climate justice

Sermon for the Twenty-fifth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 28B), November 15, 2015. Delivered by the Rev. Margaret Bullitt-Jonas at Parish of the Epiphany, Winchester, MA. 1 Samuel 1:4-20 Psalm 16 Hebrews 10:11-14, 19-25 Mark 13:1-8

You will show me the path of life

“You will show me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy, and in your right hand are pleasures for evermore.” (Psalm 16:11)

I am blessed to be with you this morning. Thank you, Thomas, for inviting me. I serve the other diocese in Massachusetts as the Missioner for Creation Care, so I travel from church to church, preaching the Gospel and speaking about our Christian call to protect the Earth. This morning I must begin with a word about the violence in Paris and in Beirut. Our hearts go out to everyone affected by these acts of terrorism, to the people who were wounded and to the innocents who died, to the families who mourn, to the first responders, and to everyone who is playing some part in weaving these two rattled, frightened, assaulted cities back together into a place of security and peace.

These tragic events shock us. They move us to anger, fear, and grief, for we feel a visceral connection with our French brothers and sisters across the Atlantic, with our Lebanese brothers and sisters across the Mediterranean, and with people everywhere who are subject to acts of violence and terror. We share their human vulnerability. We, too, are mortal. Like it or not, we too live in a world of danger, violence, and uncertainty. Jesus also lived in such a world, and every year, in late November, as the cycle of the church year draws to a close and we start to head into Advent, we hear Scripture readings that turn our attention to the end times, giving us images of breakdown and distress. In today’s Gospel passage, just as Jesus is coming out of the temple one of his disciples admires how solid the building is, how large it is, how grand. Surely it will last forever! But Jesus turns to him and says, “Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down” (Mark 13:2). All will be thrown down. He goes on to predict natural disaster and social unrest, “wars and rumors of wars” (Mark 13:7a). “Nation will rise against nation,” he says, “and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines” (Mark 13:8). Christianity is bracingly realistic about the human condition and the reality of natural disaster and human-caused disaster. Today Jesus predicts suffering and turmoil, and he says, “All will be thrown down.” Yet in the very same passage, in practically the very same breath, he also says: “Do not be alarmed” (Mark 13:7). “Do not be alarmed… This is but the beginning of the birth pangs.” (Mark 13:8). Birth pangs? It seems that Jesus was so deeply rooted and grounded in the love of God, so attuned to God’s dream for the world, so open to God’s creative Spirit and power, that even in the midst of suffering and war, even in the midst of violence, terrorism, and death, he could see beyond everything that was passing away and stand fast in the unshakable, ever-new, ever-abundant love of God. Jesus trusted in God’s abiding presence and in God’s vision for the future. He trusted in God’s dream that human beings can find peace within themselves, with each other, and with the whole creation. Jesus knew that even in the midst of death, something new and holy is being born, and he offered himself to that birthing process as a midwife, a healer and peacemaker. He showed us the path of life and he invited us to walk it with him. I wonder what it would it be like to share so consciously in Jesus’ mission of justice, compassion, and hope that we, too, thought of ourselves as midwives helping a new world to be born. I wonder what it would be like to throw our selves into birthing that new world with the same ardor that Hannah felt as she prayed to conceive and give birth to a child. As we heard in today’s first reading, Hannah prayed so ardently to be a generator of life that the priest who was watching her accused her of being drunk! May we all get drunk like that! Heaven knows that our beautiful, suffering world needs people who are wholeheartedly committed to the struggle to safeguard life as it has evolved on this planet