Erasmus+ – project
| Anglican lectionary: Catholic lectionary: | 1st Reading Zech 9:9-12 both | Psalm 145:8-14 – | 2nd Reading Rom 7:15-25a Rom 8:9,11-13 | Gospel Matt 11:16-19,25-30 both |
by Rev Dave Bookless PhD, A Rocha International
SECTION ONE: NOTES ON THE READINGS
Zechariah 9:9-12: This is a Messianic passage, anticipating the coming of a righteous but humble King (with echoes of Palm Sunday as the King rides on the foal of a donkey). The key message is the rule of ‘peace’ or Shalom that the Messianic King comes to bring, This peace is for the whole world – it stretches from sea to sea and to the ends of the earth (v.10). It involves not only peace in the sense of an end to wars, but freedom for prisoners, and a restoration of what has been lost. In terms of ecological application, the term Shalom refers to restored relationships in every area of life: within ourselves, with God, with our human neighbours, and throughout creation. Shalom reminds us of the scope of the Gospel – God’s Good News, which of course with New Testament eyes we see focussed on Jesus Christ. The Gospel is not simply a spiritual transaction, but about the restoration of God’s rule – the kingdom of the just and humble King – in every sphere of the created order. The Zechariah passage clearly shares this ‘big picture’ view of the rule of God over all of human society and over all of creation. It refers too to ‘my covenant with you’ (v.11). All biblical covenants are God’s initiative in love and grace, and all biblical covenants build on the original covenant in Genesis 9, which is not only with humanity but with ‘every living creature on the earth’.
Psalm 145:8-14: This Psalm contains the wonderful words “The Lord is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made” (v.9). God’s goodness and compassion extend to the whole of creation, not just to people. This is very important theologically and ethically. It has implications for how we understand God’s loving and redeeming purposes for animals, birds, plants and ecosystems. It also has implications for how we, as those called to reflect God’s image, treat our fellow creatures. We are to exercise the same love and compassion as God does towards all creatures. The word ‘racham’ translated as compassion, or in other places as ‘mercy’ or ‘tender love’, is a powerful deeply-emotional term with its Hebrew roots in term for ‘womb’. God’s feeling towards his creatures, and all his creation, is that of a mother towards her child, and we should seek to discern and discover the same protective, passionate intimacy in our relation with our fellow creatures and our earthly home. We should seek to live without cruelty to fellow creatures that God is compassionate towards. This has clear implications for our attitudes to meat or dairy products that are produced by intensive and cruel farming methods, and to animal testing or experimentation. More positively, we should support wildlife conservation, habitat restoration and wildlife-friendly gardening.
Romans 7:15-25a: The first seven chapters of Romans contain St Paul’s fullest overview of the human need for salvation from sin through faith in Jesus Christ. Chapter 8, which follows this passage, puts the human salvation story in a cosmic context of God’s good purposes for all creation, which is longing to be liberated from its bondage to decay (8:21). However, in these verses the focus is on our personal inner struggle between our sinful nature, subject to the law of sin and death, and our identity in Jesus Christ (7:25) as those freed from sin to live by grace. We can apply verses 18-19 ecologically: “For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do – this I keep on doing.” Many of us struggle with knowing what we should do (recycle more, avoid plastics, reduce polluting travel) and the temptations of an easy consumer-materialist life. Rather than wallowing in guilt and wretchedness (v.24) we should focus on our life in Christ (v.25). We are not called to become slaves to ecological legalism (eco-Pharisees) but are set free to be disciples of Jesus. Our response in caring for creation, reducing our carbon footprint, and living sustainably, should flow out of our loving, worshipful response to Jesus, who is Lord of creation (Colossians 1:15-16), not out of guilt and duty.
Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30: At first reading, this seems a strange and disconnected series of verses, and impossible to relate to sustainability! Yet, on closer inspection, there are several important insights contained here. In vs.16-19 Jesus contrasts John the Baptist’s ascetic, simple lifestyle with his own more celebratory, community-orientated, perhaps even consumerist (!) lifestyle, and points out how both were criticised, condemned and judged by people. As we noted with our Epistle from Romans, it is easy for Christians who are concerned about environmental and justice issues to become judgmental about others who live differently. It is God’s job to judge, not ours. The important thing is to look at the fruit our lives produce for God’s Kingdom: “wisdom is proved right by her deeds” (v.19). The reference to wisdom is important. Biblical wisdom, as opposed to human wisdom, is rooted in knowledge of God and the study of nature / creation. Solomon, the wisest man who lived, gained God-given wisdom by his study of plants, animals and birds (1 Kings 4:33). Professor Ellen Davis writes, “It is regrettable that the church has in the last three centuries largely lost sight of the fact that ‘nature wisdom’ is indispensable to an accurate estimation of the proper human role in God’s creation. Perhaps the time has at last come for the revival of this branch of theology” [Ellen Davis, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Songs, 2000, 56]. Jesus, with his frequent use of nature to base his teaching and parables on, stood consciously in the Old Testament wisdom tradition. If we want to live wisely today, we need to study natural systems and mimic them more closely. The other insight is from v.25 where Jesus praises his Father who has “hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children.” This doesn’t contradict what we’ve just looked at on wisdom – the Bible often contrasts human wisdom, gained by knowledge, discussion and study alone, with the biblical wisdom that is rooted in knowing God and studying nature. Today, as we face both a Climate Crisis and a Biodiversity Crisis, all in midst of a pandemic, the wisdom of our politicians, economists and academics has worn thin. We need to listen to children, to young prophetic voices like Greta Thunberg from Sweden, Malala Yousafzai from Pakistan, and Vanessa Nakate from Uganda. We also need to listen to the voices of indigenous and marginalised peoples across the world: those who often have the deeply rooted nature wisdom are technocentric societies have lost, and those who are the victims of the groaning of creation today.
SECTION TWO – SERMON OUTLINE: WISDOM IN A TIME OF CRISIS
We are in the middle of a triple crisis: the COVID-19 pandemic, the Climate Crisis, and the Biodiversity Crisis. All of these relate to how we treat nature. COVID-19, along with many other viruses, has crossed over from wild animals to human beings because of our destruction of natural habitats and exploitation of wildlife. The Climate Crisis is far bigger, but has been treated as less urgent, because it threatens the lives of the poorest and most marginal first but, according to all the experts, we have at most only a few years to avoid complete climate breakdown. The biodiversity crisis is least talked about but perhaps the most worrying of all. We all know how pollinators are vital for food production. They are just one example of the interdependence of all natural systems. We cannot live without the oxygen, water, food, and many other services that healthy nature produces, and yet it is being depleted year on year. So, in this context, what wisdom can the Bible give us?
From our Gospel, we hear about two kinds of wisdom. In Matthew 11:19 Jesus commends wisdom that is proved right by her deeds, whereas in v.25 Jesus praises his Father who has ‘hidden these things from the wise and learned’. The ‘wise and learned’ are those who rely on human wisdom: what is gained from the abstract study of books, from human-centred philosophies and knowledge. Today, as we face both a Climate Crisis and a Biodiversity Crisis, all in the midst of a pandemic, the wisdom of our politicians, economists and academics has worn thin. Our so-called experts don’t seem to know what to do, or how to cope. We need a different kind of wisdom. Jesus tells us this has been “revealed to little children”. Sometimes children can see the stupidity of adults very clearly. We need to listen to children, to young prophetic voices like Greta Thunberg from Sweden, Malala Yousafzai from Pakistan, and Vanessa Nakate from Uganda. We also need to listen to the voices of indigenous and marginalised peoples across the world: those who often have the deeply rooted nature wisdom are technocentric societies have lost, and those who are the victims of the groaning of creation today.
