By Rianna Isaak-Krauss, sustainability leadership semester student
Scripture: Jeremiah 33:14-16 (NRSV)
Jeremiah was writing these words to his people in exile reminding them that even though injustice seems to have the upper hand, God’s promises are resilient, like a tree stump sprouting a new branch. It is good for us to read these words, since in our time, there is still no justice for the land, nor safety for the people of the land.
This semester I have been learning more about how burning fossil fuels is heating up the planet and how this is causing the weather to be more extreme and species to go extinct. I also learned recently that the Elkhart Police Department has a pattern of promoting officers despite suspensions for inappropriate and violent behavior.
Now, more than ever, I long for this “sprout” who “will do what is just and right in the land.” This image of regeneration is hope in the face of despair. The tree that was cut down is not dead; it sprouts new life defiantly, announcing its resilience to the world!
I have been living in community with my fellow students at Merry Lea Environmental Learning Center. As part of the Sustainability Leadership Semester, we take on a new challenge for ourselves every month, shaping our habits intentionally to live differently in this world and have a lighter footprint. This month our challenge has been to use light in one room at a time. It brings us together, it calls us to pay attention to the coal we are burning when we turn the switch (85 percent of Indiana’s electricity comes from coal, which is the highest polluting form of fossil fuels), and it names our longing for Jesus’ light in this world.
This advent, as we wait for the celebration of the LORD our Righteous Savior to be born, what challenge will you take part in to join in Jesus’ sprout of new life in pursuing justice for this land and safety for your neighbor?
Scripture: Jeremiah 33:14-16 (NRSV)
The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. 15In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David; and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 16In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety. And this is the name by which it will be called: “The Lord is our righteousness.”