God is in Control
Job 38:22-30
Have you entered the storehouses of the snow or seen the storehouses of the hail, which I reserve for times of trouble, for days of war and battle? What is the way to the place where the lightning is dispersed, or the place where the east winds are scattered over the earth? Who cuts a channel for the torrents of rain, and a path for the thunderstorm, to water a land where no man lives, a desert with no-one in it, 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?
Part of God's Response to Job: Job has spent that last 30 or so Chapters defending himself against his 'comforters'. He has said a number of times that he would like to question God about his suffering. Then he finally gets the opportunity. Our reading today is part of Gods response. God's response takes all of chapters 38 & 39.
Job's Response: We’re very small, alongside creation’s mysteries, and the God who controls them. Job’s reaction after his encounter with the creator God is to say: “I am unworthy— how can I reply to you? I put my hand over my mouth. I spoke once, but I have no answer— twice, but I will say no more.” (Job 40.4-5). Today we need to rediscover something of Job’s humility. This world is amazingly complex, and we are not its masters. We need to take great care in how we deal with creation.
God is creator and Sustainer of our Universe. What does this mean for climate change? Can we trust that God will avert a disaster?
God controls the Environment: Ultimately, however badly out of control things may seem on the earth, we are promised that God is in control. He is not only Creator – the one who made it all, but Sustainer – the one who keeps it going (Heb 1:3 " ...sustaining all things by his powerful word ...")… and so ‘sustainability’ – which everybody seems to be talking about today, is ultimately down to God.
Sin is the problem
Climate systems are for all creation, not just for people (v.25-27): We have a tendency to be self-centred, to think the world is simply there for us. Actually, it’s God’s world – including the oil, gas and coal, the forests, mountains and seas, and the Climate Systems too are not just for human benefit. Listen to Job 38:25-27 from The Message: “Who do you suppose carves canyons for the downpours of rain, and charts the route of thunderstorms that bring water to unvisited fields, deserts no one ever lays eyes on, drenching the ‘useless’ wastelands so they're carpeted with wildflowers and grass?”. God waters these areas, which may be useless to humanity, and gives them beauty and variety – because ultimately they are made not for us, but for Jesus – the One ‘by whom and for whom all things were made’ (Colossians 1.16).
In Hosea 4:1-3, the prophet laments how “There is no faithfulness, no love, no acknowledgement of God in the land. There is only cursing, lying and murder, stealing and adultery”. It is a fairly familiar list of human moral failure. What is surprising is what comes next, as a clear link is drawn between human sin and the whole eco-system being affected – “Because of this the land mourns, and all who live in it waste away; the beasts of the field and the birds of the air and the fish of the sea are dying.”
What we see here is that:
Human sin affects the climate and also how
Human behaviour causes suffering throughout creation. The bare fact is this: Climate Change is caused by sin. As humans fail to keep God’s ways, the whole creation is infected and damaged. Sometimes our failure is moral – Hosea mentions cursing, lying, murder, stealing and adultery; sometimes it is our failure to uphold justice for the poor; sometimes it is our failure to live within the limits God has put in our relationship with the rest of creation. All of these contribute to a breakdown in our relationship with God, that is reflected in a breakdown of natural systems – the skies are polluted and ‘the birds of the air’ die, forests disappear and deserts encroach killing ‘the beasts of the field’, and the oceans warm destroying ‘the fish of the sea’.
The most shocking thing is that the species causing all this destruction is the one which, right at the start, God had trusted with creation’s care:
Human beings are entrusted with creation’s care (Genesis 1.26-28 & Genesis 2.15)
Gen 1:26-28 Then God said, Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.
A word play associates the summons to "multiply" (rabah) and to "rule" (radah). Lowery reminds us that these metaphors arise out of early Israel's "highly localized subsistence-oriented household agriculture," in which the primary task was to conserve the fertility of the land for the next generation - not to plunder it for short-term gain. Yet because the early Israelites were eking out a living on marginal and drought-plagued land, this task often felt like a wrestling match with the elements. It is in this sense that we should interpret the phrase "fill the land and subdue it," which has fuelled modern theologies of domination
Gen 2:15: The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.