You see, biblical wisdom is very different from human wisdom. Proverbs 9:10 says ‘the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.’ Wisdom comes in knowing our place before God, our creator and saviour, and from knowing our place in creation. In the Old Testament, and in Jesus’ teaching in the Gospels, wisdom is found both in knowing God and in studying nature. Solomon, the wisest man who lived, gained God-given wisdom by his study of plants, animals and birds (1 Kings 4:33). Professor Ellen Davis writes, “It is regrettable that the church has in the last three centuries largely lost sight of the fact that ‘nature wisdom’ is indispensable to an accurate estimation of the proper human role in God’s creation. Perhaps the time has at last come for the revival of this branch of theology” [Ellen Davis, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Songs, 2000, 56]. Jesus, with his frequent use of nature to base his teaching and parables on, stood consciously in the Old Testament wisdom tradition. If we want to live wisely today, we need to study natural systems and mimic them more closely. We also need to listen to those indigenous communities who have never forgotten how to learn from, and live well within, nature, and to those scientists who dedicate their lives to studying and protecting wildlife and ecosystems.
So, what does this God-centred, nature-studying wisdom look like in practice?
First, it is relational: Biblical wisdom comes from understanding that our fundamental relationships are with God, our human neighbours, and the earth and its creatures. We need to ensure that we have healthy relationships with all of these. Without God, we tend to either worship creation, or exploit if selfishly. Without loving our neighbour, we fail to love God or ourselves. Without knowing our place in creation, we are rootless and damage all that is around us. We need to work hard on all three of these core relationships. In terms of nature, we need to know our local place: to be aware of the changes that are happening, to know the names and habits of the wildlife and the uses of the plants that are native to our local area. We need to feel deep within ourselves, the groaning of God’s Spirit at the wounding of the earth by our greed and pollution.
Secondly, it is compassionate: Our Psalm contains these wonderful words: “The Lord is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made” (v.9). God’s goodness and compassion extend to the whole of creation, not just to people. This is very important theologically and ethically. It has implications for how we understand God’s loving and redeeming purposes for animals, birds, plants and ecosystems. It also has implications for how we, as those called to reflect God’s image, treat our fellow creatures. We are to exercise the same love and compassion as God does towards all creatures. The word ‘racham’ translated as compassion, or in other places as ‘mercy’ or ‘tender love’, is a powerful deeply-emotional term with its Hebrew roots in term for ‘womb’. God’s feeling towards his creatures, and all his creation, is that of a mother towards her child, and we should seek to discern and discover the same protective, passionate intimacy in our relation with our fellow creatures and our earthly home. We should seek to live without cruelty to fellow creatures that God is compassionate towards. This has clear implications for our attitudes to meat or dairy products that are produced by intensive and cruel farming methods, and to animal testing or experimentation. More positively, we should support wildlife conservation, habitat restoration and wildlife-friendly gardening.
Thirdly, it is Jesus-centred. Our Old Testament reading from Zechariah is a Messianic passage, anticipating the coming of a righteous but humble King who rides on the foal of a donkey. The key message is the rule of ‘peace’ or Shalom that the Messianic King comes to bring, This peace is for the whole world – it stretches from sea to sea and to the ends of the earth (v.10). The term Shalom refers to restored relationships in every area of life: within ourselves, with God, with our human neighbours, and throughout creation. Shalom reminds us of the scope of the Gospel – God’s Good News, which of course with New Testament eyes we see focussed on Jesus Christ. The Gospel is not simply a spiritual transaction, but about the restoration of God’s rule – the kingdom of the just and humble King – in every sphere of the created order. For us as Christ-ians, followers of Jesus, caring for creation flows out of making Jesus our King – letting him be Lord in every area of our lives. It is not about a list of ecological commandments to make us feel guilty. It is about a relationship of love and a response of worship.
So, as we tackle the triple crisis we face – COVID-19, Climate and Biodiversity – let us learn to live wisely in God’s world: to work intentionally on our relationships with God, with our neighbours – particularly the most vulnerable – and with creation. Let us seek to reflect and develop God’s motherly compassion towards all people and all creatures. And, let us do all of this with Jesus at the centre, because all things were made by Him and for Him, and as we care for creation in His name, we demonstrate that Jesus is Lord.
by Rev Dave Bookless PhD, A Rocha, UK