Counting on … Lent 21

2nd April 2025  

For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there until they have watered the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and succeed in the thing for which I sent it. Isaiah 55:10-11

The Earth provides a bountiful supply of food that can satisfy everyone. Ensuring a sufficiency for all underlies God’s wisdom, God’s purpose. Ensuring that everyone can access this sufficiency however requires that we humans act responsibly. The following sound advice comes from the German Advisory Council on the Environment. 

“…sufficiency is a long-established concept in the environmental sciences. It is distinct from efficiency (less input per output) and consist (more environmentally friendly input). In contrast, sufficiency aims at the absolute reduction of outputs, ie a conscious collective self-limitation of ecologically critical goods and services. Secondly, sufficiency with the meaning of “enough” (lat. sufficere) can be linked to questions of justice: sufficiency aims to ensure that all people have sufficient access to natural resources. For people living in poverty, “enough” can therefore also mean “more”. Sufficiency requires “less” for resource-intensive groups. These are the middle and upper classes, especially (but not only) in rich countries. A life of dignity for all within planetary boundaries is therefore also the guiding principle of German and international sustainability strategies.”

Lent – seeking God’s wisdom

Friday 18th March

“Hey there! All who are thirsty, come to the water! Are you penniless? Come anyway—buy and eat!
Come, buy your drinks, buy wine and milk. Buy without money—everything’s free! Isaiah 55:1

You Lord, are the source of all good things: 

We praise you.

You call us to tend and care for your creation: 

May we strive to do your will.

You have made us as brothers and sisters with all that lives: 

May we live together in peace.

A Reading: Isaiah 55: 6-13 (The Message translation)

Seek God while he’s here to be found,
    pray to him while he’s close at hand.
Let the wicked abandon their way of life
    and the evil their way of thinking.
Let them come back to God, who is merciful,
    come back to our God, who is lavish with forgiveness.

“I don’t think the way you think.
    The way you work isn’t the way I work.”
        God’s Decree.
“For as the sky soars high above earth,
    so the way I work surpasses the way you work,
    and the way I think is beyond the way you think.
Just as rain and snow descend from the skies
    and don’t go back until they’ve watered the earth,
Doing their work of making things grow and blossom,
    producing seed for farmers and food for the hungry,
So will the words that come out of my mouth
    not come back empty-handed.
They’ll do the work I sent them to do,
    they’ll complete the assignment I gave them.

“So you’ll go out in joy,
    you’ll be led into a whole and complete life.
The mountains and hills will lead the parade,
    bursting with song.
All the trees of the forest will join the procession,
    exuberant with applause.
No more thistles, but giant sequoias,
    no more thornbushes, but stately pines—
Monuments to me, to God,
    living and lasting evidence of God.”

A response: 

God’s vision of the world is one of beauty and harmony –

Yet we do not listen,

We will not hear, 

Our eyes are blinkered. 

Lord, in your mercy awaken us to your wisdom.

God’s vision of the world is one of generosity and abundance –

Yet we hoard what decays,

We squabble over wealth, 

Our hearts are greedy.

Lord, in your mercy awaken us to your wisdom.

God’s vision of the world is one of promise and covenant –

Yet we don’t trust God, 

We don’t  trust our brethren, 

Our ways are deceitful.

Lord, in your mercy awaken us to your wisdom.

God’s vision of the world is one of peace and restoration – 

Yet we fight rather than listen, 

We provoke revenge not love,

Our judgements are corrupt.

Lord, in your mercy awaken us to your wisdom.

Feed us with love

Cleanse us of hate

Gift us with compassion 

Restore our trust in humanity

Renew our understanding of nature 

Fill us with joy

Make us again the people of God.

Amen.