Tas Valley Sermons
Return to the Sermon Library click here to return
Title: Climate Chaos
Bible Readings: Luke 8, 22-25; Colossians 1, 15-20, Psalm 65
Jesus gives hope for the earth, and calls his people to demonstrate that hope.
Sermon – with acknowledgement of the writings of Bishop James Jones
Introduction: the Earth under threat
In July 1997, the famous French oceanographer, explorer and film-maker, Jacques Cousteau, died. His funeral coincided with the publication of his autobiography. After a lifetime of dedication to the cause of protecting the environment and educating people about its beauty and fragility, his book gave a stark warning. He wrote thus:
“The route to the future leads us smack into the wall. We simply ricochet off the alternatives that destiny offers: a demographic explosion that triggers social chaos and spreads death, nuclear delirium and the quasi-annihilation of the species. Our survival is no more than a question of 25, 50 or perhaps 100 years.”
Today more and more people lack hope for the future of the human species, and the planet as a whole - Cousteau is not the only one. We have all heard the depressing statistics on global warming, deforestation, waste mountains, species extinction and so on.
When we think of the story of Jesus calming the storm, we often apply it to our own personal lives. Jesus can calm the storm within. But Christ is bigger than just our personal needs and there is another side of the story – it is a story about Jesus’ relationship to nature. And as, the planet faces a storm of human-making, it is good to consider what Jesus’ life and teaching of Jesus has to say about the earth we live on.
The earth exists for Jesus – not for us
In Colossians 1.16, St. Paul makes an astonishing claim about Jesus.
“Everything was created through him and for him”
Not only, he says was all creation made by Jesus Christ, but it was made for Christ. The whole earth, all eco-systems, exist for Jesus.
There’s an idea around that God created the world for humans to enjoy. Like most myths it contains elements of truth. God has created a good world, and wants us to enjoy it and use its resources. But, it isn’t ours – it was made ‘by and for Christ’. To put it another way, the earth is ours to use, but not to abuse. We are only ever leaseholders – Jesus is the freeholder.
So the earth belonging to Christ has implications for our lifestyles, our attitudes and our priorities
Jesus relationship with the earth
Son of Adam The Jesus who walked this earth was both Son of God and also the ‘Son of Man’ – a title he often used of himself. Son of Man literally means ‘Son of Adam’ and the Hebrew name Adam simply means ‘made from soil or earth’. So, Jesus is – by implication – referring to himself as the Son of the one made from the earth. James Jones demonstrates that there are a number of key passages in the Gospels where Jesus uses the words ‘Son of Man’ in close connection with talking about the earth – so maybe, and he urges some caution, Jesus is linking his own earthy human nature to the future of the planet itself.
Jesus lived close to the earth. At the start of his ministry when Jesus spent forty days alone in the desert, Mark’s gospel tells us that the ‘wild animals were with him’ and the passage may well mean that they served him – as the ravens ministered to Elijah in the Old Testament. That shouldn’t surprise us – the animals recognised in Jesus somebody who was not a threat to them.
‘Jesus lived a life that was connected to the environment, to the animals, and to the land’ (p.51)
He taught that people could learn about God by studying his creation. The Kingdom of God is like a tiny mustard seed growing into a tree, look at the birds of the ait and the flowers of the field – God feeds and clothes them. God can speak to us in a powerful way in nature.
Jesus also showed power over, yet respect for the earth. When Jesus commanded the wind and the waves to be still, it was no ordinary miracle (if such a thing can exist!). he was showing his authority over the forces of nature. The one who had created all things, and had yet become part of his own creation – was demonstrating that he had authority over natural forces. ‘The Son of Man’s ministry is one of connectedness with the earth.’ (p.18)
Jesus’ death and resurrection give us hope for the earth
We often emphasise that Christ’s work on the cross is personal – he died for each and every human being. However that does not mean that it is only personal – only for individual human beings. Christ’s death on the cross is cosmic.
From the Garden of Eden onwards, it is not only the relationship between God and human beings that has been spoilt, but the curse of sin, death and decay affects all creation. In Genesis 3 God tells Adam ‘Cursed is the ground – the earth – because of you’. The earth itself is ‘groaning’ to use Paul’s words in Romans 8 – waiting to be set free from its bondage to decay.
And when Jesus dies on the cross, the earth responds – there is an earthquake as the earth responds to the death of the one by whom and for whom all things were made. And this death of Jesus not only makes healing possible for the broken relationship between us and God. It also brings about a healing for the earth. In Colossians 1 verses 19 & 20, Paul puts it clearly – he says that God was pleased, through Jesus ‘to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood shed on the cross’
When Jesus dies on the cross, and then bursts out alive from the tomb, the earth is no mere bystander, no mere staging for this great drama. The earth is caught up in the saving work of Christ.
This is why the Bible holds out a vision of hope for the earth. In contrast with many environmentalists today, we believe there is hope for this planet in God’s hands – a hope guaranteed through the saving and healing death of Christ on the cross.
When the Bible talks of ‘a new heaven and a new earth’ it is not talking about something new in the sense of destroying or rejecting the old. The biblical word in Greek is ‘kainos’ which means ‘renewed’ rather than ‘neos’, which means ‘brand new’. There will be a continuity between the earth as we now know it and the new heaven and new earth.’ (p.19)
But if all this is so, how then should we live?
A) We can spend time enjoying God’s earth – time spend enjoying nature restores our perspective in a hectic world
B) We can remember that we are stewards not owners of the earth and remember that the actions we take – turning off the lights, driving a smaller car, choosing a holiday where we don’t need to fly, insulating our house, changing to a green supplier of electricity are actions of faith
C) In the storms of climate chaos or bird flu we can cry out to Christ with real hope – because he is the Lord of creation who died and rose again that the whole of creation might be restored into right relationship with God.
Let us close by spending a few moments in silent prayer, asking God by his Holy Spirit, to show us practical ways in which we can worship Jesus, in how we care for the earth.