Black Lives Matter.
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer

NC Council of Churches

Strength in Unity, Peace through Justice

  • Voices
  • About
    • Overview
    • Staff
    • Members
    • Covenant Partners
    • Issue Statements
    • Governing Board
  • Programs
    • Ecumenical Immigration Alliance
      • Ideas for Action
      • Sign Our Statement
      • The NC Sanctuary Coalition
      • Immigration Bible Study
      • Contact
    • NC Interfaith Power & Light
      • NCIPL Overview
      • Faith in Action NCIPL
      • NCIPL Articles
      • NCIPL Resources
      • Upcoming Events for NCIPL
      • Contact NCIPL
    • Partners in Health & Wholeness
      • PHW Staff
      • Mini-Grants
      • PHW Collaborative Pledge
      • The Overdose Crisis: The Faith Community Responds
      • PHW Articles
      • FAQs
  • Priorities
    • Racial Justice
    • The Overdose Crisis: The Faith Community Responds
    • Gun Violence Prevention
    • Public Education
    • NC Sanctuary Coalition
    • Farmworkers
    • Legislative Advocacy
    • Christian Unity
    • Peace
    • NC No Torture
  • COVID-19 Resources
  • Events
  • Resources
    • Publications & Reports
    • Raleigh Report
    • Lectionary
    • Sermons
  • Donate
  • Council Store
  • Show Search

Search NC Council of Churches

Hide Search

Advent Guide: First Sunday, December 1

The Rev. Dr. Jennifer Copeland, Executive Director · December 1, 2019 · Leave a Comment

Excerpted from Cultivating Care for Creation, an Advent Guide for Lectionary Year A from the North Carolina Council of Churches.


Psalm 122

I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go to the house of the Lord!”
Our feet are standing within your gates, O Jerusalem.
Jerusalem—built as a city that is bound firmly together.
To it the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord, as was decreed for Israel, to give thanks to the name of the Lord.
For there the thrones for judgment were set up, the thrones of the house of David.
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: “May they prosper who love you.
Peace be within your walls, and security within your towers.”
For the sake of my relatives and friends I will say, “Peace be within you.”
For the sake of the house of the Lord our God, I will seek your good.


Rational, intelligent folks are no longer debating climate change. Some are debating its causes—natural warming and cooling cycles, warming and cooling cycles driven by human behavior, or a combination of the two. But no one disputes it is changing and most agree it’s not changing for the better. We’ve all heard it: swifter floods, harsher droughts, stronger storms, fiercer fires. For my part, I no longer joke about the beach house I plan to buy after I write my first best-seller. I still plan to write a best-seller, but I won’t use the money “to build a house on sand” (Matthew 7:26).

Such a scenario necessarily involves resources and choice. With the resources from my best-seller I’ll have the choice to build on rock or sand. Not everyone has resources or choice. Many live on sand because it is their only choice. Many live near water for the resources it provides, but with those resources come the risks water presents—risks that are becoming routine even here in North Carolina where we managed two one-hundred year floods in three years.

With these real live scenarios playing out in our world, the ones with resources and choices should heed the advice from Psalm 122, “For the sake of the house of the Lord our God, I will seek your good.” We should swiftly be about seeking the good of those in harm’s way and not merely rushing to build our own houses on higher ground.

Those of us who subscribe to the real possibility that this particular climate change cycle has been hastened by humans, and who generally leave larger carbon footprints than our two feet allow (my own is 4.5 and I try hard to repair, renew, and recycle), have some responsibility to seek some good for others. Human decency suggests our moral compass should point us toward the welfare of those endangered by our big feet, but for people of faith, there is another imperative.

Our imperative is bound up in the DNA of creation. All of creation is God’s gift to us (Genesis 1:26). All of humanity is “precious in the sight of the Lord (Psalm 116:15).” David sings it beautifully for us on this first Sunday of Advent. As we gather in our places of worship to begin the journey through a new Christian year, may we start this journey in the memory that we are all bound up together.

For the sake of my relatives and friends
I will say, “peace be within you.”
For the sake of the house of the Lord our God,
I will seek your good.

Seeking implies we are looking for ways to make things better. There are some readily available things we can do every day—turn up the thermostat a few degrees in the summer and down a few degrees in the winter—and there are some bigger challenges we must work together to meet. Of course, the bigger challenges will make the biggest difference and require collective will. If we are honestly “seeking good” and not merely “saying peace” we must be willing to join forces for change at the economic and political level. Keeping my thermostat at 62 degrees in the winter is not going to stop the polar cap ice melt unless every home, business, school, and government building also makes this adjustment AND if our businesses and governments mandate new energy regulations. 

As people of faith mandated by our scriptures to seek good for all creation, this is the place to focus our energy. We can vote with our pocketbooks by choosing to do business with and buy goods from environmentally friendly places. We can vote with our feet by leaving those places that do not respect creation. We can vote—vote for individuals at the local, state, and national level who share our values, who will “seek the good.”

