The Creation Groans!

 Genesis 1:26-28 & Romans 8:19-23

Wednesday this week was World Earth Day. Today we are reflecting as a congregation on the groaning of creation. In Paul’s letter to the Romans there is a clear connection made between the state of the creation and the anticipated renewal of all things in and through Jesus Christ.

The environmental issues of our day are complex. They are different to Paul’s time. But, from the beginning of the scriptures, God gave human beings a special role in the care of the creation. And, Jesus is recognised as the first born of the new creation. So, the rising of Jesus on Easter Day is not simply about human beings but the renewal of all things.

 These ideas challenge the individualistic approach that we have developed in our relationship with God. In ancient times the story of the prophets, from within Israel, and people like Ruth and Job, who were not Israelites, declared difficult truths. They called whole people of God back to God’s purposes again, and again, and again.

 There is hope for us inasmuch as despite the disconnection that people have with God, the book of Lamentations reminds us, “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”

The daily need for God’s constant mercies and steadfast love is understood by most of us. We generally do admit that none of us is perfect. But we also participate in networks of sinfulness that cause harm to others and the creation without even thinking about it.

If we ask ourselves, ‘How is that whole dominion thing working out?’ The answer is not so good.

Earlier in Paul’s letter, in Chapter 3, Paul challenges the people in Rome to wake up from sleep. This morning I am going to share a reflection about us waking up to the responsibility that we have, to live caring for the creation. This reflection contains a litany of information. I have provided links and details for you of the many references I will include. 

As I share this message we will all be challenged by the prophetic voices from our faith and culture and the call to respond to God’s vision of the renewal of all things.

The clock alarm rings “wake up” it screams.

 It is 1967 the Vietnam War continues as protests opposing the war grow. The Summer of Love and the hippie movement is in full swing. There is a fundamental question about whether there is there a better way to live. There is a six-day war in the Middle East. Meanwhile in Australian are voting to approve changes to include Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the census.

In March, in the Journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Lynne White Jnr publishes an article called The Historical Roots of our Ecological Crisis Whyte tells us that “in its Western form Christianity is the most anthropocentric religion the world has seen.” P 1205 The notion of dominance in Genesis is cited as part of the problem and Whyte says, “we shall continue to have a worsening ecological crisis until we reject the Christian axiom that nature has no reason for existence save to serve man.” P.1207

Our hope is that Jesus is renewing all things.

We can only pray that God’s mercies are new every morning.

The alarm clock rings “wake up” it screams.

It is 1977. Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind are released. A memo is sent to Jimmy Carter, the American President, from his Chief Science Advisor, Frank Press. It speaks about something that is not a new issue but an important one. The issue is the amount of CO2 (Carbon dioxide) in the atmosphere. In 1977, Frank Press postulates:

“The urgency of the problem derives from our inability to shift rapidly to non-fossil fuel sources once the climatic effects become evident not long after the year 2000; the situation could grow out of control before alternate energy sources and other remedial actions become effective.”

Meanwhile in Australia the Uniting Church in Australia launches with a Statement to the Nation in which we declare, “We are concerned with the basic human rights of future generations and will urge the wise use of energy, the protection of the environment and the replenishment of the earth's resources for their use and enjoyment.”

Our hope is that Jesus is renewing all things.

I can only pray that God’s mercies are new every morning.

The alarm clock rings “wake up” it screams.

It is 1992 and there is hope in the world. Apartheid is ending in South Africa. A few years earlier in 1989 the Berlin Wall fell, whilst in 1991 the Soviet Union was dissolved under the leadership of Mikhail Gorbachev. The political philosopher Francis Fukuyama writes his seminal work The End of History and the Last Man. It claims, “the endpoint of mankind's (sic) ideological evolution and the universalization of Western liberal democracy as the final form of human government."^[1]

In Brazil, The UN Conference on Environment and Development meets. It approves the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. It opens with the words “Acknowledging that change in the Earth’s climate and its adverse effects are a common concern of humankind.” In the same year the environmentalists Peter Knutsdom and David Suzuki publish their book Wisdom of the Elders seeking to draw on ancient cultures for a different understanding of our relationship with the creation.

Our hope is that Jesus is renewing all things.

We can only pray that God’s mercies are new every morning.

The alarm clock rings “wake up” it screams.

It is 1997 and scientists have been able to clone Dolly the Sheep, Hong Kong is ceded to the Chinese government, and Princess Diana dies in a tragic accident. Captain Charles Moore discovers the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. This is a massive,1.6-million-square-kilometer convergence zone of marine debris in the North Pacific Ocean, located between California and Hawaii. 