The very first command God gave to human beings was an environmental one – to rule over the fish, the birds, and the beasts as God’s deputy – his image – here on earth. We are entrusted with caring for this amazing, precious, diverse world … and we have, by and large, failed.
Gen 3:17b-19 Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.
After the fall creation is also spoilt ...
God says "Cursed is the ground because of you" – not "I have cursed the ground because of you". The ground is cursed as a result of the action of man, not out of some spiteful re-action from God. God has never promised to remove the consequences of Sin. Expectations are that the poor will suffer, as the areas worst affected are likely to be equatorial, and low-lying (below 1 metre above sea level).
That’s why an act of repentance is so important. Unless we admit to each other, to ourselves, and to God that we’ve failed – that we are the problem, we cannot hope to see things improve. Somebody once said, ‘It’s not so much that we have an environmental crisis. It’s more that the environment has a human crisis.’ It’s a problem that’s too big for us to solve alone. We need help.
Jesus and the Storm
The story of Jesus in the boat with his disciples on Lake Galilee is a very familiar one, and today it takes on a new relevance. Down the centuries, preachers have often interpreted it allegorically, talking of all the ‘storms of life’ we face, and how Jesus can be with us and help us. Today, faced with Climate Change, perhaps we need a more literal interpretation.
Jesus gives us hope amidst the Climate’s storms
Jesus calming the storm is more than anything else about Jesus as Lord over creation. Even the forces of nature respond when he speaks gently and firmly to them “Quiet! Be Still!” There is no force of nature beyond his control … because he is the one who shaped this world in the beginning, and has sustained it throughout history. If Jesus could calm the forces of nature; if Jesus through his life could show that it is possible to live well on the earth; if Jesus in his death on the cross and his resurrection could also defeat death and give humanity the chance of a new start, then it is surely Jesus who can give us hope today in a time of Climate Change?
Our Response
We need to turn to Jesus, in repentance, prayer, and obedient lifestyles
As we will see later on, there are lots of actions we can take in response to Climate Change. However, our first response must be to come to Jesus in humble repentance. The bible’s word for this is metanoia – a fundamental turn-around in attitudes, beliefs and lifestyles. Without repentance and a renewed relationship with God, we are likely to react to Climate Change with either despair or panic. However, if we have truly made a new start in our relationship with God, then that will flow out into every other area of our lives.
We are to be Jesus’ hands and feet in today’s world
There is a danger that, because God is Creator and Sustainer, we leave it all up to him. However, the bible is clear that Jesus expects his followers to carry on his work for him today. Christians have no excuse for sitting back and saying ‘God will sort it out’. Just as in the time of Noah, God chooses to use human beings to achieve his saving purposes. We are to be Jesus’ hands and feet in today’s world.
10 Things
As Gods people, what can we do that will make a practical difference?
John Stott has said, “Christians should be in the vanguard of those who are seeking to arrest Climate Change, and seeking also to protect habitats where wildlife lives.”
(Rev. Dr. John R. W. Stott, from video interview on A Rocha’s ‘Environment Sunday Pack: The Heat is On’)Turning your thermostat down by 1ºC could cut your heating bills by up to 10 per cent and save you around £40 per year. Is your water too hot? Your cylinder thermostat shouldn't need to be set higher than 60ºC/140ºF.
Close your curtains at dusk to stop heat escaping through the windows.
Always turn off the lights when you leave a room; don't leave appliances on standby and remember not to leave appliances on charge unnecessarily.
If you're not filling up the washing machine, tumble dryer or dishwasher, use the half-load or economy programme.
Only boil as much water as you need (but remember to cover the elements if you're using an electric kettle).
A dripping hot water tap wastes energy and in one week wastes enough hot water to fill half a bath, so fix leaking taps and make sure they're fully turned off!
Replace your light bulbs with energy saving ones: just one can reduce your lighting costs by up to £100 over the lifetime of the bulb.
Drive less, walk more
Ensure you car tyres are pumped up to the correct pressure
Do a home energy check. Just answer some simple questions about your home and get a free, impartial report telling you how you can save up to £300 a year on your energy bills. Visit www.est.org.uk for more details.
Matthew 10:16 I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.
