Preaching Discipleship in a Climate Emergency (A Guest Post)
The Rev. Dr. Jessica Hetherington, ecotheologian and ordained minister, is a writer, preacher, and speaker who inspires people of faith to transform their lives and actions in response to the climate and ecological crisis. She holds a PhD in Theology from Saint Paul University in Ottawa, Canada, and serves in the United Church of Canada. Her weekly newsletter, Following in the World, is found on Substack: jessicahetherington.substack.com/ .
You can learn more about Jessica at: jessicahetherington.ca/ .
Pastors in congregational ministry do not usually have the time to devote to learning the ins and outs of every issue confronting them in the world.
There are usually one or two issues that we are particularly knowledgeable or passionate about. The climate emergency may be one of those issues, or it may not.
Yet it is an issue that we must, as pastors, preach on in our time.
It is an issue that we must preach on well if we are to support, encourage, and challenge the hearers in our community with the Gospel so that they may respond effectively to this global crisis.
As a trained ecotheologian and ordained minister who devotes her days to a full time ecotheology ministry, I have both the privilege and the burden of spending my time immersed in the details of the climate emergency and reflecting upon how the Christian tradition can guide people of faith in responding effectively to that emergency.
Below, I’ll offer suggestions for better understanding this crisis and how to preach about it effectively.
The Reality of the Climate Emergency
The climate emergency is, indeed, global.
Every part of the world has been affected by global heating; the poor and marginalized everywhere, especially in the global South, are experiencing the worst of its effects so far. The news is dire and the data of what is to come, if we don’t take transformative climate action, is overwhelming.
The reality of the climate emergency brings up feelings of fear, anxiety, and helplessness, as well as a climate denialism that is insidious in our political contexts.
Preachers often experience this fear and anxiety ourselves; it may feel easier to preach on anything but the climate emergency.
Yet preach we must. How do we preach about the climate emergency so as to break through the fear and anxiety, the hopelessness and the denial?
We Preach Discipleship
We do what those before us have done in time of great peril and change: We preach discipleship.
There are different ways we can understand Christian discipleship. Let me offer a working definition.
Discipleship is understood as faith lived out in the world. It is lived out in our actions.
If what we believe about God, about Jesus, is not lived out in our actions, it is not discipleship.
Discipleship is our response of ‘yes’ to God’s call to engage in actions of mercy, justice, love, and compassion in the world.
Our job as pastors in this climate emergency is to preach discipleship.
It is not our only job, but it is a key one.
How do we do so in a way that is effective, that breaks through the paralyzing emotions so many of us are feeling, and moves people to action when they leave church on Sunday?
Three Ways to Preach Discipleship in a Climate Emergency
My suggestion is that preaching discipleship in a way that is effective, true to who each of us are as preachers, and responsive to the particular communities in which we serve, is to find one of three ways into the question of the climate emergency and how to respond.
My experience is that at least one of these ways will fit with your usual entry points in your preaching, and allow you to craft sermons that your people will hear.
1. Locate Ourselves Within the Earth Community
The first way is to locate who we are, as human beings, within the Earth community.
Contrary to the worldview traditional within Christianity and dominant in secular culture today, we are not separate from nor superior to the rest of the natural world.
Through science, and in the wisdom of our creation stories, we have evolved within and are literally cousin to everything that exists on Earth today.
We are part of the natural world.
Reconnecting with this truth can help people in our communities to discover a profound sense of connection and meaning.
It can lead them toward falling in love with the world around them.
It is from this love that they can feel inspired to take discipleship action in response to the climate emergency.
2. Acknowledge the Need for Lament
The second way into the question of the climate emergency and the need to respond is through lament.
So many of us are aware that our society does not encourage lament; even within some church traditions, we prefer to focus on Easter Sunday rather than Good Friday.
Yet part of the reason our feelings about the climate emergency can be so paralyzing is that they don’t have a place to go.
We need to encourage—and create liturgy for—lament.
We need to preach on lament in the psalms; we need to remind our people about the need and permission to bring to God our fear, our anxiety.
God wants our rage. God wants our weeping. God wants our questions and our wails into the darkness.
We need to create space within our preaching for lament in the face of the climate emergency.
When we lament, we are then released—freed—to respond to God’s call to climate action through our discipleship.
3. Directly Preach Discipleship
The third way that we can engage the question of the climate emergency is to directly preach discipleship.
Depending upon the tradition, some of us are more used to doing so than others.
It can be helpful to preach about what discipleship means, what it looks like, and offer examples of what it can look like in our lives today.
Many of our people have become quite comfortable in their Christianity and feeling “good” about the Gospel.
It can be useful to remind them of the life-denying, cross-bearing character of discipleship and how it is meant to be made manifest in our lives.
The Whole Scripture is Available
There are readings throughout the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures that can guide us in preaching discipleship in a climate emergency.
I am often asked for “green” passages in the Bible for pastors to preach on special Sundays.
What I tell them is that nearly all of the Bible can be used to preach about our place in the Earth community, preach lament for the climate emergency, and preach about a discipleship of climate action.
This can make it easier for congregational ministers who prefer to follow a lectionary.
On most Sundays, I do not have trouble finding one of the lectionary texts to guide me, with the help of the Holy Spirit, in preaching on the climate emergency and the call to discipleship in this time.
It is my belief that one of these three entry points—our place within the Earth community, the need for lament, and the explicit call to discipleship—can allow you to move through the confusion and stress, and find powerful texts and stories to guide you and your community.
Preach We Must
Humanity has an extremely short window of time in which we can make a course correction regarding the climate emergency.
Preaching discipleship in this time is one of the most critical and effective things that pastors can do to support, encourage, and challenge their people to respond.
Preach we must.
Want to learn more?
The Rev. Dr. Hetherington will be speaking to The Collective+
on Tuesday, April 18th, at 1:30 Central.
Join The Collective+ to participate!