Filed Under: Blog, Homepage Featured Tagged With: Environment

The Rev. Dr. Jennifer Copeland, Executive Director

About The Rev. Dr. Jennifer Copeland, Executive Director

Jennifer is a native of South Carolina and an ordained minister in The United Methodist Church. She loves South Carolina, but has managed to spend all but ten years of her adult life in North Carolina. Those ten years were spent pastoring United Methodist churches across the Upstate. She attended Duke University several times and in the process earned a BA, double majoring in English and Religion, a Master of Divinity, a PhD in religion, and a Graduate Certificate in Women’s Studies. Prior to coming to the Council, she spent 16 years as the United Methodist Chaplain at Duke University, where she also taught undergraduate and divinity school classes, served on committees and task forces, and attended lots of basketball games. Jennifer has two children, Nathan, a software developer who lives in Durham, and Hannah, a student at the University of Tampa.

Reader Interactions

More Like This

A Win for the People and Planet: Atlantic Coast Pipeline Cancelled!
From Domination to Dominion
Advent Guide: Epiphany Sunday, January 5

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Anonymous comments or comments that target individuals will not be posted (please include your first and last name). All comments must be on topic and respectful. Comments will not be posted until they have been reviewed by a moderator. Comments do not reflect the positions of the NC Council of Churches.

Footer

Contact

NC Council of Churches
27 Horne St.
Raleigh, NC 27607
(919) 828-6501
info@ncchurches.org

Facebook

Partners in Health and Wholeness

Featured

Advent Guide: First Sunday, December 1

Latest Tweets

Just last week, our Governing Board adopted a resolution calling for the removal of Confederate symbols in public squares. As people of faith & conscience, we believe such monuments are a constant reminder of prejudice against black and brown people. >> ncchurches.org/2021/… pic.twitter.com/iGCX…

About a day ago

"Amanda Gorman in her inauguration poem 'The Hill We Climb' begins with the lines: 'When day comes we ask ourselves where can we find light in this never-ending shade?'" Read more of this 2nd Sunday lenten reflection from Elizabeth Brewington >> ncchurches.org/2021/… pic.twitter.com/pgge…

About a day ago

"Perhaps it’s the pandemic that offers a fitting analogy to the condition of our politics as Americans try to recover from the trauma of Jan. 6 – when we came dangerously close to the onset of an anti-democratic Trump-ocracy." Read more from Steve Ford >> ncchurches.org/2021/…

About a day ago

FACT: Countries where maternal mortality rates have significantly dropped (~ -50%) in the past few decades (e.g., France, Germany, Sweden), have generous paid leave laws. #BlackHistoryMonth #Paidleave #BlackHealth pic.twitter.com/PgWW…

About 2 days ago

Call your Member of Congress and tell them paid leave is crucial to public health and economic recovery. Text paidleave (one word) to 844-955-2880 or visit bit.ly/39PWQde to begin. #AmericanRescuePlan #PaidLeave #BlackHealth

About 2 days ago

Follow @ncchurches

Latest Tweets

Dr. Satcher questioned the structures that have upheld health disparities in our communities. By laying the foundation for this work, we can continue taking meaningful action towards promoting a society where we can all thrive. #BlackHistoryMonth @HHSGov @Surgeon_General pic.twitter.com/zrw2…

About a day ago

Amen! #MindfulTogether twitter.com/cornerpr…

About 2 days ago

RT @MAHECwnc There has never been a better time to quit smoking and vaping. Protect your health by keeping your lungs healthy! #quitlinenc #covid19 #asheville pic.twitter.com/bKlC…

About 2 days ago

Check out this new resource from @DrugPolicyOrg challenging us to dig deeper and work together to uproot the drug war. uprootingthedrugwar.… #harmreduction #mindfultogether

About 2 days ago

Dr. Julian's work was instrumental to the public health community. We carry his passion as we continue reckoning with our past so that we may continue building the beloved community. Learn more about Dr. Julian's legacy at pbs.org/wgbh/nova/ju…. #BlackHistoryMonth @novapbs pic.twitter.com/JJsm…

About 3 days ago

Follow @healthandfaith

Latest Tweets

RT @greenthechurch Be sure to read Green The Church's COO Kim Noble's op ed, "#EnvironmentalJustice in Focus this #BlackHistoryMonth", in the Texas Metro News! @Kimrenay22 #Austin #DFW #Houston #Texas #SanAntonio #EJ ow.ly/mOtw50DGQnN pic.twitter.com/IPOO…

About 2 days ago

RT @ActionAidUSA To build a truly just, equitable & sustainable world, we need to fight for a new #socialcontract. That means: ✔️ Defending democracy ✔️ Fighting for climate justice ✔️ Building equitable food systems ✔️ Supporting women’s leadership. Learn more: bit.ly/2M8xT40 pic.twitter.com/fEWv…

About 2 days ago

RT @interfaithpower IPL is proud to be a signer on this letter. The U.S. must provide bold and socially just leadership to protect our communities from the impacts of climate change, including the threats to our economy- @sbhendershot twitter.com/RealBank…

About 2 days ago

RT @interfaithpower "This is all of our country, this is our mother. It's difficult to not feel obligated to protect this land" - @DebHaalandNM with a powerful reminder of what she believes in. Her passion is exactly what we need right now; the Senate must #ConfirmHaaland! #ConfirmClimate

About 2 days ago

RT @EPA EPA is proud to join our agency partners as we tackle the climate crisis and build a healthier, cleaner, more equitable future for all. Let’s do this! whitehouse.gov/brief…

About 4 days ago

Follow @ncipl

Latest Tweets

Copyright © 2021 NC Council of Churches · All Rights Reserved · Website by Tomatillo Design · Hosted by WP Engine