Lesley Wilson September 13th 2015 ~ Sustainable September

Are you familiar with the expression, the concept of ‘noblesse oblige’?  In case not, it is a French phrase that translates literally as ‘nobility obliges’ and means that the privilege of nobility carries a burden of responsibility.  In times past, the outworking of ‘noblesse oblige’ took the form of ‘stewarding’ the community – looking after the poor, sick and needy, maintaining property, favouring causes, upholding justice – spreading the largesse of privilege in generous and compassionate ways.  It reflected the scripture which says He has showed you, O man, what is good.  And what does the Lord require of you?  To act justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God (Mic. 6:8).You might think that not many (if any) of us qualify as nobility, so why am I musing about this?  Well, the fact (the real, spiritual reality) is that, as members of the family of God, children of THE King, we are indeed nobility – royalty, actually (see 1 Pet. 2:9) – and with this comes noblesse oblige.  We have the responsibility/obligation to step up to “the good works God prepared in advance for us to walk in” (Eph. 2:10), to engage with Him in the restoration of the planet. (Did you pay attention to that “in advance” in bold back there?  How far in advance, do you think?  Well, right back in Genesis 1:28, where He told humankind to rule over the earth.  That was His first commission to us and it still applies.)   Part of His plan is to redeem humanity by retraining us in the way that we should go – learning to do things Jesus’ way, reviewing what it means to live responsively and responsibly.  It’s called . . . (wait for it) . . . Discipleship!This is Sustainable September, an idea that was designed to remind us of our ‘noblesse’ obligations, but not just for one month.  To reduce the impact of our prodigal lifestyles and  give the planet a chance to recover, we need to actively, intentionally change many elements of the way we live: e.g. use water mindfully; consider the amount of meat we consume (livestock farming is a huge contributor to greenhouse gases), as well as the carbon cost of eating out-of-season, imported fruit and vegetables; avoid using single-use plastic containers; reduce waste to landfill; be an ‘agent provocateur’ and protest new coal mines and fracking . . . etc.  But it’s not enough to just think about it; we have to be both active and proactive in addressing environmental issues. We need to recognise that we are wasting our inheritance, the earth, in “riotous living” - truly being prodigal sons!When I was growing up, my mother had a saying (one of many pithy pronouncements): ‘Handsome is as handsome does’.  Being born again into a royal family, the family of God, requires us to be ‘handsome’ - noble in character and conduct.  Jesus’ invitation to follow Him is always going to be a challenge!  (I would even say that we are designed for challenge!)  How about starting with something simple, like being intentional and committed to sorting your rubbish into the appropriate bin, bearing in mind that things that go in the recycling bin have to be clean - no used pizza boxes, dirty paper plates, cupcake papers, etc -  you can compost these; definitely no used tissues and paper towels.  Simple and not even very hard!Please consider . . .Lesley Wilson