and to conceive and bring forth a compassionate, just, and life-sustaining society. We know what we’re up against. The terrorist attacks in Paris and Beirut are linked with other deadly threats, such as climate change. Researchers tell us that ISIS, the Islamic State, arose partly because of climate change, which caused an extreme drought in Syria between 2006 and 2009. When crops failed, as many as 1.5 million people were forced to migrate from rural areas into cities. Social unrest escalated into civil war and eventually into the multifaceted conflict that now affects many millions of people. Of course climate change is not the only cause of terrorism, but it’s what the Pentagon calls a “threat multiplier.” Earlier this week the World Bank – hardly a leftist organization – warned that unless we change course quickly and rein in greenhouse gas emissions, climate change will drive 100 million people into extreme poverty – extreme poverty – within the next 15 years. We don’t have to be expert analysts in order to grasp how much suffering, upheaval and conflict that would engender worldwide. When I look around, I see a planet at risk of catapulting into runaway climate disruption because of an ever-expanding economic system that depends on fossil fuels. I see terrorism and poverty, rising seas and melting glaciers, and I see people so locked in fear, anger, or despair that they are unable to imagine, much less to create, a better future. It’s as if we’ve fallen under a spell and made what U.N. Secretary General Ban-ki Moon has denounced as a “global suicide pact.” But I also see this: person after person reaching deep into their souls and then standing up to offer their energy and time to the shared struggle to re-weave the fabric of life and to create a just and sustainable future. I see a wave of religious protest and activism rising up around the world, propelled in part by the release of Pope Francis’ groundbreaking encyclical, Laudato Si, which makes a powerful connection between the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor. I see people rising up for life, refusing to settle for a killing status quo, and proclaiming with one voice that climate change is a spiritual and moral issue that must be tackled without delay. Just think of all the signs we see of a new social order being born. We see people blocking the path of new fracked gas pipelines and being arrested for civil disobedience as they read aloud from Pope Francis’ encyclical. We see people lobbying for a fair price on carbon, so that we can build a clean green economy that provides decent jobs and improves public health. We see our own Episcopal Church deciding – miracles of miracles! – to divest from fossil fuels, since it makes no financial or moral sense to invest in companies that are ruining the planet. We see new coalitions being formed and new alliances forged, as people realize that the environmental crisis is closely connected with the social crises of poverty, income inequality, and racial injustice. Just this week I spent a day lobbying at the State House with a new interfaith coalition that is dedicated to climate justice right here in Massachusetts. Together we are fighting to keep fossil fuels in the ground and to accelerate a transition to clean, safe, renewable sources of energy, such as sun and wind, that are accessible to all our communities, including low-income. As climate activist Bill McKibben has pointed out, “The fight for a just world is the same as the fight for a livable one.” The Church was made for a time like this – a time when God calls human beings to know that we belong to one Earth, that we form one human family, and that God entrusted the Earth and all its residents to our care. We may live in a society where we’re told that pleasure lies in being self-centered consumers who grab and hoard everything we can for ourselves and the devil take the hindmost, but we know the truth: our deepest identity and joy is found in being rooted and grounded in love and in serving the common good. With the psalmist, we turn to our Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer, and say: “You will show me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy, and in your right hand are pleasures for evermore” (Psalm 16:11).  

