[1] In this year of 2003 the synodical assemblies of the ELCA,
the assembly of the Lutheran World Federation, and the Churchwide
Assembly of the ELCA have all lifted up the common theme: "Making
Christ Known for the Healing of the World." In all these
venues one heard eloquent testimony to the hurts of a world so
desperately in need of healing. Hunger, poverty, violence, disease,
injustice, oppression, the degradation of the environment, and
spiritual morbidity were all voiced as concerns for the church's
agenda. Bringing Christ to the world means both telling the story
and doing the story.
[2] The recently published brochure on the work of the Division
for Church in Society places the theme, For the Healing of the
World, and the Tenth Anniversary of Caring for
Creation together on its cover. The visual proximity of
the two themes enables us to see an important connection between
the care of the earth and the care of its peoples, its communities,
and their mutual health and well-being. The catalogue of hurts
mentioned above is a catalogue of interconnected needs.
[3] There is, then, ecology in the broader sense. It involves
recognition not only that natural biological systems exist in
interaction and are affected by human behaviors that degrade or
alter those systems but also that unjust and violent human
behaviors within the human community have traumatic effects on the
environment as their by-product. Insofar as violence and injustice
create conditions of hunger, poverty, and disease they create other
conditions unfavorable to caring for creation. The ensuing
degradation, in turn, fosters the development of poverty, hunger,
and disease, all nutrients in the sort of soil that is fertile for
the sprouting of violence and oppression.
[4] The social statement, Caring for Creation: Vision, Hope,
and Justice, makes many of these connections. In the decade
since its adoption these connections have been even more widely
recognized, as exemplified by a document such as the Earth
Charter. If there has been a growing sense of the awareness of
this broader understanding of ecology, what else can we say about
the last ten years? One example will have to suffice.
[5] In the State of the World 1993 report of the
Worldwatch Institute one author voiced the his concern about the
threats of climate change. Over against skepticism about this as a
clearly established problem, he encouraged industry to create new
jobs and new markets by pursuing energy efficient technologies to
reduce carbon emissions.
[6] Ten years later the 2002 report is clear that, whatever
doubts may have lingered in the past about the reality of global
warming, we now have more and more persuasive evidence that this is
a reality.
[7] The good news in this 2002 report is that more industries
have now accepted the reality of climate change and are more ready
to build the cost of efficiency into the cost of doing business.
They are ready to see the need for efficiency as a market
opportunity.
[8] The bad news is that thus far the signatories to the Kyoto
agreement in the category of developed nations have reduced carbon
emissions by just 1.7% toward the 2008-12 goal of 5.2% and the
U.S., the largest emitter, contributed 24% of all carbon emissions
in 2000, a figure 2% higher than the previous year.
[9] How do we find a way forward in this and other areas of
concern? One writer in State of the World 2002 states, "In
order to tap various opportunities for reducing greenhouse gas
emissions, governments will need to overcome the many technical,
economic, political, social, behavioral, and institutional barriers
to change." The key is in the connections. But, government can't do
this alone. The social statement provides inspiration and direction
for our call to help people see the connections as an integral part
of our witness.