Put People First |
The first question any journalist asks you about an event like this is “Why should the church be talking an interest in a political matter like the G20 meeting?”
How have we managed to convince people that Christians are only concerned with a narrow range of religious topics? We are after all the followers of Jesus Christ who said that he had come so that people should have life and have it in abundance.
This is said to be an age of globalisation. In the New Testament God’s plan is revealed that all things in heaven and earth are to be brought into a unity in Jesus Christ. He reached out to all the nations and our faith has been from the beginning global.
This is an interconnected world so that if we take more than our fair share of the earth’s resources and in particular contribute to climate change then it is the most vulnerable and the poorest people in the world who will suffer first. Loving God is expressed and tested in our love of our neighbour and in an interconnected world the people of Bangladesh are our neighbours.
The unborn are also our neighbours. In Christ all the generations are summed up. There is a famous Memorial from the Second World War which has the inscription – Remember this of us that for your tomorrow we gave our today. The way we have been living is different: we have mortgaged our children’s tomorrow to fund our today.
I am Chairman of Shrink the Footprint the Church of England effort to cut its own carbon emissions by 80% by 2050. In this Diocese we have pledged a reduction of 20.12% by 2012. But his is an ecumenical challenge and it has been good to work with Christians from every part of the church.
As the financial turbulence continues with its grievous toll of redundancies and broken dreams in the midst of efforts to re-invigorate the world economy there is obviously a danger that we shall be tempted to put off facing climate change. We can help sympathetic politicians and enlarge their room for manoeuvre by showing that there is a passion for justice among Christians which will not forget poor countries and the poorest people in the world who are the most exposed to the effects of climate change.
In particular at the UN Climate Summit in Copenhagen later this year we must press for agreement on substantial domestic cuts in CO2 and other greenhouse gases in an effort to keep global average temperature increases below 2 degrees centigrade. We also need to support the efforts to help poorer countries adapt and develop in a sustainable way.
We assemble in Lent on our journey to Easter. Our ancient ascetical practices and a re-invigoration of the Sabbath traditions are part of our offering in this global emergency but we fast for joy, in the conviction that the way of Jesus Christ is the way to new life which was announced as tidings of great joy to all people and then when he blessed them and departed from them, they worshipped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy.
