WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:14.419 Well, first of all, let me say that it is a very real pleasure to be at Brunsfield tonight, especially tonight, because this is the first time that I have spoken to a live audience for eight months. 00:00:14.540 --> 00:00:24.019 The last time I was speaking was on the second Sunday of March. My wife and I got COVID the following week, but I hope the two things were not connected. 00:00:24.019 --> 00:00:33.600 But anyway, it's a real pleasure to be here tonight, and I applaud your ingenuity in opening the church. 00:00:34.379 --> 00:00:46.640 I have felt sometimes a little uneasy that the churches have been closed down, and sometimes I just wonder if we are sufficiently keen to get back to meeting like this. 00:00:46.640 --> 00:00:54.219 But thank you for having me tonight, and as I say, it is a particular pleasure to be here. 00:00:55.299 --> 00:01:06.319 Now, I was originally asked to speak to you on this subject. I think it was originally scheduled for the month of April or thereabouts, and then it was postponed a couple of times. 00:01:06.819 --> 00:01:13.640 But I'm very happy to have the opportunity to speak to you tonight on the subject of creation care. 00:01:13.640 --> 00:01:26.519 And just before we begin the subject, I'm going to read to you just a couple of verses from Paul's letter to the Romans, just to supplement what we've already heard. 00:01:27.239 --> 00:01:30.599 This is a well-known verse in chapter 1, verse 19, which says, 00:01:30.599 --> 00:01:36.359 What may be known about God is plain to them because God has made it plain to them. 00:01:36.359 --> 00:01:51.400 For since the creation of the world, God's invisible qualities, his eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. 00:01:52.519 --> 00:01:56.319 And then in chapter 8, speaking again of creation, he says, 00:01:56.319 --> 00:02:23.979 And just further down that chapter, in verse 26, in the same way the Spirit helps us in our weakness, we do not know what we ought to pray for, 00:02:23.979 --> 00:02:30.620 but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that cannot express. 00:02:31.179 --> 00:02:39.500 And he who searches our hearts knows the minds of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes with the saints in accordance with God's will. 00:02:40.060 --> 00:02:50.000 Now may the reading of these passages be a blessing to us this evening as we consider together the subject of creation care. 00:02:50.000 --> 00:03:04.000 Let me say by way of introduction that today is All Saints Day and has been celebrated as All Saints Day by the church since about the 8th century. 00:03:04.800 --> 00:03:08.719 I was trying to find a link between All Saints Day and creation care. 00:03:09.379 --> 00:03:16.259 Been struggling a bit with that, but it did strike me when reflecting on it that many of the ancient saints 00:03:16.259 --> 00:03:23.560 were much interested in the messages of creation and in what they would have called creation care. 00:03:24.319 --> 00:03:29.419 So many of them were very committed to the animal and plant kingdom. 00:03:29.539 --> 00:03:34.259 And I think it was Sir Francis of Assisi who was not very keen about killing insects. 00:03:35.599 --> 00:03:42.039 And I occasionally try to follow that when we have a wasp in the front room by encouraging the creature to use the open window, 00:03:42.180 --> 00:03:43.899 but it doesn't always work out. 00:03:43.900 --> 00:03:52.319 However, what's maybe more relevant for tonight, strangely, is that it was on this day in 1959 00:03:52.319 --> 00:03:57.080 that the M1 was opened for the first time to traffic. 00:03:57.819 --> 00:04:02.040 And of course, the spread of motorways has certainly been a feature of my lifetime. 00:04:02.659 --> 00:04:06.000 And it has a great deal to do with the environment. 00:04:06.560 --> 00:04:09.540 And it's something that the environmental movement focuses on. 00:04:09.539 --> 00:04:16.579 So instead of M1, which was opened on this day in 1959, you might want to think about HS2, 00:04:17.079 --> 00:04:19.899 which I think is going to be built one of these days, 00:04:20.420 --> 00:04:27.539 but which has significant implications for the environment of the land through which it passes. 00:04:28.839 --> 00:04:32.519 Now, I have been challenged in preparing for tonight's subject. 00:04:32.519 --> 00:04:38.899 First of all, because I've never been asked to speak on this before. 00:04:39.120 --> 00:04:45.939 Plenty of talks I've given on creation and design and creation, but never on the topic of creation care. 00:04:46.060 --> 00:04:48.259 And so I've had to think quite a lot about it. 00:04:48.339 --> 00:04:52.060 Thank you for all the extra time that I had to reflect on it. 00:04:52.060 --> 00:04:58.800 But it also strikes me that across my life and my association with evangelical churches, 00:04:59.600 --> 00:05:04.100 it has not been a topic that has been in any way conspicuous. 00:05:04.639 --> 00:05:10.420 In fact, I struggle to remember if I've ever heard anyone speaking about creation care 00:05:10.420 --> 00:05:17.480 and the significance of the environment, except in a rather cursory and passing way. 00:05:17.480 --> 00:05:26.140 So I think as we come to our subject tonight, there is an issue about how much attention over the years we have given to this. 00:05:26.860 --> 00:05:28.560 And I'm not being critical about it. 00:05:28.620 --> 00:05:32.700 I think there is something about creation care which is difficult for us. 00:05:33.100 --> 00:05:42.319 Just the sheer size of the created world is such that it's very hard for us to reflect on any personal impact 00:05:42.319 --> 00:05:47.120 that we might have in the very small piece of territory that we occupy. 00:05:47.480 --> 00:05:54.280 Of course, it has become recently a very prominent political issue with the rise of the Green Parties 00:05:54.280 --> 00:06:03.259 and the environmental movement thrusting itself now to our attention with environmental extinction movement. 00:06:04.580 --> 00:06:09.220 And I think it's partly because we really are not quite sure how to handle this 00:06:09.220 --> 00:06:12.379 and how as Christians to react to it. 00:06:12.379 --> 00:06:19.800 Again, I'm not sure where I would find a definitive evangelical response to this matter. 00:06:20.300 --> 00:06:27.939 But I do think as Christians who believe in God that we do sense that God is in control of the creation that he has made. 00:06:28.519 --> 00:06:32.219 And maybe we have just been content to leave it there. 00:06:32.620 --> 00:06:35.139 And that's not altogether a bad thing to do. 00:06:35.399 --> 00:06:37.819 It is certainly an understandable reaction. 00:06:37.819 --> 00:06:43.099 I've also not found a great deal of material on the subject. 00:06:43.680 --> 00:06:50.659 I've come across a series of booklets in a series entitled Grove Ethics. 00:06:51.459 --> 00:06:59.600 And these deal with various aspects of the environmental movement and what they would perceive as a crisis. 00:06:59.600 --> 00:07:06.120 And there is one book I've come across called Bible Theology for Life Creation Care by Douglas and Jonathan Moo. 00:07:06.540 --> 00:07:14.200 And this book gives a fairly complete treatment of modern evangelical thinking about environmentalism. 00:07:15.040 --> 00:07:20.800 However, there have been some Christians that have involved themselves in this. 00:07:20.860 --> 00:07:24.160 And one of them in particular is Sir John Houghton. 00:07:24.160 --> 00:07:28.600 He passed away sadly in the 15th of April this year. 00:07:29.580 --> 00:07:35.360 I think I'm right in saying he had a background amongst Christian brethren. 00:07:35.920 --> 00:07:38.980 He certainly was brought up in an evangelical home. 00:07:39.120 --> 00:07:49.140 He was professor of atmospheric physics at Oxford and was also the chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, IPCC. 00:07:49.139 --> 00:07:55.959 A group which shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 with Al Gore. 00:07:56.120 --> 00:07:57.159 You remember Al Gore? 00:07:57.599 --> 00:08:02.560 He used to introduce himself by saying, I used to be the next president of the United States. 00:08:02.879 --> 00:08:04.819 But it never quite happened for him. 00:08:05.800 --> 00:08:09.519 And then, of course, very much in the news is the young lady Greta Thunberg. 00:08:10.039 --> 00:08:16.719 The activist who has become an international personality about the urgency of environmental issues. 00:08:16.720 --> 00:08:22.380 And one of the times I heard her speak, she said, don't believe me, believe the science. 00:08:23.080 --> 00:08:30.380 And I must say that I thought there was something somewhat odd about a young 17-year-old 00:08:30.380 --> 00:08:38.759 who is motivated by something she hears from her teacher at school and becomes a world expert on environmental issues. 