Steve de Gruchy
Steve de Gruchy is the Director of the Programme in Theology and Development in the School of Theology at the University of Natal.
It is important
that the issue of Environmental Justice is shared with the worshipping community
through the preaching ministry of the Church.
While it is true to say that it has not received the same kind of
attention as other themes, the essays in this issue of the BCT attest, however,
that it is a crucial for the people of faith to reflect upon it.
Here I share
ideas for ten themes that relate to the issue of Environmental Justice.
It is assumed that the preacher has access to resources and ideas such as
those represented in this volume of the BCT.
I am using the New Revised Standard Version throughout, though it may be
that other translations of the text, including those in African languages, open
up other questions and ideas for creative sermons.
I will proceed by asking questions that the preacher can reflect upon,
and so build a sermon, or series of sermons that would be relevant and
contextual in terms of his or her own congregation.
It should be
noted that these ten themes could also form the basis for a series of Bible
Studies on the topic of environmental justice for small groups. However, if you choose to use these themes for Bible Study,
you will need to re-work the questions in such a way that they will be
user-friendly for the context in which they are used.
I have not moved
in a linear fashion through the books of the Bible, from the Old to the New
Testament, but have chose to arrange these ten themes in narrative fashion
moving from the good creation (1) by the God of life (2), who enters into
covenant with all creatures through Noah (3) and who brings forth the response
of praise from creation (4). It is
no wonder that this creation is a parable of God’s grace (5).
Yet we also need to focus on what we do with the animals entrusted to our
care (6), with the way that wrong doing towards humans goes hand in hand with
wrongdoing towards the earth (7), and thus with the very suffering of creation
itself (8). Yet creation, like us,
yearns for redemption, and the vision of shalom embodies restored community and
a restored relationship to the earth (9), so that the very City of God is
nurtured by the good of the earth, the Tree of Life and the Water of Life (10).
1. The Goodness
of Creation: Genesis 1:28-31.
This is perhaps
the place where all sermons on environmental justice usually begin, and
appropriately so. So much of our
popular Christian thinking about the earth, nature and the environment is rooted
in the story of creation in Genesis.
·
What does it mean to ‘subdue the
earth’, and ‘have dominion over’ every living thing (v.28)?
Is this a license to abuse? Does
this text still have relevance in cultures where the technology exists to not
only subdue but to destroy the earth? Does
the concept of ‘stewardship’ still mean anything today?
·
God gives to humanity the seed, plants and
trees for food, but does not give animal flesh for food (v.29).
Does this mean God intends us to be vegetarian?
In fact, God also gives the exact same foodstuffs to the animals (v.30).
If human beings are meant to share the same food with the animals, what does
this mean for sharing of resources with animals?
·
At the end of the sixth day, God saw that
everything was very good (v.31). Creation
is a good blessing from God, but do people still experience it in this way?
Do people, and especially Christians, respond to creation as if it is a
gift from God? What does this mean
for us today?
2.
Jesus and Life: John 10:1-15, and Colossians 1:15-17
The Colossians passage reminds us that Jesus is not absent from creation. It tells us that all things were created in him, through him, and for him. All things hold together in him. The passage from John 10, like so many other passages in the Gospel of John, reflect upon Jesus as the giver of true, eternal and abundant life.
·
Does it make us think differently about
Jesus when we read in Colossians that he was there at creation, and that all
things received life through him? (v.15-17)
·
In John 10, Jesus uses images to convey
his concern for his people - the gate (v.7), and the good shepherd (v.2,11)- all
images that remind us that Jesus is not only the giver, but also the preserver
of life. What does this mean for us
today? What does this mean for
other forms of life - animals, plants, birds?
·
What does it mean that Jesus came to give
abundant life (v.10) in the face of all that denies and destroys life today?
Throughout the Gospel of John, Jesus uses the image of life, to
convey his mission. What other passages can you think of? How do these relate to caring for all life, and not just for
human life and the expense of other life forms?
3.
The Noahic Covenant: Genesis 9:8-17
We are familiar
with the story of Noah and the Ark. We
are familiar with the covenant that God made with Noah after the flood, and with
the rainbow as the sign of the covenant. But
perhaps there are other themes that we forget.
·
The covenant that God makes with Noah is
not just with human beings. This
point is made five times in nine verses (vv.10, 12, 15, 16, 17). What does this mean? What
would it mean that God has a covenant with all living creatures and not just
with Noah and his human offspring?
