Caring for God's world - climate change

Preached at St Alphege, Solihull at the 9.15am Eucharist.
Sunday 1st June 2008, Trinity 2 – Proper 4 - Year A
A shorter version of this sermon was preached at the 8am Eucharist at St Alphege.

Readings Deut 11: 18-21, 26-28 Romans 1: 16-17, 3:22b-28 Matt 7: 21-29



Throughout Solihull Parish our preaching this morning has a theme of caring for the environment. We are doing this to highlight World Environment Day, which is coming up this Thursday, 5th June. We also have a special display and some further information available in the OBH at coffee squash. Maud Granger of Friend of the Earth will also be available at coffee/squash in the OBH, so we have the opportunity to talk to an expert.
The United Nations designated 5th June as World Environment Day as long a go as 1972. It is well worth having a look at the website of the United Nations Environmental Programme, which looks like this.
[Display Website Home Page: http://www.unep.org/wed/2008/english/]
This year the theme of World Environment Day is “Kick the Habit – Towards a Low Carbon Economy”, as you can see from the homepage.
But what has concern for the environment got to do with the gospel? We know that we have problems with carbon emissions and climate change, but how does that relate to our being Christians, and to our life as Church? Well I think that are some clues in the gospel reading that we heard today, which, looking at it from a particular perspective, is about sustainable lifestyles. At the start of the gospel reading Jesus tells us that that the really important thing is to order our lives in accordance with God’s will. The person who enters the kingdom of heaven is the one who does God’s will, not the one who cries, Lord, Lord, or even the one who does great things in the Lord’s name. Jesus illustrates this with a story about sustainability. The person who bases his life on following God’s will and on the teaching of Jesus is like a man builds his house on the rock. God is the source of life, so it makes sense to base our lives on the teaching of Jesus. Probably it is hard work to build on the rock, and probably it takes time, but the house is secure. When the time of crisis comes, the house stands firm. For us human beings we think of the ultimate crisis as the death of our earthly bodies, but if our lives are built on the rock they remain secure even through this crisis death. Jesus contrasts this to a man who ignores the teaching of Jesus. This person is compared to a man building his house on sand. Probably is quicker and easier to build, but the house is rapidly destroyed when a crisis comes.
Jesus addresses this parable to each one of us as individual human beings, but it is also applicable to families, communities, societies, nations and indeed to the whole world. Society need to order itself in accordance with the will of God, and in accordance with the teachings of Jesus, in order to be strong, secure and sustainable. And yet sadly we know that many aspects of our comtempory Western culture are far from the will of God, and far from the teaching of Jesus. Many aspects of our society are driven by greed, and selfishness and consumerism. There is often the covetous desire to have the things that our neighbour have. This leads to a society build on sand, a society that is unsustainable and in danger of being washed away.
Let’s go back to World Environment Day and the theme of reducing carbon dioxide emissions. I recently completed a Christian Aid questionnaire that helped me to understand how different aspects of my lifestyle contribute to my personal carbon emissions. I would like to very quickly show you the results:
[Display Fr Gerard carbon emissions:
10 Gas consumed
5 Electricity consumed
2 Use of public transport
16 Use of car
13 Air travel
4 Newspapers
20 Red meat
8 Fruit and veg
8 Other food
6 Furniture/appliances
6 Clothing/footwear
-----
98 …..equivalent to 11 tonnes in a year.
Compared with 10 tonnes UK average,
or with 3 tonnes worldwide average,
or with 2.5 tonnes sustainable world average.]

It is important to realise that these results are very broad brush, but they are still interesting, and certainly give me some pointers on how I might cut down my personal carbon emissions. Clearly the big items are use of a private car, air travel and red meat. Apparently red meat contributes because cows produce lots of methane, which is a very powerful greenhouse gas.
It seems that my personal carbon emissions are just over average for the UK, so I have got some work to do! However the really telling point is that even the average carbon emissions for the UK is still about four times what scientists believe is a sustainable worldwide average. In other words, as a society, we really need to work towards lifestyles that are far, far less dependent on fossil fuels. And it is not just global warming that is telling us this. The high oil prices and fragility of our western economies also make this essential.
When we consider a topic like climate change there is a temptation to become rather despondent. The problem is so huge, and my personal influence over it is so small that I might be tempted to lose heart. But here again the gospel helps us, with its emphasis on the will of God. Whatever we do about climate change let’s first and foremost do it in front of God, and in accordance with the will of God. God created humanity and works for the good of humanity. We can then entrust the problem to God and God will deal with it. I am not saying that the way forward will be free of suffering and difficulty, but I am saying that we need to trust God.
As individuals and as societies we first of all need to live in harmony with God, in accordance with God’s will. Secondly we must live in harmony with each other, loving one another as Jesus taught us with his New Commandment. Thirdly we need to live in harmony with all of creation, with all that God has made to sustain us and for our enjoyment. And let’s remember, Climate change might be a huge problem, but nothing is impossible for God.