NOVEMBER 3 2021
IT’S PAYBACK TIME: NOTHING COMES FREE.
COP26 is on the way. The media are full with reports of boom and doom: boom for the solar and wind industries and electric cars manufacturers, and doom by the ‘too little, too late’ crowd.
The USA church is deeply divided on the Climate Issue. A significant number still cling to the Rapture escape, happening soon, when the chosen sail up to heaven in mysterious ways, but that ain’t gonna to happen, ever.
We are stuck on earth, whether we like it or not. For those who ‘wait upon the Lord’, the issue is clear: live a life in tune with creation so, when Christ returns, the transition to real holy living is smooth. The early church was ready for Christ’s return, but now, that it finally looks real, the church is even afraid to mention it.
Why?
Why is Christ’s return not current pulpit talk? Hasn’t the entire Bible been written with the END in mind? Yes, Jesus came to right the wrong committed in the Garden of Eden, but to shout that out, takes guts. No wonder the church lacks songs to celebrate this event.
Here is a hymn that deals with today. Throw the old – 19th century – hymnbook out and write a new song every week.
COP26
No easy fix.
The nations give their pledges:
Reduce oil use;
Stop air abuse
But they all come with hedges.
COP26
A final fix?
Is there still a tomorrow?
We must cut oil
Or face turmoil
And cause the deepest sorrow.
COP26
A final fix?
The weather won’t get better
More storms and heat
More hail and sleet
More drought and also wetter.
COP26
The final fix
with earth’s expiry looming
So right on track
Jesus comes back,
To set creation blooming
There’s a melody to that written by an 18th Century German composer Schubart. I found the tune in a Dutch hymnal, the first lines being, “God enkel licht, voor wiens gezicht.” If you can’t sing it, why not shout it out! We need more legitimate protest!
NOTHING COMES FREE.
One of the laws of ecology is NOTHING COMES FREE.
For centuries we have treated our planet as being ‘More than conquerors’, as victors with the right to plunder and dominate. And always, in the background, has been escape clause: heaven.
Satan has had two major victories: planting the idea that his influence is non-existent, and that heaven is the destination of the true Christian. In 1988 I saw Billy Graham being interviewed by Larry King – still out there on YouTube – who asked Billy what happens at his death. Graham replied, “Jesus will take me by the hand and bring me to God”, ignoring Paul’s warning that “God lives in inapproachable light”, forever unseen (1 Tim.6:16), while Jesus, in John 3: 13, states that ‘nobody has ever gone to heaven’.
We are stuck on earth, and now we face the consequences of our rapacious rebellion against God and his creation.
COP26 shows us our endgame as mortals. The Old Testament Church killed Jesus; the New Testament church, especially the Southern Baptist, the Pentecostal and conservative Roman Catholic and Protestant churches, as well as the Christian offshoot, Islam, all by their heaven doctrine, are effectively killing God and his creation. God will not accept that meekly: his is the vengeance, built into creation: NOTHING COMES FREE. It’s payback time for plundering God’s precious work of art.
COP26 will not provide the FINAL FIX.
Confessing that we are not all-powerful is proved by the way the world is changing: there are more and more alarming statistics emerging, numbers we ignore to our peril. Since 1751 the world has emitted over 1.5 trillion tonnes of CO?. At a cheap $65 per ton, that’s a staggering 100 TRILLION DOLLARS, more than 3 times the world’s GDP.
There have been ample warnings regarding Global warming. In The Next One Hundred Years, Shaping the Fate of Our Living Earth, Jonathan Weiner cites Swedish scientist and Nobel Prize winner Arrhenius who in 1896 wrote that “We are evaporating our coal mines into the air… This change might very well heat the planet.”. Well, he was right, and we did not heed his warning.
THERE IS A WAY
And yet. There is a way, a way that goes by the name of THE WAY, THE TRUTH AND THE LIGHT. It involves a ‘mea culpa’, a confession of sin, a bowing down before the Creator, and an acknowledgment of SIN, that terrible word that almost has disappeared from our language.
To remedy Global Heating is now impossible: there’s not enough money to make the trillions of tons of CO2 gases disappear.
God’s grace comes without a price tag. Jesus paid the price. Bow before him.