00:08:38.759 --> 00:08:42.600 I thought there was a degree of desperation about that. 00:08:43.299 --> 00:08:50.220 And it leaves me wondering a little bit about the coherence of the current environmental movement. 00:08:50.559 --> 00:08:51.740 No reflection on her. 00:08:52.080 --> 00:08:59.240 Just the fact that she became the focus of a movement that feels often frustrated, I found rather interesting. 00:08:59.980 --> 00:09:02.939 But there's an interesting phrase that we've become used to now. 00:09:03.279 --> 00:09:05.659 It is the phrase, follow the science. 00:09:05.659 --> 00:09:09.120 And this implies, of course, that science has the answers. 00:09:09.679 --> 00:09:12.100 It has the answers on the origin of life. 00:09:12.480 --> 00:09:17.319 It has the answers on the origin of the universe, apparently, and how life got to be as it is. 00:09:17.639 --> 00:09:22.899 It apparently has clear answers about the future of our planet and climate change. 00:09:23.319 --> 00:09:30.399 Although the follow the science school has been just a little dented over the science of COVID. 00:09:30.399 --> 00:09:38.220 Because I think we are beginning to see that following the science about COVID is not exactly straightforward. 00:09:38.220 --> 00:09:43.500 Because there are scientists who disagree about where we are and what's going to happen. 00:09:43.879 --> 00:09:50.299 But it has become very much a matter now where scientists speak with great authority on the future of the planet 00:09:50.299 --> 00:09:52.799 and what ought to be done about it. 00:09:52.799 --> 00:09:59.099 Now, there's perhaps another level that we can come to in this. 00:10:00.179 --> 00:10:07.399 And you may be surprised when I say to you to think for a moment or two about the Welsh village of Aberfan, 00:10:08.599 --> 00:10:12.259 where there was an appalling catastrophe in 1966, 00:10:12.259 --> 00:10:17.559 when around a coal mine on a hill behind the village, 00:10:18.179 --> 00:10:25.200 a mudslide started that engulfed the school and claimed the lives of scores of innocent young children. 00:10:25.299 --> 00:10:27.620 I remember my wife and I, we weren't long married at the time, 00:10:28.059 --> 00:10:33.059 visiting Aberfan and being profoundly moved by what we saw there. 00:10:33.139 --> 00:10:38.419 And it came back to me because I was reading recently John Humphrey's book, A Day Like Today, 00:10:38.419 --> 00:10:48.620 and he records that reporting on the Aberfan disaster was one of the first tasks he had as a young journalist. 00:10:49.339 --> 00:10:55.399 And it made me think about the impact on the environment that individuals can have 00:10:55.399 --> 00:10:57.319 in a scale that you can understand, 00:10:57.319 --> 00:11:05.659 because this was a scale of the environment which was being handled, I think, at the time by the National Coal Board. 00:11:05.659 --> 00:11:10.480 And if I may just read to you a piece that John Humphreys wrote about this, 00:11:11.179 --> 00:11:11.519 he says, 00:11:11.639 --> 00:11:13.360 Never was anger more justified. 00:11:14.019 --> 00:11:16.279 The National Coal Board who ran the mines had, 00:11:16.600 --> 00:11:19.759 from a mixture of deceit and cowardice and fear of retribution, 00:11:20.299 --> 00:11:23.459 tried to claim that the tragedy was an act of God. 00:11:23.600 --> 00:11:24.639 It was not. 00:11:25.179 --> 00:11:28.500 It was an act of negligence by man, 00:11:29.199 --> 00:11:31.399 criminal negligence. 00:11:31.399 --> 00:11:34.159 The politician responsible for the NCB, Lord Robbins, 00:11:34.259 --> 00:11:36.459 a blustering, lying bully of a man, 00:11:36.720 --> 00:11:39.259 had gone on television to say that the cause of the disaster 00:11:39.259 --> 00:11:41.379 was the water from a natural spring, 00:11:41.699 --> 00:11:43.840 which had been pouring into the centre of the tip 00:11:43.840 --> 00:11:48.259 and produced the water bomb that finally exploded with such devastating results. 00:11:48.699 --> 00:11:50.039 The spring, said Robbins, 00:11:50.179 --> 00:11:51.480 was completely unknown, 00:11:51.620 --> 00:11:53.519 and that was just one of his lies. 00:11:54.019 --> 00:11:55.079 Not only was it known, 00:11:55.419 --> 00:11:57.639 its presence was marked on local maps, 00:11:57.639 --> 00:12:01.460 and older miners knew exactly where it was and what the danger was, 00:12:01.779 --> 00:12:03.620 and they had been saying so for years. 00:12:03.819 --> 00:12:04.460 They were ignored. 00:12:04.879 --> 00:12:07.699 Mercifully, they had put their fears in writing, 00:12:08.120 --> 00:12:11.360 and the letters written by the miners and ignored by the NCB 00:12:11.360 --> 00:12:14.939 were eventually produced at the inquiry into the disaster 00:12:14.939 --> 00:12:19.340 so that the truth could be revealed for all the world to see. 00:12:20.120 --> 00:12:21.679 And when I read that, 00:12:22.240 --> 00:12:23.759 and reflecting sadly on it, 00:12:23.759 --> 00:12:29.379 I thought of the terrible parable that Aberfan remains. 00:12:30.120 --> 00:12:33.139 You see, it is a parable, I suggest, about at least three things. 00:12:33.620 --> 00:12:36.419 It is, first of all, a parable about a legitimate activity. 00:12:37.220 --> 00:12:38.299 It is legitimate, 00:12:38.480 --> 00:12:40.059 and as Christians we would believe this, 00:12:40.120 --> 00:12:42.460 and our readings tonight bear this out, 00:12:42.799 --> 00:12:44.519 that it is a legitimate activity 00:12:44.519 --> 00:12:47.659 to make use of the resources of the earth, 00:12:47.720 --> 00:12:52.220 and that's what the coal mining industry had done for several hundred years. 00:12:52.220 --> 00:12:56.160 Now, I'm not saying that the conditions in which miners worked were legitimate, 00:12:56.399 --> 00:12:58.019 but the activity was legitimate 00:12:58.019 --> 00:13:02.580 to use the vast coal resources of the earth. 00:13:02.920 --> 00:13:04.840 They remained vast still, 00:13:05.259 --> 00:13:10.240 and may never be used if environmentalism continues in the way that it is going. 00:13:10.340 --> 00:13:12.480 But the second thing about it is 00:13:12.480 --> 00:13:16.519 the careless disposal of waste. 00:13:16.519 --> 00:13:18.980 Now, when I was growing up as a child, 00:13:19.139 --> 00:13:22.299 I used to wonder about the coal bings 00:13:22.299 --> 00:13:24.360 that you could find around central Scotland. 00:13:24.679 --> 00:13:26.579 There used to be a spectacular one 00:13:26.579 --> 00:13:29.360 as you drove along as it was the A8 then, 00:13:29.419 --> 00:13:35.600 and saw the kind of reddish shale heaps along the motorway. 00:13:35.639 --> 00:13:36.899 I think some of them have gone, 00:13:37.019 --> 00:13:38.240 but most of them are still there. 00:13:38.779 --> 00:13:40.659 And there was no sense of the importance 00:13:40.659 --> 00:13:42.120 of preserving the environment. 00:13:42.120 --> 00:13:46.980 You just disposed of these things in the quickest possible way, 00:13:47.220 --> 00:13:49.840 and not necessarily the safest possible way, 00:13:50.240 --> 00:13:52.500 as was discovered at Aberfan. 00:13:53.200 --> 00:13:56.080 And then there was the criminal negligence 00:13:56.080 --> 00:13:59.639 of not acting on the basis of what was known. 00:13:59.860 --> 00:14:03.000 It was known that there was a stream of water 00:14:03.000 --> 00:14:07.759 running through the waste from the pit in Aberfan. 00:14:08.360 --> 00:14:09.480 People wrote about it. 00:14:09.480 --> 00:14:12.740 People asked for action, but nobody dealt with it. 00:14:13.200 --> 00:14:15.899 And of course, it was a huge water bomb 00:14:15.899 --> 00:14:17.740 just waiting to explode, 00:14:18.039 --> 00:14:21.480 which it did on one terrifying day. 00:14:22.100 --> 00:14:24.960 So that was, for me, a kind of a parable 00:14:24.960 --> 00:14:27.300 about creation care. 00:14:27.399 --> 00:14:30.580 It is legitimate to exploit the resources of the earth, 00:14:30.920 --> 00:14:32.960 but we need to be careful in doing so. 00:14:33.300 --> 00:14:35.879 We need to be careful in the way in which we dispose 00:14:35.879 --> 00:14:38.820 of some of the waste that this produces, 00:14:38.820 --> 00:14:42.420 because it can very easily scar the face of the earth, 00:14:42.740 --> 00:14:45.200 and it can be exceedingly dangerous. 00:14:46.320 --> 00:14:48.740 Now let me try to broaden that just a little bit, 00:14:48.820 --> 00:14:54.140 and to say there are some clear current challenges 00:14:54.140 --> 00:14:56.860 in the management of the created order 00:14:56.860 --> 00:14:58.480 and in the environment. 00:14:59.620 --> 00:15:01.600 And in one of these books that I mentioned to you, 00:15:01.600 --> 00:15:05.420 I found that they had four particular matters 00:15:05.420 --> 00:15:09.519 that exercise our generation. 