Our Christian response to the environment
This article was first published in Noticeboard.
At the beginning of February we remember the Presentation of Christ in the Temple forty days after his birth, as told in the marvellous story in Luke 2.
This can be seen as a kind of pivot point between Christmas and Easter as we turn from the birth of Christ and the message of the incarnation that God is with us, to the story of Christ’s death and resurrection in Holy week and Easter, which reveals the purpose and the effect of God’s saving and sacrificial love in our midst.
The Presentation of Christ gives us a glimpse of the great truths of both Christmas and Easter, and helps us to see the whole picture of the purpose of our lives as Christians, and what is truly important in the Christian faith in the life of the Church and the world.
As the elderly Simeon holds the infant Christ in his arms, he declares that his eyes have seen God’s salvation that will bring light to all nations. In a heart-breaking phrase he expresses the costliness of sacrificial love as he tells Mary that a sword will pierce her own soul too.
The path to salvation via the way of God’s self giving love in Christ is a deeply costly one, but it is the way that brings true fullness of life and healing in every situation. Central to Christian life is being shaped by God’s sacrificial love in Christ. The end of February sees Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent.
Central to that season, and to Christian faith, is the call to repentance – to re-orientate our lives away from sin and selfishness and towards love of God and neighbour. This entails careful and prayerful examination of our lives both individually and corporately.
The Archbishop of Canterbury’s Lent book for 2020 is entitled “Saying yes to life”, written by Dr Ruth Valerio from TEAR fund. It offers thought-provoking reflections, questions and prayers for both individuals and groups. She draws imaginatively on the days of creation from Genesis 1 to help us think about our Christian response to matters of environmental, ethical and social concern.
In his foreword, Archbishop Justin says:
“every single one of us has a responsibility as part of our discipleship to Jesus Christ to live a life that cares for God’s world and its creatures . . . sadly, Christians have not always given God’s creation reverence it deserves . . . it is of the utmost importance that we now stand in solidarity together, repenting of our sins towards our Earth and committing to face our responsibilities as God’s people . . . to live out the life that Christ calls us to live, to care for our neighbours, for the creatures and the creation that God has so generously given us.”
2020 will be a significant year in our response to the climate and environmental issues which have reached such a critical stage in the life of our planet.
This will be a major theme at the Lambeth Conference of bishops of the Anglican Communion in July, and in the autumn the city of Glasgow will host a major and extremely important international conference.
It is vital that we think deeply about our Christian response at every level – individually how we live our lives, as a Church with our commitments to Eco-Church and Eco-Diocese, and nationally and internationally.
I hope and pray that in this time between the Presentation of Christ and the beginning of Lent we may be able to give deep thought and action as to what we might do in response to the salvation of God in Christ which brings light to all the nations.
