Thursday, May 16, 2019

The ten commandments of the creation caring Christian


Recently a friend of mine and thoughtful ecotheologian, Byron Smith, had an article posted on Eternity News, an Australian based Christian news site. It highlighted ten ways his family tries to love the planet, all grounded in the good news that God is incarnate in Jesus.


Oftentimes the comments can be 'disappointing.' One response I found curious, if not somewhat enigmatic. One Christian identified the ten commandments as their source of ethics. Did they mean to say that Byron's list was not useful, or biblical, or were they simply looking past the need to care for creation by returning to what they saw as a solid biblical handle for individual ethics? I don't know, but it did inspire me to think a little more deeply about the ten commandments and the creation.
Firstly, it is always worth remembering that the Law was given to Israel, so we have do some work to make it applicable for the church, a) because we are not members of God's one people within a national boundary (despite what some people think about manifest destiny) and b) we live the other side of the cross. Secondly, the ten commandments were addressed to a nation, not just individuals. It is about public and private, corporate and individual. And thirdly, love sums up all. 

And now to the commandments. This is pretty rushed, but you get the picture.

You shall not steal


I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; you shall have no other gods before me.

God is a saving god. We see in the plagues in Exodus the gods of Egypt powerfully defeated. In them, the Lord is shown to be redeemer, but in mastering the forces of creation, God is also seen to be creator. Genesis 1 for example makes this clear, and indeed in the Garden narrative we see a link between creation, human vocation, sin, punishment, and the need for the undoing of curses between humans, God, and creation. It's this story that moves through Genesis to the genealogy leading to Abram, which then comes down to the Exodus through his family. The calling of Israel then is not just 'to be saved' but to be the agents of blessing to the nations of the world, and working against the curses, including that of the Earth.

A word on caring for creation then. Often it is said that 'the environment' becomes a god for some Christians. Yet clearly throughout Scripture, to care for creation is to honour the God who made it, and will redeem it, and to fulfil the human vocation.

You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or worship them

Christians concerned about caring for creation can be accused of making the environment and idol. Yet I have seen full time Christian ministry held up as the highest calling for Christians. An idol much? When you question the doctrine of the church or the opinions of someone's favourite scholar or preacher. An idol much? When you suggest that 'Western civilisation' has some issues with a racist and colonial past but you are being 'unAustralian.' An idol much? When you show that behind western capitalism is the idol of greed, and that this is a major driving of environmental destruction, the ruination of God's good creation, but you are making an idol of the environment? Calvin said the human heart was an idol factory, but this apparently only applies to those who worship the creator by considering the creation of high value!

You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not acquit anyone who misuses his name.

Attaching God's name to things that are our own agendas is a misuse of the divine name (this isn't just about cursing here). C S Lewis warned about 'Christianity and' and it is a warning we must take clearly. But this isn't exclusive to ham-fisted attempts to combine environmentalism to Christianity. Digging into the bible reveals a deep vein of valuing the creation. Same can't be said for the white supremacism that has been attached to the missionary movement in days gone by, Western colonialism, capitalism, Constantinianism, etc, etc. Christians often covet being at the centre of power, are happy the Lord's Prayer is recited in parliament while the same parliament vandalises creation, works hand in hand with crooked coal barons, and locks up innocent asylum seekers indefinitely. But saying the Lord's Prayer makes it all right and 'Christian.' Everyone has an agenda for God's name. Don't think that those who care for creation are the only ones at risk.

Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God; you shall not do any work—you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns. For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day and consecrated it.

The rhythm of life is grounded in a seven day pattern of creation. Human beings and domestic creatures rest from toil on the seventh day. Reliance on divine provision runs counter to the culture of endless work and acquisition, the very forces driving the destruction of the planet. Our desire to consume is killing us and everything else. This destroys the family. This destroys our mental and physical health. This destroys our planet. If you worship the creator, you don't run it all into the ground in the pursuit of what the world chases. That's idolatry.

Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.

The value of family is central to Jewish and Christian thinking. I wonder if we honour previous generations if we trash the planet they enjoyed? Do we honour them if we pass on blindly their traditions and ideas of the good life that are ruining creation? To honour is not simply to follow blindly. And yet when previous generations (like my parents) remember rationing during war, maybe we honour them when we learn those lessons of frugality, self-control in the face of dire challenges, and the need to avoid conflicts at all costs, conflicts climate change might make possible. 

You shall not murder.

Australia has seen years of TV ad campaigns against drink driving. Sure if you kill someone because you were irresponsible you might get off on manslaughter, but they died because of your alcohol fuelled lifestyle right? So if people are dying now and will die in droves now due to our fossil fuelled lifestyles, where's the difference? Plenty you say? But do you really understand the interconnectedness of the global economy and the planetary system? Australia's contribution is small? Not per capita. We are part of a culture of death – and need to change it and ourselves. Want to be pro-life? Be pro-climate, pro-conservation, pro-trees.

