6.
GOD, THE WORLD AND US
A
Theological Basis for Environmental Action and Hope
The ecological
crisis can lead us to ask big questions which do not have easy
answers. How should we live? Is there any hope for humanity?
What is the church's task in the light of what is happening in
the world? The Bible and the church's theology down the
centuries will not tell us how to deal with issues like climate
change but they do give us essential insights and wisdom.
Creation
The world is
God's creation and in contrast with many mythologies we are not
locked in a struggle with demonic natural forces. The creation
is good. The heavens declare God's glory. The earth is filled
with the Lord's unfailing love. Humanity is a part of God's
creation, made from the earth, and a part of the landscape (1).
But humanity
has a particular role. 'Let us make humanity in our image,' says
God. (Gen 1.26 ). To whom is God speaking? One rabbi has
suggested that he is speaking to the rest of creation. (2) But,
more important, to whom or what is this image meant to portray
God? Surely, to the rest of creation. Humanity is to show God's
creative love in the world.
Dominion?
In Gen 1.28
humanity is given 'dominion' over the rest of creation. This is
echoed in Psalm 8 and reflects the simple fact of humanity's
power within the life systems of the earth. A power we
recognise, but now possibly frightens us.
But what is
dominion? Is it that of a tyrannical king or of a caring
shepherd? In the New Testament Jesus is the supreme king and a
model of dominion. He, 'the image of the invisible God', is one
who loves, and who serves others. (3)
Stewardship
Many people
find stewardship a helpful way of thinking about our role within
creation. The concept has been derived from Gen 2.15, where God
gives Man the task of looking after the Garden of Eden. The same
words in Hebrew are used of the Levites' duties towards the
tabernacle, there translated as 'to care for and protect'.
We are to
think of ourselves as stewards of creation, caring for it and
protecting it on God's behalf. The world is not ours. It belongs
to God. We are to use our power responsibly, with this in mind.
(4)
Continual
involvement
As the Bible
story unfolds God makes covenant agreements with the
world, with Abraham, Israel, David, and through Jesus with all
people. God's relationship with the world is one of commitment,
and it is continual. God has not simply set the world up and
then left it
The books of
the Law, the Prophets and the Wisdom writings, address questions
of how to live. Proverbs depicts the wisdom of God as intimately
involved in the process of creation. (5) True wisdom is not in
opposition to the life of the world but in harmony with it.
The prophets
see beyond the mundane to the activity of God, and from that
vision have a message. Sometimes the world provides images of
God, as it did for Jesus in his parables. At other times world
events are agents of God: a drought, a famine, a plague of
locusts.
But there is
not a great plan. The future is open. It can be different from
what the prophet sees. God can change his mind. Israel, or
humanity, can change its ways. People and peoples can repent,
and do things differently. We can turn to walk humbly with the
loving God whose desire is liberating justice, healing and
peace.
Incarnation
In Jesus the
word (or wisdom) of God is made flesh. (6) Jesus breathed, ate,
moved, thought, spoke, and suffered. 'The image of the invisible
God' is Jesus Christ, who is crucified.
For centuries
the church had an idea of God who was incapable of suffering but
that was a Greek concept. It was not the God of Abraham, Isaac
and Jacob, of Moses, Isaiah, Jesus and Paul. God's engagement
with the world is total.
God is not a
remote observer. We suffer. Humanity suffers. Creation suffers.
And God suffers with us.
The Kingdom
of God
In the gospels
Jesus is not just a teacher but the bringer of a new order: the
Kingdom of God.
It is
portrayed as both breaking in, and still to come. It includes a
human community shaped so that it is in accord with God's
values, and based on God's creative love.
This new order
contrasts with the great organisation of Rome. Jesus is not 'The
New Emperor' he is the 'Son of Man.' And he taught that if we
focus on God's kingdom and his justice the things we worry
about, like food, drink and clothing, will follow. (7)
Resurrection
When Jesus was
crucified and cried out to his Father, God did not intervene to
stop what was happening. Jesus died. But out of Jesus' death
came his resurrection: an affirmation of who he was and what he
said and did, and also a new way of being. Jesus was taken into
the life of God beyond the confines of space, time and matter.
