Luke 3:1-9 Jude 17-25 Isaiah 10:20-27 (NRSV)
If we look at the deleterious consequences of climate change as “the wrath to come,” we might well ask those economic interests whose policies and practices put us in this position, “Who warned you to flee?” But ironically, when the environment begins to unravel, and storms, drought, and sea level rise threaten us, those with economic and political are the ones who have the wherewithal to move to safety. Ultimately, however, our fundamental need for each other and for a healthy and fruitful earth will be felt by even those with the means to hide from that interdependence. Like the “wrath of God,” the destruction of environmental integrity eventually chases us down. This is judgment on how we are living on the earth.
The first lesson warns that we “lean on those” who strike us. Instead of deeply questioning our assumptions about the way we live, we lean on that which leads us further into our precarious environmental situation: the status quo of consumerism, individualism, personal profit, as though in them we had salvation from the very problems they engender and exacerbate. We are called instead to look to God, a God who radically questions all our assumptions, and who threatens the very comfort and convenience we fiercely protect.
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