“Care for the Earth”
Jenni Berg 29/09/2024
Surrounded as we are with constant devastating news about climate change, biodiversity loss and the ever-growing mountains of pollution, it is easy to fall into despair. And yet as people of faith, we have hope - the confidence in what we hope for and the assurance of what we do not yet see (cf. Hebrews 11:1). In the words of Archbishop Tutu “Hope is being able to see that there is light - despite all the darkness.” As faith without action is dead (James 2:26) - so hope without action is meaningless and, in this service, we acknowledge and lament our sense of despair, cling to our faith and hope, and commit ourselves to act with Creation for the renewal of life. Today is the last Sunday of the ecumenical Season of Creation, a season of prayer and action for our common home that takes place every year from September 1 to October 4. The theme for the Season of Creation this year is “To hope and act with Creation”, and the symbol is “The first fruits of hope”, inspired by Romans 8:19-25.
Christians across the world will celebrate this Season, an annual invitation to pray and reflect on our shared call to care for the earth - our common home and the blessed, beloved creation of God.
Caring for our common home is not just an environmentalist or government expert area, but a more holistic, integral, human, spiritual vision, as well as a matter of ecology. Through prayer, practical advocacy, and sustainable actions, this 2024 Season of Creation can prophetically renew our ecumenical unity and care for our common home.
Today I’m going to use a Bible Study provided by Common Grace as an outline, with a few alterations.
Reading 1:
God spoke: “Let us make human beings in our image,
make them reflecting our nature
so they can be responsible for the fish in the sea,
the birds in the air, the cattle, and, yes, Earth itself,
and every animal that moves on the face of Earth.”
God created human beings; God created them godlike, reflecting God’s nature...
God blessed them:
“Prosper! Reproduce! Fill Earth! Take charge!
Be responsible for fish in the sea and birds in the air,
for every living thing that moves on the face of Earth.”
Genesis 1:26-28 (MSG)
Christians have often downplayed or ignored the first duty God gave to us, to care for creation.
How does the language of ‘being responsible for the earth’ differ from other ways you’ve heard this passage?
How do these words affect the way you think about being the image of God and the role of humans in creation?
Our duty to creation is not only mentioned in Genesis 1. There are many links between human faithfulness and caring for creation.
When we consider how we might care for creation, we must remember that we are part of it. One attitude has been that we are masters of creation, able to use the natural world to meet our own ends. God’s response to Job is a way of correcting this way of thinking
Reading 2:
Then the Lord spoke to Job out of the storm.
He said: “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?
Tell me if you understand.
Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know!
Who stretched a measuring line across it?
On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone—
while the morning stars sang together, and all the angels shouted for joy?
Who cuts a channel for the torrents of rain, and a path for the thunderstorm,
to water a land where no one lives, an uninhabited desert,
to satisfy a desolate wasteland and make it sprout with grass?
Does the rain have a father? Who fathers the drops of dew?
From whose womb comes the ice?
Who gives birth to the frost from the heavens when the waters become hard as stone,
when the surface of the deep is frozen?
Do you hunt the prey for the lioness and satisfy the hunger of the lions
when they crouch in their dens or lie in wait in a thicket?
Who provides food for the raven when its young cry out to God
and wander about for lack of food?
Job 38:1, 4-7, 25-30, 39-41 (NIV)
Does this passage change the way you think about creation? How should it impact the way we see ourselves in relationship to non-human creation?
Reading 3:
The earth dries up and withers, the world languishes and withers,
the heavens languish with the earth.
The earth is defiled by its people;
they have disobeyed the laws, violated the statutes and broken the everlasting covenant.
Therefore a curse consumes the earth; its people must bear their guilt.
The earth is broken up, the earth is split asunder, the earth is violently shaken.
The earth reels like a drunkard, it sways like a hut in the wind;
so heavy upon it is the guilt of its rebellion that it falls—never to rise again.
Isaiah 24:4-6b, 19-20 (NIV)
Throughout the Old Testament the prophets link the spiritual health of God’s people and the health of the land. This is often overlooked by readers like us in the modern West. Isaiah makes a striking link between the poor health of the earth and our breaking of the ‘everlasting covenant’.
Later you might write some words expressing your own longing for an end to the withering of creation.
Reading 4:
I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us.
For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God, for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its enslavement to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.
We know that the whole of creation has been groaning together as it suffers together the pains of labour, and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies.
For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope, for who hopes for what one already sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.
Romans 8:18-25 (NRSVUE)
Early Judaism developed the idea that the suffering of the faithful would summon God’s final deliverance. These were the “labour pangs” that would birth the age to come.
Had we the ears to hear, we would have learned from scripture, long ago, that our destiny is intrinsically tied to that of the created order (and vice versa).
Reading Genesis 1-3 we learn not only that we have a role to play on earth, mediating God’s rule to the world, but also that our failures have all-embracing implications: human relationships are marred and our relationship with the divine is set askew.
Here, in Romans 8 we see that God has not separated us from the earth. God continues to allow humanity to stand at the tipping point of the destiny of creation.
