Ride Against the Tide
...of Climate Change
For as long as it takes: a post-ride sermon
(Delivered by Richard Sharples at Wrexham Methodist Church 12 July, 2009) This week, as many of you know, I have been cycling a life-sized,
willow statue of King Cnut, from Gloucester to London. King Cnut being
the one who sat on the beach and commanded the tide to stop coming in.
The idea was to raise people's consciousness about the implications of
rising sea levels due to climate change and the need for urgent
action. Well, we certainly aroused a great deal of curiosity...
bemused drivers, the security services at Westminster, a group of
children in fancy dress, a Pub Landlord, a company of ramblers by the
riverside... just a few of the conversations which took place. And I'm
pleased to say that, through my friend Simon's efforts, we managed to
get some good press coverage en route... local papers, local radio,
even local TV in Oxford. But is this real 'ministry', or have I simply been off enjoying myself
(which I have)?
What I feel I've been doing this week is 'prophetic ministry'. Not pastoral, not preaching, not serving, not exactly teaching, and
not giving (for it wasn't a sponsored bike ride), but prophetic
ministry. Now, we don't do a great deal of prophetic ministry in the Church, do
we? At least I don't. So this morning, drawing both upon my experience this week and upon
our gospel reading, I want to take the opportunity to reflect upon
prophetic ministry. For I believe that prophetic ministry, like all
ministries, belongs to the people of God and not solely to special
people called 'ministers'. Prophetic Ministry: It is clear that during Jesus' earthly ministry he
was regarded as a prophet. As we heard a moment ago: “... Jesus' name had become well known. Some were saying, 'John
the Baptist has been raised from the dead, and that is why miraculous
powers are at work in him.' Others said, 'He is Elijah.' And still
others claimed, 'He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of long
ago.” (Mark 6v14-15) Although Jesus' disciples gradually come to understand that he is more
than a prophet (Mark 8v27-30), what everyone was agreed upon was that
Jesus was a prophet. But what did they understand by that? And what kind of things,
therefore, might a prophetic ministry entail?
(1. From the Edge): Elijah, Elisha, Amos, Hosea, Isaiah, Jeremiah,
Ezekiel, John... one of the first things you notice about biblical
prophets is that they lived on the edge of society. John the Baptist
came out of the wilderness. Elijah ran away to the mountain top.
Jeremiah was imprisoned. These were uncomfortable people who didn't
fit in to the body of society. They lived around its edges. And more
than that, they were unaligned. They owed nothing to anyone, other
than God. They represented no party and no ideology other than the
Kingdom of God. This was what made John the Baptist at once so
respected and so feared by Herod: “Herod feared John and protected him, knowing him to be a
righteous and holy man. When Herod listened to him, he was greatly
puzzled, yet he liked to listen to him.” (Mark 6v20) To be holy is to be other. The prophets stood out from society as
being different; as representing something which challenged and
unsettled the prevailing assumptions.
(2. Miraculous Powers): The earlier prophets, like Elijah and Elisha,
had a particular reputation for miraculous powers, but above all
prophets were associated with an ability to see into the future. I
think what that means for us today is that prophets are those who are
able to read the signs of the times and see what is really going on.
And not just to see it, but say it.
You will recall the story of the Emperor's New Clothes? It seems to me
that what the little boy did had a strong element of prophecy in it: “He's got no clothes on! He's as naked as the day he was born!,”
he cried out as the grand procession passed him. At first people were shocked that someone had dared to voice what they
knew, deep down, but dared not admit. Then, they were laughing, as
much at their own timidity as at the Emperor's stupidity. But it had
taken the insight and courage of this little boy to see things as they
really were and to speak out. The story is a parable for our day,
living as we do in a world where the media creates reality and fosters
assumptions which we then tend to take as true because it is
convenient to do so. One such assumption which our bike ride was seeking to uncover as
false, is the assumption that we can continue with an economic system
based on growth in an environment of limited resources. Economic
growth is simply a measure of how much more we are spending and
consuming and making and selling that we were last year. It just
doesn't make sense that we can keep consuming more and more when many
of the earth's resources are finite. It is as obvious as the Emperor's
New Clothes. Yet still all the main political parties continue to
insist that maintaining economic growth must come before measures to
limit climate change. I'm pleased to say that, in a week when the G8 Leaders have said
little new or different, Prince Charles used the Dimbleby Lecture to
argue that we need to recognize that economic growth can no longer be
given greater priority than sustainability.
