Restoring our relationship with creation

Kia ora whānau,

Something’s not right with our relationship to the natural world.

We’ve severely damaged it. The greenhouse gas emissions from our lifestyles and the industries that drive our economy have upset weather patterns. We’re now staring down the barrel of a climate crisis: summers are hotter; droughts and storms more severe; fires and floods more dangerous. Our Pacific Island neighbours face losing homes to sea level rise. Species of plants and animals face extinction.

The climate crisis is actually a symptom of our much deeper spiritual crisis. It’s hard to face up to, but the simple truth is we’ve been idolatrous and sinful. We’ve believed we can push the world beyond its ecological limits regardless of the cost to others. Our refusal to change our lifestyles, our structures, our economy shows what we truly worship.

The thing is though, when it looks like we’ve gone to the point of no return down the road of self-destruction, God calls us back. On Sunday we looked at Isaiah’s message to Israel. Israel had its own spiritual crises. It too had been sinful and idolatrous. God warned that a failure to repent would mean destruction of the people and desolation of the land.

But that wasn’t the final word. God promised restoration. He promised to make flowers bloom in the desert. He offered new life.

Isaiah’s words are helpful. There’s times when God hands us over to the consequences of our sin. If we keep ‘business as usual’, there’s no reason to think God will protect us from the effects that will have on the climate.

But God is the God of new life and transformation. Jesus rose from the dead! And because of that, Jesus’s work is a reconciliation of all things.

If we repent and are willing to treat his wonderful creation with the dignity it deserves, God offers to work with us to restore and renew our world. Miraculous transformation is on offer.

J-L