Turning your thermostat down by 1ºC could cut your heating bills by up to 10 per cent and save you around £40 per year. Is your water too hot? Your cylinder thermostat shouldn't need to be set higher than 60ºC/140ºF.
But watch for it being too cold, follow the guidelines for temperature, rather than just turning the thermostat down, particularly if there a vulnerable people in the house. 21 Centigrade
Always turn off the lights when you leave a room. Don't leave appliances on standby and remember not to leave appliances on charge unnecessarily.
- But must be balanced against the need to constantly switch on and off. Some lights do not respond well to constant switching, and may suffer a radically shorter life.
Replace your light bulbs with energy saving ones: just one can reduce your lighting costs by up to £100 over the lifetime of the bulb.
| | Regular Bulb | Energy Saving Bulb |
| Energy Use (lifetime) |
|
|
| Manufacturing Energy use |
|
|
| Components |
|
|
| Glass |
| More, and more complex shapes |
| Filament | tungsten | tungsten |
| Glass coating |
| phosphor powder |
| Base | Metal, Ceramics | Metal, Ceramics, Plastics |
| Starter? |
| Complex electronics. PCB's etc |
| Filling - Gas | Argon (inert) | Argon and Mercury |
| Light produced | 15 lumens per watt | between 50 and 100 lumens per watt |
Drive less, walk more
There are health benefits here too. Again take care to make it reasonable.
Ensure you car tyres are pumped up to the correct pressure
Its the law! Its the safe option, you get better contact with the road this way.
Recycling
Sometimes recycling is reuse – like milk bottles. Other time the use the recycled material is put to is radically different, for example M&S make clothes from re-cycled plastic bottles. Much re-cycled glass goes into making road surfaces.
My sister bring her plastic bottles to us, when she comes to visit, as her council don't recycle plastic.
My personal favourite for recycling is Aluminium, because the extraction of aluminium from bauxite use a huge amount of energy.
A better way
To get bogged down with all the science, the advantages and disadvantages is impossible. No one of us can keep up with all the developments in all the many areas. So often we are asked to 'upgrade' to the latest and greatest energy saving device.
The reality is that we need to 'live lighter' - to take less from the environment in living out lives. We can only do this by asking ourselves what we NEED – which God has promised to provides against what we WANT – which God has not promised to provide. So ask God what you need for your life in this society, and don't take more from the environment even if you can afford it.
Encouragement
Sir John Theodore Houghton FRS CBE is the co-chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's (IPCC) working group.
Reading: A reading from Colossians Chapter 1, beginning at verse 15:
Christ is the image of the invisible God, the first born over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
I am often asked if I am optimistic for the future. I reply Yes for three reasons. First, as I chaired the UN’s scientific panel from 1988-2002, I experienced the commitment of the world’s scientists from a wide range of backgrounds to understanding climate change and tackling it responsibly. Secondly I know the necessary technology is available. Thirdly, I believe God is committed to his creation. The passage from Colossians we have just heard, tells us that in Jesus all things hold together. This commitment by God, means that we don’t have to work on our own. God is there to help us with it. In the Genesis creation story God walked with Adam in the garden in the late afternoon. I imagine they talked about the garden and how well Adam was coping with it. Jesus also talked to his disciples about the partnership that comes through his continued presence with us. I can personally pay tribute to the strength that God provides as people pray. There is a tremendous challenge to churches and to the Christian community to provide the leadership for which the world is waiting - in service, in sharing, in caring for the whole of His world.
References:
http://www.gregpope.co.uk/story.asp?storyID=106
http://en.arocha.org/ukconsunday/index3.html
http://en.arocha.org/ukconsunday/index4.html
http://www.creationcare.org/resources/sunday/sermon.php
http://en.arocha.org/ukconsunday/index6.html
http://cca.org.hk/resources/liturgy/misc/eco20602.htm
http://www.pcusa.org/environment/eds-sermonaids.htm
http://www.pcusa.org/environment/eds-sermonnotes.htm
http://www.united-church.ca/gathering/2005/sa/june5.shtm
http://members.aol.com/_ht_a/petereco/Sermons/Day1990.html
http://www.nccecojustice.org/EarthDay/index.html
http://www.dailycatholic.org/issue/2003Jul/pent7qui.htm
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