(3. Living and Speaking the Truth): But how do we tell a prophet apart
from all the other people who are spouting out and claiming to speak
with authority? How do we pick out the prophetic voice? Well, remember
first that prophets speak 'from the edge'; from an unaligned position.
Hardly true of Prince Charles! Well, yes and no. But the other test of authority is to measure words and actions; to
examine the lives that people lead as well as the words they speak,
for 'what we are often speaks louder than what we say.' This is what
has been so shocking about the expenses scandal in Parliament; that
here were people saying one thing and living another.
So a prophetic ministry has to be lived out on the edge of the Church
or Society. It entails not only speaking out and challenging the prevailing
assumptions, but living in a way that is consistent with one's words. And it involves...
4. Speaking Truth to Power: And speaking truth to power can be a very
costly business, as the story of John the Baptist illustrates very
dramatically. He literally lost his head for having dared speak the
truth in the court of King Herod. And certainly in other countries,
whether in Burma or Zimbabwe, speaking the truth to power is a very
dangerous thing to do.
There was a moment or two on Thursday when a degree of fear entered
into the proceedings. For, having finally arrived at our destination,
off-loaded the bikes and carried King Cnut down onto the foreshore by
Lambeth Bridge, we were surrounded by security forces. Two helmeted
police were looking down at us from the Embankment, and four armed
security officers were making their way towards us. Fortunately, Simon
was able to show them his correspondence with the Metropolitan Police
and with the Port of London Authority. But for a few moments I really
felt very, very small in the face of the power to which we wished to
speak truth. (5. Symbolic Action): The particular way we chose to speak truth to
power was by a symbolic action. And here we were building on very good
biblical precedent. Last week in Church, we heard the account of
Ezekiel's calling as a prophet. If you read on in the Book of Ezekiel,
who will find that he uses symbolic action as a means of prophecy: he enacts the siege of the City of Jerusalem, making a model of the
city and lying on his side for days on end (Ch 4);
he enacts the deportation of the exiles each day by packing his bag,
crawling through a hole in a wall and carrying it out of the city (Ch
12).
As we cycled the miles between Gloucester and London, for much of the
time unnoticed, I reflected on the 'waste of time' involved in this
symbolic action and, thinking of Ezekiel, found myself in good - if
somewhat bizarre - company.
Our calling, in prophetic ministry perhaps more than in other areas of
ministry, is - in an echo of last week's message - to be faithful, not
to be successful. And it is to persist, to borrow a phrase from Action
for Children, 'for as long as it takes.'
Concluding Challenge and Encouragement: When Paul lists the various
ministries to which we are called, and for which the Spirit empowers
us (Romans 12v6-8), he affirms pastoral care, administrative work,
teaching, leading, service, encouragement, giving and acts of
compassion, all as ministries to which we are called as the Body of
Christ. But first of all he puts prophecy. How can we express a prophetic ministry? It will mean listening to those on the edge or going there ourselves;
It will mean being unaligned and not loyal to any ideology other than
that of the Kingdom;
It will mean people thinking us as odd or loony;
It may be costly, although in my experience it can also be a lot of fun;
It will mean speaking out, even if nobody seems to be listening;
It will seem like an awful waste of time.
But if our words are matched by our lives, then some people will hear.
They might not like what they hear. It may well be an 'inconvenient
truth'. But deep down many will recognize the truth that they have
known all along. And some will respond and change their ways. For such
is the Kingdom of God. Thanks be to God. Amen.
willow statue of King Cnut, from Gloucester to London. King Cnut being
the one who sat on the beach and commanded the tide to stop coming in.
The idea was to raise people's consciousness about the implications of
rising sea levels due to climate change and the need for urgent
action. Well, we certainly aroused a great deal of curiosity...
bemused drivers, the security services at Westminster, a group of
children in fancy dress, a Pub Landlord, a company of ramblers by the
riverside... just a few of the conversations which took place. And I'm
pleased to say that, through my friend Simon's efforts, we managed to
get some good press coverage en route... local papers, local radio,
even local TV in Oxford. But is this real 'ministry', or have I simply been off enjoying myself
(which I have)?
