The reading from Isaiah evokes our tendency to idolatry: our needs, our ambitions, our comforts, our worldviews. Isaiah reminds us that we are created to serve God, and that we have been redeemed by God. Nature itself bears witness: the heavens, the depths of the earth, mountains and trees. In other words, the universe is not a stage, but a participant, an element not only of the story of creation itself, but of our story.
The Letter to the Ephesians calls us to live into our calling. It emphasizes forbearance, love, and the unity that transcends our differences. Our differences are real, but they are not divisive or exclusive; rather, they are sanctified to our common life, to our growth into the full maturity of Christ himself. The vision of the Body as difference-in-unity grounds us to stand firm against trends (from as superficial as fashions to as profound as philosophical and political ideologies) that divert us from our ultimate purpose and meaning, which is Christ.
This passage is one more among a succession of readings that challenges my self-righteous condemnation of those who dismiss those of use who warn of imminent environmental threats of global extent. I am called to see and to value voices that, however they may intend merely to protect the status quo, highlight the importance of economic and political stability.
I find it interesting that Jesus apostles are not merely a selection of people just-like-himself, but includes those of widely varying personality and character. What do we learn from this? Perhaps that the mission of Christ requires us all, not walling each other out of our discussions and our journey of discover, but through mutual interaction and love. Where do we fail? When we, like Judas, decide that ultimately we alone know what is right. And even Judas repented his choice. Nevertheless, let us take comfort in the fact that God can be served in the disaster we cause or allow.
Let us Christian environmentalists, then, persevere in our prophetic calling with a heart open to the voices of those who radically disagree, with the knowledge that those who would disown us are yet one with us in Christ. This is no promise that we will arrive at the destination we hope for, but that all together we are making the journey. This is a cause for me of both hope and grief.
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