If you’ve been wondering whether public opinion on climate change has changed in the U.S. since Pope Francis published his encyclical in June, look no further. A new study shows that during the six months since Laudato Si: On Care for Our Common Home was released, Americans have become more concerned about global warming and are more actively engaged in the issue. About 17% of the study’s respondents overall, and 35% of its Roman Catholic respondents, said they had been influenced by Francis’ message. Between spring and fall of 2015, more Americans reported they were more concerned about climate change, and more Americans considered climate change a moral issue that involves fairness/social justice and poverty. The authors of the survey found the shift in public opinion so striking that they dubbed it “The Francis Effect.” (Download the pdf here.)

Margaret speaks about the need for people of faith (photo by Quentin Prideaux)
Margaret speaks at the State House about the need for people of faith (photo by Quentin Prideaux)

This national survey focused on the three largest groups of American Christians: Roman Catholics, non-evangelical Protestants, and born again/Evangelical Christians. It didn’t report on other religious groups in the U.S. or on people without any religious affiliation. Perhaps further research will reveal how far the Francis Effect has extended to these latter groups. But it’s already clear that Pope Francis’ message has touched the lives of at least some individuals who belong to religions not included in the survey.

Take, for instance, Lise Olney and Amy Benjamin, two Boston-area social justice activists who are members, respectively, of a Unitarian Universalist and a Jewish congregation. The two women were so moved by Pope Francis’ message that they began to organize an interfaith response. On Columbus Day, October 12, they pulled together “Answering the Call: An Interfaith Gathering for Climate Action,” which was held at Temple Beth Elohim in Wellesley. Billed as “part service, part forum, and part rally,” the event focused on how Pope Francis is connecting faith, social justice, and climate change; on what the call to climate action means to people of faith in Massachusetts; and on what we can accomplish together as people of faith that we cannot accomplish alone.

They expected only a small crowd. Instead, almost 600 people showed up.

Mariama White-Hammond (photo by Robert A. Jonas)
Mariama White-Hammond (photo by Robert A. Jonas)

Thus launched the Massachusetts Interfaith Coalition for Climate Action, a network so new that even now we are trying to decide how to pronounce the acronym. Should “MAICCA” sound like “May-cah” or maybe “Micah,” in deference to the Hebrew prophet who enjoined his followers “to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8)?

Less than a month after MAICCA – however you pronounce it – burst onto the scene, its core team convened a legislative day of action in Boston on November 10. Well over 200 religious leaders and members of faith communities came from across Massachusetts for a spirited rally inside the State House, asking legislators to make a swift transition to clean, safe, renewable energy and to honor our moral mandate to protect low-income and other historically under-served communities.

Rev. Fred Small (photo by Quentin Prideaux)
Rev. Fred Small (photo by Quentin Prideaux)

“We are here today because we know that there are crucial decisions to be made,” said Mariama White-Hammond, a minister in training at Bethel A.M.E. Church in Jamaica Plain. “There are decisions that will impact not just the here and now, but generations to come. And so we are here, in these hallowed halls, because we are ready to start a revolution.”

Rev. Fred Small, the Unitarian Universalist minister who recently quit his job at First Parish in Cambridge to work fulltime for climate justice, gave an impassioned call to action. “Too long,” he said, “have people of faith hung back from political engagement to defend creation, future generations, and the most vulnerable of our neighbors. Politics is complicated, it’s messy, and it’s a lot of work. But it is holy work. It is necessary work. Today we embrace it in the name of love. There are powerful interests invested in the status quo. They are not evil people, but they are captive to an energy system that is deadly to life on earth… Today we lift our voices – the voices of people of faith, the voices of neighborhoods, the voices of our descendants yet to come, the voices of all God’s creatures. And we shall be heard!” (For the full text of his remarks, click here.)

Glimpse of the crowd (photo by Quintin Prideaux)
Glimpse of the crowd (photo by Quintin Prideaux)

Our coalition, whose members come from more than 60 religious and spiritual organizations, is pushing for a comprehensive energy plan that invests in renewables (solar and wind power) and in local economies. Its priorities for upcoming energy legislation include
• lifting the caps on solar energy and expanding incentives for community and low-income solar installations;
• investing in off-shore wind development, particularly in communities where coal-fired power plants have closed or are closing;
• ensuring that energy efficiency programs serve all communities, including low- and moderate income homes, renters, and people who speak no English;
• fixing natural gas leaks; and
• rejecting public subsidies for new natural gas pipelines (for a full description of the priorities, visit here.

Rep. Frank Smizik, Rabbi Shoshana Meira Friedman, Rev. Fred Small, Rev. Reebee Girash, Margaret, Mariama White-Hammond, Amy Benjamin, Lise Olney
Rep. Frank Smizik, Rabbi Shoshana Meira Friedman, Rev. Fred Small, Rev. Reebee Girash, Margaret, Mariama White-Hammond, Lise Olney, Amy Benjamin

After the rally, most of us fanned out to visit more than 60 legislators’ offices, where we outlined and advocated for our legislative priorities, and delivered some 1500 postcards. Along with a small group of MAICCA leaders, I headed to the office of Speaker of the House, Robert DeLeo (D-Winthrop) and then to the office of the Chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, Brian S. Dempsey (D-Haverhill). Because this is a critical moment for solar legislation in Massachusetts, we focused particularly on the moral mandate both to lift the caps on solar power and to protect community and low-income solar so that everyone can enjoy the benefits of solar energy. (In the hall we ran into Rep. Frank Smizik (Brookline), Chair of the House Committee on Global Warming and Climate Change, and nabbed a quick photo.)