What I feel I've been doing this week is 'prophetic ministry'. Not pastoral, not preaching, not serving, not exactly teaching, and
not giving (for it wasn't a sponsored bike ride), but prophetic
ministry. Now, we don't do a great deal of prophetic ministry in the Church, do
we? At least I don't. So this morning, drawing both upon my experience this week and upon
our gospel reading, I want to take the opportunity to reflect upon
prophetic ministry. For I believe that prophetic ministry, like all
ministries, belongs to the people of God and not solely to special
people called 'ministers'. Prophetic Ministry: It is clear that during Jesus' earthly ministry he
was regarded as a prophet. As we heard a moment ago: “... Jesus' name had become well known. Some were saying, 'John
the Baptist has been raised from the dead, and that is why miraculous
powers are at work in him.' Others said, 'He is Elijah.' And still
others claimed, 'He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of long
ago.” (Mark 6v14-15) Although Jesus' disciples gradually come to understand that he is more
than a prophet (Mark 8v27-30), what everyone was agreed upon was that
Jesus was a prophet. But what did they understand by that? And what kind of things,
therefore, might a prophetic ministry entail?
(1. From the Edge): Elijah, Elisha, Amos, Hosea, Isaiah, Jeremiah,
Ezekiel, John... one of the first things you notice about biblical
prophets is that they lived on the edge of society. John the Baptist
came out of the wilderness. Elijah ran away to the mountain top.
Jeremiah was imprisoned. These were uncomfortable people who didn't
fit in to the body of society. They lived around its edges. And more
than that, they were unaligned. They owed nothing to anyone, other
than God. They represented no party and no ideology other than the
Kingdom of God. This was what made John the Baptist at once so
respected and so feared by Herod: “Herod feared John and protected him, knowing him to be a
righteous and holy man. When Herod listened to him, he was greatly
puzzled, yet he liked to listen to him.” (Mark 6v20) To be holy is to be other. The prophets stood out from society as
being different; as representing something which challenged and
unsettled the prevailing assumptions.
(2. Miraculous Powers): The earlier prophets, like Elijah and Elisha,
had a particular reputation for miraculous powers, but above all
prophets were associated with an ability to see into the future. I
think what that means for us today is that prophets are those who are
able to read the signs of the times and see what is really going on.
And not just to see it, but say it.
You will recall the story of the Emperor's New Clothes? It seems to me
that what the little boy did had a strong element of prophecy in it: “He's got no clothes on! He's as naked as the day he was born!,”
he cried out as the grand procession passed him. At first people were shocked that someone had dared to voice what they
knew, deep down, but dared not admit. Then, they were laughing, as
much at their own timidity as at the Emperor's stupidity. But it had
taken the insight and courage of this little boy to see things as they
really were and to speak out. The story is a parable for our day,
living as we do in a world where the media creates reality and fosters
assumptions which we then tend to take as true because it is
convenient to do so. One such assumption which our bike ride was seeking to uncover as
false, is the assumption that we can continue with an economic system
based on growth in an environment of limited resources. Economic
growth is simply a measure of how much more we are spending and
consuming and making and selling that we were last year. It just
doesn't make sense that we can keep consuming more and more when many
of the earth's resources are finite. It is as obvious as the Emperor's
New Clothes. Yet still all the main political parties continue to
insist that maintaining economic growth must come before measures to
limit climate change. I'm pleased to say that, in a week when the G8 Leaders have said
little new or different, Prince Charles used the Dimbleby Lecture to
argue that we need to recognize that economic growth can no longer be
given greater priority than sustainability.
(3. Living and Speaking the Truth): But how do we tell a prophet apart
from all the other people who are spouting out and claiming to speak
with authority? How do we pick out the prophetic voice? Well, remember
first that prophets speak 'from the edge'; from an unaligned position.
Hardly true of Prince Charles! Well, yes and no. But the other test of authority is to measure words and actions; to
examine the lives that people lead as well as the words they speak,
for 'what we are often speaks louder than what we say.' This is what
has been so shocking about the expenses scandal in Parliament; that
here were people saying one thing and living another.
So a prophetic ministry has to be lived out on the edge of the Church
or Society. It entails not only speaking out and challenging the prevailing
assumptions, but living in a way that is consistent with one's words. And it involves...
4. Speaking Truth to Power: And speaking truth to power can be a very
costly business, as the story of John the Baptist illustrates very
dramatically. He literally lost his head for having dared speak the
truth in the court of King Herod. And certainly in other countries,
whether in Burma or Zimbabwe, speaking the truth to power is a very
dangerous thing to do.
