One of the passages assigned for Easter Sunday is Isaiah’s prophetic vision of the new heavens and the new earth God is bringing into being, a promise which came irrevocably into view when Jesus walked out of that tomb Easter morning. It is a fitting vision to explore on this Earth Day 2022.
God speaks through the prophet: I am about to create new heavens and a new earth; the former things shall not be remembered or come to mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in what I am creating…
He says of the people of Israel, They shall build houses and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit. They shall not build and another inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat; for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be, and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands.
This is a vision of a humanity in harmony with the created order, of people growing enough food for their own harvest, not laboring on factory farms for low wages. It suggests a community with low rates of infant mortality, and longevity for the aged – and for trees! Even predator-prey relationships are brought into harmony: The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
The promise of Easter is that this vision is already coming to pass, and comes the more quickly the more we engage in the faithful work of bringing it into being. That means faith as much as work – believing that God is in the business of reclaiming, restoring and renewing all of creation to wholeness in Christ, and participating in that mission wherever and whenever we feel the Spirit’s nudges.
Does this mean that, because God is bringing this new thing into being, we need not fear the ravages of climate change? No, it does not mean that, any more than God’s promise of healing means that we stop worrying about cancer or Covid, as though people had stopped dying. God still asks us to participate in bringing God’s power to bear on situations. That means exercising faith in prayer and exercising grace in how we live. God’s gift of free will continues to mean that we live with the consequences of our choices and those of others. AND God’s gift of faith and the Holy Spirit’s power mean that we become better able to make choices that bring healing and restoration rather than continued degradation to this earth and its plants and trees and birds and animals.
Where do you want your grandchildren to live? In an earth increasing ransacked for its resources, with rising sea levels and extreme weather, floods and drought, fires and famine? Or in that new earth where there is plenty as people share their resources, and mutual thriving among populations and the natural world?
We can start by cultivating a spirit of gratitude and respect for the life around us, ALL the life around us, and living in sacred relationship with all of it. As we do that, we become far less willing to see it ravaged and wasted, and much more eager to help bring that New Earth into view. Then may this prophecy come to pass: They shall not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain, says the Lord.
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