Bishop of Carlisle's talk on RADIO CUMBRIA 8TH JULY 2007

Like many of you I have been watching the horrifying pictures of the floods in Yorkshire and Worcestershire and particularly in Bentley and Tollbar, near Doncaster. It has made me remember the terrible damage done by the floods in Carlisle and Cumbria just two and a half years ago.

Some people were out of their homes in Carlisle for a year and a half. It could be even worse for people in the Doncaster area whose homes have been flooded for several days. Our hearts go out to them. It is a very hard thing to see your home and all that you have worked for - destroyed.

In the Cumbrian floods the members of the churches played a vital roll in offering shelter, food and drink and as they are doing in other parts of the country right now.

What is much more difficult is to try and interpret what is happening to our climate and whether or not God is trying to say something to us through these events. There seems to be no doubt that the climate of our country is changing. Whether or not these changes can be attributed to the marked increase in the CO2 content in the atmosphere is less certain. But global warming is a fact and it is a matter of Christian concern for our neighbours worldwide that we do our utmost to understand the situation and to preserve the planet for future generations. If that means less travel and fewer luxury goods transported by air, then so be it.

The Bible makes it quite clear that the earth is God’s and we are its stewards. The earth and its land are placed in our hands, but with a condition. It is that we respect and honour God and live according to his ways. This is entirely reasonable, if God is our creator. Whatever may be said about other nations, in our own nation it is conspicuously true that we are ignoring God. This is very unwise if we want his blessing on the land.

Also in the Bible, God views our lives as all of one piece. So our morality and the harvest of the land belong all together. We read at certain points that things like occult practices, bloodshed and sexual immorality make the land unclean; then it no longer brings to us all the blessings that God intends. What we are as people and what the land yields are all of a piece. If we respect God –he will make the land a blessing to us.

I was in Sweden two weeks ago and discovered that in their schools they have very similar problems to those faced in our schools nationwide. Teachers are not respected and teaching is difficult. Many teachers in this country would echo that. Our government has endeavoured to promote Respect. But there is no way that this will succeed until we return to respect for God. Respect for God brings respect for parents in the home, and respect for parents brings respect for teachers. It all starts with God.

In a similar way our nation is increasingly choosing to support practices which undermine marriage and the stability it gives to children. We all know that we live in a very sexually permissive generation where adultery is almost taken as natural and fun. We are a long way from what God intends.

None of this can be separated from what happens on the land. In the eyes of God our morality and its consequences affect everything. Our respect for God, the land and the climate all belong together. I am certainly not saying that the people of my city, Carlisle, or of Bentley and Tollbar deserve what has happened. I am saying that we need to heed the signs and to seek God and his mercy. This is always a good thing to do.

In the last book of the Bible there is a clear link between rebellion against God, moral collapse, exploitation of others, moral collapse and environmental catastrophe. And what God is looking for is repentance. He wants his covenant with humanity returned to: we enjoy the land and we worship and serve him.

As we ponder the change in our climate and if disasters increase, the right response is ‘Lord, have mercy upon us. Lord, have mercy upon us.’