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Earth Day Sermon – Beyond Good Intentions
With the kids we built this river, and talked about the important things
that rivers and water do for us. Rivers are an iconic image in religious
texts; you can see from the song selection today that there are plenty
of examples of spiritual imagery around nature and rivers in particular.
But in the story of our faith, and the Jewish and Islamic faiths as well,
there are many stories and images around one river in particular, the
River Jordan. This is the river where Moses was hidden in the reeds,
where the Israelites crossed into the Promised Land, and perhaps most
iconic for us, it is where Jesus was baptized.
The Jordan River flows south from several
tributaries down into the Sea of Galilee (which
is actually a lake) and from there it flows down
over a 217km stretch to the Dead Sea. It serves
as the border between Israel/Palestine and the
Kingdom of Jordan. The section between the
Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea is referred to
as the Lower Jordan River.
The images of the River Jordan that are evoked
in the bible, in our songs, and in religious
dialogue are that of a powerful flowing river.
That it is a fertile and plentiful area, a refuge, a
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source of strength, a source of
life. And all of those things
were true, and continue to be
true for about a 3km stretch of
the lower Jordan just below
the Sea of Galilee that is used
for tourism and baptisms.
Beyond that point 70-90% of
the water flow is diverted. It is
used for desalination, the
removal of salt to make
drinking water, in Israel, and to a much lesser extent in Jordan. The
water that is returned to the river is wastewater, sewage, agricultural
runoff, and salt water. The flow rate of the River has been reduced
from 1.3 billion cubic meters of water a year, down to 20-30 million
cubic metres of water that flow into the Dead Sea per year. There are a
couple of tributaries contributing a bit of fresh water, but mostly the
lower Jordan is a river that is low flow raw sewage.
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It’s a shocking sight. A friend of mine doing her masters research in
Israel, interviewed a woman whose job it is to take people on tours to
see the lower Jordan. She spends most of her energy preparing people
for how devastated the river is, and supporting people through the
crisis of faith they have upon seeing it in this state.
And because of its place in our faith story, this is a case study that really
resonates. But I could stand up here and show you pictures and spew
facts about many such environmental crises. The melting of arctic sea
ice, the great pacific garbage patch, the decimation of our rain forests,
the death of coral reefs because of the acidification of the oceans; the
list of shocking crises for our planet is an extensive one. And that’s
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usually the way the story goes on Earth day. We are reminded of the
fragility of our planet – often in a shocking way, we read the Genesis
story and remind ourselves that Creation is of God and IS God so we
should be doing more to take care of it. Then we make some pledges
about changing our light bulbs, composting more, and using our
reusable grocery bags. That traditional Earth day plan sounds good on
paper; those are true and important reminders, and good first steps to
impact reduction. But in my opinion it isn’t working. It isn’t resonating
deeply enough with people to create a long term commitment to
change. It isn’t challenging enough for this socially aware and highly
educated congregation.
The New Testament scripture I chose, the story of the Rich Young Ruler,
is one of the faith stories I find to be the most challenging. It applies a
multitude of contexts, but I think it applies extremely well to the
situation of the Environment. The rich young ruler knows about heaven
and about following the teaching to live the way God intended. He
knows the commandments, but still he asks Jesus about what he needs
to do to get into heaven. Not knowing the man’s education or
background – Jesus starts with the basics; keep the commandments.
Don’t steal, don’t murder, and don’t commit adultery. Yes the man
says – I know that, I keep those commandments, but what can I REALLY
do to be sure. So then Jesus takes it to the next level and tells him to
sell all his positions and follow him. Not so easy. The man who, was full
of what I believe to be true good intentions, was happy to keep the
commandments that were easy, that fit with his lifestyle already. For
most of us I don’t think that it takes a great deal of restraint to go
through our life and not murder anyone. The social and legal
ramifications make it so stealing and adultery aren’t wise choices
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outside of their sin related repercussions. But when the man saw that
to going to the next level was a commitment meant a drastic change in
his current privileged and comfortable life style, he was a lot more
reluctant to participate.
So likewise, I think most of the world that has access to news, science,
or the environment itself (which I think is just about everyone these
days) knows that humans are mistreating the environment. They know
that climate change is a crisis and that humans are using our resources
at an unsustainable rate, and that we are creating an impossibly large
amount of waste. And knowing this, like the young man in the story –
for the most part, we have good intentions. We don’t WANT to destroy
the planet, we WANT a healthy environment for our children and
grandchildren; we have good intentions. And as such, many of us do
the things that in this example are comparable to the “easy”
commandments. We recycle, and have changed our light bulbs, we use
our reusable grocery bags, we support local farmers, and try to buy
organic products, and some even drive hybrid cars or have renewable
energy in their homes. But what happens then, when people start
saying that isn’t enough? What happens when people talk about how
serious the environmental crisis is and how we need to change
fundamental aspects of our lifestyle to change the direction? What
happens when it calls into question our long term values, priorities, our
political and economic systems? Do we tune out? Do we play ostrich
about the serious of these issues? Do we suggest that the problem is
unsolvable and the goal unachievable so why bother trying?
It’s really hard to do, even as someone who has been interested in
environmental issues for over 15 years, as someone who has spent over
8 years studying them formally in post secondary education. And
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sometimes it’s hard to know where to go next? What are the big
things? What’s going to create big lasting change? Here are a few
suggestions of actions at the systemic level: Reduce your dependence
on fossil fuels, by changing your lifestyle to be less consumption
oriented, by powering your home with renewable energy, and by
divesting your money from the corporations that produce them. Shift
the way you think about the economy, is more growth always better?
We can’t sustain growth indefinitely, on a finite planet. Reframe the
way you think about Social Justice. Climate change is THE social justice
issue of our time. Issues like poverty, homelessness, disease, hunger
will all be exacerbated by a changing climate, and those already
marginalized with be hit first and hardest. And this, especially
important in this election year; educate yourself about the
environmental platforms of the parties and candidates. Ask questions
about it, and make action on the environment a top priority for those in
power. In many cases, solutions are out there, but won’t be
implemented without the social and political will of the people.
Jesus wasn’t afraid to ask people to move beyond their good intentions.
He wasn’t afraid to ask them to make big changes and big sacrifices.
Jesus wasn’t afraid to challenge people to take their faith and their
beliefs to the next level. So that is what I am asking. In your own life,
when you make choices, from small daily choices, right up to big life
decisions, prioritize the question, is this what is best for our planet?
When making suggestions for congregational life at Parkminster,
prioritize, is this what is best for our planet? Because as followers of
Jesus we know, if we are going to have good intentions and if we are
going to ask the question, “how can we help?” Then the true answers
are never going to be easy.
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References
Moser, Peter (2010) Jordan River could die by 2011. Phys.org. Retrieved 23 April 2015
Peppard, Christina (2013) Troubling waters: the Jordan River between religious imagination and
environmental degradation. Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences. 3 (2) 109-119.
Plushnick-Masti, Ramil (10 September 2006). "Raw Sewage Taints Sacred Jordan River". The Washington
Post. Retrieved 23 April 2015