The biblical image here pictures the Earth as a Mother, groaning as in childbirth (Rom 8:22). Francis of Assisi understood this when he referred to the Earth as our sister and our mother in his Canticle of Creatures. The times we live in show that we are not relating to the Earth as a gift from our Creator, but rather as a resource to be used.
‘The earth herself, burdened and laid waste, is among the most abandoned and maltreated of our poor; she "groans in travail". We have forgotten that we ourselves are dust of earth. Our very bodies are made up of her elements, we breathe her air and we receive life and refreshment from her waters.’
(Laudato Si 2.)
And yet, there is hope and the expectation for a better future. To hope in a biblical context does not mean to stand still and quiet, but rather groaning, crying, and actively striving for new life amidst the struggles. Just as in childbirth, we go through a period of intense pain, but new life springs forth.
We often hope for the future in terms of our own personal redemption and healing. How might this passage allow us to have hope for the whole of creation?
What is something you hope for in our own part of the natural world?
Reading 5:
Fear not, Earth! Be glad and celebrate!
God has done great things.
Fear not, wild animals!
The fields and meadows are greening up.
The trees are bearing fruit again:
a bumper crop of fig trees and vines!
Children of Zion, celebrate!
Be glad in your God.
He’s giving you a teacher
to train you how to live right—
teaching, like rain out of heaven, showers of words
to refresh and nourish your soul, just as he used to do.
And plenty of food for your body—silos full of grain,
casks of wine and barrels of olive oil.
Joel 2 21-24 ((MSG)
The Bible presents us with images of what creation might look like when creation is restored. This can give us hope for the future.
This reading from Joel is a wonderful picture of a redeemed creation, and hints of the coming of a teacher who can show us how we can play our part.
Revelation also paints us a picture of all creatures praising God together in the new creation. Humans and animals together praising the God who kept all promises.
Reading 6:
Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, saying:
“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honour and glory and power, for ever and ever!”
Revelation 5:13 (NIV)
Perhaps the language of these passages does not align with our understanding of God who is the lifeforce of the universe, but we can see the utter inter-dependence we have with creation, and our responsibility to pay attention now to what is happening around us.
Let’s look at some contemporary readings.
Reading 7:
The spirituality of the Earth refers to a quality of the Earth itself, not a human spirituality with special reference to the planet Earth. Earth is the maternal principal out of which we are born and from which we derive all that we are and all that we have. Simply put, we are Earthlings. The Earth is our origin, our nourishment, our educator, our healer, our fulfilment. The human and the Earth are totally implicated in each other.
Thomas Berry
Thomas Berry was a Catholic priest who felt a need to respond to the growing climate crisis in the 70s. He called for a new spirituality, where we see ourselves as part of the earth, and not separate from it.
Reading 8:
The god of dirt
came up to me many times and said
so many wise and delectable things, I lay
on the grass listening
to his dog voice,
crow voice, frog voice; now,
he said, and now,
and never once mentioned forever.
Mary Oliver from ‘One or Two Things’
Diana Butler Bass in ‘Grounded’ reflects:
‘Did I ever believe God was in some far-off place called heaven? Or for that fact, was I ever spiritually satisfied worshipping God inside a building with four walls and no connection to the world outside? Over the decades, faith has increasingly taken me towards the soil, not away from it. To this garden, to the earth. And God is here. God the earth-maker, God the Gardener, God the Ground of Being.’
This year the Season of Creation encourages all Christians to act together by engaging in the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty (FFNPT). This is an initiative to help catalyse the phase out of fossil fuels while ensuring a just global transition for works, communities and countries. September 21st was the designated day of action but action also throughout the whole season. Perhaps you might like to google FFNPT to see more of what this is about.
Basically, climate change is one of the most pressing threats, as it negatively impacts the well-being of all peoples and ecosystems on Earth and is partly the result of "a model of development based on the intensive use of fossil fuels, which is at the heart of the worldwide energy system." (LS 23).
The scientific community has warned the global community of nations about this problem for the past three decades. The present situation has become critical for the future of humanity.
The Treaty must be a binding global plan based on these three pillars:
1. Stop the expansion of any new coal, oil, or natural gas production.
2. Phase out current fossil fuel production fairly and equitably, considering countries' respective dependence on fossil fuels and their transition capacity.
3. Ensure a just energy transition to 100% access to renewable energy worldwide, support dependent economies to diversify away from fossil fuels, and enable all people and communities, to prosper.
Our faith in creation tells us that God has endowed human beings with intelligence and love ( LS 83), which makes us the image and likeness of the Creator (Gen 1:27); therefore, our hope and confidence on the just response to the climate crisis is deeply rooted in science and the human capacity for compassion, which ensure equity among peoples and healing for the most vulnerable on this earth, the poor and other creatures. (L S)
The window of opportunity to act is short, so we need to unite our efforts and call for a global treaty to phase out fossil fuels early and gradually and support a just energy transition driven by clean energy and a comprehensive and sustainable development future for all.
I’ll finish up with a quote from Edwina Gately - a poet, theologian, artist, writer, lay minister, and a modern day mystic and prophet:
‘Our task is enormous- to look at all that has gone before us, and to recognize that each one of us, however small, has a unique task in co-creation- a unique contribution to make in the world and to humanity.’