John’s Call: Repentance, Renewal, and Caring for Creation

May I speak in the name of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

In the last week, more than a thousand people died from flooding across Southeast Asia.

More than one million people have been displaced.

We know all too well how it feels to be displaced and cut off and endangered

by floods and storms and mudslides We know what it is to see our neighbors swept to death in a storm,

Even so, the extent of devastation from these storms is hard to comprehend More

than a million people are suddenly without a home, through no fault of their own.

Tens of thousands of people are grieving the loss without any warning of a grandmother

or a nephew or a best friend or a student or a colleague or a sister.

Tropical storms have always been devastating, but these recent storms are producing

more rain than ever before.

That's what happened here in western North Carolina, and that's what happened

in Southeast Asia this week.

The cyclones that led to this flooding were not categorized as severe storms

according to their wind speed.

Their wind speed was moderate. But because of the warming of the atmosphere

and the ocean, these storms just dumped enormous amounts of rain and intense bursts.

And combined with the recent deforestation in some parts of Southeast Asia,

the results were disastrous.

Also in the last month, Middle Eastern countries have experienced worsening drought.

In Jordan, the annual olive oil crop has been 10% of what it normally is, all due to lack of rain.

In Tehran, water use is restricted at certain times of the day.

Riverbeds have gone dry, and many of their water reservoirs are 95% empty,

with the remaining water turning brackish.

In this case, some of the problems are due to government mismanagement and outdated

infrastructure, but they're also due to record high temperatures all year.

16 million people are facing the real possibility of their taps running dry.

There is scientific consensus that all this weird and intensifying weather,

floods, and droughts, and more can be traced to the burning of fossil fuels

over the last century and a half.

And many of the countries enduring the worst of the effects now are countries

that have very low rates of fossil fuel consumption themselves.

It's the habits of consumption in the developed world that have brought damage

to the whole globe, drowning and dying of thirst.

In those days, John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea,

proclaiming, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.

Now, maybe when we hear the word repent, we think it means, say you're sorry,

or feel some regret or guilt.

But what repent really means is change.

Change, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.

How does the nearness of the kingdom of heaven move us to change our lives?

It moves us to change because it gives us hope that change is possible.

When we look at the world around us, many things seem immovable, impossible to change.

The systems are set up and we have to live within them, if we're going to live at all.

They may cause damage, but what can we do?

But when jesus appears when the

kingdom of heaven comes near we glimpse an

alternative to so many of the

deadly realities we've become accustomed to when jesus appears we see that instead

of being bound to rules we can abide in freedom when jesus appears we see that

instead of trying to earn a spot in heaven by our good deeds we can just receive grace,

we see that instead of grasping for more we can live with open hands receiving

the good gifts of god and sharing them with others we see that instead of fighting

each other to the death we can choose peace and harmony we see that instead

of vigilant fear we can find rest and safety,

we see that instead of dehumanizing we can welcome instead of destroying we can cultivate.

When Jesus comes near, we catch a glimpse of the reality that Isaiah and the

psalmist both see in the text we read today.

It's a reality where all creation flourishes under the rule of a good king and savior.

If you look again at those texts, see how often they describe the kingdom of

God as a place where harmony is not just for human beings, but for all—mountains and rain and

fields, and the cow, and the bear, and the ox, and the adder.

The conditions we've grown to take for granted. Consumption and violence,

a thirst for death and acquisitive greed, the oppression of the poor,

our own need to remain blind to the systems that are hurting others because

we can't bear the weight of it.

All of that is reversed in the kingdom of heaven. In the kingdom of heaven,

the lion and the lamb just lay down together.

Children can play near snakes without fear. the needy are defended.

In those days, John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea proclaiming,

Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.

John the Baptist's call to us is to change, because change is possible.

To consider those things we've done and those things we've left undone,

that have caused damage, and to resolve to change.

We can look at our world and easily see the ways our action and inaction have damaged all creation.

We can look at our world and see the ways that we've made it less like Isaiah's

vision and the psalmist's vision, not more.

Instead of rain coming down softly on the mown fields watering the earth,

we've supercharged storms.

Instead of the knowledge of God filling the earth as the waters fill the sea,

we've sucked our riverbeds dry and often forgotten what we knew of God.

Instead of water for repentance, we have water for hoarding or for data centers,

but not for the thirsty, not for those who need us to change.

John the Baptist's call in this season is a call to change, and it is not a call to take lightly.

But it is also not reason to despair, because one is coming who will baptize us with the Holy Spirit,

who will burn away all that is false and worthless and show us finally what is good, what endures.

And no matter how much damage we've done, how much destruction we've endured,

the salvation that is coming cannot be stopped.

Even when the tree is cut down, new shoots grow up from the stump.

So let earth receive her king. Let heaven and earth rejoice.

And let us change our ways for the kingdom of heaven is near.

The homily was offered by the Rev. Amy Peterson. Musical contributions were

performed by Dr. Kevin Seal.

Introduction and closing reflections were shared by the Rev. Amy Peterson.

Sermon audio was prepared by Nanette Popa. Production was guided by Karen Marie Frederiksen.