00:15:10.100 --> 00:15:12.300 The first is, and this is not one of the night like tonight 00:15:12.300 --> 00:15:15.279 when you've driven in a rainstorm along the M8 00:15:15.279 --> 00:15:16.460 that you would fully appreciate, 00:15:16.720 --> 00:15:19.300 but the world has a severe problem 00:15:19.300 --> 00:15:20.720 with the shortage of water. 00:15:21.300 --> 00:15:23.480 The changing climate in parts of the world 00:15:23.480 --> 00:15:25.800 leads to dry, barren land. 00:15:25.799 --> 00:15:29.819 And this is a basic problem about the amount of water, 00:15:29.859 --> 00:15:33.000 amount of water available for agriculture 00:15:33.000 --> 00:15:34.740 and for human communities. 00:15:35.219 --> 00:15:37.539 And of course, it also subsumes the other problem 00:15:37.539 --> 00:15:40.399 of clean drinking water for the people of the earth, 00:15:40.479 --> 00:15:42.219 something that we take absolutely for granted, 00:15:42.620 --> 00:15:44.000 but which is a major problem. 00:15:44.699 --> 00:15:47.799 And then secondly, there is the problem 00:15:47.799 --> 00:15:51.019 of the population of the world. 00:15:51.019 --> 00:15:55.659 The population of the world has increased dramatically. 00:15:57.059 --> 00:16:01.059 In my lifetime, it has gone from something like 00:16:01.059 --> 00:16:04.319 3 billion people to 7 billion people 00:16:04.319 --> 00:16:06.159 in the course of my lifetime. 00:16:06.379 --> 00:16:08.960 And so this is a huge challenge. 00:16:09.139 --> 00:16:11.419 It's not that the planet cannot sustain that number, 00:16:11.899 --> 00:16:13.659 but it has something to do with the way 00:16:13.659 --> 00:16:15.039 in which we manage the environment 00:16:15.039 --> 00:16:18.059 and the way in which the resources of the earth are shared. 00:16:18.819 --> 00:16:20.559 And then thirdly, something that I think 00:16:20.559 --> 00:16:23.519 most of us who are city dwellers are not much aware of 00:16:23.519 --> 00:16:26.419 is that the loss of biodiversity, 00:16:27.359 --> 00:16:33.099 the total number of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, 00:16:33.299 --> 00:16:38.779 and fish on the planet has approximately halved in 40 years. 00:16:39.259 --> 00:16:41.819 Plants are also in major decline. 00:16:42.379 --> 00:16:47.619 And since 1600, about 650 known species have become extinct. 00:16:47.620 --> 00:16:52.060 In 2016, it was estimated that 26% of mammals, 00:16:52.480 --> 00:16:56.080 13% of birds, 42% of amphibians, 00:16:56.840 --> 00:17:01.440 and 40% of gymosperms, plants which include the conifers, 00:17:01.899 --> 00:17:04.619 are threatened with extinction. 00:17:05.400 --> 00:17:07.579 And the reasons for this rapid decline 00:17:07.579 --> 00:17:11.019 are the disappearance of suitable habitats 00:17:11.019 --> 00:17:15.200 and the fact that now 25% of the earth's land surface 00:17:15.200 --> 00:17:17.660 is now under agriculture. 00:17:18.079 --> 00:17:20.460 So these are significant challenges. 00:17:21.319 --> 00:17:23.299 And maybe it brings me back to my first point 00:17:23.299 --> 00:17:24.180 that as Christians, 00:17:24.920 --> 00:17:29.379 it is hard to focus on what can we do about it? 00:17:29.519 --> 00:17:31.160 What can I do about it? 00:17:31.200 --> 00:17:33.279 These problems are enormous. 00:17:33.279 --> 00:17:35.660 And the obvious way to deal with them, 00:17:35.779 --> 00:17:36.420 it would seem, 00:17:36.960 --> 00:17:42.319 is to have some political and international initiatives 00:17:42.319 --> 00:17:44.099 that can deal with them. 00:17:44.180 --> 00:17:46.099 So maybe our first thought is 00:17:46.099 --> 00:17:48.259 that that is something that we could pray for, 00:17:48.599 --> 00:17:50.720 and then it is something that if we have the skills 00:17:50.720 --> 00:17:51.899 and the background, 00:17:52.139 --> 00:17:53.480 like someone like Sir John Houghton, 00:17:53.720 --> 00:17:55.680 we might want to involve ourselves in it. 00:17:55.680 --> 00:18:00.660 Just, I think I missed one last point. 00:18:00.860 --> 00:18:03.060 Yeah, the one I missed was actually 00:18:03.060 --> 00:18:04.560 perhaps the most important one. 00:18:06.000 --> 00:18:08.460 There is also the question of climate change, 00:18:09.000 --> 00:18:11.480 which is now assumed to be 00:18:11.480 --> 00:18:13.980 an unassailable truth of our time, 00:18:14.500 --> 00:18:16.759 and I'll come back to that in just a moment. 00:18:17.920 --> 00:18:21.100 I thought I'd just put this picture on the screen tonight 00:18:21.100 --> 00:18:25.120 just to remind us of that awful moment in Aberfan, 00:18:25.680 --> 00:18:28.759 this is not an international tragedy. 00:18:28.920 --> 00:18:30.539 This is a very local tragedy. 00:18:31.220 --> 00:18:33.799 This is something that might easily have been avoided. 00:18:34.640 --> 00:18:36.019 And you can see from that picture, 00:18:36.500 --> 00:18:37.620 that terrifying picture, 00:18:37.740 --> 00:18:41.460 the extent to which a heap of shale and waste 00:18:41.460 --> 00:18:43.680 was washed down over a village 00:18:43.680 --> 00:18:45.960 with devastating consequences. 00:18:46.900 --> 00:18:51.640 Now maybe I could reduce these to three issues 00:18:51.640 --> 00:18:54.100 that we could perhaps get our head around. 00:18:54.099 --> 00:18:57.379 The first is the problem of pollution. 00:18:58.539 --> 00:19:01.579 And I'm alarmed when I read of, for example, 00:19:02.039 --> 00:19:05.619 the extent to which plastics have invaded the earth, 00:19:05.659 --> 00:19:07.079 and not just the obvious ones, 00:19:07.199 --> 00:19:10.179 what people throw away their Coke bottles and the like, 00:19:10.539 --> 00:19:15.179 but also that plastics on a micro scale 00:19:15.179 --> 00:19:18.519 have to be found in our oceans and living things, 00:19:18.519 --> 00:19:19.740 in our food. 00:19:19.879 --> 00:19:24.379 I read a rather scary piece about child milk for babies 00:19:24.379 --> 00:19:27.059 having remnants of plastic in them. 00:19:27.599 --> 00:19:30.720 And this is clearly a major problem. 00:19:30.960 --> 00:19:34.460 It is a problem about how we deal with materials 00:19:34.460 --> 00:19:36.799 that we require for our lifestyle. 00:19:37.480 --> 00:19:40.059 Now I would have thought that the problem of pollution 00:19:40.059 --> 00:19:43.940 is one of the problems that should be easier to solve. 00:19:43.940 --> 00:19:47.900 Because it seems to me that a great deal of the problem of pollution 00:19:47.900 --> 00:19:51.460 is that people just throw things away. 00:19:52.180 --> 00:19:54.559 We have some beautiful countryside around the village of Eagles 00:19:54.559 --> 00:19:55.259 somewhere I live, 00:19:55.660 --> 00:19:59.160 but on the little single track roads that we drive on sometime, 00:19:59.759 --> 00:20:04.019 you'll find heaps of material dumped into a field 00:20:04.019 --> 00:20:07.920 at the wayside, everything from old baths to sofas. 00:20:07.920 --> 00:20:11.160 And you wonder why people don't think it would be easier 00:20:11.160 --> 00:20:13.600 to drive them to the local authority dump 00:20:13.600 --> 00:20:15.720 than to release them in the countryside. 00:20:15.940 --> 00:20:17.480 I'm sure money will have something to do with it. 00:20:17.960 --> 00:20:19.860 But pollution is certainly a problem, 00:20:20.000 --> 00:20:24.480 and it's one that I think is easy enough to get our mind around. 00:20:25.160 --> 00:20:27.519 And so as Christians, I think we would want to be careful. 00:20:27.620 --> 00:20:28.340 I know you are. 00:20:28.740 --> 00:20:31.680 We'd want to be careful about the materials we use, 00:20:32.460 --> 00:20:35.180 about the reuse of materials where we can, 00:20:35.180 --> 00:20:38.420 and making sure that material that we're finished with 00:20:38.420 --> 00:20:41.840 is disposed of appropriately and recycled. 00:20:42.660 --> 00:20:44.980 I'm beginning to sound like a health and safety officer, 00:20:45.240 --> 00:20:48.100 but it would seem to me that lurking behind that 00:20:48.100 --> 00:20:50.560 there is a clear Christian duty. 00:20:51.279 --> 00:20:55.259 The second is the destruction of the environment 00:20:55.259 --> 00:20:58.580 that I've said something about and mentioned. 00:20:59.220 --> 00:21:01.360 Now, this is harder to deal with, 00:21:01.980 --> 00:21:03.240 but it is possible. 