God’s Renewed Creation: Call
to Hope and Action
The Pastoral Letter
Our United Methodist Bishops have
issued a Pastoral Letter to each United Methodist church. In it they state that
they cannot remain silent while God’s people and God’s planet suffer.
God, they write, has entrusted the care of this beautiful natural world to us
but we have turned our backs on God and on our responsibilities. Our neglect,
selfishness, and pride have fostered pandemic poverty and disease,
environmental degradation, and the proliferation of weapons and violence.
Harsh words, indeed, from our
Bishops. But, true words. The Bishops join with many
global religious leaders to call for a comprehensive response to the
interrelated issues of poverty, war, ecological disasters, and disconnect on
all fronts of being. They see one interconnected system that is “groaning
in travail” (Romans 8:22 RSV) from threats to peace, people, and planet
Earth.
We as United Methodists are urged to
orient our lives toward God’s holy vision, a vision of the future which
calls us to hope and to action. “For surely I know the plans I have for
you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a
future with hope” (Jeremiah 29:11).
Secondly, we are urged to practice
social and environmental holiness. John Wesley preached: “The gospel of
Christ knows of no religion, but social. No holiness but social
holiness”. (Hymns and Sacred Poems, 1739) We practice
social and environmental holiness by caring for God’s people and
God’s planet and by challenging those whose policies and practices
neglect the poor, exploit the weak, hasten global warming, and produce more
weapons.
Thirdly, we are urged to live and
act in hope. We are to understand reconciliation and renewal to be part of the
process of salvation that is already under way. We are part of a divine
unfolding process to which we must contribute. We must rededicate ourselves to
a ministry of peace, justice, and hope to overcome poverty and disease,
environmental degradation, and the proliferation of weapons, war, and violence.
Not any easy task has been set for
us. But it is possible with God’s help. Copies of the complete Pastoral
letter are available in the Chapel. I urge you to take a copy and read it. See
what our Bishops have pledged to do to join in the process of renewal. Then
dedicate yourself to the same goals. A better world is possible but each of us
needs to help make it happen.
Take those cloth bags to the grocery
store with you. Keep yourself informed about what is going on in the
government, both local and national. React to your elected officials and vote
them out if they are not working toward what is best for God’s people,
both here and abroad. Work for justice. There will be no peace without
justice for all God's people. Volunteer. Rockport offers many
opportunities for service as do civic and non-profit organizations. Be part of
the change our Bishops have urged us to bring forth.
Peace with Justice Advocate