In December the UN Convention on Climate Change is operationalised in the Kyoto Protocol. It commits industrialized countries and economies in transition to limit and reduce greenhouse gases emissions in accordance with agreed individual targets.

Our hope is that Jesus is renewing all things.

We can only pray that God’s mercies are new every morning.

The alarm clock rings “wake up” it screams.

It is the year 2000. The Y2K crisis was averted or was never really a problem. Australia has not signed up to the Kyoto protocols. Syndey Hosts the Olympics and the GST is introduced in Australia.

Meanwhile the atmospheric chemist Paul J. Crutzen and his colleague and biologist Eugene F. Stoermer, publish a two-page article in the Global Change Newsletter. The title of the article is “The Anthropocene”. Crutzen and Stoermer argue that we are no longer living in the geological era called the Holocene but are in an era in which humanity is shaping the geological future of the planet, the Anthropocene.

Our hope is that Jesus is renewing all things.

We can only pray that God’s mercies are new every morning.

The alarm clock rings “wake up” it screams.

It is 2007 and despite the Howard’s government’s refusal to sign the Kyoto Agreement the Queensland Government published Climate Smart 2005. In 2005 it declared, “The available scientific evidence overwhelmingly indicates that climate change is happening and is a serious global threat that demands an urgent response. The possible impacts are significant for Queensland’s environment, economy and communities.” Maybe they had read Tim Flannery’s book The Weather Makers published in the same year.

 

In 2006 the former US Vice President Al Gore releases his movie An Inconvenient Truth. In Australia, The Uniting Church releases a statement entitled Forthe Sake of the Planet. It declares, “The Uniting Church’s commitment to the environment arises out of the Christian belief that God, as the Creator of the universe, calls us into a special relationship with the creation – a relationship of mutuality and interdependence which seeks the reconciliation of all creation with God.”

During his 2007 campaign to become Prime Minister Kevin Rudd famously makes this statement. That “Climate Change ... “is the one of the greatest scientific, economic, and moral challenges of our time.

And it is scientists who have been the town criers of the modern age - warning us, for decades, of the impending danger of global warming.”

Rudd becomes our Prime Minister and commissions the economist Ross Garnaut to prepare his Report. It comes out the following year and accurately predicts the devasting fires of 2019 and 2020. In January of 2020, The Australian Academy of Science issue a statement confirming that the devastating fires were a result of climate change.

In 2008, the same year that the Garnaut report was released the Wivenhoe Dam levels bottomed out at 15% after sustained drought.

Across the other side of the world the Polish-British philosopher Zygmunt Bauman asked in the title of his book Does Ethics have a Chance in a World of Consumers?

Our hope is that Jesus is renewing all things.

We can only pray that God’s mercies are new every morning.

The alarm clock rings “wake up” it screams.

It is 2013 and the warning signs continue to grow and the prophecies and predictions abound. A visiting minister from the church in Kiribati asks of the Moreton Rivers Presbytery whether we think Australia will accept the entire population of Kiribati when it becomes uninhabitable due to the sea level rises. We don’t know built we do know Australia has had strong border policies.

The Australian ethicist Clive Hamiton had published his book Requiem for a Species in 2010. Hamilton laments the failure of humanity to respond to the climate crisis. Another Australian Clive, Clive Ayers, a retired Uniting Church Minister is in the middle of his PhD, which will be published a book called Earth, Faith, and Mission in 2013. He argues caring for the earth is not an optional extra but is fundamental to Christian mission.

Meanwhile for those who are watching closely the first daily record is logged with a reading of over 400 parts per million of Co2 in the atmosphere. It occurs on May 9^th 2013 in Hawaii on Mauna Loa.   

With so many prophetic voices calling out attention to the plight of the planet it is little wonder we feel tired.

Our hope is that Jesus is renewing all things.

We can only pray that God’s mercies are new every morning.

The alarm clock rings “wake up” it screams.

It is 2015. Pope Francis writes his encyclical Laudito Si’ which means “Praise be to you”. The Pope wrote “In the words of this beautiful canticle, Saint Francis of Assisi reminds us that our common home is like a sister with whom we share our life and a beautiful mother who opens her arms to embrace us.”

He goes to say, “This sister now cries out to us because of the harm we have inflicted on her by our irresponsible use and abuse of the goods with which God has endowed her. We have come to see ourselves as her lords and masters, entitled to plunder her at will … This is why the earth herself, burdened and laid waste, is among the most abandoned and maltreated of our poor; she “groans in travail” (Rom 8:22).”