00:21:03.240 --> 00:21:06.500 The destruction of the environment in many ways 00:21:06.500 --> 00:21:11.440 is something that has to be managed by governmental authorities, 00:21:12.319 --> 00:21:14.579 and it is hard. 00:21:14.920 --> 00:21:16.400 But it is something, I think, 00:21:16.460 --> 00:21:20.440 which human beings have a significant degree of control over. 00:21:21.079 --> 00:21:24.420 And so if you're inclined to study in the area 00:21:24.420 --> 00:21:25.660 and to work in it, 00:21:25.980 --> 00:21:29.359 or to get involved in some of this kind of activity, 00:21:29.759 --> 00:21:31.980 then that would be a holy Christian thing to do, 00:21:31.980 --> 00:21:35.220 because it would be a way of expressing our respect 00:21:35.220 --> 00:21:38.339 for the richness of the resources that the Lord has given us 00:21:38.339 --> 00:21:41.059 and the need not to use these in a way 00:21:41.059 --> 00:21:43.920 that destroys the beauty of the environment. 00:21:44.839 --> 00:21:45.460 And then thirdly, 00:21:45.539 --> 00:21:50.420 let me come rather controversially to the matter of climate change. 00:21:52.319 --> 00:21:54.480 Now, as far as most people are concerned, 00:21:54.480 --> 00:21:57.620 this is an issue that is settled. 00:21:58.940 --> 00:22:01.120 And the very worst thing you could be, 00:22:01.740 --> 00:22:04.000 and I'm in danger of falling into the trap tonight, 00:22:04.400 --> 00:22:06.599 is to be a climate sceptic. 00:22:07.059 --> 00:22:09.980 If you don't agree with the majority position, 00:22:10.160 --> 00:22:11.019 then you're a sceptic. 00:22:11.579 --> 00:22:12.259 But of course, 00:22:13.120 --> 00:22:13.799 scepticism 00:22:13.799 --> 00:22:16.319 is fundamental 00:22:16.319 --> 00:22:18.819 to the practice of science. 00:22:18.819 --> 00:22:22.960 The reason why we live in the scientific age that we do 00:22:22.960 --> 00:22:26.700 is because theories that were put forward 00:22:26.700 --> 00:22:29.819 were treated with a degree of scepticism 00:22:29.819 --> 00:22:32.740 until they were tried and established. 00:22:33.599 --> 00:22:34.599 And it would be fair to say 00:22:34.599 --> 00:22:38.439 that science never arrives at an absolute position. 00:22:38.960 --> 00:22:41.799 It always arrives at a position that is most likely, 00:22:42.579 --> 00:22:45.579 but which might be overtaken by further evidence. 00:22:45.579 --> 00:22:47.939 So when I hear people saying, 00:22:48.460 --> 00:22:49.779 don't listen to me, 00:22:50.279 --> 00:22:51.659 just follow the science, 00:22:52.159 --> 00:22:53.819 the science is settled, 00:22:54.579 --> 00:22:55.980 then one of my antennas says, 00:22:56.059 --> 00:22:56.799 well, hang on a minute. 00:22:57.299 --> 00:22:58.559 I did study science. 00:22:58.639 --> 00:22:59.879 I worked as a scientist. 00:23:00.399 --> 00:23:02.460 That's not how I understand science. 00:23:02.639 --> 00:23:05.220 Science always leaves some questions open. 00:23:05.339 --> 00:23:05.659 And then, 00:23:06.119 --> 00:23:07.259 when I see people 00:23:07.259 --> 00:23:10.159 wanting to shut down debate about something, 00:23:10.480 --> 00:23:12.119 then I sense there's something wrong. 00:23:12.240 --> 00:23:12.379 So, 00:23:12.740 --> 00:23:13.799 you probably are aware 00:23:13.799 --> 00:23:16.099 that any sceptics of climate change, 00:23:16.259 --> 00:23:18.779 by that I mean scientific sceptics, 00:23:18.899 --> 00:23:19.919 well-qualified people 00:23:19.919 --> 00:23:22.139 who are sceptical of the present position, 00:23:22.539 --> 00:23:23.539 are silenced. 00:23:24.059 --> 00:23:26.299 Some have been removed from committees, 00:23:26.720 --> 00:23:27.680 international committees, 00:23:27.799 --> 00:23:29.980 because they have voiced a doubt. 00:23:30.639 --> 00:23:31.859 I even saw one person 00:23:31.859 --> 00:23:35.659 that wanted to make climate scepticism illegal, 00:23:36.299 --> 00:23:37.839 that it was a criminal thing 00:23:37.839 --> 00:23:40.559 to have doubts about climate change. 00:23:40.639 --> 00:23:42.740 And this is a very odd thing. 00:23:42.740 --> 00:23:45.279 And it generally indicates 00:23:45.279 --> 00:23:47.039 a degree of uncertainty 00:23:47.039 --> 00:23:48.539 about what is being proposed. 00:23:49.059 --> 00:23:49.519 Mind you, 00:23:49.779 --> 00:23:51.460 once you have convinced governments 00:23:51.460 --> 00:23:53.839 to spend billions of pounds 00:23:53.839 --> 00:23:56.079 dismantling the society 00:23:56.079 --> 00:23:58.039 in the interests of climate change, 00:23:58.400 --> 00:23:59.539 you wouldn't want to be the guy 00:23:59.539 --> 00:24:00.940 that has to go to the prime minister 00:24:00.940 --> 00:24:01.480 and say, 00:24:01.880 --> 00:24:02.500 actually, 00:24:02.680 --> 00:24:04.319 we might have got that bit of it wrong. 00:24:05.099 --> 00:24:05.660 So, 00:24:05.859 --> 00:24:07.140 there comes a pressure 00:24:07.140 --> 00:24:08.799 to adopt a position, 00:24:08.799 --> 00:24:10.440 and we've now reached a stage 00:24:10.440 --> 00:24:11.480 where climate change 00:24:11.480 --> 00:24:13.500 is the basis of catastrophism. 00:24:14.259 --> 00:24:14.619 You know, 00:24:14.680 --> 00:24:16.139 we're all going to suffocate 00:24:16.139 --> 00:24:18.399 in about 20 years 00:24:18.399 --> 00:24:19.279 if we're lucky. 00:24:19.659 --> 00:24:21.399 And this creates an atmosphere 00:24:21.399 --> 00:24:23.779 in which it is very hard to know 00:24:23.779 --> 00:24:26.079 what you and I can do about it. 00:24:26.619 --> 00:24:27.259 By the way, 00:24:27.379 --> 00:24:28.359 I don't want to be labelled 00:24:28.359 --> 00:24:29.359 a climate sceptic, 00:24:29.440 --> 00:24:30.940 but there are one or two things about it 00:24:30.940 --> 00:24:33.139 that I do wonder about. 00:24:33.920 --> 00:24:34.780 Why was it, 00:24:34.840 --> 00:24:35.380 for example, 00:24:35.520 --> 00:24:36.100 that the earth 00:24:36.100 --> 00:24:38.220 was warmer in the past 00:24:38.220 --> 00:24:39.620 than it is in the present? 00:24:40.220 --> 00:24:42.040 How did it get to be warmer 00:24:42.040 --> 00:24:44.340 before the Industrial Revolution? 00:24:44.920 --> 00:24:46.040 That's a very strange question 00:24:46.040 --> 00:24:46.420 to which 00:24:46.420 --> 00:24:48.800 there isn't a very good answer. 00:24:49.700 --> 00:24:50.340 And then one day 00:24:50.340 --> 00:24:51.220 when somebody said to me, 00:24:51.640 --> 00:24:53.720 what is the most common greenhouse gas? 00:24:54.720 --> 00:24:55.620 Expecting the answer, 00:24:55.759 --> 00:24:56.440 CO2. 00:24:56.940 --> 00:24:58.640 The correct answer is 00:24:58.640 --> 00:24:59.540 H2O, 00:24:59.740 --> 00:25:00.000 water. 00:25:00.140 --> 00:25:02.800 Water is the most common greenhouse gas. 00:25:03.600 --> 00:25:05.020 You'd have some job 00:25:05.020 --> 00:25:06.900 getting rid of the water. 00:25:07.520 --> 00:25:08.960 It is a combination of water 00:25:08.960 --> 00:25:09.900 and carbon dioxide 00:25:09.900 --> 00:25:11.540 that control the climate 00:25:11.540 --> 00:25:12.420 of our planet. 00:25:13.540 --> 00:25:14.580 And certainly, 00:25:14.840 --> 00:25:16.000 we are putting carbon dioxide 00:25:16.000 --> 00:25:16.900 into the atmosphere. 00:25:17.040 --> 00:25:18.320 There is no question about that 00:25:18.320 --> 00:25:20.259 at a remarkable scale. 00:25:21.060 --> 00:25:21.580 But you see, 00:25:21.700 --> 00:25:22.560 it's hard to know 00:25:22.560 --> 00:25:24.700 whether that is the cause of warming 00:25:24.700 --> 00:25:26.560 or the result of warming 00:25:26.560 --> 00:25:28.560 because the oceans absorb 00:25:28.560 --> 00:25:30.520 vast quantities of carbon dioxide. 00:25:31.060 --> 00:25:32.120 As they warm up, 00:25:32.119 --> 00:25:33.559 they release carbon dioxide. 00:25:33.839 --> 00:25:33.959 So, 00:25:34.159 --> 00:25:35.559 there is another mechanism 00:25:35.559 --> 00:25:36.959 involving carbon dioxide. 00:25:38.079 --> 00:25:39.619 And one of the questions 00:25:39.619 --> 00:25:42.359 that does arise about this 00:25:42.359 --> 00:25:42.699 is, 00:25:43.759 --> 00:25:45.319 are we heating the planet up? 00:25:45.759 --> 00:25:46.299 Or, 00:25:46.699 --> 00:25:48.179 does the planet heat 00:25:48.179 --> 00:25:49.219 and cool 00:25:49.219 --> 00:25:51.039 according to the phases 00:25:51.039 --> 00:25:51.779 of the sun 00:25:51.779 --> 00:25:53.719 over history? 00:25:54.399 --> 00:25:54.599 Now, 00:25:54.679 --> 00:25:55.459 there is an argument 00:25:55.459 --> 00:25:56.479 around that, 00:25:56.799 --> 00:25:58.000 but you're not allowed 00:25:58.000 --> 00:25:58.879 to make it. 00:25:58.880 --> 00:26:00.960 I did read a book 00:26:00.960 --> 00:26:02.740 about the great climate change disaster 00:26:02.740 --> 00:26:04.220 by the late Christopher Booker, 00:26:04.620 --> 00:26:06.520 who was a bit of a controversialist. 00:26:06.880 --> 00:26:07.740 And he has written a book 00:26:07.740 --> 00:26:08.900 in which he maintains 00:26:08.900 --> 00:26:11.880 that the present catastrophic, 00:26:12.340 --> 00:26:13.660 catastrophic picture 00:26:13.660 --> 00:26:14.260 of the future 00:26:14.260 --> 00:26:15.420 is misplaced. 