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| Exiles by Matilde Damele on show at St Stephen Walbrook in September 2019 |
Each year the period between September 1st and the Feast of St Francis of Assisi on October 4th is set aside by the church as the Season of Creation, when we are called to focus our prayers and actions on our stewardship of the earth. Today marks the middle of a week-long series of protests which are aiming to draw international attention to the climate emergency. These 'Climate Strikes', which have been led by young people, were started by the Swedish schoolgirl Greta Thurnburg who has said “This is the moment in history we need to be wide awake. Dreams cannot stand in the way of telling it like it is, especially not now.”
I think in the Bible it is especially the Books of Wisdom that “tell it like it is” - with frank assessments of the difficulty of living faithfully in the here and now. I have chosen a reading today from one of these - the Book of Ecclesiastes;
Bible Reading - Ecclesiastes 12.1-2 & 6-8
Remember your creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years draw near when you will say, “I have no pleasure in them”; before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars are darkened and the clouds return with the rain; ....before the silver cord is snapped, and the golden bowl is broken, and the pitcher is broken at the fountain, and the wheel broken at the cistern, and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the breath returns to God who gave it. Vanity of vanities, says the Teacher; all is vanity.
Reflection
"Oh what's the bloody point?!" wrote the actor Kenneth Williams - the final entry in his notorious diary before his death. It's a question that seems to frame the collection of sayings or memories of Ecclesiastes - or ‘Teacher’ as our text refers to him. These reflections, we are told, are the product of a lifetime quest to find meaning - and were probably written down by his students or followers around two and a half thousand years ago. "All is vanity" (or meaningless) he declares (the literal translation from Hebrew is ‘a breath of wind’ – something transient and unseen). We may find ourselves asking ‘what’s the point’ when we consider our personal response to the challenge of climate change – the effects of which appear for some to be just as hard to see as a breath of wind;
What's the point of Extinction Rebellion clogging up Oxford Circus while buses belch out fumes in the traffic jams they've caused?
What's the point of using a refillable water bottle when they’re going to carry on producing the same amount of plastic anyway?
What's the point of switching to clean energy if China and India are flooding the atmosphere with billions of tonnes of CO2?
What's the point - Ecclesiastes asks - of worrying about any of this - or in fact anything else in life - when none of us will ever know if our actions will make any difference; and all of us - whether climate change activists, climate change deniers or somewhere in between - will meet the same fate anyway; when dust returns to dust.
The cyclical nature of life is apparent in one of the most well-known passages in Ecclesiastes - a poem at the start of Chapter 3 which begins; “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven" – text which provided the lyrics for the anti-war song "Turn! Turn! Turn!" made famous by The Byrds (there is an excellent You Tube Video of Bruce Springsteen (who turned seventy yesterday) performing the song with Robin McGuinn of the Byrds).
One of the cycles that Ecclesiastes describes is the repeating pattern of human behaviour that seeks to accumulate wealth, wisdom and power - of which we can never have enough - but in which (he concludes) we can never, ultimately, find meaning. Humanity caught in a temporal loop that begins with The Fall and is on continuous playback through every age. Perhaps we glimpse some of this self-induced disorientation in the photographs of Matilde Damele which have been displayed in church all this week. But in both Matilde’s images and the sayings of Ecclesiastes, even amongst a vision of such hopelessness, we find a purpose; the teacher exhorts his students to take pleasure in the daily gifts given to them by God - enjoy your youth while you have the health to do so, he says.
One could argue that’s a perfectly faithful response to the problem of climate change. Stop trying to sort it out and leave it to God. There is no way to mitigate the risk of frying in rising temperatures or frying in sin, so enjoy life in the present, because the future belongs to God, who will be our judge. But Ecclesiastes reminds us of the deep-rooted and divinely-inspired connection between human beings and the earth, alluding to the origins of the human race described in Genesis, when God created Adam from dust. With our own existence bound up so intricately with the fabric of the earth, enjoying each day to the full surely can’t mean exploiting the natural resources of the world? As well as making hay while the sun shines, perhaps Eccesiastes is also encouraging us to remember our Creator and the abundance of His love before we become too set in our sinful ways to appreciate it; when we end up locked-in to self-destructive patterns of life – something that can happen to us at any age?
The Incarnation shows us that God cares as much about this world as the next – and that’s why christians are called to be good stewards of creation. As Sam Wells, Vicar of St Martin in the Fields reminds us “the earth is the theatre of God’s glory, the playground of God’s delight, the garden of God’s encounter with us.” A place to be cherished until the time when heaven and earth become one.
Ecclesiastes concludes by giving an answer to the question “what’s the bloody point?” “Fear God, and keep his commandments; for that is the whole duty of everyone” he says.
We believe that the death and resurrection of Jesus took away the sin of the world. We have been commanded by Him to share that generous, abundant love. God does know us from Adam; he knows each of us by name. Our actions to preserve the earth will make a difference, even if they seem as meaningless and inconsequential as vanity - as breath on the wind. It is sharing that life-giving breath that gives light to the world. Vanity of vanities, says the teacher; all is vanity.
Meditation
A brief period of silence before we pray.
Prayers
In our prayers the response to the plea: Lord God, maker of heaven and earth is; teach us to be wise stewards of creation.
Lord God, maker of heaven and earth;
Teach us to be wise stewards of creation.
Creator God,
In you we find the purpose and meaning in our lives.
In your Son we find the perfect model of holiness.
Help us to follow your commandments.
May we always remember that we were made from dust and to dust we will return.
Forgive us when we become too set in our ways that we fail to live in harmony with the earth – your glorious creation;
for the pollution we have caused, for the habitats we have destroyed, for the plastic floating in the sea in our name.
May we be energised by the youth climate strikes and inspired by your Spirit, that we amend our self-destructive lives and turn to share your abundant love in the world.
Lord God, maker of heaven and earth;
Teach us to be wise stewards of creation.
Creator God,
We give thanks for those who are helping to raise awareness of the consequences of climate change.
We pray for the work of aid agencies supporting those affected by rising sea levels and failing crops.
We pray for the work of aid agencies supporting those affected by rising sea levels and failing crops.
We pray for repose of the souls of all those who will die today as a result of flooding or starvation and for all those who mourn.
Give wisdom and courage to the leaders of the world – our politicians and leaders of churches, businesses and community groups – that they may act decisively to end the rise in global temperatures and bring about lasting change
Lord God, maker of heaven and earth;
Teach us to be wise stewards of creation.
Creator God,
We pray for all here in the City of London and around the world whose livelihoods now rely on the extraction and sale of fossil fuels.
We pray for those innovating new processes and practices that will conserve the natural resources of the earth.
Strengthen those who fund research into new technology and those responsible for developing it, as they find ways to help us to reduce our environmental impact.
May we always put what is right before what is convenient for us.
Lord God, maker of heaven and earth;
Teach us to be wise stewards of creation.
Blessing
God our creator, go with us into this new day.
Speak to us, refresh us, astound us,
that we may grow to love you
and your world more deeply.
And may the blessing of God Almighty, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, be among us this day and always.
Amen
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