April 22ndA Pastoral Letter: Earth Day 2025
Dear congregations of Mennonite Church Manitoba,
Greetings in the name of Jesus, our risen Lord!
As we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus during this Easter season, I’m reminded on this Earth Day 2025 that God’s redemption in Christ impacts all of creation. All creation groans under the weight of human self-interest and greed, eagerly awaiting its redemption (Romans 8:19-23), and in Christ that redemption—the reconciliation of all things—has begun (Colossians 1:20). We are called by God not only to be stewards of God’s good creation (Genesis 1:26-27; 2:15), but to participate in bringing God’s good news to all creation (Colossians 1:23).
God has created all things to reveal God’s glory and proclaim God’s praises; every species, every ecosystem, every quark and every galaxy, declares the glory of God (Psalm 19:1-4). Yet, through our insatiable consumption for our own comfort and our ravenous desire for money and power, we have tarnished the glory of God in creation, endangering the living and life-giving environment of which we are a part.
The human impact is severe, and greatest for those most vulnerable to harm. Climate change is decreasing food production and access to drinkable water in developing nations. It is increasing severe weather events such as floods and wildfires, and these always impact the poorest the most, as they are least able to mitigate their effects. Rising sea levels are affecting island nations now—this is no longer some future problem. Our neighbours, whom we are to love as if their needs are our own—this is our Lord’s commandment (Matthew 22:36-40)—are crying out to us to do what we can to stop the warming of our planet.
In recent months, climate change has faded from our public discourse. There are many other important things vying for our attention. There are other existential crises we are facing. But we cannot ignore this one. We must keep climate change on our collective radar, summoning our collective will for a collective effort to diminish the effects of climate change on a vulnerable environment and on the most vulnerable people.
The way of Jesus points us forward.
Jesus calls us to a life of simplicity, trusting in God for our daily bread: just what we need, no more; just when we need it, not before. And it is “our daily bread” we pray for, collectively (Matthew 6:11)—we are to ensure that everyone has what they need. Jesus calls us not to hoard our possessions but instead to give generously. “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth,” Jesus says; rather, “give and it will be given to you” (Matthew 6:19; Luke 6:38).
Jesus also models for us a way of giving voice to the voiceless, of centering their voices in the public square. He called out the powerful for their selfish, oppressive treatment of those whom society deems “the last” and “the least” (Matthew 20:16; 25:41-45). He engaged in a public demonstration on behalf of those being exploited by the powerful wealthy (Mark 11:15-17). These options are available to us as well, as we follow Jesus in his way of nonviolent resistance to evil and injustice.
In living out the simple, generous, and other-centering way of Jesus, seeking to love our neighbour as ourselves, seeking to care for God’s creation so it can declare God’s glory, we can participate in God’s redemption of a groaning creation, the reconciliation of all things. On this Earth Day 2025, in this Easter season, I urge us all to follow the risen Jesus in bringing life, not death, to the world.
Yours in Christ,
Michael Pahl
Executive Minister, Mennonite Church Manitoba