00:26:15.480 --> 00:26:16.140 And if you're interested, 00:26:16.500 --> 00:26:17.840 it's worth reading his book. 00:26:18.180 --> 00:26:18.560 However, 00:26:19.140 --> 00:26:20.360 having said all of that 00:26:20.360 --> 00:26:21.160 and managed to 00:26:21.160 --> 00:26:23.100 not have anybody walk out on me, 00:26:23.440 --> 00:26:24.600 what I would say is 00:26:24.599 --> 00:26:25.839 that there is a case 00:26:25.839 --> 00:26:26.439 for saying 00:26:26.439 --> 00:26:27.639 that the level 00:26:27.639 --> 00:26:28.599 at which we are producing 00:26:28.599 --> 00:26:29.500 carbon dioxide 00:26:29.500 --> 00:26:31.000 is alarming. 00:26:31.559 --> 00:26:32.500 It may very well 00:26:32.500 --> 00:26:33.500 be having a significant 00:26:33.500 --> 00:26:35.419 effect on our climate 00:26:35.419 --> 00:26:36.899 and it is wise 00:26:36.899 --> 00:26:38.319 to take 00:26:38.319 --> 00:26:39.779 precautionary action. 00:26:39.959 --> 00:26:40.099 So, 00:26:40.240 --> 00:26:41.759 I'm not arguing against 00:26:41.759 --> 00:26:42.899 what is being suggested. 00:26:43.419 --> 00:26:44.859 I think it is also sensible 00:26:44.859 --> 00:26:46.579 for us to think about 00:26:46.579 --> 00:26:47.339 alternatives 00:26:47.339 --> 00:26:49.039 to the fossil fuels 00:26:49.039 --> 00:26:49.759 that we use. 00:26:49.879 --> 00:26:51.179 I noticed recently 00:26:51.179 --> 00:26:53.399 the first hydrogen train 00:26:53.400 --> 00:26:56.980 and there is a whole world 00:26:56.980 --> 00:26:58.100 of energy and hydrogen 00:26:58.100 --> 00:26:59.019 that could replace 00:26:59.019 --> 00:27:00.060 petrol and diesel 00:27:00.060 --> 00:27:01.140 and gas. 00:27:01.740 --> 00:27:02.880 I used to teach chemistry 00:27:02.880 --> 00:27:04.380 and one of the experiments 00:27:04.380 --> 00:27:05.019 I loved to do 00:27:05.019 --> 00:27:05.860 was fill a bottle 00:27:05.860 --> 00:27:06.519 with hydrogen 00:27:06.519 --> 00:27:08.340 and then put a taper into it 00:27:08.340 --> 00:27:09.420 and listen to the bang 00:27:09.420 --> 00:27:10.320 as it can, 00:27:10.560 --> 00:27:11.460 behind the safety screen 00:27:11.460 --> 00:27:11.720 of course, 00:27:12.980 --> 00:27:14.759 as the hydrogen 00:27:14.759 --> 00:27:15.759 combined with oxygen 00:27:15.759 --> 00:27:16.759 to form water 00:27:16.759 --> 00:27:18.640 with explosive force. 00:27:18.720 --> 00:27:19.040 And of course, 00:27:19.180 --> 00:27:20.100 you could run 00:27:20.100 --> 00:27:20.940 the modern world 00:27:20.940 --> 00:27:21.740 on hydrogen. 00:27:21.740 --> 00:27:23.420 you could run it, 00:27:23.660 --> 00:27:24.559 a large part of it 00:27:24.559 --> 00:27:25.140 on electricity 00:27:25.140 --> 00:27:26.599 and in so doing 00:27:26.599 --> 00:27:27.799 you would improve 00:27:27.799 --> 00:27:28.819 atmospheric quality 00:27:28.819 --> 00:27:29.480 because you would 00:27:29.480 --> 00:27:31.400 expel water vapour 00:27:31.400 --> 00:27:32.319 rather than 00:27:32.319 --> 00:27:33.079 carbon dioxide 00:27:33.079 --> 00:27:34.799 and some methane. 00:27:34.960 --> 00:27:35.059 So, 00:27:35.140 --> 00:27:35.779 there are things 00:27:35.779 --> 00:27:36.620 that could be done. 00:27:37.380 --> 00:27:37.559 Now, 00:27:37.620 --> 00:27:38.539 this is drifting away 00:27:38.539 --> 00:27:39.240 from the reality 00:27:39.240 --> 00:27:40.059 of a Sunday night 00:27:40.059 --> 00:27:40.819 in Brunsfield 00:27:40.819 --> 00:27:41.920 and what you and I 00:27:41.920 --> 00:27:42.660 are likely to do 00:27:42.660 --> 00:27:43.380 before supper 00:27:43.380 --> 00:27:45.240 but these are the 00:27:45.240 --> 00:27:46.079 kind of issues 00:27:46.079 --> 00:27:46.839 of the scale 00:27:46.839 --> 00:27:47.480 of the issues 00:27:47.480 --> 00:27:48.759 and so I would say 00:27:48.759 --> 00:27:50.000 what we need to do 00:27:50.000 --> 00:27:52.240 is to try and find 00:27:52.240 --> 00:27:53.980 a way in which 00:27:53.980 --> 00:27:55.019 as individuals 00:27:55.019 --> 00:27:56.539 we can respond 00:27:56.539 --> 00:27:57.500 to some of these 00:27:57.500 --> 00:27:58.000 challenges. 00:27:58.200 --> 00:27:58.740 I keep wondering 00:27:58.740 --> 00:28:00.500 if we need two cows 00:28:00.500 --> 00:28:01.220 in our family 00:28:01.220 --> 00:28:02.420 and we've actually 00:28:02.420 --> 00:28:03.839 moved to three cows 00:28:03.839 --> 00:28:04.740 and two families 00:28:04.740 --> 00:28:06.380 well that's a modest 00:28:06.380 --> 00:28:06.880 reduction 00:28:06.880 --> 00:28:07.759 but it doesn't quite 00:28:07.759 --> 00:28:09.220 solve the problem. 00:28:09.779 --> 00:28:10.099 However, 00:28:10.660 --> 00:28:12.259 I would urge us 00:28:12.259 --> 00:28:12.940 as Christians 00:28:12.940 --> 00:28:14.660 just to be careful 00:28:14.660 --> 00:28:16.339 that we don't 00:28:16.339 --> 00:28:17.059 assume 00:28:17.059 --> 00:28:19.220 that the catastrophic 00:28:19.220 --> 00:28:20.619 future 00:28:20.619 --> 00:28:21.740 prophesied 00:28:21.740 --> 00:28:23.539 by climate change 00:28:23.539 --> 00:28:25.639 is beyond question. 00:28:26.440 --> 00:28:27.460 Just to be a little 00:28:27.460 --> 00:28:28.700 theological for a moment 00:28:28.700 --> 00:28:30.539 let me just mention 00:28:30.539 --> 00:28:31.200 two verses 00:28:31.200 --> 00:28:32.039 that occurred to me 00:28:32.039 --> 00:28:34.079 when I was thinking 00:28:34.079 --> 00:28:34.700 about this. 00:28:36.159 --> 00:28:38.200 When God destroyed 00:28:38.200 --> 00:28:38.619 the world 00:28:38.619 --> 00:28:39.359 with a flood 00:28:39.359 --> 00:28:41.639 what he said was 00:28:41.640 --> 00:28:43.320 I will never 00:28:43.320 --> 00:28:44.580 again 00:28:44.580 --> 00:28:45.820 destroy 00:28:45.820 --> 00:28:46.800 the earth 00:28:46.800 --> 00:28:48.060 with a flood. 00:28:48.880 --> 00:28:49.540 Now I don't want 00:28:49.540 --> 00:28:50.300 to read too much 00:28:50.300 --> 00:28:50.800 into that 00:28:50.800 --> 00:28:51.600 but there's a rainbow 00:28:51.600 --> 00:28:52.280 in the sky 00:28:52.280 --> 00:28:53.680 every other day 00:28:53.680 --> 00:28:54.620 just to remind us 00:28:54.620 --> 00:28:55.060 of that 00:28:55.060 --> 00:28:55.680 and of course 00:28:55.680 --> 00:28:58.100 if the climate change 00:28:58.100 --> 00:28:59.400 view is correct 00:28:59.400 --> 00:29:00.200 then one of the things 00:29:00.200 --> 00:29:01.020 we're going to do 00:29:01.020 --> 00:29:02.100 is flood 00:29:02.100 --> 00:29:03.300 large parts of the earth. 00:29:03.400 --> 00:29:04.000 The Lord said 00:29:04.000 --> 00:29:05.400 I'm not going to do 00:29:05.400 --> 00:29:05.900 that again. 00:29:06.300 --> 00:29:06.820 And secondly 00:29:06.820 --> 00:29:07.880 there's a verse 00:29:07.880 --> 00:29:08.720 in 2 Peter 3 00:29:08.720 --> 00:29:09.460 verse 12 00:29:09.460 --> 00:29:10.680 which talks about 00:29:10.680 --> 00:29:11.259 the future 00:29:11.259 --> 00:29:12.420 in which it says 00:29:12.420 --> 00:29:13.779 the elements 00:29:13.779 --> 00:29:14.840 will melt 00:29:14.840 --> 00:29:16.900 with fervent heat. 00:29:17.700 --> 00:29:18.080 Now 00:29:18.080 --> 00:29:19.340 as a chemist 00:29:19.340 --> 00:29:19.700 I know 00:29:19.700 --> 00:29:20.279 the elements 00:29:20.279 --> 00:29:21.140 don't melt 00:29:21.140 --> 00:29:22.440 unless 00:29:22.440 --> 00:29:23.779 you are dealing 00:29:23.779 --> 00:29:24.720 with a nuclear 00:29:24.720 --> 00:29:25.980 reaction 00:29:25.980 --> 00:29:27.080 and a nuclear 00:29:27.080 --> 00:29:27.880 explosion. 00:29:28.080 --> 00:29:28.500 So when 00:29:28.500 --> 00:29:29.640 Peter says 00:29:29.640 --> 00:29:30.299 the elements 00:29:30.299 --> 00:29:31.140 will melt 00:29:31.140 --> 00:29:33.200 with fervent heat 00:29:33.200 --> 00:29:34.360 I don't want 00:29:34.360 --> 00:29:35.140 to press the point 00:29:35.140 --> 00:29:35.740 too much 00:29:35.740 --> 00:29:36.960 but it would not 00:29:36.960 --> 00:29:37.539 be unreasonable 00:29:37.539 --> 00:29:38.340 to suggest 00:29:38.340 --> 00:29:38.940 that maybe 00:29:38.940 --> 00:29:40.340 he got a glimpse 00:29:40.339 --> 00:29:41.079 of the end 00:29:41.079 --> 00:29:41.779 of the earth 00:29:41.779 --> 00:29:42.959 which was 00:29:42.959 --> 00:29:44.519 a nuclear event 00:29:44.519 --> 00:29:45.619 and not 00:29:45.619 --> 00:29:46.799 a carbon dioxide 00:29:46.799 --> 00:29:47.679 event. 00:29:48.519 --> 00:29:49.299 Maybe don't quote me 00:29:49.299 --> 00:29:49.720 on that one 00:29:49.720 --> 00:29:50.799 but do think 00:29:50.799 --> 00:29:51.279 about it. 00:29:52.220 --> 00:29:53.359 So let me come 00:29:53.359 --> 00:29:54.259 thirdly to 00:29:54.259 --> 00:29:55.039 the half of what 00:29:55.039 --> 00:29:55.759 I wanted to say 00:29:55.759 --> 00:29:56.179 tonight 00:29:56.179 --> 00:29:57.359 and this is 00:29:57.359 --> 00:29:58.339 to ask ourselves 00:29:58.339 --> 00:29:59.579 what are the 00:29:59.579 --> 00:30:00.839 biblical considerations 00:30:00.839 --> 00:30:02.419 that apply 00:30:02.419 --> 00:30:03.039 to this? 00:30:04.000 --> 00:30:04.599 Clearly 00:30:04.599 --> 00:30:05.899 we are part 00:30:05.899 --> 00:30:06.539 of the created 00:30:06.539 --> 00:30:07.000 order 00:30:07.000 --> 00:30:08.220 and God 00:30:08.220 --> 00:30:08.779 has given 00:30:08.779 --> 00:30:09.240 us 00:30:09.240 --> 00:30:10.579 the creation 00:30:10.579 --> 00:30:11.380 to enjoy. 