There was a moment or two on Thursday when a degree of fear entered
into the proceedings. For, having finally arrived at our destination,
off-loaded the bikes and carried King Cnut down onto the foreshore by
Lambeth Bridge, we were surrounded by security forces. Two helmeted
police were looking down at us from the Embankment, and four armed
security officers were making their way towards us. Fortunately, Simon
was able to show them his correspondence with the Metropolitan Police
and with the Port of London Authority. But for a few moments I really
felt very, very small in the face of the power to which we wished to
speak truth. (5. Symbolic Action): The particular way we chose to speak truth to
power was by a symbolic action. And here we were building on very good
biblical precedent. Last week in Church, we heard the account of
Ezekiel's calling as a prophet. If you read on in the Book of Ezekiel,
who will find that he uses symbolic action as a means of prophecy: he enacts the siege of the City of Jerusalem, making a model of the
city and lying on his side for days on end (Ch 4);
he enacts the deportation of the exiles each day by packing his bag,
crawling through a hole in a wall and carrying it out of the city (Ch
12).
As we cycled the miles between Gloucester and London, for much of the
time unnoticed, I reflected on the 'waste of time' involved in this
symbolic action and, thinking of Ezekiel, found myself in good - if
somewhat bizarre - company.
Our calling, in prophetic ministry perhaps more than in other areas of
ministry, is - in an echo of last week's message - to be faithful, not
to be successful. And it is to persist, to borrow a phrase from Action
for Children, 'for as long as it takes.'
Concluding Challenge and Encouragement: When Paul lists the various
ministries to which we are called, and for which the Spirit empowers
us (Romans 12v6-8), he affirms pastoral care, administrative work,
teaching, leading, service, encouragement, giving and acts of
compassion, all as ministries to which we are called as the Body of
Christ. But first of all he puts prophecy. How can we express a prophetic ministry? It will mean listening to those on the edge or going there ourselves;
It will mean being unaligned and not loyal to any ideology other than
that of the Kingdom;
It will mean people thinking us as odd or loony;
It may be costly, although in my experience it can also be a lot of fun;
It will mean speaking out, even if nobody seems to be listening;
It will seem like an awful waste of time.
But if our words are matched by our lives, then some people will hear.
They might not like what they hear. It may well be an 'inconvenient
truth'. But deep down many will recognize the truth that they have
known all along. And some will respond and change their ways. For such
is the Kingdom of God. Thanks be to God. Amen.
First Message
Sunday Evening July 5th.
Riding against the Tide. That's what we'll be doing, although I hope not against the wind too.
In terms of a commitment to simple living... cycling, limiting packaging when shopping, taking bags with you, using Taxi's, composting... all of this is a joy, not a struggle. What is a struggle, and what feels like 'riding against the tide', is living with people who continue to live as if there was no problem with our lifestyles. Most of the these people - friends, family, Church members - are lovely, thoughtful, generous people. They understand the reasons for global warming. The know what we can do to reduce the impact we are having upon the planet. But for much of the time their behaviour doesn't change. Some even make a joke of it. This is truly the blindness of the fabled King Cnut (although I realise there is a story about his action showing wisdom and humility).
Starting Out
Methodist Minister, Richard Sharples, is getting on his bike to highlight the need for action to curb Climate Change. Between July 6-9th, along with Rev Simon Topping and others, Richard will be cycling from Gloucester to London carrying a life-size willow statue of King Canute.
“King Canute is remembered as the one who believed he could hold back the tide by royal command. In that sense, he represents the blindness
being shown by rulers today in the face of global warming.”
The ride will begin on the Isle of Alney, in Gloucester, the present site for the Castle Meads electricity substation, which in the July 2007 floods was temporarily put out of action because of rising water levels on the River Severn, causing 48,000 homes to be without electricity.
“The Isle of Alney is connected with King Canute,” explains Richard.
“It was there, in 1016, that Canute signed a treaty with Edmund Ironside which led to him being crowned king of England later that year. When we get to London, we are going to place the statue of Canute on the Thames river bank at low tide, opposite Westminster, and then allow the tide to rise up and submerge the statue.”
The event is timed to coincide with the meeting of the world richest nations (the 'G8') in Italy.
“Our message to the G8 Leaders is that they are acting like King Canute. Their feeble responses so far to global warming do not recognize the environmental limitations of the world we live in. They believe that sea level rise caused by global warming can be contained without a fundamental change in the way we relate to and use the natural world. I think we would also want to say that we cannot just wait for the G8 to do the right thing. We ourselves need to act now, reshaping our communities and local economies so that they reflect the natural limits of our world.”
Getting on his bike is nothing new for Richard. For the past few years the family have not owned a car.
“I wondered whether we could make it work, but between cycling, accepting lifts and the occasional bus and train ride, it's never been a problem. In fact it has been a joy and has added to the quality of our lives.”