Jesus'
disciples came to see themselves as following him both now, in
carrying out his work of bringing in the kingdom, and beyond
death, in the life of God in eternity. Paul spoke about a new
creation: the whole creation being made new; possibly (like the
kingdom) something happening now and to be completed outside
time. (8)
New
Possibilities
In damaging
God's creation and in failing to be what God intends we cause
God pain and we frustrate his creative love. And in damaging the
world we damage ourselves. But in Jesus we see how God's
creative love overcomes the destructive forces of humanity:
indifference, greed, hatred, jealousy. From our own failures to
love, our own destructiveness and acts of greed and jealousy, we
can move on with God's forgiveness to new possibilities. And do
so empowered by God's Spirit.
God is
continually active in the world by his Spirit. To live by the
Spirit is to be responsive to God. To respond to God is to live
by the Spirit. The picture is of us being caught up in the life
of God: with the Father, the being of God, beyond space and
time; with the Spirit, the energy of God, within space and time;
and with Jesus, the Word, the Son, within human society and
history.
Love
Jesus repeated
the Hebrew instruction that we should love God with our whole
self and our neighbour as ourselves. Clearly if we love God we
will treat God's creation with care and respect. Jesus would not
have us draw boundaries between those we were to love and those
we weren't.
We are
therefore called to help whoever we can who is suffering as a
result of the present ecological crisis.
And this love
for God and others cannot be divorced from a love for oneself.
It comes from knowing oneself to be of value to God, simply
because of God's love.
Justice
In the
scriptures we see God working to rescue people who suffer from
those who are causing their suffering. God's love works itself
out in justice. Inasmuch as we cause the suffering of others
through our greed or negligence we stand condemned by God. But
God offers the possibility of forgiveness and a new start, and
that new start involves working for God's justice, rather than
against it.
Now we are
able to anticipate the suffering of future generations if we
continue to live in a way that causes climate change, a shortage
of resources, pollution, or soil loss. To do so is to fail to
love our neighbours. Developing a sustainable lifestyle is
therefore a Christian imperative, not simply an option. There is
no ethical neutrality here. We go with the flow or we change
direction.
Hope in God
However, when
we consider the magnitude of the crisis we face and the forces
we are up against we can feel powerless. We can wonder whether
it is worth doing anything. But we are not called to do the
impossible. We are called to follow Christ, doing what we can in
response to the love of God as we see it in him and in others
around us and before us.
A sense of
powerlessness has often been the experience of God's people down
the ages. And we are not alone in this now. We are one with
millions of people across the world who often feel overwhelmed
by what we face. But our hope is in God, at work in the world
now and whose life and love reach beyond time into eternity.
That love is creative. Like the resurrection of Jesus, it is
full of surprises.
Isaiah and
Revelation speak of 'a new heaven and a new earth'. This can be
seen in a number of ways. Some will see it as suggesting that
the world we have is to be completely replaced by something
else. Some will see it as pointing to God's continual renewing
of the earth and sky. Others, while seeing the creation of the
world as a continual process, see these visionary statements as
pointing to the process of healing and renewal extending beyond
time into eternity. But whatever we make of these visions of a
new creation, there is no suggestion in Isaiah or Revelation
that God's present creation should be treated as of little
consequence. (9) Instead, they are suggesting that however
damaged this world may be, there is continually hope in God the
creator.
Shalom
This vision,
given us by prophets like Isaiah and characterised by Jesus'
relationships with the world and with other people, is summed up
in the Hebrew word shalom. Shalom is health, it is also
peace. At the end of the first creation story in Genesis, God
rests and appreciates all that he has made. Here is an image of
what we work towards, and also a pointer to what we can
experience now.
We can
experience Sabbath shalom now in our appreciation of the mystery
and beauty of the world which we care about, in the
companionship, friendship and the support of others who share
our concern, in the ingenuity and creativity of people
developing and using their gifts for the good and enjoyment of
others and in celebration of the wonderful gift of life. |
