Christian Aid: Talking Climate Justice Lent Devotional
Week 3: Redemption
Redeemed for what?
Hope and challenge
Great Redeemer,
you journeyed to the Cross,
meeting us in our weakness.
Ready and waiting to transform us by your Spirit
while we were still far off,
you sought us out.
Great Redeemer,
who in Spirit groans with all creation
for the redemption and renewal of all things,
redeem us from our destructive ways,
deepen in us the longing for renewal,
transform us and the world around us.
Amen.
Redemption
Core to our hope as Christians is redemption. We are awake to our own brokenness and our need
for grace and forgiveness. We see this on a personal level, and in the world around us too. We see
it in the injustice of the climate crisis and in the scandal of poverty.
When the inherent worth of each human and the beauty of creation is distorted, we long for
something different. We often look to the Easter story to meet us in that longing. Jesus’ sacrifice
and the hope of resurrection speak to us of a God of redemptive vision and action.
This story invites us into the work of God’s redemptive purposes. We are called to put right what is
wrong. We are part of this transformational work when we love our neighbour, when we tackle the
root causes of poverty and the climate emergency. As we will read in our Bible passages, we are
not alone in this Kingdom-building work. We are promised the Holy Spirit who draws alongside us,
strengthening us for the challenges of making climate justice a reality.
Naomi Mumo
The people who have been most marginalised in our world, and
those most impacted by the climate crisis, are women living in
extreme poverty. The injustice of poverty, gender inequality and
racial inequality mean their voices are often the least heard,
and yet many of them are stepping up and leading the way for
creation’s redemption.
Naomi lives with her husband in Kitui County in south-eastern
Kenya. The region has been severely impacted by persistent
droughts, causing catastrophic loss and damage. For Naomi, the
lack of rain meant the loss of livestock and crops, and the added
burden of walking long distances to find water. Naomi and her
community have built an earth dam to capture water closer to
home, giving her more time to pursue other ways to make a living.
Naomi is a climate advocate and works to educate local villages
around the benefits of tree planting and reducing plastics.
Naomi Mumo, chair of the
Climate Change Advocacy
Group in Kyeng’e.Unlabeled graphic‘The whole world is polluting the environment. The responsibility is everyone’s.
Not one individual country.’
Naomi Mumo
While each of us is responsible for looking after the world around us, we must also keep in mind
who has caused the most damage and who has the resources to change things for the better. What
would it mean for us to truly repent as a nation, acknowledging present and historical responsibility
for the climate crisis?
Read these Bible passages
1 Peter 1:18-19
Romans 8:19-27
Mark 12:28-34
Reflect and talk
1. Look back on your Christian journey and think about your experience of God’s redemption.
Has it changed the way you relate to the world around you?
2. Redemption and transformation must go beyond the individual, and into our churches,
governments and businesses in order for us to make climate justice a reality.
What would this look like in practice?
3. Think about how we as individuals/a group/a church can be part of the transformation
of our denominations, our government or businesses to help make climate justice a reality.
What specific actions would we need to take?
Invite and act
This month, find a time in one of your church gatherings to pray for God’s redeeming
transformation to lead to climate justice.
Choose one transformative action you can take forward from your conversation.
Closing prayer
Redeemer of all of creation,
we pray for your continual work of redemption
in our hearts and our lives,
in our communities,
in the systems and structures of our global home,
in all of creation.
Bring your transformation,
put us to the work of redemption
in our own hearts and lives,
in our communities,
in tackling unjust systems and structures,
in caring for creation.
Empower us by your Spirit,
that we would build your Kingdom
here and now.
Amen.