Monday, January 28, 2008

Jesus and climate change XIV

But what’s he doing now?
You might be thinking: it’s all very well that God created the world and continues to sustain what is good, despite our many problems. It’s all very well that God has shown us we’re not alone but has come to dwell with us in Jesus, that back then he began a solution and promised to do more, that one day, if we believe this promise, he will finish the job he began in raising Jesus from the dead. But what about now? Climate change wasn’t an issue in Jesus’ day, and who knows whether God’s ultimate renovation will come in time to avert the potential climate catastrophes that are beginning to unfold around us. What is God doing now?

God is creating a community based on love, not fear and guilt. Actually, he’s making lots of them, all over the world. Little gatherings of people who have caught a glimpse of what God was doing in Jesus and are excited by it, people who want to be part of a renewed world, people who can’t wait for it to happen and so who start to live as though it were already true, a community that has begun to understand that death is not the last word on life, a group that refuses to let past hurts determine the present because Jesus’ death sets us free, a movement that will not give up hoping no matter how bad things get, because God can raise the dead.

What is God doing now? He’s growing a family in which everyone is a precious brother or sister and has access to the Father, a family in which fear of missing out has been replaced by trust, and mutual concern and hope. Of course, there are still family squabbles. And it’s a family with much to learn about how deeply God loves his creation. Despite its failures, this community hopes for God’s promised future while acknowledging that we’re not there yet and so doesn’t pretend to be perfect. But it’s a family where failure isn’t final either. And crucially, it’s a family that spans the globe and brings together Arabs and Jews, blacks and whites, Chinese and Americans, rich and poor, carbon-emitters and carbon-sufferers.
Eight points to the first person to guess the city near which this ruin is found.
Series: I; II; III; IV; V; VI; VII; VIII; IX; IX(b); X; XI; XII; XIII; XIV; XV.

15 comments:

Matthew Moffitt said...

Let us getting the ball rolling...London.

What are you classifying as a city here?

byron smith said...

Not London.
A city: a large aggregation of population and dwellings concentrated in a specific location. This is only worth eight points. I am sure everyone will have heard of it.

Matthew Moffitt said...

York?

byron smith said...

No.

Matthew Moffitt said...

Dublin

byron smith said...

Nope.

byron smith said...

Not Paris.

Anthony Douglas said...

Edinburgh. Starting from the top...

byron smith said...

This might take a while...

... or it might not.

Either way it's going to take at least one more guess. Not Edinburgh.

Matthew Moffitt said...

Durham?

byron smith said...

Haven't yet been there (though might be going in another week or so); therefore, not Durham.

I guess this could give you a clue to some future photos (depending whether the weather is any good)...

Matthew Moffitt said...

Nice.

Rome?

byron smith said...

Is that two guesses? :-)

Eight points. Rome it is, on the Via Antiqua.

Matthew Moffitt said...

Ohps. Do you remember how old it is?

byron smith said...

The road or the ruined building in the background? The road is over 2,000 years old. The building not quite so old (can't remember exactly).