Pope Francis is right the creation groans. The Paris Climate Agreement is signed, and more commitments are made to respond to the crisis.

Our hope is that Jesus is renewing all things.

We can only pray that God’s mercies are new every morning.

The alarm clock rings “wake up” it screams.

It is 2026. Earth Day has just passed us by and world overshoot Day looms on July 24^th. World Overshoot Day is the day we will have used the worlds resources allocated for this year. After July 24^th we will be borrowing from future years. Australia passed our overshoot Day on March 16. There is war in the Middle East, in Sudan and in Ukraine.

In the last IPCC report we were told that the earth is already 1.1 degrees above the 1850-1900 levels whilst CO2 levels now sit daily over 400 parts per million. I’m no scientist but they say when we hit 450 parts per million things will get much worse.

Our hope is that Jesus is renewing all things.

We can only pray that God’s mercies are new every morning.

The alarm clock rings “wake up” it screams.

We are not alone in this world. Jesus has risen. He is with us, the firstborn of the new creation.

The Australia Christian songwriter Geoff Bullock reminds us that we are not alone.

“We do not worship Jesus as a historical figure who inspires us to live better lives. Jesus is eternally alive. He is not remembered for Who He was, He is recognised for who he is … Jesus is more present with me, within me, and me within Him than the disciples ever encountered.”

As people of faith seeking to be lifelong followers of Christ we find our belonging in this world alongside all other creatures. We acknowledge that we are the first born of a new creation. A new creation that we are to continue to care for as we lean into our hope in God’s love.

For as Ashtyn Adams remind us. “Hope is a freedom from crippling fear, from the lie that nothing can be done; it will be the God-given tool to liberate us from the paralysis the climate crisis can often make us feel. Hope, in its truest form, unveils the problem and lets us confront it with confidence. It is always first engaged in a sort of radical naming and truth telling of the way things are, but does not leave us there to be swallowed by it.”

Let us take hope in these words. Let uss remember.
 

Jesus is renewing all things.

God’s mercies are new every morning.

 

 

Easter Day: Foolishness and Hope

Matthew 28:1-10

There is an old tradition that comes to us from medieval times captured by a little
object in my bag. 

This hat acknowledges a tradition in which the Fool, sometimes called a Jester or a Wit, often had freedom to speak truth to power. It captures the foolishness of the Christian message of hope in the face of a troubled world.

In Christianity there is a tradition of people who are recognized as holy fools. These people were considered bizarre and strange, obscene even in their witness, as they sought to follow Jesus. Today it would seem foolish to speak hope in the face of such hopelessness in the world.

When the women went to anoint Jesus’s body the word of both the angels and of Jesus to these terrified and confused women may have been as perplexing to them. 

“Do not be afraid”.

Do not be afraid in a world ruled by Romans.

Do not be afraid when they had the power to put anyone to death.

Do not be afraid in the face of earthquakes and miracles.

The women would have gone to the tomb to anoint Jesus body. They would have been overcome by despair and grief and hopelessness.

Do not be afraid. These were words of reassurance meant to give hope in the face of all that life can throw at us. They seem like foolishness.

I wonder what it is that causes you to be here this morning.

What hope you are looking for? As a congregtaion we have a vision of coming to worship with a sense of joy and expectation.

And what hopelessness are you feeling about life in the world today?

There is war in the Middle East and in Ukraine.

Lives are being lost.

The precious finite resources of our planet

Are being consumed by those

Who lust for and compete for power.

 

Oil prices are being driven up.

The economic balance of every nation

Seems to be on a precipice.

We are in a cost of living crisis.

House are unaffordable and in short supply.

 

The climate is changing.

Weather events are becoming more severe.

The oceans are rising.

People are being displaced.

 

Ecosystems are being destroyed. 

Species are dying out.

The oceans are polluted.

Clean water is scarcer than we may think.

And food security is a major issue.

 

Misogyny is on the rise.

Domestic violence lurks in the shadows.

Racism and xenophobia is one of our most pressing issues.

 

Generative AI is rapidly changing the world.

We no longer can be sure of what is true.

Our biases are being fed and amplified.

AI is draining our resources.

And the future of employment is insecure.

 

It is not surprising that young people fear for their future.

Nothing has meaning, nothing matters.

Nihilism is rife.

In the face of this doom and gloom comes the Easter message. 

Do not be afraid? He is not here, he has risen.

How can we make sense of hope this Easter?

