One issue today is increasingly coming to dominate public consciousness, especially among young people who will be those most directly affected by it: that of the environment, and the damage that we humans are inflicting upon it. The inspirational example of Swedish student Greta Thunberg has seen Extinction Rebellion marches and rallies taking place across the world, highlighting the seriousness of the issue and the pending crisis facing us all. In this month that will see many of us celebrating some kind of Harvest Festival, it seems particularly fitting to focus on environmental matters, so I’m posting this month a prayer of petition from Prayers for All Seasons (Book 2); one of confession from Prayers for All Seasons (Book 2); two intercessory poems from my recent book In a World of Tears and Sorrow; and a session from my 2012 book Daily Prayer 2.
Prayer of petition: Stewards of creation
Creator God,
sovereign over all,
we pray today for the world you have given to us.
We hold it in trust:
teach us to be wise stewards of creation.
Forgive us the folly of our modern lifestyles,
the fact that, even though we have repeatedly been warned
of its costly consequences,
we are reluctant to change.
Forgive us that, even as we speak,
some part of the natural world is being destroyed
and its climate and environment changed,
perhaps for ever.
We hold it in trust:
teach us to be wise stewards of creation.
Forgive the short-sightedness and greed
that has led to this situation,
the living for today with no thought of tomorrow,
and the obsession with material possessions
at the cost of spiritual values.
Forgive the massive divide between rich and poor
which it has served to create,
and which makes any prospect
of resolving the issues involved so remote.
We hold it in trust:
teach us to be wise stewards of creation.
Grant true wisdom and courage to leaders of nations
in response to this growing crisis.
Stir the hearts of all people everywhere to live more responsibly,
and teach all who profess the name of Christ
to lead by example.
Inspire a deeper understanding of what it means to be one world,
and so may we pass on to our children,
and our children’s children,
a world fit to inherit.
We hold it in trust:
teach us to be wise stewards of creation.
Through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Prayer of confession
Creator God,
you have given us the privilege of participating
in the care and nurture of this world.
You call us to work in partnership with you and one another,
not simply serving ourselves,
nor looking only to short-term interests,
but conscious of our responsibility to our children
and those who will follow them.
Teach us to be faithful stewards of creation.
Forgive us for mistakenly imagining
we can work independently of you,
living and acting as we please
with no thought of the consequences.
Teach us to be faithful stewards of creation.
Forgive us for exploiting the treasures of this earth
as though they are ours by right,
wantonly destroying the environment in our thirst for gain.
Teach us to be faithful stewards of creation.
Forgive us for losing our sense of wonder
before the magnificence of your creation,
abusing all you have given
instead of handling it with respect.
Teach us to be faithful stewards of creation.
Forgive us for living today as if there will be no tomorrow,
squandering finite resources,
heedless of our responsibilities to others or to you.
Teach us to be faithful stewards of creation.
Forgive us for always seeking more while others have nothing,
satisfying our needs while a multitude go hungry.
Teach us to be faithful stewards of creation.
Creator God,
teach us to work not just for ourselves but for all;
to recognise we are indeed stewards of creation
rather than its masters,
answerable finally to you for what we do with it.
Teach us to give thanks for all you have given us,
and to play our part in ensuring
that those who come after us may share in it too.
Teach us to be faithful stewards of creation.
Amen.
Poetic intercession 1
Broken and despoiled,
pillaged and abused;
plunder of resources
carelessly excused;
earth stands at a crossroads,
future on the brink.
Will we try to mend things?
Will we stop to think?
Though we’re still uncertain
what it all might mean,
will we just continue
as we’ve always been –
heedless of tomorrow,
living for today,
hoping all our problems
simply go away?
Spare a thought for others:
those who pay the price,
hit by changing climate –
melting polar ice;
those whose homes are flooded,
livelihoods destroyed,
or whose lands are barren –
now a dismal void.
Think about the birthright
those to come deserve:
countless priceless treasures
vital to preserve.
Earth stands at a crossroads,
future on the brink.
Will we try to mend things?
Will we stop to think?
Poetic intercession 2
Logging in the jungle;
hacking down the trees;
plastic in the ocean,
poisoning the seas;
soaring greenhouse gases;
toxic acid rain;
serve to put our planet
under mounting strain.
Dwindling resources
frittered in our haste;
swathes of land polluted;
coral reefs laid waste;
weather patterns changing:
storm and flood and drought.
Is there time to change things?
Will we work it out?
So much that is precious,
now we stand to lose.
We must grasp the nettle –
cannot pick and choose.
If we just continue
as we have before,
trouble and disaster
surely lie in store.
Think of other people,
those in other lands.
How we live affects them:
do not wash your hands.
Think of what God’s given,
held by us in trust.
We can make a difference;
not just can but must!
A wider perspective
Read
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Genesis 1:1
Ponder
Recent years have seen much debate over the environment and our responsibilities towards it. It is a debate that has met with a mixed response in the Church. Some see ecological concern as integral to Christian discipleship. Others vehemently argue that it has nothing to do with it, faith being concerned with the next world rather than this. Still others have no firm views on the matter, feeling that the gospel has little to say about it. But news the other day of the discovery of a previously undocumented dinosaur, its fossilised bones perfectly preserved, reminded me of a fact we would do well to consider. Our world is millions of years old and life has existed in some form for a good part of those. In relation to those life forms we humans appeared on the scene incredibly recently. Were we to condense the history of life on earth into one hour, the whole of human history would fit into the last few seconds!
Was God only interested in that brief span? What was he doing the rest of the time? Was everything that took place in the millions of years prior to our arrival of no interest to him? The idea seems too incredible for words. Certainly, as the words of Genesis remind us, we can see ourselves as the pinnacle of creation in terms of our ability to shape our environment, to think and create, and to respond to the divine, but we should not take away the impression that we’re all that matters. In terms of the universe, let alone eternity, we’re very much the new kids on the block. It behoves us to consider the wider picture and to show a bit of respect.
Ask yourself
How far do you consider caring for the environment to be part of Christian discipleship? Has the importance of the issue been sufficiently highlighted within the Church? In what ways do you personally show ecological concern?
Pray
Living God, is it just humanity that matters to you? I act, more often than not, as though that’s true. Yet you are the same God who created all things – the vast variety of creatures that populate or have lived in this astonishing world of ours. You value everything that you made, declaring it to be good, pleasing in your sight. Forgive my arrogance, shallowness, preconceptions and self-centred view of the universe; my presuming to limit your purpose simply to humankind. Teach me and everyone to recognise that this is not our world but yours, fashioned by your hand and precious to you, and so may we treat it with the reverence it deserves, conscious that your horizons extend far beyond our own. Amen.
Remember
Whereabouts were you when I established the world’s foundations? If you have so much knowledge, answer me that. Who decided its dimensions? Come on, you know this, surely! Or who stretched the line upon it? Job 38:4, 5a
Close
Teach me, Lord, to honour you by honouring your creation, respecting it as your gift, just as you have nurtured and fashioned it across countless millennia. Amen.