When the twentieth century began, my great-grandfather Jones was in his thirties. As the twentieth century ends, our oldest child will be thirty. For our family, five generations have spanned this final century of the second millennium. The first generation rode in on horse and buggy, able to travel only a few miles each day. Tomorrow, Camilla and I will board a jet which will fly us non-stop from Philadelphia to Rome in a few hours. The degree of change in methods and speed of travel over the past 100 years is mind-boggling.
My parents, grandparents and great-grandparents all grew up in rural settings. We have lived our lives in urban settings. That's the story of most families in the United States. During the twentieth century, our nation has changed from a rural society to an urban one, as we have moved from the early stages of industrial development to the amazing technology of the space age. We have also grown immensely as a population - from 75 million people at the beginning of the century to nearly 275 million people today.
As we close out the twentieth century and prepare to step into the next millennium, we pause to consider where we have been, and we lean forward to catch a glimpse of where we are heading. As we reflect on the past 100 years, we see a very mixed picture of unparalleled advances as well as previously unimagined atrocities. As we look to the future, we hope and we pray that the next century will be full of promise.
Our situation is in some ways similar to the one we find in our passage from the book of Deuteronomy. The people of Israel stand on the threshold of a new era. They are closing the chapter on one stage of their lives, and about to embark on a new and promising one. They have survived 40 years in the wilderness since escaping from slavery at the hands of the Egyptians. They are now at the end of their journey and are poised to enter a new era. They are about to enter the promised land.
But on the verge of entering this land flowing with milk and honey, they pause. Their tireless leader, Moses, addresses them. He is deeply concerned for their well-being. Not because it will be more difficult for the people to survive in their new surroundings, indeed their new environment will be much more hospitable. They will serve as no one's slaves. They will have good land and plenty of water and rich resources. A new concern presents itself. Moses is afraid of how they will handle their abundance. He knows how they deal with adversity. He knows how they handle hard times. He is troubled because he is afraid that they won't be able to manage their abundance. He is afraid that in their comfort, they will forget who they are and they will forget their covenant with God. Moses was wise enough to know that people are not only tested in scarcity, but also in plenty.
And so Moses talks to them about the importance of following the ways of God. He speaks to them in terms of consequences. He says, "If you live as God intends, life will be good in the new land. But if you reject the ways of God, you will end up destroying yourselves." He says, "I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live."
As we prepare to enter the next millennium, the words of Moses challenge us. Like the ancient Israelites, the way we choose to live will determine our future and the future of our descendants. Like the Israelites, we too live in a land of rich resources, and the way we manage our abundance will be of utmost importance. Like the Israelites, we are in danger of bowing down to other gods - especially the gods of materialism and self-gratification. But there is a difference. The stakes are even higher now than they were then. Because not only can we destroy ourselves morally and spiritually, we can destroy the physical resources of the earth which will terminate life on this planet.
A colleague tells of being horrified one night when a young woman in his congregation proudly proclaimed that she was an anti-environmentalist. Stunned by the phrase, he asked what it meant. She said, "It means that I put people ahead of animals. I think jobs and people's survival are more important than protecting some owl that might become extinct." Following her pragmatic approach, he pointed out that all of nature is interrelated. If we get rid of something over here, it has an impact over here. Also, he asked what will happen if we contaminate the seas or pollute the air. She replied, "No problem. If God wants us all to die, then God will allow it to happen. If God doesn't want us to die, then God will protect us and the environment."(1)
That is scary theology. It's devoid of all human responsibility. "Don't worry. Be happy. God will fix everything."
But as Moses points out, that's not the way it really is. Human beings have choices to make. And one of our most critical choices is how to treat the natural environment. Do we simply use it to satisfy our immediate desires, and run the risk of threatening the livelihood of our descendants? Or do we fulfill our responsibility to be good stewards of God's creation? The quote by Chief Seattle on the cover of this morning's bulletin states the situation very succinctly when he says, "to harm the earth is to heap contempt on its Creator." I wish that the people who throw trash down on the ground realized that it's like spitting on God.
As we prepare to enter the next millennium, we face enormous challenges in caring for God's creation. As the world population continues to escalate, greater and greater demands are placed on the natural environment. Our children will likely be confronted with challenges beyond our imagination. Thus it is incumbent on us to leave them with a solid foundation on which to build.
We have learned a great deal during this century on the importance of caring for the good earth God has given us. We pushed some things to the limit and created some environmental disasters. But thankfully, we also learned how to reverse downward spirals and to renew natural resources.
At the beginning of this century, people in this country began to see the tremendous impact that human beings have on the environment. Millions of acres of forest lands had been decimated, rich top soils in the eastern states had been seriously eroded, the buffalo and other animals which had once been plentiful were nearly extinct, and something had to be done. People began to see that natural resources were not limitless and would not automatically rejuvenate. People's attitude toward the world began to change. They began to understand that the earth is not some vast wilderness to conquer so much as it is God's good earth to care for.
As attitudes and public policies changed, better forest management took hold, soil and water conservation was established, threatened species of animals were protected, and the situation began to improve. The advances in science and technology began to help. Better fertilizers and pesticides and improved varieties of crops were invented. For awhile, it appeared that science and technology would solve our problems whether or not our natural resources were cared for. But then we were hit with another threatening wave. It all came to a head in the late sixties. An oil spill covered the beaches of Southern California and dead fish and birds littered the landscape. Salmon caught in the Great Lakes had to be taken off the market because they had so much DDT in them that they were a health hazard. The Cuyahoga River in Ohio was so polluted with oil that it caught fire and burned a bridge. Air pollution became so excessive in some cities, that people were told that outdoor exercise would probably be more harmful than helpful to their health. Scientists began to detect holes in the ozone. It seemed that everywhere the impacts of modern technology were extracting a heavy toll on the environment.
Fortunately, these disasters prompted us to reexamine our view of the world. People began to realize that the earth is not an endless storehouse of resources to be exploited for short-term goals. Rather, it is a living system that requires human care and stewardship. We also came to realize that if we put our minds to it, we can improve conditions in the environment. The fears that clean air and water standards would cripple business and industry, proved unfounded. Today numerous laws in place, we have less air pollution, cleaner water and a thriving economy.
As we head into the next millennium there is reason for us to be hopeful about the future of the earth. We have learned about the impact vast populations and modern technology have on the environment, and we have put in place a number of policies which protect and renew our natural resources. We are bound to face new challenges, which today we cannot even imagine, but if we keep in mind that the earth is God's precious gift which has been placed into our hands, we will surely strive to pass it along to our children and grandchildren in the best condition possible.
NOTES
1. From a sermon by Daniel Chambers entitled "That our Descendants May Live," preached at First Congregational
Church of Berkeley, California, on April 20, 1997.
2. This sermon relied heavily on the Church Leader Guide entitled Celebrating Soil and Water Stewardship
produced by the National Association of Conservation Districts to recognize Soil and Water Stewardship Week,
1999.
© 1999 Dr. Gregory Knox Jones, all rights reserved
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