Meanwhile, my husband Robert A. Jonas, who serves as Chair of the Board of the Kestrel Land Trust, headed downstairs to join a packed auditorium for a public hearing on a bill that would strip the protected status from conservation lands in Sandisfield, MA, in order to allow construction of a pipeline carrying fracked natural gas from Pennsylvania. Opposition to the pipeline has been fierce – see, for instance, MassPLAN and No Fracked Gas in Mass.

Judy Eiseman, Robert A. Jonas, and Kristin DeBoer, representing the Kestrel Land Trust
Judy Eiseman, Robert A. Jonas, and Kristin DeBoer, representing the Kestrel Land Trust

I doubt that many people involved in the rally, the lobbying, or the hearing had heard of the Francis Effect, but one way or another all of us seemed to have taken to heart the Pope’s concept of “integral ecology,” which stresses how deeply everything is connected. As Pope Francis wrote in his encyclical, “We are faced not with two separate crises, one environmental and the other social, but rather with one complex crisis which is both social and environmental. Strategies for a solution demand an integrated approach to combating poverty, restoring dignity to the excluded, and at the same time protecting nature” (139).

Will we keep building momentum and keep pushing for social transformation? Will we keep finding new partners and keep reaching out to bring new people into the climate justice movement? Will we lobby, vote, phone our legislators, divest from fossil fuels, perhaps even engage in civil disobedience? What happens next is up to us.

Near the end of the survey that reported on “The Francis Effect,” the authors remark: “It is important to note that The Francis Effect may fade or grow over time.”

Whether it fades or grows depends on what you, I, and countless others do next.

 

Here is what I said at the rally inside the Statehouse (visit here to download a pdf):

It is a joy to stand here with people of so many different religious and spiritual traditions, all of us united for a common purpose.

We’re here because Massachusetts is poised at an energy crossroads, and we have a precious opportunity, a precious responsibility, to choose a more just and sustainable future.

The world’s religions proclaim that the Earth is entrusted to our care and that we have a moral responsibility to build just, generous, and life-sustaining societies. I don’t know what tradition, if any, you belong to – whether you call yourself “religious” or “spiritual” or “none of the above.” However you define your deepest meaning and values, I hope that you will come to think of yourself as a person of faith.

We need people of faith.

Here’s why. Until now, humanity has seemed incapable of breaking away from the power of the fossil fuel industry or of imagining a life-sustaining future. It’s as if we’ve fallen under a spell and made what U.N. Secretary General Ban-ki Moon calls a “global suicide pact.”

I’m here to say that in Massachusetts, we’re not going to settle for a global suicide pact, or for a local one, either. At this energy crossroads, one path leads to “business as usual,” an economy mired in dirty fossil fuels that push the planet toward catastrophic climate disruption. The other path leads to clean, safe, renewable energy from sun and wind, to energy efficiency and energy conservation. One path leads to profit for the few, suffering for the many, and, before too long, death for all. The other path leads to a stable climate, clean air, soil, and water, good “green” jobs, and the ongoing evolution of life as we know it on this planet.

We know which path we choose. We choose life. We choose that path because, whatever our religious tradition, we are people of faith.

Who are people of faith?

People who see the long view, not just short-term quarterly reports;
people who care about the homeless, hungry, and poor, not just about elites;
people who understand that the web of life is a gift to be protected, not a commodity to be exploited and destroyed;
people who place our hope not in the promise of success but in being faithful to the love that created us and that holds all things together.

Thank you for being people of faith. Thank you for your commitment to urging our Commonwealth to choose a good path, one that stabilizes the climate and that ensures that all our communities can enjoy a clean and just energy future.