·
Animals play an important part in the Noah
story. Great care is taken to
ensure that animals are also included in the ark; and the raven and dove play
important roles at the end of the flood (8:6-12). Why was God so concerned to save the animals from the flood?
What does this tell us about animals in God’s redemptive purposes?
·
God makes a rainbow to be a sign of the
covenant (vv.13,14). What does it
mean that God uses such a natural thing as a sign of his love and mercy?
Does God speak through nature in this way?
What other examples can you give? Why
does God choose (or not choose) to do this?
4.
All creation praising God (Psalm
148)
Given the way
that God has created all living things, and that God has entered into a covenant
relationship with them (see Gen 9:8-17), it is not surprising that creation
responds by praising its creator. Psalm
148 is one of a number of such examples.
·
What other examples of scripture can you
think of speak of creation responding to God in praise and thanksgiving?
St Francis of Assisi wrote the Canticle of Brother Sun and Sister Moon,
to express a similar idea. Have you
ever seen this? Perhaps you are
familiar with the hymn that draws on St Francis’ canticle, “All Creatures of
our God and King”.
·
In what way can all these parts of
creation - sun, moon, stars, fire, hail, snow, frost, mountains, hills, trees,
animals, cattle, birds (vv.3- 10)- praise God?
How do they do this? Are we
aware of this, or do we think of creation as just the backdrop to human life?
Are there ways in which we as human beings make it difficult for creation
to praise God? What might some of
these be?
·
Human beings are also called upon to
praise God. (vv.11,12)
Does it make a difference to us to think of creation as praising God just
like we do (vv3-10)? Do we think and behave towards creation arrogantly, as if we
are the only ones who have a relationship to God?
What can we learn from creation for our own acts of praise?
How can we praise God together with creation as envisaged in this Psalm?
5.
Creation as a parable of God’s Grace (Matthew 6:25-34)
We have seen
that Christ is involved in creation, and is the giver of abundant life to all
living things. (see 2 above).
In the stories about Jesus in the Gospels and in his parables, we often
see his interaction with the gifts of creation - water, fish, sheep, or fruit.
In the Sermon on the Mount (Matt 5-7), Jesus allows creation to
illustrate God’s graciousness.
·
What other stories about and parables of
Jesus engage with creation? Think
also of other stories throughout the Bible.
·
Jesus tells us that God feeds the birds of
the air (v.26) and clothes the grass of the field (v.30), to illustrate God’s
care and love for us. Why does he
do this? In what ways does this
invite us to be less worried about our lives and more dependent upon God? In what way does the bounty of creation serve as a parable of
God’s grace?
·
Do we as Christian people see the
graciousness of God in creation? Do
we listen to and learn from the way God deals with creation?
What else can we learn from creation?
6.
Balaam’s donkey (Numbers 22:22-35; 2 Peter 2:15-16)
The reference in
2 Pet 2 to Balaam and his donkey takes us to the original story in Numbers 22.
This is a very weird and wonderful story, and any sermon on this text
could use humour and laughter as an important aspect.
It is the only time in the Bible in which an animal talks, although it is
not the last time that a donkey should play such an important role in God’s
dealing with humanity.
·
Balaam strikes the donkey three times
because he thinks it is stupid. How
do we relate to the animals around us? Do
we mistreat those creatures that are in our care? (vv.28,29)
·
The donkey is attentive to the presence of
the angel of the Lord long before Balaam is aware (vv.27,31). Furthermore, the angel speaks through the donkey (vv.28,30).
In what ways are creatures aware of and attentive to the presence of God?
Can and does God still speak to us through creatures today?
·
The angel confronts Balaam about his abuse
of the donkey (v.32), and says to Balaam that his way is ‘perverse to me’,
drawing a direct connection between Balaam’s attitude towards God and his
attitude towards his donkey. Is
there a relationship between our attitude towards God, and our attitude towards
God’s creatures? Are we just as
perverse as Balaam?
7.
Injustice and the environment (Exodus
9:22-33; Psalm 24:1)
The story of
Moses, Pharaoh and the plagues is a fascinating story of the interrelationship
between injustice and the environment.
The plagues that fall upon the Egyptians suggest that where things are
not right amongst human beings, then things will also go wrong in the
environment. The two are deeply
linked.
·
Moses says again and again that if Pharaoh
will be done with oppression, the earth will heal.
In what way do the plagues, (Frogs 8:2; Flies 8:21; Boils 9:3; Hail 9:18;
Locusts 10:4; Darkness 10:22), make the point to Pharaoh that injustice and the
degradation of the environment go hand in hand.
