Reflection (readings are below)
On Thursday I took part in an interfaith service praying for climate justice – we gathered beneath the statue of Robert Clive outside the Foreign Office, as we reflected on how our actions have a global impact.
One, a rabbi, told us a story that when God first created Adam, God took him on a tour of all the trees in the garden of Eden, showing both how beautiful and how useful they all were. And then God told Adam that all this had been created for him – for humanity. ‘Make certain’, said God, ‘that you do not ruin and destroy all this, for there is no one to mend it after you!’
We are not children, said the rabbi, that someone else will tidy up our mess. We are adults and have to take responsibility to mend what we have damaged.
Today’s readings have the theme of judgment. The prophet Zephaniah talks of the impending ‘day of reckoning’. A day when our pluses and minuses, successes and failures, are weighed up.
And in today’s Gospel Jesus tells a parable in which a master judges whether his servants have been trustworthy custodians of what he gave them.
In just under two week COP28 will get underway. One of the key agenda items is to address the outcome of the global stocktake – an assessment of progress that has been made by the nations against the targets in the Paris agreement. The report itself was published in September with the conclusion that although progress had been made, it was nowhere near enough, and that achieving net-zero emissions required “systems transformation” across all sectors and contexts, including scaling up renewable energy and phasing out fossil-fuel projects.
It feels as if we are fast approaching a day of reckoning. How will we be judged? Will it be shown that we have taken sufficient care of the earth God has given us?
To return to Zephaniah, it will not be enough that we ourselves have gained wealth, built ourselves comfortable homes and vineyards. Judgement of the earth will be more subtle – it is not a question have we got enough wealth, a safe home and a fruitful vine – that is just to be complacent – but have we ensured that the earth’s wealth has been fairly shared with our neighbours? Have we ensured that it has been garnered in such a way as to not to destroy the earth – and all the trees – that God has given us?
The jury is out.
The words of UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ opening remarks to the Climate Ambition Summit in September, sounds as forceful as those of Zephaniah. “…and our task is urgent. Humanity has opened the gates of hell. Horrendous heat is having horrendous effects. Distraught farmers watching crops carried away by floods; sweltering temperatures spawning disease; and thousands are fleeing in fear as historic fires rage.
Climate action is dwarfed by the scale of the challenge… But, the future is not fixed. It is for leaders like you to write it…We must make up time lost to foot-dragging, arm-twisting and the naked greed of entrenched interests raking in billions from fossil fuels.”
So while we have time, we must take action. The Psalm reminds us that God is our refuge, our port of call for help. We must ask God “ to teach us to number our days that we may apply our hearts to wisdom.” If we trust in God, we should allow God to shape our actions, to guide our thoughts and to inflame our hearts with love.
We must not be complacent, but rather we must, in the words from Thessalonians, be awake and sober. We must put on ‘the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation’ and that salvation comes through Jesus. A few weeks ago we reflected on the Beatitudes and the teachings that Jesus gives to us his apprentices, that we should love without counting the cost, be truthful without counting the cost, be faithful without counting the cost and stand up for what is right without counting the cost.
If we and all people of faith can accept our responsibility to care for the earth and for our neighbours, then, in the words of the Hindu swami at Thursday’s Interfaith service, we, the people of faith, will be a fighting force for good, a force that can change the world.
António Guterres closed his speech saying, “The future of humanity is in your hands. One summit will not change the world. But, today can be a powerful moment to generate momentum, that we build on over the coming months.”
Zephaniah 1:7,12-18
Be silent before the Lord God!
For the day of the Lord is at hand;
the Lord has prepared a sacrifice,
he has consecrated his guests.
At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps,
and I will punish the people
who rest complacently on their dregs,
those who say in their hearts,
“The Lord will not do good,
nor will he do harm.”
Their wealth shall be plundered,
and their houses laid waste.
Though they build houses,
they shall not inhabit them;
though they plant vineyards,
they shall not drink wine from them.
The great day of the Lord is near,
near and hastening fast;
the sound of the day of the Lord is bitter,
the warrior cries aloud there.
That day will be a day of wrath,
a day of distress and anguish,
a day of ruin and devastation,
a day of darkness and gloom,
a day of clouds and thick darkness,
a day of trumpet blast and battle cry
against the fortified cities
and against the lofty battlements.
I will bring such distress upon people
that they shall walk like the blind;
because they have sinned against the Lord,
their blood shall be poured out like dust,
and their flesh like dung.
Neither their silver nor their gold
will be able to save them
on the day of the Lord’s wrath;
in the fire of his passion
the whole earth shall be consumed;
for a full, a terrible end
he will make of all the inhabitants of the earth.
Psalm 90:1-8, 12
1 Lord, you have been our refuge *
from one generation to another.
2 Before the mountains were brought forth,
or the land and the earth were born, *
from age to age you are God.
3 You turn us back to the dust and say, *
“Go back, O child of earth.”
4 For a thousand years in your sight are like yesterday when it is past *
and like a watch in the night.
5 You sweep us away like a dream; *
we fade away suddenly like the grass.
6 In the morning it is green and flourishes; *
in the evening it is dried up and withered.
7 For we consume away in your displeasure; *
we are afraid because of your wrathful indignation.
8 Our iniquities you have set before you, *
and our secret sins in the light of your countenance.
12 So teach us to number our days *
that we may apply our hearts to wisdom.
1 Thessalonians 5:1-11
Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers and sisters, you do not need to have anything written to you. For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. When they say, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them, as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and there will be no escape! But you, beloved, are not in darkness, for that day to surprise you like a thief; for you are all children of light and children of the day; we are not of the night or of darkness. So then let us not fall asleep as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober; for those who sleep sleep at night, and those who are drunk get drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, and put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. For God has destined us not for wrath but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep we may live with him. Therefore encourage one another and build up each other, as indeed you are doing.
Matthew 25:14-30
Jesus said, “It is as if a man, going on a journey, summoned his slaves and entrusted his property to them; to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. The one who had received the five talents went off at once and traded with them, and made five more talents. In the same way, the one who had the two talents made two more talents. But the one who had received the one talent went off and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money. After a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them. Then the one who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five more talents, saying, ‘Master, you handed over to me five talents; see, I have made five more talents.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’ And the one with the two talents also came forward, saying, ‘Master, you handed over to me two talents; see, I have made two more talents.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’ Then the one who had received the one talent also came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew that you were a harsh man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter seed; so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.’ But his master replied, ‘You wicked and lazy slave! You knew, did you, that I reap where I did not sow, and gather where I did not scatter? Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and on my return I would have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent from him, and give it to the one with the ten talents. For to all those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away. As for this worthless slave, throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’”
The Green Tau 