A sermon by the Rev. Daniel Charles Davis

Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Winston-Salem

March 19, 2006

The world is going to be destroyed. Change your behavior. The end is near! Are you prepared?

The sky is falling! Do you have enough insurance? We are all going to die! Floods pestilence, fire and explosions! What are we gonna do? WHAT ARE WE GONNA DO?!!

Fear is an attention grabber. It seems to be the currency of the day. The terrorists are going to ruin our way of life. The industrialists are poisoning our air, water and soil. The fundamentalists are destroying the Constitution. Gender benders are rending the fabric of society.

Nuclear war.

Global warming.

A hurricane is forming.

Birds are swarming with a virus infecting our computers.

You’d better watch out for looters.

There are too many shooters.

And now the girls have gone wild;

They are aborting every child so that no child is left behind

When the Rapture comes, like a thief in the night,

A meteorite smiting us like dinosaurs.

That have puddled into oil

Under foreign soil,

Fostering feuds over fossil fuels.

Armageddon’s drawing near.

I’m a-getting outa here.

Breathe, breathe. We are still here today.

Is the world going to end? Someday, but probably not today. Yet I notice all the signs of the times. They flash upon my TV screen. There are three types of destruction I tend to see: natural disaster, humans destroying the environment, and war.

Now these three overlap somewhat. For example, humans destroying the environment may increase the prevalence of natural disaster, leading to a depletion of resources, leading to war.

Yet each one has its distinct characteristic. I am most fascinated by natural disasters, like the ones featured on cable TV. These shows catalogue a history of calamity and warn that The Big One is coming. The National Geographic channel has a show called “Naked Science.” Here are some of its promos:

Landslides are among our most costly natural disasters. Yet humans still build homes and damage landscapes in landslide-prone areas. “Naked Science” digs deep to discover what triggers deadly landslides. Research has shown that an active supervolcano exists under Yellowstone National Park. The question is, If it erupted today could we survive? “Naked Science” breaks down the eruption step-by-step and reveals the dramatic effects of a Yellowstone supereruption. Would there be any warning before a supereruption? Could we stop it?

Think your job is stressful? Join us as we track down the scientists of the B612 project; their job is to keep asteroids from crashing into Earth.

In one way or another, all life on Earth relies on the sun. Yet the sun isn't eternal. “Naked Science” investigates how the sun most likely formed, how it powers itself, and how, eventually, the star will die. Will it take with it all life in our solar system?

The sun is going to explode? I’d better tune in next week to see what strength sunscreen I should buy. The ad is really dramatic; it shows the sun expanding and engulfing the earth. I imagine I will need SPF 93 million. But I hear that the sun will probably will live longer than me, so I turn to the weather channel and watch:

“It could happen tomorrow . . . and find out that maybe tomorrow Mount Rainier will explode – and destroy Seattle . . . An earthquake could destroy Memphis . . . A hurricane could destroy New York.”

The Discovery channel has a show entitled “Perfect Disaster.”

What I like about these shows is that they do not require me to do anything. Some random event may destroy me – if I am in the wrong place at the wrong time . . . Oh well.

But the next two end-of-the-world scenarios demand a response from me: Environmental degradation requires me to live in harmony with the planet; and war, the final battle on the Plains of Aramageddon, requires me to get right with God.

From the Left and Right I am told I am a sinful person who needs to repent. I enjoy long drives in the country, which are pointless and polluting. I enjoy exploring religious ideas, which have led me off the straight and narrow.

Global warming has many dire consequences, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council.

The polar ice cap as a whole is shrinking. Images from NASA satellites show that the area of permanent ice cover is contracting at a rate of 9 percent each decade. If this trend continues, summers in the Arctic could become ice-free by the end of the century.

The melting of once-permanent ice is already affecting native people, wildlife and plants. When the Ward Hunt Ice Shelf splintered, the rare freshwater lake it enclosed, along with its unique ecosystem, drained into the ocean. Polar bears, whales, walrus and seals are changing their feeding and migration patterns, making it harder for native people to hunt them. And along Arctic coastlines, entire villages will be uprooted because they're in danger of being swamped. Melting glaciers and land-based ice sheets also contribute to rising sea levels. At particular risk are island nations like the Maldives; over half of that nation's populated islands lie less than 6 feet above sea level. Even major cities like Shanghai and Lagos would face similar problems, as they also lie just six feet above present water levels.

Rising seas would severely impact the United States as well. Scientists project as much as a 3-foot sea-level rise by 2100. According to a 2001 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency study, this increase would inundate some 22,400 square miles of land along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the United States, primarily in Louisiana, Texas, Florida and North Carolina. [1]

Although local temperatures fluctuate naturally, over the past 50 years the average global temperature has increased at the fastest rate in recorded history. And experts think the trend is accelerating: The 10 hottest years on record have all occurred since 1990. Scientists say that unless we curb global warming emissions, average U.S. temperatures could be 3 to 9 degrees higher by the end of the century. [2]

Although I tend to believe these doomsayers, I wonder if fear mongering is the best way to change behavior. It seems that the louder environmentalists warn, the more industrialists fund studies to question their data.

