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Up-to-the-minute jumping-off points for sermons, linking the reading to the latest news and global issues
Dominion and climate change
Our understanding of ‘dominion’ should be based on God’s model (Genesis 1.26).
Context
This weekend sees the opening of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow, with its four goals. The future of our species – and possibly of all life on earth – may well depend on the outcomes of this event. The situation is deadly serious but some assurance exists that there may yet be time to reverse the trend towards catastrophe.
- It’s not the first time we’ve faced this sort of challenge. Well within living memory for many of us, life on earth was threatened with annihilation by nuclear weapons and, while that Cold War may be over, the threat has only receded a little, not gone away.
- Annihilation by climate change, however, would not be the result of someone letting loose a battery of missiles, but the consequence of uncountable actions by millions of people, especially since the Industrial Revolution. The earliest warnings about climate change, linking fossil fuels with global warming, were published over 100 years ago. As early as 1977, major fossil fuel companies were aware of the dangers inherent in their activities, and chose to suppress the information.
Ideas for sermons or interactive talks
Different Christians have differing ideas about how the world came into being, ranging from the belief that creation happened exactly as described in the first two chapters of Genesis, to acknowledging modern scientific theories about the origin of the universe. Underlying all Christian views and opinions, however, is the idea that our very existence is an expression of divine love, to which we are called to respond. This is true whether we understand ourselves as the pinnacle of God’s creation, or as the latest product of human evolution.
The Creation stories contains references to God giving Man ‘dominion’ over all life on earth, with instructions to ‘till the earth and subdue it’ (Genesis 1.26,28), but this can never have been meant to authorise the brutal exploitation of the planet’s resources. Instead, the model of dominion that we should look to is God’s ‘dominion’ over us: a loving, caring, nurturing ‘dominion’ that seeks the best for those it governs and the realisation of their full potential.
If this were not already obvious, Jesus’ teachings about ‘stewardship’ (Luke 16.1-12; 19.11-27; 20.9-16) should make it clearer. Our ‘dominion’ is delegated to us by God, as a Lord delegates authority to his stewards; the earth is entrusted to us to be used, enhanced, and relinquished to future generations.
Fascinating though discussions about our origins may be, they are concerned only with the past. Much more important are discussions about the choices we make now, for on these depends our future and perhaps the future of all life on earth.
Questions for discussion
Note: Try not to be side-tracked into discussions about HOW creation exists. Focus on WHY.
- What do we really mean when we repeat, ‘The earth is the LORD’s and all that is in it, the world, and those who live in it’ (Psalm 24.1)?
- How should God’s treatment of the creation inform ours?
- What do we hope to see as result of COP26?
Robert Beard is a freelance writer and Church of England priest.
Check-in
Connecting faith with everyday, real-life issues for young people
The next couple of weeks see the Conference of the Parties meeting for their 26th annual event – COP26 to most of us – when in excess of 190 world leaders, tens of thousands of negotiators, government representatives, business leaders and ordinary citizens will descend on Glasgow for 12 days of talks. The aim of these talks is to further build on the Paris Agreement of 2015, in which countries pledged to bring their carbon levels to zero, thereby limiting global warming to less than 1.5°C by the middle of the century. Many believe this event to be ‘the world’s last best chance to get runaway climate change under control.’ [Cop26 Explained p.9]
As a resident of Glasgow, I can only begin to describe the disruption that this event will cause: major roads are already closed, sections of the city will be inaccessible, police and security services are on high alert both for terrorism plots and the many protests that will happen; and, if that weren’t enough, the local rail provider and parts of the city council services have decided to capitalise on the attention and chaos and go on strike, further disrupting the lives of everyone in the city – young and old. It’s enough to make you retreat under the duvet until it’s all over.
As I’ve reflected on the ways my life will be impacted by this summit in the coming days, I’ve been forced to examine my heart and assess what I think is truly important. If “COP26 is one of our last and most crucial opportunities to make sure it is humanity that has to change, and not the planet” [Bella Lack, Cop26 Explained p.24], then I have to play my part in being part of the humanity that needs to change – seeing the bigger picture rather than the parts of my tiny world that will be disrupted. And more than that – I need to think about all the ways that I can contribute to the aims of the Paris Agreement.
Many, many countries are already failing to follow through on the commitments they made in 2015 and we are not currently on track to limit global warming to 1.5°C or to bring carbon to net zero. Why? There are various reasons, but I suspect at the root of them all is our unwillingness to have our lives inconvenienced in the service of saving the planet. We need to radically change the way we do things in manufacturing and haulage. We need to make better choices about how we produce food and transport ourselves around. We need to invest in new technologies that enable us to produce electricity in greener ways. And all of this costs – in time, money, attention, people power. In a world where the aim is often simply to create as much wealth as possible, saving the planet requires a radical new way of thinking. And in a rich nation like the UK, it’s easy to close our eyes and ears to the way that climate change will disproportionately affect the poorest people in the world and ignore the fact that we have the power to prevent that from happening.
Jesus challenges us to work counter-culturally where necessary to serve God. ’Love your enemies!’ he said, ’Sell everything you have and give it to the poor… ‘ and ‘walk away from everything that keeps you secure and follow me.’ It seems that these ideas have only become trickier to live by as time has gone on. It’s easy to feel powerless as a young person in the midst of this crisis, but we are seeing so many incredible young people rising up to take a stand and advocate on behalf of the planet they will inherit. You don’t have to be a Greta Thunberg and take an international platform to make a difference – you can do it every day in the choices you make to separate your waste into the correct recycling bins, walk or cycle instead of getting a lift, switch off your bedroom light, eat vegetarian or vegan for part of the week, buy clothes created in sustainable ways, write to your local councillors and MPs, sign petitions. Inconvenient? Yes. Costly? Almost certainly. A Kingdom action? You bet.
And for my part? Perhaps I can treat this next two weeks of chaos like a fast from my self-centred way of living, where I expect to be able to be in control. Maybe God will redirect my gaze to something bigger. Maybe I’ll be part of the saving of the world.
"…the decisions we make today… really matter. What we say yes to. What we say no to and where we choose to invest our human and financial capital right now." [Elizabeth Wathuti, Cop26 Explained p.17]
Jenny Cheung is a choir nut and missional pioneer (www.thevoiceprojectscotland.co.uk) and mum to three teenagers.
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