25 There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves. 26 People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 27Then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in a cloud’ with power and great glory. Luke 21:25-27
This passage from Luke is excerpted from the gospel for the first Sunday in Advent. It is apocalyptic literature, a message to those in peril to remain faithful, to trust that God is with us, that God will deliver us from peril.
I’ve been reflecting, in these waning daylight hours, on some signs that others have noted of late in the seas and the heavens. We screened a DVD of An Inconvenient Truth in the Social Hall last month, Al Gore’s documentary on what he sees as the crisis concerning green-house gasses and global warming. He makes a strong, if circumstantial, case that the world needs to radically decrease our emission of CO2 into the atmosphere.
Shortly after, I read an article by Elizabeth Kolbert in The New Yorker (November 20) describing the scientific evidence of “ocean acidification,” the consequence of CO2 absorption into the world’s oceans. The scientists that Ms. Kolbert interviews essentially propose an even bleaker reading of the signs in the roaring sea and waves than Mr. Gore discerns in the sun, moon and stars: coral bleaching, reef disintegration, whole oceans becoming alkaline, massive species elimination. The proposed antidote is, again, more radical Mr. Gore’s: eliminate all carbon emissions. Oh, my…
So what does all this have to do with Advent, much less Christmas? First, this: God has promised, since the rainbow appeared to Noah and his family after another difficult moment in environmental history, to be with us always. Next: Luke’s Advent gospel remembers Jesus promising his followers that, when their world is shaken to its foundations, he will come and deliver them.
The concluding verse of this lectionary passage contains essential advice: “be alert at all times (v.36).” The Bible, in Genesis, clearly places responsibility for stewardship of the earth in our hands. As the days grow shorter and (theoretically) colder, as we increase our use of energy to light and heat our dwelling places, let’s do our best to be alert to that energy, appreciate where it comes from and what it costs, in all senses of that term. Let’s look for signs in the scriptures, and signs in our lives, of ways that we can contribute to global understandings of how koinonia, the “whole inhabited earth,” may thrive for generations to come, until we see the Son of Man, coming in power and great glory.
A blessed Advent, and a peace-filled Christmas, to you all.