Why do humans need the threat of Apocalypse to reduce emissions and share resources? Some even argue that environmentalism runs counter to Christianity. James Watt told the U.S. Congress that protecting natural resources was unimportant in light of the imminent return of Jesus Christ. In public testimony, he said, "After the last tree is felled, Christ will come back." (Bill Moyers in the Minneapolis Star Tribune, February 1st, 2005)

But recently a group of evangelical Christians came out in favor of reducing carbon emissions and trying to stop global warming. But the response was swift from those who feel that environmentalism is non-Christian. For they have their own Apocalypse to sell. Nuclear War and the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, a small book written by Jerry Falwell in 1983, welcomes a nuclear war. From the introduction: "Nuclear War and the Second Coming of Jesus Christ – the one brings thoughts of fear, destruction, and death, while the other brings thoughts of joy, hope, and life. They almost seem inconsistent with one another, yet they are indelibly intertwined."

This vision of the final war, bringing the return of Jesus, is part of a greater theological position called Premillenialism

Premillennialism was a theory put forward by a gentleman named John Nelson Darby (1800-1882). Darby believed the Bible to be literally true, the inerrant word of God. According to Darby, historic time in the Bible can be divided up into what he refers to as “dispensations.” During each of these dispensations, of which there are seven, humans have been given laws set forth by God under which they are to lead their lives, and in each instance they have failed. Because of their pre-disposition towards wicked behavior, God has been forced to punish his creatures in some way. The Fall, the Flood and the crucifixion of Christ are all seen as “dispensations.” We are now in the sixth dispensation, which is considered the “penultimate” dispensation.

According to this world-view, the Antichrist (the False Redeemer) will return before the end as predicted by St .Paul in 2 Thessalonians 2:3-8. This Antichrist will deceive the world, he will be quite charismatic and many will be fooled by him. To be even more devious he may appear as a “peacemaker.” So, most Fundamentalists who subscribe to this theology are highly suspect of anyone who preaches peace. War is inevitable and must come to pass before Christ will appear. [3]

Some of the most popular books in America have been the Left Behind series, which claims to have sold over 60 million copies. (http://www.leftbehind.com/channelnews.asp?pageid=929&channelID=17)

A blurb for one of the movies based on the book reads:

It's a week after the Rapture and the millions of people who disappeared into thin air are still missing. Chaos rules the world as panic and grief-stricken survivors continue to search for their lost loved ones. Suicide rates are sky-rocketing, businesses and homes are being looted, and martial law is in effect. A desperate world looks to the leadership and guidance of U.N. President Nicolae Carpathia, the only person offering any answers, hope, and plans to restore peace and order. While Carpathia has the world's adoration and trust, he is seemingly unaware of four rebels spreading the truth that he is in fact the prophesied Antichrist of the Bible. Leading this small group (called the Tribulation Force) is Pastor Bruce Barnes. [4]

So you see, this type of apocalypse suspects the peacemaker as the Antichrist, a deceiver who does not want Christ to return.

The Rev. Tim LaHaye, author of the Left Behind books, was a co-founder of the Moral Majority. These politically active, conservative Christians see war in the Middle East as a win-win situation. If it goes well, America gets stronger; but if it goes poorly, Armageddon Jesus returns. These people are actually hoping for The End to come.

If environmentalists succeed in weaning America from oil, there will be less reason to fight in the Middle East.

The Book of Revelation talks about destroying the Whore of Babylon. Well, that is in present-day Iraq.

So we have two opposing ideologies, environmentalist and premillennialist. Both say that the end of the world is coming, but the premillenialist wants it to happen and the environmentalist does not.

Not all Christians hope for the end of the world. Some Christians are indeed environmentalists.

We as UUs have a history of loving this world. Thoreau expressed his love of nature. Hosea Ballou preached that all people should be saved. Sometimes I lose patience and hope for the Rapture. I would love to wake up one day and have the self-righteous people mysteriously disappear. But my UU faith calls me to be better than that. We must share our message of love for all the world and its people.

We can aquaint them with the teachings of Jesus:  "Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.” [Mat 24:42-44 ]

Their hope for the Prince of Peace will not be realized by creating war. Instead of worrying about the future, people should worry about loving each other right now.

And I caution us environmentalists not to let fear be our motivation, for it makes our message sound like a fundamentalist scold. Yelling may get people’s attention, but it seldom causes them to listen.

Our action today may indeed preserve our future, but we have positive reason to practice environmentalism in the present. Fundamentalist and environmentalist both agree that we are too dependent upon material things. Our consumerism is an addiction. We are addicted not only to oil; we are addicted to large air-conditioned houses. We are addicted to our clothes and our toys.

Sharing with others would free us from our addiction. It would erase the resentment of the have-nots and the paranoid defensiveness of the haves. There would be less envy and fear, which would lead to a freedom from war.

Rather than waiting for Jesus, we can live by his words (in Matthew 6) in the present day:

25 "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?

    28 "And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. . . 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

I see in this passage the possibility of living in harmony with each other, using nature as our example.

If the end of the world is near,

Let it be said that I lived my last day well.

Today is the only day we really have.

Let us live it in kindness,

Honoring each other and the earth.

If another day is granted to us, we will have a legacy to build upon.

I will not fear meteorite or divine intervention for they are beyond my control or understanding,

But I can control how much I waste

And encourage others to savor each day,

To live simply and live well.

We should not fear that we will die.

We should fear that we have not lived life to its fullest.

The best things in life are not things;

They are the beauty, joy, and love we share with one another.

And the time to share them is now.

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1. http://www.nrdc.org/globalWarming/qthinice.asp

2. http://www.nrdc.org/globalWarming/f101.asp#2

3. “It’s Armageddon time; Bush and his loyal Christian fundamentalists want you to have a

            front row seat! (Whether you want one or not)” by Sandi Magathan Droubay, M.A

            http://www.opednews.com/droubay_052204_armageddon.htm)

4. http://www.christiancinema.com/...