COP29 - 11 November 2024
God the Redeemer - there is hope
COP29 - 11 November 2024
God the Redeemer - there is hope
Embedded Files
God the Redeemer - there is hope
reading
reading
Romans 8:18-22 (NIV)
I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.
Colossians 1:15-20 (NIV)
The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
reflection
reflection
As COP29 opens today, we want to start our series of COP reflections and prayers by considering two questions:
How does creation fit into the story of redemption?
What is the place of creation care in the mission of God’s church?
They're not easy questions, but we suspect that the way you answer them will determine where you place creation care in the outworking of your Christian faith, and nowadays that's a really important thing to be clear about.
Both of our readings today contain echoes of Genesis, and perhaps they could be summarised something like this (using Genesis to fill in the gaps). Jesus was with God at the beginning of time and everything was created through him and for him. When Adam and Eve disobeyed God, the good relationships between them and God, between each other, and between them and the rest of creation, were messed up. Because of this, creation has been in a state of frustration and decay, but will be liberated by Jesus when he reconciles everything to himself. Then, right relationships will be restored.
Should the inclusion of all of creation in the fall, consequent suffering, and ultimate redemption, affect our thinking? Dave Bookless, Head of Theology for A Rocha International, suggests it might change our view of Jesus: “So the challenge for us is simply ‘How big is our Jesus?’ Do we cut him down to our size to make him our personal Saviour, or do we allow him to be Lord of all creation?” And if we allow Jesus to be Lord of all creation, what about mission?
Returning to Dave Bookless again, he says, “In the past, many Christians have seen our God-given mission as, in essence, rescuing dying people from a doomed planet as this world runs out of control like a runaway train. Jesus has provided an escape plan. Mission therefore is a race against time to get everyone to safety before it’s too late. The Bible’s radical message is that God’s mission is far bigger and far more exciting than this. God’s rescue mission is not for a few passengers only, but for the train itself.”
We know we are called to tell people the good news about Jesus. However, Genesis tells us that we were also called to look after the Earth and the creatures on it. John Stott, hailed as the elder statesman of evangelical Christianity, recognised this when he wrote, “We need as strong and biblical a doctrine of creation as we do of redemption. Then we would care for creation more conscientiously than we usually do.”
Ruth Valario (environmentalist and theologian, social activist and author) is someone who has given such a doctrine a lot of consideration. Writing about a life sold out to Jesus she said, “This is not about pitting evangelism against community engagement, or poverty relief against environmental care, or a life of prayer against a life of action. A life sold out to the gospel of Jesus Christ does all those things and more, not out of duty, but naturally, out of love for our trinitarian Creator God.”
Lots of questions today, so let's finish with some certainty by claiming, for ourselves, Paul's prayer for the Ephesians (Ephesians 1:18): “We pray that the eyes of our hearts may be enlightened in order that we may know the hope to which Jesus has called us, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people…”
action
action
Consider a question posed by Dave Bookless in his book Planetwise. How we can keep a full Biblical understanding of mission, including creation care, without neglecting the importance of sharing the good news of Jesus? Reading about the work of A Rocha may help.
prayer
prayer
Because we will read and listen to much that is disturbing over the next few days, let us pray now for God’s protection and power:
Circle me O God
Keep hope within
Despair without
Circle me O God
Keep peace within
Keep turmoil out.
Circle me O God
Keep strength within
Keep weakness out
The encircling God is with you.
The encircling Power of the Creator.
(David Adam, Celtic Prayers)
resources
resources
📖 Making a world of difference, book by Dave Bookless (free to download)
📖 John Stott on Creation Care, book by R. J. (Sam) Berry
📖 Just Living: Faith and Community in an Age of Consumerism, book by Ruth Valario
📰 Making biblical sense of climate crises and creation care by Rev Dr Rachel Mash, an article addressing the arguments that the Earth is going to be destroyed at the end of the age anyway, so why bother protecting it, and that the Christian priority should be evangelism.
📽️ TED talk Saving Us: A Climate Scientist's Case for Hope and Healing in a Divided World by Katharine Hayhoe.
🎙️ Podcast interview with Ruth Valerio on why we as Christians care for the planet (29 mins), episode 33 of the podcast Making Disciples with Cris Rogers. Listen on Spotify, Apple, Pocket Casts (or your podcast player of choice).
🎙️ COP29: Are climate summits working? BBC Inside Science asks "What is the point of UN climate conferences, and are they really doing enough?" Marie Chesterton speaks to experts from University College London and the University of Cambridge, (28 mins).
at cop29
at cop29
CO29 opens today in Baku, Azerbaijan and discussions start tomorrow. We’ve provided some links to some relevant COP29 websites below, which you may find useful.
The COP29 hosting nation’s website
A United Nations article: What are United Nations Climate Change Conferences?
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse