Luke 21:25-36:  There will be signs

"There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves. People will faint from fear and foreboding."

Prophecies of global catastrophe always make me want to close my eyes and change the subject. But the words of Jesus summon us to face the possibility that such an enormous disaster may be coming. Nature itself seems to be warning us too. Those ominous signs--the distress among nations, the roaring of the sea and the waves, and the confused, frightened people-- are not just Biblical metaphors. We have seen them become terribly real this very year for our brothers and sisters in Haiti, in the flooded coastal areas of New Jersey and New York, and in the Pacific islands that are already being devoured by the rising sea. And scientists tell us that such weather disasters will probably go on increasing, as climate change affects more and more of our planet.

If God's good creation is actually in danger of being destroyed in our time, what can we do about it? If we believe the scientific consensus about the causes of climate change, we should at least take serious steps to reduce our own household's carbon footprint and help persuade our neighbors to do the same thing. Some of us might add political action, for example joining a campaign to persuade the US to adopt a cap-and-trade system or a carbon tax. Others might prefer to devote their efforts to assisting the victims of climate disasters. The only unacceptable option, Jesus suggests, is to remain so preoccupied with our own pleasures and concerns that we ignore what is happening to the world.