You shall not commit adultery.

Ok, I'm struggling to make this one fit. Social cohesion. Truthfulness. Faithfulness. All good and transferable. But here's one. We have been fruitful, and multiplied. Remember the animals are given the same blessing in Genesis 1. So we can stop being so fruitful – those in the west with the most highly consumptive lifestyles go first!

You shall not steal.

Dig it all up. Burn it all. Make the planet unliveable. Stealing from our children's future. Somethings are lost forever. You are stealing food, clean air, drinkable water, beauty to enjoy. Oh and in destroying it by land clearing, climate change, pollution, we are also stealing from the creator. Tell me again about having no gods before God or no idols?

You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

I have lost count of the number of times Christians who don't understand the science bear false witness against climate scientists, who don't know the heart of those who care for creation but label them as heretical or brainwashed or lefties or any other slur of false witness. So many convenient lies about others because the truth of what we are all doing, particularly the privileged and powerful is too painful to face. 

You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.

Ignoring for the moment this commandment treats women as goods, the whole edifice of advertising seeks to make us dissatisfied. Social media can drive the same thing. Covet. Want. Consume. God wants to bless you materially with money, social influence (but oh it's really for the gospel), etc. And this system is killing us and the creation (see above). 

Monday, April 8, 2019

Hope that demands action


Hope that demands action

A sermon on Romans 8:19-23 preached by Dr Mick Pope at St Andrew’s Uniting Church, Brisbane, April 7 2019.

Introduction
I’d like to begin by thanking you for the invitation to speak to you this morning. But I also have to have to brag at your expense. For those who follow Rugby Union, the Melbourne Rebels were up here a couple of weeks ago and beat the Queensland Reds. There is something else Victoria beats you at, although I am less proud to speak about it.

We had our hottest summer on record, along with four other states. However, as a consolation prize it was your hottest January on record, with rainforest damaged by fire, and record breaking rains in Townsville. All of this consistent with long term warning trends, and the warmest Australian summer on record. Now I know that some in the churches are unwilling to accept that climate change is real, but I want you to suspend your disbelief if that is you and come along on a journey with me.

Recently, roughly 150,000 Australian school kids participated in the school climate strike, and I attended during my lunch break in support. I was very proud of them. The strike is an expression of their anger at politicians on both side of the spectrum, whom they believe are not delivering enough on climate change. This generation is growing up in a different climate to the one you and I have, and they have fear and anxiety about the future.

When I went home, a friend of mine who writes for Eternity News, a Christian website, asked me to jump onto their Facebook page and answer some of the comments on a piece they had published. The article spoke about two Christian schoolgirls who had attended the strike. After 45 minutes of responding, I was despondent and had a stress headache. There was so much outrage, with comments of ‘fake news,’ poorly understood science, and poor theology.

What would you say to the youth of today? Particularly those within the church? Do you respond with denial, or simply say that God is in charge and not to worry about it? How does the church become more pro-active and less ­re-active on climate change?

Our text for this morning reads

20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.

Straight off the bat, Paul is making two big theological statements that say ‘God is in charge’:

1.       God has subjected creation to futility
2.       God will set it free

So doesn’t that wrap it all up? Can’t you say ‘Mick, there’s no more to say, just sit down?’ We I think that this passage begs three questions.

1.       What is the nature of this futility?
2.       How will creation be set free?
3.       Is there anything we can do?

So let’s look at each of these questions in turn.

1. What is the nature of this futility?

It is best to start at the beginning. If ever like me you have tried to read the bible from cover to cover, you would have started with Genesis. We learn about the beauty of creation and its great blessing, and human responsibility in Genesis 1-2. In Genesis 1 we learn that to be made in the image of God means to be fruitful and multiply, and subdue the earth, which means to engage in agriculture and feed ourselves. In Genesis 2 and verse 15, we learn of our vocation to care, tend, and keep the earth. We have an intimate relationship with the soil, the pun from the Hebrew being humans from the hummus. And then in Genesis 3, it all goes pear shaped, or better still apple shaped. Our relationship with the soil becomes cursed. We see the same thing at end of the book of Deuteronomy where Moses warns the people of Israel to remain faithful. Human disobedience leads to broken relationships with the soil.

So the subjection to frustration in Romans is due to the fact that God has let us run it – and what a fine job we’ve done of polluting the air and water, cutting down trees, warming the climate, and killing all the animals (60% of all living things in less than 50 years).