00:30:12.160 --> 00:30:12.680 I don't know 00:30:12.680 --> 00:30:13.539 if you watch 00:30:13.539 --> 00:30:14.220 Songs of Praise 00:30:14.220 --> 00:30:14.880 my wife and I 00:30:14.880 --> 00:30:15.460 do it most 00:30:15.460 --> 00:30:16.380 Sunday afternoons 00:30:16.380 --> 00:30:17.299 in fact 00:30:17.299 --> 00:30:17.940 we've found 00:30:17.940 --> 00:30:18.779 Songs of Praise 00:30:18.779 --> 00:30:19.440 a particularly 00:30:19.440 --> 00:30:20.759 uplifting experience 00:30:20.759 --> 00:30:21.720 in the course 00:30:21.720 --> 00:30:22.440 of this lockdown 00:30:22.440 --> 00:30:22.839 and there was 00:30:22.839 --> 00:30:23.440 a very interesting 00:30:23.440 --> 00:30:24.359 program today 00:30:24.359 --> 00:30:25.579 from Dundee 00:30:25.579 --> 00:30:27.099 just across 00:30:27.099 --> 00:30:27.980 the Tay 00:30:27.980 --> 00:30:28.440 and it was 00:30:28.440 --> 00:30:28.839 a beautiful 00:30:28.839 --> 00:30:29.299 program 00:30:29.299 --> 00:30:30.559 and one of 00:30:30.559 --> 00:30:32.980 the features 00:30:32.980 --> 00:30:33.660 in the program 00:30:33.660 --> 00:30:35.099 was the Compass 00:30:35.099 --> 00:30:36.140 Christian Center 00:30:36.140 --> 00:30:37.380 where young people 00:30:37.380 --> 00:30:38.259 were encouraged 00:30:38.259 --> 00:30:38.940 to engage 00:30:38.940 --> 00:30:39.839 in outdoor 00:30:39.839 --> 00:30:40.519 pursuits 00:30:40.519 --> 00:30:41.460 and it was 00:30:41.460 --> 00:30:42.140 most heartening 00:30:42.140 --> 00:30:42.660 to listen to 00:30:42.660 --> 00:30:43.099 young people 00:30:43.099 --> 00:30:43.779 talking about 00:30:43.779 --> 00:30:44.920 their experience 00:30:44.920 --> 00:30:45.799 of the beauty 00:30:45.799 --> 00:30:46.319 of the world 00:30:46.319 --> 00:30:46.960 around them 00:30:46.960 --> 00:30:48.960 and of finding 00:30:48.960 --> 00:30:50.019 themselves closer 00:30:50.019 --> 00:30:50.759 to God 00:30:50.759 --> 00:30:51.940 because they were 00:30:51.940 --> 00:30:53.839 closer to creation. 00:30:54.480 --> 00:30:55.240 So we are part 00:30:55.240 --> 00:30:55.799 of creation 00:30:55.799 --> 00:30:56.579 but the created 00:30:56.579 --> 00:30:57.779 order around us 00:30:57.779 --> 00:30:59.120 which we are 00:30:59.120 --> 00:31:00.259 expected to take 00:31:00.259 --> 00:31:00.819 care of 00:31:00.819 --> 00:31:01.720 is there 00:31:01.720 --> 00:31:02.639 for a number 00:31:02.639 --> 00:31:03.179 of reasons 00:31:03.179 --> 00:31:03.859 and I'm going 00:31:03.859 --> 00:31:04.240 to try 00:31:04.240 --> 00:31:05.200 if I can 00:31:05.200 --> 00:31:06.240 and summarize 00:31:06.240 --> 00:31:07.839 these in three 00:31:07.839 --> 00:31:08.879 under three headings 00:31:08.879 --> 00:31:09.539 and the first is 00:31:09.539 --> 00:31:10.639 I suggest to you 00:31:10.639 --> 00:31:11.299 that creation 00:31:11.299 --> 00:31:12.839 is given us 00:31:12.839 --> 00:31:14.679 to explore 00:31:14.679 --> 00:31:16.299 to explore 00:31:16.299 --> 00:31:17.339 the wonders 00:31:17.339 --> 00:31:18.939 and the beauty 00:31:18.939 --> 00:31:20.720 and the diversity 00:31:20.720 --> 00:31:22.299 of plants 00:31:22.299 --> 00:31:23.740 and animals 00:31:23.740 --> 00:31:25.119 and you think 00:31:25.119 --> 00:31:25.919 of the ages 00:31:25.919 --> 00:31:26.559 of history 00:31:26.559 --> 00:31:27.319 from Adam 00:31:27.319 --> 00:31:28.159 until now 00:31:28.159 --> 00:31:29.539 in which people 00:31:29.539 --> 00:31:30.399 have enjoyed 00:31:30.400 --> 00:31:31.900 exploring the world 00:31:31.900 --> 00:31:33.740 in whatever way 00:31:33.740 --> 00:31:34.660 it was possible 00:31:34.660 --> 00:31:35.940 on the micro scale 00:31:35.940 --> 00:31:37.000 to just look 00:31:37.000 --> 00:31:37.660 at its beauty 00:31:37.660 --> 00:31:38.900 to explore it 00:31:38.900 --> 00:31:39.480 to try and 00:31:39.480 --> 00:31:40.380 understand it 00:31:40.380 --> 00:31:42.019 and to be able 00:31:42.019 --> 00:31:43.519 to live within it 00:31:43.519 --> 00:31:44.860 in a way that gives us 00:31:44.860 --> 00:31:45.820 a sense of purpose 00:31:45.820 --> 00:31:47.820 and a sense of peace 00:31:47.820 --> 00:31:49.519 and then when you come 00:31:49.519 --> 00:31:51.360 to the 16th 00:31:51.360 --> 00:31:52.500 and 17th century 00:31:52.500 --> 00:31:53.500 in Europe 00:31:53.500 --> 00:31:54.980 you have a group 00:31:54.980 --> 00:31:56.320 of Christian 00:31:56.320 --> 00:31:57.640 theists 00:31:57.640 --> 00:31:59.800 called scientists 00:31:59.799 --> 00:32:03.799 Christian theists 00:32:03.799 --> 00:32:05.680 who began to explore 00:32:05.680 --> 00:32:06.200 the world 00:32:06.200 --> 00:32:07.619 in greater depth 00:32:07.619 --> 00:32:09.039 Sir Isaac Newton 00:32:09.039 --> 00:32:09.899 perhaps 00:32:09.899 --> 00:32:11.240 the greatest scientist 00:32:11.240 --> 00:32:12.359 of all time 00:32:12.359 --> 00:32:14.000 begins to wonder 00:32:14.000 --> 00:32:15.779 about falling apples 00:32:15.779 --> 00:32:17.139 and falling anything 00:32:17.139 --> 00:32:18.940 and uncovers 00:32:18.940 --> 00:32:21.019 the law of gravity 00:32:21.019 --> 00:32:22.500 and the sense 00:32:22.500 --> 00:32:23.779 in which all bodies 00:32:23.779 --> 00:32:24.680 of whatever size 00:32:24.680 --> 00:32:25.299 are attracted 00:32:25.299 --> 00:32:26.099 to one another 00:32:26.099 --> 00:32:28.299 and uncovers 00:32:28.299 --> 00:32:29.059 the principle 00:32:29.059 --> 00:32:30.240 that holds 00:32:30.240 --> 00:32:31.199 not just apples 00:32:31.199 --> 00:32:31.899 on the branch 00:32:31.899 --> 00:32:32.579 of a tree 00:32:32.579 --> 00:32:34.359 but holds planets 00:32:34.359 --> 00:32:35.099 in their position 00:32:35.099 --> 00:32:35.959 in space 00:32:35.959 --> 00:32:37.379 one of the forgotten 00:32:37.379 --> 00:32:38.119 things about 00:32:38.119 --> 00:32:39.039 modern science 00:32:39.039 --> 00:32:40.579 is that the pioneers 00:32:40.579 --> 00:32:41.839 of modern science 00:32:41.839 --> 00:32:42.799 like Newton 00:32:42.799 --> 00:32:43.699 and Kepler 00:32:43.699 --> 00:32:44.959 and Galileo 00:32:44.959 --> 00:32:45.819 and Kelvin 00:32:45.819 --> 00:32:47.719 these were individuals 00:32:47.719 --> 00:32:49.099 who were theists 00:32:49.099 --> 00:32:50.599 committed Christians 00:32:50.599 --> 00:32:51.899 who believed 00:32:51.899 --> 00:32:53.379 that the natural order 00:32:53.379 --> 00:32:53.959 was made 00:32:53.960 --> 00:32:56.180 by an almighty hand 00:32:56.180 --> 00:32:57.380 and that verse 00:32:57.380 --> 00:32:58.559 in Romans 121 00:32:58.559 --> 00:32:59.400 that God has made 00:32:59.400 --> 00:33:00.579 it plain to us 00:33:00.579 --> 00:33:01.840 is to see that 00:33:01.840 --> 00:33:02.960 in the natural world 00:33:02.960 --> 00:33:03.900 whether we look at it 00:33:03.900 --> 00:33:05.000 on the micro scale 00:33:05.000 --> 00:33:07.120 or on the micro scale 00:33:07.120 --> 00:33:08.960 and we are the beneficiaries 00:33:08.960 --> 00:33:10.360 of the advances 00:33:10.360 --> 00:33:10.960 of modern science 00:33:11.519 --> 00:33:13.100 it is there for us 00:33:13.100 --> 00:33:13.840 to enjoy 00:33:13.840 --> 00:33:14.759 and who would argue 00:33:14.759 --> 00:33:16.340 but that our lives 00:33:16.340 --> 00:33:17.319 are not infinitely 00:33:17.319 --> 00:33:18.259 more comfortable 00:33:18.259 --> 00:33:19.900 than most generations 00:33:19.900 --> 00:33:21.140 of human beings 00:33:21.140 --> 00:33:21.940 that have lived 00:33:21.940 --> 00:33:22.960 before us 00:33:22.960 --> 00:33:23.860 but secondly 00:33:23.860 --> 00:33:25.500 it is there 00:33:25.500 --> 00:33:26.480 to 00:33:26.480 --> 00:33:27.820 I hope that says 00:33:27.820 --> 00:33:28.640 enjoy 00:33:28.640 --> 00:33:30.980 my third point 00:33:30.980 --> 00:33:31.600 is that it's there 00:33:31.600 --> 00:33:32.299 to exploit 00:33:32.299 --> 00:33:33.240 so in case I haven't 00:33:33.240 --> 00:33:34.039 changed these around 00:33:34.039 --> 00:33:35.380 on my power point 00:33:35.380 --> 00:33:37.039 it is there for us 00:33:37.039 --> 00:33:37.759 to enjoy 00:33:37.759 --> 00:33:39.460 to enjoy its scenery 00:33:39.460 --> 00:33:42.440 to enjoy its sustenance 00:33:42.440 --> 00:33:44.500 and in return 00:33:44.500 --> 00:33:46.080 to work it 00:33:46.080 --> 00:33:48.160 and care for it 00:33:48.160 --> 00:33:49.740 there is something 00:33:49.740 --> 00:33:50.580 about the beauty 00:33:50.579 --> 00:33:51.159 of the earth 00:33:51.159 --> 00:33:51.939 that helps us 00:33:51.939 --> 00:33:52.779 psychologically 00:33:52.779 --> 00:33:55.039 just to be 00:33:55.039 --> 00:33:56.299 out in the open 00:33:56.299 --> 00:33:58.000 is a wonderful experience 00:33:58.000 --> 00:33:58.519 it's something 00:33:58.519 --> 00:33:59.879 that city dwellers 00:33:59.879 --> 00:34:00.319 like me 00:34:00.319 --> 00:34:01.000 and probably like 00:34:01.000 --> 00:34:01.740 most of you 00:34:01.740 --> 00:34:02.419 can miss 00:34:02.419 --> 00:34:03.559 very easily 00:34:03.559 --> 00:34:04.659 the cities are about 00:34:04.659 --> 00:34:05.240 pressure 00:34:05.240 --> 00:34:06.359 and tension 00:34:06.359 --> 00:34:07.919 and limited time 00:34:07.919 --> 00:34:08.599 the countryside 00:34:08.599 --> 00:34:10.119 is about beauty 00:34:10.119 --> 00:34:11.599 and calm 00:34:11.599 --> 00:34:13.460 and all of this 00:34:13.460 --> 00:34:14.559 was given us 00:34:14.559 --> 00:34:15.539 to enjoy 00:34:15.539 --> 00:34:16.799 John Stott 00:34:16.799 --> 00:34:17.739 in one of his books 00:34:17.739 --> 00:34:18.980 has a very interesting story 00:34:18.980 --> 00:34:21.360 about 00:34:21.360 --> 00:34:23.360 a vicar 00:34:23.360 --> 00:34:24.179 or a bishop 00:34:24.179 --> 00:34:24.659 perhaps 00:34:24.659 --> 00:34:25.800 who was walking 00:34:25.800 --> 00:34:26.860 in the garden 00:34:26.860 --> 00:34:28.139 of the bishop's palace 00:34:28.139 --> 00:34:29.679 with a friend 00:34:29.679 --> 00:34:31.199 and showing him 00:34:31.199 --> 00:34:32.960 the garden 00:34:32.960 --> 00:34:34.219 and said 00:34:34.219 --> 00:34:36.480 said to his friend 00:34:36.480 --> 00:34:37.139 you know 00:34:37.139 --> 00:34:39.480 isn't God's creation 00:34:39.480 --> 00:34:40.719 wonderful 00:34:40.719 --> 00:34:42.599 and the old gardener 00:34:42.599 --> 00:34:44.179 who overheard this 00:34:44.179 --> 00:34:45.719 muttered under his breath 00:34:45.719 --> 00:34:45.939 tie 00:34:45.939 --> 00:34:47.199 but it was a bit of a mess 00:34:47.199 --> 00:34:48.500 when he had it to his cell 00:34:48.500 --> 00:34:49.699 in other words 00:34:49.699 --> 00:34:51.019 making the point 00:34:51.019 --> 00:34:52.459 that we have to work 00:34:52.459 --> 00:34:53.239 God's creation 00:34:53.239 --> 00:34:54.559 we have to care for it 00:34:54.559 --> 00:34:55.679 we have to manage it 00:34:55.679 --> 00:34:57.359 in order to draw out of it 00:34:57.359 --> 00:34:58.719 some of its beauty 00:34:58.719 --> 00:35:00.279 and the third point 00:35:00.279 --> 00:35:00.980 I wanted to make 00:35:00.980 --> 00:35:02.699 was that the creation 00:35:02.699 --> 00:35:03.639 is there for us 00:35:03.639 --> 00:35:04.799 to exploit 00:35:04.799 --> 00:35:05.399 now 00:35:05.399 --> 00:35:07.839 exploit is a bad word 00:35:07.839 --> 00:35:08.659 these days 00:35:08.659 --> 00:35:10.500 everybody's exploiting 00:35:10.500 --> 00:35:11.219 others 00:35:11.219 --> 00:35:13.000 filthy capitalists 00:35:13.000 --> 00:35:14.099 are exploiting 00:35:14.099 --> 00:35:14.659 the poor 00:35:14.659 --> 00:35:16.000 we're exploiting 00:35:16.000 --> 00:35:16.400 the planet 00:35:16.400 --> 00:35:16.920 but actually 00:35:16.920 --> 00:35:17.819 I looked up 00:35:17.819 --> 00:35:18.880 Chambers dictionary 00:35:18.880 --> 00:35:20.199 and the word exploit 00:35:20.199 --> 00:35:21.480 though it does sometimes 00:35:21.480 --> 00:35:22.259 bear that meaning 00:35:22.259 --> 00:35:23.860 one of the meanings of it 00:35:23.860 --> 00:35:25.659 is to make the best use 00:35:25.659 --> 00:35:27.219 of natural resources 00:35:27.219 --> 00:35:28.079 so I'm using it 00:35:28.079 --> 00:35:28.779 in that sense 00:35:28.779 --> 00:35:29.900 the best use 00:35:29.900 --> 00:35:31.579 of natural resources 00:35:31.579 --> 00:35:34.179 and it is interesting 00:35:34.179 --> 00:35:35.179 that throughout 00:35:35.179 --> 00:35:35.799 the scriptures 00:35:35.799 --> 00:35:37.839 there is a clear sense 00:35:37.839 --> 00:35:40.079 of the importance 00:35:40.079 --> 00:35:41.940 of looking after 00:35:41.940 --> 00:35:43.039 the created order 00:35:43.039 --> 00:35:44.460 by all means 00:35:44.460 --> 00:35:45.360 exploiting it 00:35:45.360 --> 00:35:46.320 and using it 00:35:46.320 --> 00:35:48.039 but also making sure 00:35:48.039 --> 00:35:49.139 that we do not 00:35:49.139 --> 00:35:49.940 abuse it 00:35:49.940 --> 00:35:51.519 a couple of weeks ago 00:35:51.519 --> 00:35:52.079 I was speaking 00:35:52.079 --> 00:35:53.079 on an equally challenging 00:35:53.079 --> 00:35:54.300 subject for Crescent Church 00:35:54.300 --> 00:35:54.960 in Belfast 00:35:54.960 --> 00:35:55.619 which was about 00:35:55.619 --> 00:35:56.519 the morality 00:35:56.519 --> 00:35:57.980 of the Canaanite invasion 00:35:57.980 --> 00:35:59.480 which is not the easiest 00:35:59.480 --> 00:36:01.199 subject to deal with 00:36:01.199 --> 00:36:02.159 and I was using 00:36:02.159 --> 00:36:03.360 John Lennox's book 00:36:03.360 --> 00:36:04.279 Gunning for God 00:36:04.279 --> 00:36:05.539 and he's got a chapter 00:36:05.539 --> 00:36:06.639 in which he talks about 00:36:06.639 --> 00:36:08.420 is the God of the Bible 00:36:08.420 --> 00:36:09.159 a despot 00:36:09.159 --> 00:36:10.699 and he talks about 00:36:10.699 --> 00:36:12.839 the rules of war 00:36:12.839 --> 00:36:13.940 that were established 00:36:13.940 --> 00:36:14.879 in the Old Testament 00:36:14.879 --> 00:36:15.480 I hadn't been 00:36:15.480 --> 00:36:16.299 particularly familiar 00:36:16.299 --> 00:36:16.759 with this 00:36:16.759 --> 00:36:18.899 but in Deuteronomy 20 00:36:18.899 --> 00:36:20.339 there's a series of rules 00:36:20.339 --> 00:36:21.819 that govern the way 00:36:21.819 --> 00:36:22.819 in which the Israelites 00:36:22.819 --> 00:36:23.859 went to war 00:36:23.859 --> 00:36:25.019 and some of these 00:36:25.019 --> 00:36:25.960 were very stringent 00:36:25.960 --> 00:36:26.379 indeed 00:36:26.379 --> 00:36:27.079 in fact 00:36:27.079 --> 00:36:28.199 they were not permitted 00:36:28.199 --> 00:36:29.059 to go to war 00:36:29.059 --> 00:36:29.739 at all 00:36:29.739 --> 00:36:30.899 until 00:36:30.899 --> 00:36:32.399 they had exhausted 00:36:32.399 --> 00:36:33.519 every possibility 00:36:33.519 --> 00:36:34.519 of peace 00:36:34.519 --> 00:36:35.480 but one of the things 00:36:35.480 --> 00:36:36.779 that I noticed 00:36:36.780 --> 00:36:38.580 was that when they went 00:36:38.580 --> 00:36:39.320 to war 00:36:39.320 --> 00:36:41.000 they were 00:36:41.000 --> 00:36:41.920 and this is specifically 00:36:41.920 --> 00:36:42.380 mentioned 00:36:42.380 --> 00:36:44.360 they were not permitted 00:36:44.360 --> 00:36:45.400 to engage 00:36:45.400 --> 00:36:47.340 in the wanton destruction 00:36:47.340 --> 00:36:48.640 of trees 00:36:48.640 --> 00:36:50.220 now you can imagine 00:36:50.220 --> 00:36:51.019 why you'd want to 00:36:51.019 --> 00:36:52.280 hack down trees 00:36:52.280 --> 00:36:53.240 if you're going into battle 00:36:53.240 --> 00:36:55.140 not permitted to engage 00:36:55.140 --> 00:36:56.320 in the wanton destruction 00:36:56.320 --> 00:36:57.360 of trees 00:36:57.360 --> 00:36:58.760 and you think about 00:36:58.760 --> 00:37:00.700 the commandments 00:37:00.700 --> 00:37:01.680 of Leviticus 25 00:37:01.680 --> 00:37:02.420 for example 00:37:02.420 --> 00:37:04.040 about every seventh year 00:37:04.040 --> 00:37:05.480 the ground had to be 00:37:05.480 --> 00:37:06.220 left fallow 00:37:06.219 --> 00:37:08.619 every 50th year 00:37:08.619 --> 00:37:10.019 everything had to be 00:37:10.019 --> 00:37:10.719 returned to its 00:37:10.719 --> 00:37:11.539 original owners 00:37:11.539 --> 00:37:12.619 and the land left 00:37:12.619 --> 00:37:14.279 fallow for two years 00:37:14.279 --> 00:37:16.679 and John Luddix 00:37:16.679 --> 00:37:17.159 points out 00:37:17.159 --> 00:37:17.919 that Lord Jonathan 00:37:17.919 --> 00:37:18.339 Sachs 00:37:18.339 --> 00:37:19.139 the chief rabbi 00:37:19.139 --> 00:37:20.059 of the United 00:37:20.059 --> 00:37:21.139 Hebrew Congregations 00:37:21.139 --> 00:37:21.839 of the Commonwealth 00:37:21.839 --> 00:37:22.619 points out 00:37:22.619 --> 00:37:23.539 that the books 00:37:23.539 --> 00:37:24.399 of Leviticus 00:37:24.399 --> 00:37:25.839 and Deuteronomy 00:37:25.839 --> 00:37:26.599 contain 00:37:26.599 --> 00:37:28.559 the world's first 00:37:28.559 --> 00:37:29.599 environmental 00:37:29.599 --> 00:37:30.719 legislation 00:37:30.719 --> 00:37:31.339 let me read that 00:37:31.339 --> 00:37:32.079 to you again 00:37:32.079 --> 00:37:33.219 the books of 00:37:33.219 --> 00:37:33.879 Leviticus 00:37:33.879 --> 00:37:34.980 and Deuteronomy 00:37:34.980 --> 00:37:37.000 contain the world's 00:37:37.000 --> 00:37:38.880 first environmental 00:37:38.880 --> 00:37:40.300 legislation 00:37:40.300 --> 00:37:42.199 so God gave us 00:37:42.199 --> 00:37:43.079 the earth 00:37:43.079 --> 00:37:44.619 to explore 00:37:44.619 --> 00:37:45.500 to enjoy 00:37:45.500 --> 00:37:47.760 certainly to