Bishop'S Christmas Message 2007
Christianity is not just about saving individual souls, it is about saving the world. Through the incarnation – through entering into our world – God shows us that the material world as well as our spiritual lives are important. We are stewards of creation, entrusted with the care of God’s world and yet we exploit it. Some prophets of doom give us just 100 years before we self-destruct as we accelerate global warming, destroy rain forests, use up the world’s natural resources - and out of greed and self-centredness exploit the environment together with animals and poor people.
I am sure that within a few years, modern homes will not only have satellite dishes but windmills and solar panels as a regular feature. Some churches are exploring how to heat their buildings by using the heat from under the earth and some others are using solar tiles on their roofs. We face a huge challenge of how to meet the energy gap between supply and demand without using fossil fuels.
As Christians, I believe that we need to take seriously the findings of the Review for the UK Government chaired by Professor Sir Nicholas Stern. It predicts that by the end of the century an additional 145-220 million people could be living on less than $2 a day and there would be an additional 165,000 to 250,000 child deaths per year in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.
The challenge facing the world is huge, urgent and far-reaching and I believe the Church should be taking a leading role in urging governments to take action, and in taking action ourselves, because all of us contribute towards what is happening. The outlook for many developing countries, particularly in Africa is bleak and yet they produce per capita the lowest greenhouse gas emissions that contribute towards global warming. In the past, the Church has responded to world poverty by pressing for further international aid and debt cancellation. Monmouth can be proud of having become a Fair Trade diocese this year, and yet all efforts will be wasted if the world does not address how to slow down climate change, and if the West does not find new ways of meeting our demands for energy.
The salvation of souls cannot be separated from the salvation of the world. As a church, our prime task is to bring the message of God’s saving love to the world, but we cannot do that without also recognising that the rich West is destroying the world and we need to act urgently, decisively and sacrificially.
The birth of the Christ child in a stable in Bethlehem reminds us of God’s love for the world he created and redeemed. When we worship at the crib, it is not to be sentimental and to escape the harsh realities of life, for Jesus himself was born in an occupied country and became a refugee. We worship at the crib to contemplate again God’s love for the world and to commit ourselves to work with him as he continually reaches out to save us.