In Rome, Paul could also see the devastation that human misrule brought. He could see the regular silting up of the Tiber River because all of the trees had been cleared, and it needed to be dredged regularly. Although Paul and the ancients did not understand this, this swampy ground was the ideal breeding ground for mosquitoes. In 452 AD, those brave Huns were afraid to enter Rome because of the bad air, or malaria. There is evidence to show that malaria was one of the factors that was involved in the collapse of Rome. The air quality was also poor. Philosopher and Senator Seneca (4BC – 65 AD) wrote that

“No sooner had I left behind the oppressive atmosphere of the city and the reek of smoking cookers, which pour out, along with clouds of ashes, all the poisonous fumes they’ve accumulated … I noticed the change in my condition at once.”

Paul was making an observation then not in the abstract, but in the particulars of how Roman misrule produced damage to the world around him. In Romans chapter 1, he identifies the root of these problems, that we make idols out of things like wealth and power. Reformer John Calvin identified the heart as an idol factory, and Paul would agree, and link that idolatry to damage to creation.

In our day, Pope Francis notes in the encyclical Laudato Si’ that “the present ecolog­ical crisis is one small sign of the ethical, cultural and spiritual crisis of modernity.” In other words, the worship of progress, technology, consumerism and individualism, which may have once been done in ignorance, is now done in full knowledge of the consequences for our world, God’s good creation. This is recognised both within and outside of the church. Environmentalist Gus Speth says “The top environmental problems are selfishness, greed, and apathy … to deal with those we need a spiritual and cultural transformation … we scientists don’t know how to do that.” But we in the church do! We know about repentance. What is needed by the church is to join the dots between sin and repentance with issues of the environment.

2. How will creation be set free?

The answer to my second question, how will the creation be set free, is found in verses 22-23.

22 For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. 23 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.

Creation is suffering now in birth pains, but that suffering will one day give way to joy. Any woman here who has carried a child will know what this is like. I can remember watching my own wife with her distended belly, it getting hard to get comfortable at night. But the suffering is all worth it when a child is born. What Paul is saying is that creation is longing for the resurrection of the dead like a pregnant woman groans for the baby to come out. Renewed humanity at the resurrection means a renewed relationship with the Earth, and not the abandonment of it. Christianity is not just about going to heaven when you die like some Christians believe. Anglican theologian Tom Wright has said that heaven is important, but it’s not the end of the world. The future of us and the future of the creation are entangled together.

What this means is that we have a message of hope to offer the world. But what does that mean for the here and now?

3. Hope comes with responsibility

My last point then is that hope comes with responsibility. We might ask that if God has subjected the creation to frustration under our sinful misrule, and God will save it, why should we do anything? If the present state of things is God’s will, how can we contest it? Paul has addressed a similar idea in Romans 6:1 where he asks shall we go on sinning that grace may abound? He responds with an emphatic by no means!

We know that sin, idolatry, greed, and wilful ignorance of the harms we have done will lead to judgment. In Revelation it says that God will destroy those who judge the Earth. God’s judgment on sin and idolatry leads to more environmental harms, and people suffering. Why would we not repent of this?  Why knowingly do things that hurt others we don’t know, or our children who will inherit this world, the very school children who took part in the strike?

If you knew that you were going to receive a heart transplant after a lifetime of drinking, smoking, and eating badly, would you wait until after the surgery, or would you start living a healthier lifestyle now? God is the great surgeon, but we are called upon to be good patients. Or imagine learning to drive in the old ‘family bomb.’ You are promised a new car when you turn 18 and get your licence, so you are not going to wait until then to learn to drive. What Paul is saying is that when we get the new car, we will discover that it is the old one, renovated to be even better than before.

Furthermore, we have a responsibility not only to live more gently on the earth, but to speak up. Paul wrote his letter to Christians in Rome, right at the centre of the biggest empire of the day. His letter could not avoid being political. Paul proclaimed in Romans that Jesus was son of God but Roman coins read that Caesar was “Son of God, Father of His Country.” Paul claimed creation groaned in birth pains while the Roman poet Horace said of Augustus Caesar that “Your age, O Caesar, has restored plenteous crops to the land.” A Caesar had to keep the crops plenteous to keep people filled, otherwise they might rebel. So Paul is making a statement that Rome was engaging in what we would now call greenwashing, that the emperor has no clothes. So when power contradicts truth we need to speak truth to power - including on climate change.

So the gospel always opposes powers gone wrong. We have both the right and opportunity to speak out as the church to call the world to repentance on matters of sin. Many Christians take a stand on gambling, slavery, medical ethics. Why not climate change? When leaders, those in business, etc aren’t acting to take better care of God’s creation, the church has the responsibility to speak out – and dare I suggest skipping a day of school to do so is ok?

So let me then close by asking, what are you willing to do to live faithfully as a good steward of creation until Christ returns to set creation free?