·
In confronting Pharaoh, Moses uses the
words of Psalm 24:1, “The earth is the Lords” (v.29).
How does this vision of the earth and all that is in it shape Moses’
concern for the freedom of the slaves? What
relationship does this have to the earth and the environment?
·
In what ways do wrongdoing towards humans
and wrongdoing towards creation go hand in hand today? Are there links between poverty and pollution?
What might these be? How
would Moses react to this situation today?
8.
The suffering of Creation (Romans 8:18-27)
Romans 8
contains an exciting vision of the future redemption that awaits us as the
children of God. The chapter speaks
of the suffering in which Christians find themselves, and bears witness to
God’s presence and the certainty of our salvation in that suffering.
In the famous passage at the end it reminds us that nothing “will be
able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (v.39).
In the midst of this, there is reference not just to human suffering, but
also the suffering of the creation.
·
What does it mean to say that creation
experiences ‘bondage to decay’ (v.21), and is ‘groaning in labour pains’
(v.22). Is that true of creation
today? In what way?
·
We tend to think that with the “fall”
of Adam and Eve, it is only human beings who experience the pain of separation
from God. Is it possible to think
of creation also being part of the ‘fall’? (v.20)
How does sin affect creation? Can
creation be sinful? Is creation
just a victim of our sin? Can we be
a victim of creation’s sin?
·
The vision in Romans 8 is not only of our
victory and redemption (v.23), but that of the whole creation - which will
“obtain the freedom of the glory of the Children of God”.
What does this mean? Can
creation be redeemed? Can we be
redeemed apart from the redemption of creation? What does this mean about
redemption and salvation, and what are the implications for us today?
9.
To sit under one’s own vines and fig trees (Micah 4:1 - 4)
For the great
prophets of the Old Testament, like Micah, the vision of redemption was a
powerful vision of a society that embodied shalom, a time and place of
justice and peace. In this passage,
Micah speaks of such a time when many people from many nations, will stream
forth to Zion, and ask God to teach them God’s ways (vv.1,2).
It will be a time of peace, in which people “shall beat their swords
into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks” (v.3).
·
Micah’s vision concludes with a picture
of people sitting under their own vines and their own fig trees (v.4).
Why does his include this in his picture of shalom?
What is the connection between justice, peace (v.3) and the land (v.4)?
·
When people do sit under their own vines
and fig trees, Micah says “no one shall make them afraid” (v.4).
How important for our security and sense of well-being, is our connection
to the land and its produce? What
does this mean for people who are landless, and who desire to plant their own
vines and fig trees?
·
How does agriculture and farming connect
to issues of environmental justice? How
do we use the land appropriately to serve God’s vision of shalom?
How do we farm in such a way that we respect God’s earth?
How do we share the bounty of our labour equitably in this world of
hunger and starvation?
10.
Water of Life, Tree of Life (Revelation
22: 1-5)
The New
Testament vision of shalom, the new heaven and the new earth, is that of the
City of God pictured in the last two chapters of Revelation (21 and 22).
All the dreams and sighs of the prophets and the apostles are gathered
into this vision of a time when God will dwell amongst all mortals, death will
be no more, and there will be no more mourning or crying (21:1-4).
·
In the vision, the City of God is
nourished by both the river of the water of life (v.1), and the tree of life
(v.2). (vv.1-5).
In what ways is this a return to the theme of the good creation, created
in and through Jesus Christ (Col. 1:15-17), the one who gives abundant life (Jn.
10:10)?
·
It has been said that the Bible begins in
a garden (Eden), and ends in a City. Yet,
even here in the city there is a tree and a river, and it is these that bring
life to the city. What does that
mean for our cities? How do we make
connections between God’s creation and the human creation of the concrete
jungle of the city? How do we bring
life to the city?
·
The tree of life will produce fruit, and
its leaves are for the healing of the nations (v.2).
What does this connection between the tree, its leaves, life, and healing
mean? If this connection is the
vision of God’s coming reign, what are the implications for the way we live
our Christian faith today?
Conclusion.
These ten sermon
themes are a reflection on a range of biblical texts, some very familiar and
some not so well known. Here I have
drawn these texts to your attention and invited you to think a little more about
them. As you will have seen, I have
not engaged in detailed exegesis, and I certainly have not given any sermon
outlines. We preach to such
different congregations, in different styles, and out of different
relationships. Here, by asking
questions that get to the heart of the concern for environmental justice, I hope
that this broadens your approach to the text in a way that you can broaden the
horizons of your congregations in the context in which you serve.