Season of Creation
Sermon, Proper 19, Season of Creation 3
Psalm 103; Romans 14:1-12, Matthew 18:21-35
Practicing forgiveness is part of the art of living fully, joyfully, and peacefully in this world. Last week, Tom provided us with that unforgettable image of a person standing in the ocean trying to hold a beach ball under the water—and how that effort meant that the person was not free to do anything else. Not forgiving, he pointed out, is like trying to hold that beach ball under the water.
In today’s gospel, Jesus tells a story about a king who forgave a slave in tremendous debt to the king. That slave, having been forgiven his debt, went out and refused to forgive one of his fellows who owed him money. In fact, the forgiven slave had the person in debt to him thrown into jail until the man could pay his debt to the slave the king had so generously forgiven.
The others who witnessed all of this went and told the king, who called the forgiven slave in. The king said, “You wicked slave! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. Should you not have had mercy on your fellow slave, as I had mercy on you?”
And the king hands over the slave to be tortured until he pays his original debt.
And then comes this zinger from Jesus.
“So my heavenly Father will also do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”
That is, we suffer the consequences when we continue to be unforgiving people.
So I’m wondering—are there, in the end, limits to God’s limitless mercy?
Bulletin, Pentecost 16, Sept. 17, 2023
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Season of Creation – Energy
We have taken the five Sundays readings in the Season of Creation and highlighted a specific environmental area which we will cover weekly. (This week, energy ) How is this area affecting us ? What can we do at St. Peter’s and individually to improve our use of them ? We have added related scriptures.
Isaiah 40:28-31 “The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. 29 He gives power to the faint, and strengthens the powerless. 30 Even youths will faint and be weary, and the young will fall exhausted; 31 but those who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.”
1. Power in the Bible
We think of power in the natural world as produced from various energy sources in nature -the sun, wind, coal, water, geothermal, oil, biomass and the atom (nuclear). Power in religious terms is spiritual energy God is unlimited and this spiritual energy is unlimited in contrast to the energy we seek in the physical world which is limited. The difference from the physical world is that we do not consume this spiritual energy; we reflect it. It can be adapted to many needs in this world.
A. Power is an inherent characteristic of God ( Rom 1:20 ). It is the result of his nature. God’s kind of power is seen in his creation ( Psalm 19 ; 150:1 ; Jer 10:12 ). His inexplicable power is the only explanation for the virgin birth of Jesus ( Luke 1:35 ). Power is always a derived characteristic for people, who receive power from God ( Deut 8:18 ;Isa 40:29 ; Micah 3:8 ; Matt 22:29 ; 1 Cor 2:4 ; Eph 3:7 ), from political position ( Esther 1:3 ; Luke 20:20 ), from armies ( 1 Chron 20:1 ), and from other structures that provide advantage over others. When humans perceive that their power is intrinsic to themselves, they are self-deceived ( Lev 26:19 ; Deut 8:17-18 ; Hosea 2:7-9 ; John 19:10-11
B. The Bible uses spiritual energy which is transmitted to humans. It begins with God’s generation of light. This illumination is the spontaneous effect of divine Love in action, of Truth manifested. The Bible then goes on to chronicle this energizing force in the lives of individuals and nations, such as Moses energizing his people, leading them out of slavery and introducing them to the laws of God and brought them to the borders of the Promised Land.
Later Jesus said, “I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness.” n2 His great power to do good was generated by God.When he took Peter and John up onto the mount and was transfigured before them, “His face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.” n3 The sparkling spiritual energy the disciples saw in him was evident throughout his ministry, feeding thousands and calming seas. He told his disciples that they could move mountains if they had “faith as a grain of mustard seed
C Faith in God is a transformer. It transforms thinking. Holding to it and living by it can bring a solution to energy needs by causing us to be more inventive, more aware of resources close at hand, more accurate and disciplined, more universal in our concerns, and thus more equitable.
Paul especially images the living of the Christian life as an empowerment from God. The believer’s union with Christ delivers him or her from the power of sin (cf. Rom. 6-8) and introduces him or her to the “power of [Christ’s] resurrection” ( Php 3:10 ). Salvation and holy living provide the Christian with a “spirit of power” for witness ( 2 Tim 1:7-8 ).
D. For our use we may find spiritual energy can be generated through prayer.
Project Drawdown – a Plan to achieve drawdown
Climate drawdown refers to the future point in time when levels of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere stop climbing and starts to decline. Drawdown is a milestone in reversing climate change and eventually reducing global average temperatures.
Project Drawdown refers to the nonprofit organization with the mission to help the world reach drawdown and stop catastrophic climate change quickly, safely, and equitably. In 2017, a publication titled “Drawdown” became a New York Times bestseller, where it highlighted and described different solutions and efforts available to help reach this goal.
Project Drawdown is a climate change mitigation project initiated by Paul Hawken and climate activist Amanda Joy Ravenhill.
The main principles of the project are to:
What are the sources of emissions to be reduced?
These are the sources of emissions along with the “sinks” that help to offset the emissions:
A spiritual look at climate change:
The ultimate test of a moral society is the kind of world that it leaves to its children.” –Dietrich Bonhoeffer
1. Creation is a reflection of the glory of God to be good stewards of God’s creation, which includes all of us who live within it
2. Climate change is a spiritual challenge. Handling climate change is part of how we live our faith.
3. We have a responsibility to care for the least of us. The poorest amongst us bear the greatest burden and risk of climate change.
4. We are called to respond to what we see around us. We are moral messengers for the common good, translate compassion into action.
Climate Change, Measure, Sept. 17, 2023
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Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change – Achieving lower emissions
By Damian Carrington
“The Guardian”
“It feels impossible. The world has to slash carbon emissions by almost half in the next seven years to remain on track for just 1.5C of global heating and avoid the worst of climate impacts. Yet emissions are rising.
“However, tucked away in the recent (and devastating) landmark report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is a chart that provides the road map for an escape from catastrophe. It assesses with extraordinary clarity the potential for emissions cuts of more than 40 options. (See chart at the bottom of this article)
“The IPCC chart is a map of climate optimism. It shows we can cut emissions by half by 2030 with options costing at most $100 per tonne, which is a bargain when set against the further damages that climate inaction will inevitably bring.
“The simplicity of the chart is deceptive. It was compiled by a team of the world’s best scientists, based on 175 studies. Its power is amplified by the fact that it was signed off by all of the world’s governments, from the cleanest and greenest to the darkest petrostates.
“So what does it show? First, solar and wind power are by far the best option, with the potential to cut a staggering 8bn tonnes from annual CO2 emissions by 2030. That is equivalent to the combined emissions of the US and European Union today. Even more startling is that most of that potential can be achieved at lower cost than just continuing with today’s electricity systems.