This past week, I have been reading Greta Thunberg’s “No One is Too Small to Make a Difference”. It is a short book containing texts from several of her addresses at climate rallies, the UN, the World Economic Forum, and the British Parliament. Through her passionate message, she calls on the world to care about the future, to care about children.
After these things God tested Abraham. He said to him, ‘Abraham!’ And he said, ‘Here I am.’ He said, ‘Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt-offering on one of the mountains that I shall show you.’
This story from Genesis is hard to hear. We have an innate desire to protect innocent children. It seems unfathomable that any loving parent would even consider sacrificing their child. It seems unfathomable that a loving God would ask a parent to sacrifice their child. It is hard to know what to make of a story that seems so terrible! God tests Abraham. That is how this scenario is described. In response, Abraham takes his son on a journey and does everything necessary right up to the moment when he would kill his own son because he believed that is what God wanted.
God tests Abraham and he ‘passed’ that test. We are left to discern what this means. Was the test really about the depth of faith in God? Was it to determine the extent to which Abraham would put God before his only son, the one through whom God’s promises were meant to be fulfilled? Or, perhaps, this was a test of humanity. Could it be that God wanted to see what it would take for a human being to prioritise something over the life of their own child and heir?
One of the points Greta Thunberg makes is that the world has all the information we need about the climate crisis. There is a plethora of scientific facts about the impact of human activity on Creation. Connections have been made between environmental degradation and the extreme climate events that are impacting the well-being of humans around the world. The smoky air we have been experiencing these last few days that comes from fires in Quebec and Alberta is not somehow unprecedented. It is part of a larger problem. We know that failure to minimise the temperature increase will have even more devastating impacts.
So, what is being done? Truthfully, much of the political conversation centres around what will happen in 2050 and whether there is enough support to work towards outcomes that are liveable. All the benchmarks and goals established to date have not been successful. The world continues to develop and consume at rates that we know are unsustainable! If we are facing air quality advisories in 2023, imagine what it will be like in 2050 if nothing changes!
Greta will be 47 at that point. Alexandra will be 30. They both should have so much life left to live. And yet, the poor choices made today, are doing little to protect these children of tomorrow. Too much energy is focused on what people want now, what parents want now, ignoring the consequences of these choices.
That horrible test of Abraham is one we are facing at this moment. Evidence suggests that, like Abraham, we are walking with our children and grandchildren to the mountain, carrying everything needed to make the sacrifice. We are not immune to that same attitude that brought Abraham and Isaac to that fateful moment. It is for this very reason that we need to still hear this story. We need to recognise how we are like Abraham. We need to also ask ourselves what is God doing in this moment? How is God providing what we need to avoid making a terrible choice?
And Abraham looked up and saw a ram, caught in a thicket by its horns. Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt-offering instead of his son.
Like Abraham, the way forward for us is to see the world differently. We need to recognise the wisdom inherent in Creation that provides all we need. We need to let go of all that might distract us from seeing God’s bounty. We need to change our priorities. We need to centre our actions on ensuring our children have a livable future.
So Abraham called that place ‘The Lord will provide’; as it is said to this day, ‘On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.’
We are surrounded by places where the Lord provides. God has given enough for the world’s needs. May we continually reorient our relationship with God, each other, and Creation, so that we don’t sacrifice our children and their future. This we pray as we sing: (VT) 551 Beautiful Things