Thriving with Francis
Gate Pa –
27th Sunday in Ordinary Time- Year B + 5th Sunday
in Season of Creation
Francis of Assisi
Readings:
Psalm Psalm 26
First
Reading: Job
1:1; 2:1-10
Second
Reading: Hebrews 1:1-4; 2:5-12
Gospel:
Mark 10:2-16
What I want to say:
Francis understood at a deep level God’s deep desire
that all creation might thrive. Also understood that for that to happen
relationships between people, and people and creation needed to be restored.
This is the deep longing in scripture. It is what the covenants longed for. It
is what Jesus came to complete. It is what he taught and lived. We see that in
the story today – Deuteronomy allows divorce when woman displeases the husband.
The central theme of this years Season of creation remind us that we are all
interconnected
Because relationships broken too often women,
children, and other people, creation simply seen commodity to be traded and
discarded. That I what Jesus was talking about. The result is climate change
and biodiversity loss.
The burden of which is falling mostly on people
living in poverty – especially women and children
Save children fund report on consequences
COP 26 – what is it.
What I want to happen:
Get
informed, pray and advocate for COP 26
The Sermon
1. Introduction:
At
the heart of every Season of Creation is God’s deep desire that all creation
might thrive, and that we might be the instruments of this. For this to happen,
we need to start with an appreciation that all life is interconnected. No man
is an island the saying goes. Nor is any community, country, or humanity as a
whole. We are interconnected with each other, even those we don’t like. We are
interconnected with all creation. We are part of and enmeshed in all creation. The
central theme of this years Season of Creation remind us that we are all
interconnected
One
of the gifts of Francis is that he came to realise that he was part of and enmeshed
with all creation. He encountered God’s life giving and life changing love
through his brothers and sisters in creation. And he understood at a deep level
God’s profound desire that all creation might thrive.
He
also understood that for that to happen relationships between people, and between
people and creation needed to be restored. He is known and the man of peace. He
sought to bring peace between the people of Gubbio and the wolf that terrorised
them. He sought to bring peace between the bishop and the mayor of the city of
Assisi. He sought to bring peace between the Christian crusader army and the
Muslim Sultan in Egypt. In each case he did this by seeking to restore
relationships.
2. Scripture and God’s Deep Longing
Francis
lived this longing for restoration and peace because that is what scripture
asked of him. Particularly the gospels. His rule of life was to live the
gospels. But he knew this deep longing that all might thrive is found
throughout scripture. It is what the covenants longed for. It is found in the Mosaic
law and in the prophets. It is what Jesus lived and taught and came to
complete.
We
see that in the story today. The Pharisees wanted to test Jesus’ understanding
and ability to teach Torah. When Jesus turns the question back on them, they
quote Deuteronomy 24 which allows divorce if the woman does not please her
husband because he finds something objectionable about her. What might objectionable
include is not clear and debated. But the point of the passage isn’t the
divorce in itself, but that the man can’t remarry the woman if she marries
again. Women could be treated as a commodity to be traded and discarded with
little regard to the relationships and social networks they were enmeshed in
within the man’s wider multigenerational family unit; which included his parents,
brothers and their wives and children, and the man’s other wives, if he had
any, and all his children. Nor did it account for the devastation divorce would
cause her socially and economically.
This
passage in Mark has often been read as Jesus prohibiting divorce and has been
used to trap women in abusive and life destroying marriages. But this doesn’t
fit anything else Jesus is recorded as doing or teaching. He freed people from
all that sought to deprive them of life. He restored people to their communities.
He treated people as beloved of God and not a commodity. He used Genesis 2 to argue
that women were to be treated with care and respect and not discarded and divorced
at the whim of the husband. This is about the kind of relationship within the
marriage that will allow her to thrive. Women can’t thrive if they are simply
seen as a commodity to be discarded.
3. Commodities
Our
relationship with God’s creation is broken. We treat it is simply as commodity
to be used and traded, to be burned, and polluted and discarded. And the result
is massive biodiversity loss and climate change. This is not what God desires
for this world for us.
And
while we in the wealthy west who have created most of this mess, and are
beginning to suffer the consequences, the cost of climate change is and will mostly
fall on developing countries who have produced very little of the carbon
emissions or pollution. A recent report from Save the Children makes it clear
that the consequences of climate change is falling on people living in poverty
especially women and children. This is not what God desires.
4. COP 26
But much has changed in 5 years and climate
change has gone from being a fringe issue to a global priority. There
is real hope that progress can be made. The goals for COP26 are
1. Secure global net zero by mid-century and keep 1.5 degrees within reach
Countries are being asked to come forward with ambitious 2030 emissions reductions targets that align with reaching net zero by the middle of the century.
To deliver on these stretching targets, countries will need to:
accelerate the phase-out of coal
curtail deforestation
speed up the switch to electric vehicles
encourage investment in renewables.
2. Adapt to protect communities and natural habitats
The climate is already changing and it will continue to change even as we reduce emissions, with devastating effects.
At COP26 we need to work together to enable and encourage countries affected by climate change to:
- protect and restore ecosystems
- build defences, warning systems and resilient infrastructure and agriculture to avoid loss of homes, livelihoods and even lives
3. Mobilise finance
To deliver on our first two goals, developed countries must make good on their promise to mobilise at least $100bn in climate finance per year by 2020.
International financial institutions must play their part and we need work towards unleashing the trillions in private and public sector finance required to secure global net zero.
4. Work together to deliver
We can only rise to the challenges of the climate crisis by working together.
At COP26 we must:
- finalise the Paris Rulebook (the detailed rules that make the Paris Agreement operational)
- accelerate action to tackle the climate crisis through collaboration between governments, businesses and civil society.
5. What can we do
Pray
Support and encourage our government in their
work
If belong opposition parties, work to help
them take this issue far more seriously than they currently are.
Find different ways of thinking about our
relationship with this world and all who live in it. We need to live the mend
our broken relationships so that all people and all creation might thrive.
In light of that I offer this TSSF video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmxnP-kL7cs&authuser=1
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