(Article from the newsletter of Grace Episcopal Church in North Attleboro.)  

IS GOD GREEN?
Sermon by Lyle Pirni
 
Is God green?  Did Jesus have anything to say about the environment?  What are our roles as Christians in caring for the earth?  People are starting to ask these questions as we confront a new situation unique to our history:  we are killing our planet.  And for Christians, the Bible is a natural place to look for answers, since it promises to be God's Word to us and for us.
 
What is surprising are the answers people are finding.  Our role in creation's care may be a new question unique to our place in history, but the Bible turns out to be amazingly relevant.  In fact, it is almost as if it were waiting for this moment to speak to us.  With over a thousand references to the earth and caring for creation in the Bible, the message is clear:  all in God's creation-nature, animals, humanity-are inextricably linked to one another.  As God cares for all of creation, so too we cannot love one dimension without caring for the others.  We are called to care for all which God has made. 
 
Of all the references to environmentalism in the Holy Scripture, the one which is most fundamental is the golden rule:  to love one another as we love ourselves.
 
Now:  none of us would not know how to be human, how to think as a human being, how to walk as a human being, how to eat as a human being except by learning from other human beings.  We learn to be human by associating with other human beings.  We are thus, according to the Bible, made for family.  We're made for community, we're made for togetherness, and we're made for friendship.  We're made to live in a delicate network of interdependence, for we are made for complimentarity.  I have gifts you don't have.  And you have gifts that I don't have.  Thus we are made different so that we can know our need of one another.  And this is a fundamental law of our being.
 
All kinds of things go horribly wrong when we flout this law-when we don't ensure that God's children everywhere have a supply of clean water, a safe environment, a decent home, a full stomach.  We could do that if we remembered that we are created to be members of one family, the human family, God's family.
 
We must act now and wake up to our moral obligations.  The poor and vulnerable are members of God's family and are the most severely affected by droughts, high temperatures, the flooding of coastal cities, and more severe and unpredictable weather events resulting from climate change.  We, who should have been responsible stewards preserving our vulnerable, fragile planet, have been wantonly wasteful through our reckless consumerism, devouring irreplaceable natural resources.  We need to be accountable to God's family.  Once we start living in a way that is people-friendly to all of God's family, we will also be environment-friendly.
 
So, as Christians who believe it is our duty to follow this golden rule, to love our neighbors as we love ourselves, how do we act responsibly in an age of global warming?  Dr Jim Antal, Minister and President of the Massachusetts Conference of the United Church of Christ, has written that Christians of all faiths should act in 5 specific ways regarding the environment:
 
(1)  We should engage in legislative dialogue and political advocacy
(2)  We should take symbolic action
(3)  We should engage in personal discipline, or as Jim says, Holy Habits
(4)  We should make our churches and homes green
(5)  We should commit to green our communities
 
Let's deal with these, one at a time.
 
(1)  Legislative dialogue:

-Right now is the most appropriate time to act
-American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES), was introduced in the US Senate in late September by Senators John Kerry and Barbara Boxer.  The House version, also known as The Waxman-Markey Bill, was passed during the summer.
-Bill calls for renewable energy, by requiring utilities to use renewable energy for 6% of their power by 2012, and 25% by 2025
-Carbon capture and sequestration:  promoting the technology and large scale use of carbon capture and storage.  Making clean coal a reality.
-Clean fuels and vehicles:  providing greater incentives for electric vehicles
-Smart grid and electricity transmission:  providing new rules and resources to modernize our capacity to transmit power
-Energy efficiency:  requiring energy savings in buildings, manufactured homes, appliances, transportation, industry and government
-Reducing global warming pollution:  requiring reductions in emissions and establishing a tradable permit system.  Reductions begin at 3% below 2005 levels in 2012, 20% below that level in 2020 and 83% below 2005 levels in 2050.
-Requires governments to begin planning for adaptation to climate change and includes a number of provisions to facilitate the transisition to a clean energy economy.
 
There is going to be a heated and very symbolic debate with a "green" side and an "economic growth" side.  The entire Mass. delegation has been in front on this legislation, and we should be proud of that.  However, I can tell you from recent experience (IP&L conference+lobbying in DC several months ago) that they feel exposed.  We need to show that we support them, and that we "have their back" at home.  Also, if any of us have relatives, business contacts, friends, etc. in "unfriendly states":  all of the southeast and the coal-mining states in the West-we should implore them that ACES is a matter of moral imperative, not economic convenience.  The World is waiting for the US to finally take a leadership position politically on sustainability.  Passage of ACES is the perfect way for the US to seize the high ground prior to the next round of environmental treaty discussions in Copenhagen, which begin in December.
 
(2)  Symbolic Action:  Ring 350 Day, on Oct 24, International Climate Change Awareness Day.  350PPM is the level of carbon in the atmosphere at which life, as we know it, can be sustained.  Currently, we world's atmosphere is at 387PPM.  Leaders of many faiths are asking that on Oct. 24 or 25, each church with bells ring them 350 times, to symbolize that the faith community will do whatever is necessary to reduce carbon in the atmosphere to 350 PPM.
 
(3)  Personal Discipline (holy habits):  simply stated, we must "walk the talk".  In our cars, our homes, our eating habits, our jobs-our lives-we must strive for being "carbon neutral".  This means driving our net carbon emissions to as close to zero as possible.  By minimizing the amount of meat we eat, but using alternatives to fossil fuels to heat and light our homes, and fuel our transportation, we can come close to achieving this.  As Christians, we shouldn't agree to "carbon offset":  paying someone else to reduce our share of carbon emission.  The responsibility for doing so lies with each of us.
 
(4)  Green churches and buildings:  MIP&L will gladly work with any house of worship to reduce energy consumption, and to convert to alternate fuel use.  We've found that in older churches, energy consumption can be reduced by 35-40% by making common sense upgrades such as replacing old windows, installing insulation, replacing old thermostats with programmable ones, and putting draft prevention devices under doors.  These same principles can be applied to homes and offices also.  There is simply no reason why any building should be an inefficient waster of energy.  If you don't know how to make the necessary changes to upgrade your buildings, MIP&L would be glad to assist you.
 
(5)  Green communities:  it's heartening to observe the commitments which many communities are making to energy efficiency.  However, we must also remember that "community" must be extended to include the poorer communities in our state.  MIP&L is about to start working in three economically disadvantaged communities:  Lawrence, Dorchester, and Lowell-showing poor congregations how to upgrade their houses of worship from the standpoint of energy usage, and also how to carry over the techniques learned into their homes.  We've found that in some cases in these cities, people are having to leave their homes because they can't afford the high cost of energy.  The 35-40% energy reduction we're teaching can be the difference between staying in a home or apartment, or becoming homeless.  In addition, we're going to encourage the most promising of those we teach to help people in their neighborhoods with the techniques we're showing them.  It's incumbent upon all of us, as Christians, to seek out those who need assistance with sustainability, and to teach them.
 
In conclusion, as members of the community of faith, we have special responsibilities regarding changing the environment.  It's been said that sustainability is the "civil rights issue of the 21st century".  I was growing up during the civil rights movement, and I remember how influential houses of worship were in achieving equal rights for people of color.  The same thing can happen with environmentalism.  It's a holy issue which God is calling us to address, and quickly.  Please include prayers for the environment in your daily routine, and Godly "green" action in all that you do.
 
Thank you.