How can we even speak of hope with so many problems in the world?

The open mouth of the tomb might as much resemble a cry of horror as much as it shouts with joy at the risen Lord.

Having faith in God and this story may sound foolish when even the gospels cannot agree upon how the events unfolded that morning.

So as foolish as it might sound, I want you to hear these words spoken for you, “Do not be afraid?” And I want to explore ways in which we might develop a deeper sense of hopefulness.

Let us dig into this idea of hope. Krista Tippet in her OnBeing Podcast series on hope says, “The word “hope” is a little bit ruined from overuse and from flimsy, superficial use.”

As I thought about this I was reminded of the difference between SMART Goals and BHAGs. SMART goals are specific measurable achievable realistic & timely whilst BHAGs are Big Hairy Audacious Goals. I think an Easter hope is more like a BHAG.

When Paul speaks about hope I think he  Paul spoke about.

For in hope we were saved.

Now hope that is seen is not hope.

For who hopes for what is seen?

But if we hope for what we do not see,

We wait for it with patience. (Romans 8:24)

This is a big hope not a domesticated hope. And waiting with patience in hope should not be thought of as a passive thing. I think it can involve what Christa Tippet calls developing a muscular hope. A hope that looks into the face of everything happening in our lives and in our world and continues to find hope. Hope in the possibility that there is something more, that we can hope in things unseen.

When the angels said to the women “Do not be afraid” the women were invited to begin a journey of learning to hope again. There was a gap between their expectation of finding Jesus body and what they encountered. Learning hope means being open to the unexpected possibilities of the miraculous. Learning to hope means listening deeply, reflecting and sharing with one another. It is about developing hope is a discipline of both the heart and mind which perseveres through the suffering, building character, and developing hope.

When Jesus appears to the women they discern his presence. Discerning hope is found in people who seek to seek to find God’s presence and peace in the world. One of my mentors Archbishop Michael Putney used to speak about when peace breaks out. Ross Gay, the poet, encourages people to look for delight in the world. Emily Dickinson is quoted as saying that “hope inspires the good to reveal itself”. As people of faith looking for the moments where we see peace break out, or we discern that there are things to delight in, helps us to strengthen our hope muscle and see the good in the world. Seeing the world with the eyes of our heart and so see signs that the kingdom of heaven has come close.

It is somewhat surprising, innovating even, that in all the gospels it was women who were the first witnesses of the resurrection. This was a daring choice that gave women a central place in the Christian story from the beginning. Sadly, something that has not always been apparent in the church. Seeing things from a different perspective is built into the Christian story. Innovating hope is about using our prophetic imagination refusing to accept the world as it is and instead seeing it as God intended it to be.

The theologian Tom Wright reflects on Christian hope in this way. He says,  “To hope for a better future in this world - for the poor, the sick, the lonely and depressed, for the slaves, the refugees, the hungry and homeless, for the abused, the paranoid, the downtrodden and despairing, and, in fact, for the whole wide, wonderful, and wounder world - is not something else, something extra, something tacked on to the gospel as an afterthought … It is central, essential, vital, and life-giving part of it.” (Surprised by Hope by Tom Wright)

Imagining a better world does not mean turning away from the predicament of this world. Hope is also about serving. The women turned their lamenting into loving action as an act of courageous hope. As we look at the suffering in the world we are called to have a courageous hope, to choose bravely, to roll our sleeves up and to engage in goodness and kindness which makes the world a better place. The prophet Isaiah called the people to "Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow." (Isaiah 1:17) Hope is about actively becoming light to the world.

This brings me to the last of the reflections on building our hope muscle. The women are told to go and share their news with the disciples. They were sent back into the community of belonging. To be involved in a community of belonging hope means risking the intimacy of relationships with others who are not like us.  In a world that is crying out in hope for a sense of community and belonging the church continues to exist as a place of belonging, even in brokenness, for churches are far from perfect places. We are drawn together into one body through baptism and as we share bread and wine.

Growing as lifelong disciples of Christ means growing in our hope even though we may feel as if it is still Friday afternoon or Holy Saturday. Here these words of hope. Do not be afraid. He is not here. He has risen. Take a few moments to think about how you can develop a muscular hope based in Jesus’s resurrection to find hope in things unseen amid the troubles within your life and in the world.

• Learning hope means being open to unexpected miracles.
• Discerning hope is about finding God’s presence and peace through others.
• Innovating hope involves using our creativity and imagination.
• Turning lamenting into loving action shows courageous hope
• A community of belonging hope requires taking risks in relationships with people who are different from us.