exploit 00:37:47.760 --> 00:37:48.599 in the sense 00:37:48.599 --> 00:37:50.280 of deriving from it 00:37:50.280 --> 00:37:51.059 what we need 00:37:51.059 --> 00:37:52.840 and what will make 00:37:52.840 --> 00:37:53.920 our life better 00:37:53.920 --> 00:37:55.719 but at the same time 00:37:55.719 --> 00:37:57.159 he sets boundaries 00:37:57.159 --> 00:37:58.219 to the extent 00:37:58.219 --> 00:37:58.780 to which 00:37:58.780 --> 00:38:00.260 we can use the resources 00:38:00.260 --> 00:38:01.000 of the earth 00:38:01.000 --> 00:38:04.079 and the extent 00:38:04.079 --> 00:38:04.480 to which 00:38:04.480 --> 00:38:05.539 we should be aware 00:38:05.539 --> 00:38:06.559 that we're handling 00:38:06.559 --> 00:38:08.440 a precious resource 00:38:08.440 --> 00:38:10.460 so my final question 00:38:10.460 --> 00:38:11.579 as we think about 00:38:11.579 --> 00:38:12.360 the big picture 00:38:12.360 --> 00:38:13.340 and the small picture 00:38:13.340 --> 00:38:15.019 is just ask yourself 00:38:15.019 --> 00:38:17.119 who will decide 00:38:17.119 --> 00:38:18.219 the end of the world 00:38:18.219 --> 00:38:19.179 will we do it 00:38:19.179 --> 00:38:20.119 with our motor cars 00:38:20.119 --> 00:38:21.219 will we do it 00:38:21.219 --> 00:38:22.099 with carbon dioxide 00:38:22.099 --> 00:38:22.780 or 00:38:22.780 --> 00:38:24.099 is the future 00:38:24.099 --> 00:38:24.900 of our planet 00:38:24.900 --> 00:38:26.300 in higher hands 00:38:26.300 --> 00:38:27.559 I think I know 00:38:27.559 --> 00:38:28.099 what the Christian 00:38:28.099 --> 00:38:29.239 answer to that is 00:38:29.239 --> 00:38:30.459 though it doesn't 00:38:30.459 --> 00:38:31.239 in any sense 00:38:31.239 --> 00:38:32.000 excuse us 00:38:32.000 --> 00:38:33.639 from being good stewards 00:38:33.639 --> 00:38:34.819 of what the Lord 00:38:34.819 --> 00:38:35.939 has given to us 00:38:35.939 --> 00:38:37.219 and so let me finish 00:38:37.219 --> 00:38:38.419 with four 00:38:38.419 --> 00:38:40.079 very simple 00:38:40.079 --> 00:38:41.199 exhortations 00:38:41.199 --> 00:38:41.879 one 00:38:41.879 --> 00:38:42.919 how should we regard 00:38:42.919 --> 00:38:43.519 this subject 00:38:43.519 --> 00:38:44.739 which is no doubt 00:38:44.739 --> 00:38:46.139 troubling and controversial 00:38:46.139 --> 00:38:47.000 well the first 00:38:47.000 --> 00:38:47.599 I would suggest 00:38:47.599 --> 00:38:48.419 is be confident 00:38:48.419 --> 00:38:51.000 God is in control 00:38:51.000 --> 00:38:52.079 of his world 00:38:52.079 --> 00:38:53.959 man has tried 00:38:53.959 --> 00:38:55.079 on many occasions 00:38:55.079 --> 00:38:56.299 to rip it apart 00:38:56.299 --> 00:38:57.739 and blow it to bits 00:38:57.739 --> 00:38:59.419 but it constantly 00:38:59.419 --> 00:39:00.559 renews itself 00:39:00.559 --> 00:39:01.639 and it recovers 00:39:01.639 --> 00:39:03.539 God is in control 00:39:03.539 --> 00:39:04.299 of the planet 00:39:04.299 --> 00:39:05.299 that's not an excuse 00:39:05.299 --> 00:39:06.479 for doing nothing 00:39:06.479 --> 00:39:07.879 but it is something 00:39:07.879 --> 00:39:09.159 to guide our thinking 00:39:09.159 --> 00:39:09.719 secondly 00:39:09.719 --> 00:39:11.219 be frugal 00:39:11.219 --> 00:39:12.219 now frugal 00:39:12.219 --> 00:39:13.079 is not a great one 00:39:13.079 --> 00:39:15.059 for 21st century 00:39:15.059 --> 00:39:16.159 people in the west 00:39:16.159 --> 00:39:18.279 but don't waste things 00:39:18.279 --> 00:39:19.979 don't have more of things 00:39:19.979 --> 00:39:20.779 than you need 00:39:20.779 --> 00:39:22.819 by all means 00:39:22.819 --> 00:39:24.159 use what is available 00:39:24.159 --> 00:39:24.759 to you 00:39:24.759 --> 00:39:25.799 but don't waste it 00:39:25.799 --> 00:39:26.879 don't overdo it 00:39:26.880 --> 00:39:28.579 don't indulge in ways 00:39:28.579 --> 00:39:30.280 that are unnecessary 00:39:30.280 --> 00:39:31.480 thirdly 00:39:31.480 --> 00:39:33.079 be active 00:39:33.079 --> 00:39:35.420 one of the slogans 00:39:35.420 --> 00:39:36.000 that I think 00:39:36.000 --> 00:39:37.180 the environmental movement 00:39:37.180 --> 00:39:37.920 has given us 00:39:37.920 --> 00:39:38.300 is 00:39:38.300 --> 00:39:39.920 think globally 00:39:39.920 --> 00:39:42.519 but act locally 00:39:42.519 --> 00:39:43.519 that's a very good 00:39:43.519 --> 00:39:44.860 motto for a church 00:39:44.860 --> 00:39:45.519 incidentally 00:39:45.519 --> 00:39:47.240 in ecclesiastical matters 00:39:47.240 --> 00:39:48.099 but even 00:39:48.099 --> 00:39:50.160 in environmental matters 00:39:50.160 --> 00:39:51.440 there's wisdom 00:39:51.440 --> 00:39:52.059 in that 00:39:52.059 --> 00:39:53.400 and I live in a little village 00:39:53.400 --> 00:39:55.380 and I have to say 00:39:55.380 --> 00:39:56.720 that in this little village 00:39:56.720 --> 00:39:58.099 there's a group of people 00:39:58.099 --> 00:39:59.260 that spend a great deal 00:39:59.260 --> 00:39:59.740 of time 00:39:59.740 --> 00:40:01.019 making the village 00:40:01.019 --> 00:40:01.700 look good 00:40:01.700 --> 00:40:03.440 they go around 00:40:03.440 --> 00:40:05.440 sorting little 00:40:05.440 --> 00:40:07.099 flower beds 00:40:07.099 --> 00:40:08.039 and they get 00:40:08.039 --> 00:40:08.800 some support 00:40:08.800 --> 00:40:09.400 from the council 00:40:09.400 --> 00:40:10.139 but most of it 00:40:10.139 --> 00:40:11.139 is done voluntarily 00:40:11.139 --> 00:40:13.160 I'm ashamed to tell you 00:40:13.160 --> 00:40:14.180 I'm not part of it 00:40:14.180 --> 00:40:14.720 I'm too busy 00:40:14.720 --> 00:40:15.519 making up sermons 00:40:15.519 --> 00:40:16.519 on creation care 00:40:16.519 --> 00:40:17.380 but there's a group 00:40:17.380 --> 00:40:17.880 of people 00:40:17.880 --> 00:40:18.780 that do these 00:40:18.780 --> 00:40:19.619 kind of things 00:40:19.619 --> 00:40:20.559 and so 00:40:20.559 --> 00:40:21.960 we should try 00:40:21.960 --> 00:40:22.619 and find a way 00:40:22.619 --> 00:40:23.039 in which 00:40:23.039 --> 00:40:24.420 in expressing 00:40:24.420 --> 00:40:25.000 our love 00:40:25.000 --> 00:40:25.619 and care 00:40:25.619 --> 00:40:26.900 of creation 00:40:26.900 --> 00:40:28.359 we play our part 00:40:28.359 --> 00:40:29.000 I try to keep 00:40:29.000 --> 00:40:30.179 my garden under control 00:40:30.179 --> 00:40:31.859 that's a start 00:40:31.859 --> 00:40:33.679 but if there are ways 00:40:33.679 --> 00:40:34.239 in which we can 00:40:34.239 --> 00:40:35.420 involve ourselves 00:40:35.420 --> 00:40:36.119 voluntarily 00:40:36.119 --> 00:40:37.359 or professionally 00:40:37.359 --> 00:40:38.739 we should do so 00:40:38.739 --> 00:40:39.980 and let me finish 00:40:39.980 --> 00:40:40.659 with the thought 00:40:40.659 --> 00:40:41.359 that we should 00:40:41.359 --> 00:40:42.460 be thankful 00:40:42.460 --> 00:40:44.000 we should be thankful 00:40:44.000 --> 00:40:44.619 because 00:40:44.619 --> 00:40:46.259 God knows the end 00:40:46.259 --> 00:40:47.460 from the beginning 00:40:47.460 --> 00:40:48.920 and while we need 00:40:48.920 --> 00:40:49.500 to be cautious 00:40:49.500 --> 00:40:50.220 about the great 00:40:50.220 --> 00:40:51.360 problems facing us 00:40:51.360 --> 00:40:53.400 including climate change 00:40:53.400 --> 00:40:55.180 we need to understand 00:40:55.180 --> 00:40:56.539 that the world 00:40:56.539 --> 00:40:57.260 ultimately 00:40:57.260 --> 00:40:58.680 is in the hands 00:40:58.680 --> 00:41:00.159 of its creator 00:41:00.159 --> 00:41:02.220 and he knows best 00:41:02.220 --> 00:41:03.800 how to determine 00:41:03.800 --> 00:41:05.000 the future 00:41:05.000 --> 00:41:06.700 thank you for listening 00:41:06.700 --> 00:41:07.099 so well 00:41:07.099 --> 00:41:08.039 let me just pray 00:41:08.039 --> 00:41:08.599 briefly 00:41:08.599 --> 00:41:10.840 Lord thank you 00:41:10.840 --> 00:41:11.840 for such a beautiful 00:41:11.840 --> 00:41:12.940 world that you have 00:41:12.940 --> 00:41:14.340 made us part of 00:41:14.340 --> 00:41:16.500 thank you for the beauty 00:41:16.500 --> 00:41:17.579 of the summer 00:41:17.579 --> 00:41:18.800 and the autumn 00:41:18.800 --> 00:41:19.880 thank you also 00:41:19.880 --> 00:41:21.900 for the rugged beauty 00:41:21.900 --> 00:41:23.440 of storm and sea 00:41:23.440 --> 00:41:25.260 and wind and winter 00:41:25.260 --> 00:41:26.120 and we thank you 00:41:26.120 --> 00:41:27.400 for everything 00:41:27.400 --> 00:41:28.019 that speaks 00:41:28.019 --> 00:41:29.100 of your powerful hand 00:41:29.100 --> 00:41:30.120 make us thankful 00:41:30.120 --> 00:41:30.980 for the creation 00:41:30.980 --> 00:41:32.240 we have inherited 00:41:32.240 --> 00:41:33.960 and make us diligent 00:41:33.960 --> 00:41:35.100 in our use of it 00:41:35.100 --> 00:41:37.080 we ask for Jesus' sake 00:41:37.080 --> 00:41:38.340 Amen 00:41:38.340 --> 00:41:38.559 amen 00:41:38.559 --> 00:42:08.539 Thank you.