April 23, 2006

Being Sent: Resurrection and Global Warming

by Julianne Stokstad

Today is the first Sunday after Easter and the day after Earth Day and two seemingly unrelated topics are on my mind: resurrection and global warming. Christianity and the Earth are two of my deepest passions and there is blood on our hands from both. My whole life I have loved the earth, learning and then teaching about it. Called to ministry, I love the church, I love this congregation and I love Jesus and want to share my love and faith with others.

One might think resurrection and global warming have very little in common. We can't prove resurrection---it happened so long ago. We can't prove global warming because of the nature of science. Human doubts and fears, belief and knowledge and how they influence our actions are how I will frame my words today.

Our scripture from the gospel of John begins on the evening of that first Easter when the disciples were hiding behind locked doors, in great fear. Although the doors were shut, Jesus, who had been crucified, came in there and greeted them saying "Peace be with you." Then he showed them his wounds. For the disciples seeing was believing. But Thomas wasn't there and he said "unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and my hand in his side, I will not believe." When Jesus came a second time, Thomas was there. Thomas saw, touched and believed. For the disciples, direct experience led them to believe in the resurrection. But Jesus said, "Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe." I guess that refers to us, huh?

The discovery of the Gospel of Thomas in Nag Hammadi in the early 1950's and recently the Gospel of Judas has shown us that there were many different beliefs in the early church. Gnostics were flourishing at the time the gospel of John was written. They believed Spirit was all good and light filled, while things of the earth and our body were bad and dark. Some communities believed Jesus only appeared human, but he really was pure Spirit. The part about Thomas is an answer to the Gnostics, telling them Jesus really was of flesh and blood.

The Christians who followed the Gospel of Thomas believed Jesus was simply a teacher who achieved unitive consciousness with God. They didn't think Jesus taught of the apocalyptic future Kingdom. Rather, they believed the kingdom of God was right here on earth and humans just don't see it. All is right here on our earth. They didn't worry much about resurrection. There have always been many different beliefs in Christianity.

So how do we know what we know? Thomas, the doubter, demonstrated an important way we know: by touching, by seeing, by our direct experience. Another important way of knowing is through reason. Our modern age and society has been called the age of reason. Science is a way to understand and learn about the world. Science is based on the methodology of observation, description and testing. Scientists hold their theories lightly and discard them if experimental results show them to be wrong. In science there are always doubts because it is understood that what we think now will be refined even changed as we learn more. What we have found is that life and earth systems are extraordinarily complex.

When we come to global warming, we're a lot like the disciples in our scripture, huddled in a closed room fearful, not believing, not knowing what to do and despairing. Donald Kennedy, Editor-in-chief of Science magazine, the most prestigious journal of AAAS, said in 2004 "There is a paradoxical gulf between the importance of the Earth's climate and the level of public interest in it. "

There is general scientific agreement that as we add CO2 and methane gases to the atmosphere especially through burning of fossil fuels they form an insulating blanket that traps heat in our atmosphere. It is hard to believe this because we can't even see the culprit, CO2. We all know the United States has not supported the Kyoto Agreement to reduce our emissions and it shames me that we, only 4% of world's population, produce 25% greenhouse gases. In The Universe Story Thomas Berry and Brian Swimme write:

"That our western civilization should be the principal cause of such extensive damage to the planet is so difficult a truth for us to absorb that our society in general is presently in a state of shock and denial...We...[have been] unable to move from a conviction that as humans we are the glory and the crown of the Earth community to a realization that we are the most destructive and the most dangerous."

How have we gotten to this place? Christians are hopeful and good people. Yet there is great arrogance of human hubris that we are the center of the universe and separate and above nature. If we defend that with religion, then religion is wrong! The unintended consequence of our belief that the natural world is here for us to use is the current destruction of earth's systems, as we know them.

Does action take a change in belief? I think so. The healing of the planet must begin with a new theology for our times. I believe one of the biggest mistakes of Christianity has been not to have as a primary value the care of the earth. Jesus' ministry was for only a short three years. He lived and ministered to people oppressed by Roman occupation so it is natural that a major focus of Christianity has been justice. Now is the time for us to realize that justice for the earth is a value essential for our very human survival.

There are only few things I know: God is, God is our creator. The universe and all within it is good. God's love is a constant. God has created Earth to provide our needs. Aside from God, change is the other constant. Change is the natural way of the universe and of the earth. All things change, adapt and evolve. Humans have been on earth, but for a small time of the earth's existence. We have the ability through our choices and our technology to find solutions to the current problems.

Our challenge is to recognize and demand changes before they are forced upon us. I hope our Christian churches can unite to become leaders calling for change, for us to live sustainably. Perhaps the economic forces of rising oil prices will force Americans and others to use less gas-driving less, using public transportation, car-pooling or demanding cars with higher fuel efficiency. Economic forces are very powerful, but we have power as yet untapped by our voting, by our letter writing and most of all by how we spend our money. How we choose to act, to spend our money and vote reflect what we believe to be important. I say we must claim earth sustainability as a primary Christian value.

While the problem is huge, it is not yet impossible. I believe if each of us make small changes and become committed, we can make the change happen. I know that we are already committed, lets become more committed, do more. If you see something here at church to be done, do it. Don't wait to be asked. Elaine already prods us to recycle more. Sue encourages us to use paper cups. Louis has changed all the light bulbs here to be energy efficient fluorescent ones. Cindy has a big garden. Martha commutes by public transportation. Wouldn't it be wonderful if right here we were a model environmentally sustainable church? What about putting solar panels on our roof?

We can't prove global warming, but we must take a position and act now. As Christians, we are hopeful people. We believe in working for justice, for the good of all people. Global warming is complicated, such a big issue it is hard to believe we can make a difference. But if not us, who? If not now, when?

In Bodhgaya in a Thai temple, I saw a statue of the Buddha with one hand touching the earth. The story told to me is that immediately after Gautama attained enlightenment, Mara, the evil tempter, asked him by what authority was he enlightened. The Buddha didn't answer with words, but reached down and touched the earth. Let us touch the earth.

When the resurrected Christ appeared to the disciples, he dispelled their fear and empowered them with the Holy Spirit and forgiveness, so that they formed the Church. We too need to be empowered and forgiven, so that we can act to change our ways. I pray we might find new inspiration and strength to move to action working each in our own way, every day to clean up our earth home. Amen.

For more resources on Global Warming and faith, visit our Green Page.