not just until the next election. Distractions like COVID and Brexit, have not delayed what is now being termed by most world leaders as a climate emergency.

Another action we can take is to commit as a local church community to taking long term action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.  

St Georges have begun this work and have an eco-church group exploring how to do more, and there will be some news in the notices about this. (and recently Bronze Eco Church Award based on our scores for energy use.)

Some may wonder why caring for the planet is of such concern to Christians, surely this isn’t crucial to our personal salvation.

But surely, part of our unity with each other and our unity with God, must be unity with the earth, and perhaps it doesn’t help that in Genesis chapter 1, humanity is described as ruling, having power and dominion over all God’s creatures.

And while we may have intellectual authority, we mustn’t forget that it is God who is truly, ruler of all, in Revelation chapter 4, all creatures declare, “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honour and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”

Or, in Psalm 24, "The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it."

And in our Gospel reading, Jesus demonstrated this divine power, when he calmed the storm, something his human companions couldn’t do.

So when we think about reconciliation with God, perhaps we also need to think about reconciliation with the with the earth itself. In reality, we are merely stewards of the earth and need to reclaim that calling to stewardship. We need to amend our lives and learn to live peaceably on the earth, honouring and safeguarding its equilibrium.

The idea of being a good steward is reflected in the New Testament, in Colossians 3:23, Paul says, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters,

And in Peter’s first letter, Peter says, “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.”

I’m not saying that Genesis was wrong, but three thousand years ago, there was no machinery and there were no toxic emissions. Dominion over nature was a matter of life over death.

By Jesus’ time, his followers could already see that a balance between controlling nature and living in harmony with it and all people, was important.

To finish I’m going to use a strong biblical word and call on us all to repent and as the church, to call on the world to repent. Repent means to turn around, to change our ways.

Many of us already see that our relationships with each other, and our relationships with the world are not as they are meant to be.

Last year, the climate strikes started by Greta Thunberg raised awareness of climate issues to a whole new level and while recent events have overtaken this, we must renew the message, repent, and tackle one the biggest issues which concerns young people today, and help them to take a lead in calling on the whole world to repent, to change it’s ways, to be wise stewards and to not be the dominant masters we were never meant to be.

Then perhaps we may have a chance of restoring the world to a place which will go on for many more millennia to come.

This is my hope and prayer, in the love and peace of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Preached St George, Cam (morning Eucharist) and St Cyr, Stinchcombe (Evensong)

Readings for Sunday 5^th September 2020 – Climate Sunday

Revelation 4

After this I looked, and there in heaven a door stood open! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.” At once I was in the spirit, and there in heaven stood a throne, with one seated on the throne! And the one seated there looks like jasper and carnelian, and around the throne is a rainbow that looks like an emerald. Around the throne are twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones are twenty-four elders, dressed in white robes, with golden crowns on their heads.

Coming from the throne are flashes of lightning, and rumblings and peals of thunder, and in front of the throne burn seven flaming torches, which are the seven spirits of God; and in front of the throne there is something like a sea of glass, like crystal. Around the throne, and on each side of the throne, are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind: the first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with a face like a human face, and the fourth living creature like a flying eagle. And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and inside. Day and night without ceasing they sing,

“Holy, holy, holy, the Lord God the Almighty, who was and is and is to come.”

And whenever the living creatures give glory and honour and thanks to the one who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall before the one who is seated on the throne and worship the one who lives forever and ever; they cast their crowns before the throne, singing, “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honour and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”

Matthew 8: 23-27

When Jesus got into the boat, his disciples followed him. A windstorm arose on the sea, so great that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep.

And they went and woke him up, saying, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!” And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, you of little faith?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a dead calm.

They were amazed, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him?” They were amazed, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him?”