Lent is traditionally a time when people sacrifice something either as a penance or as a detoxification from an indulgence. We can also plan to do something that will be more proactive and that will benefit our community, environment, world or mankind in general..

Tear Fund produced a Lent Course in 2012 called The Carbon Fast which we used for some ideas this morning.

“There is a lovely verse in Genesis: “Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day” (3:8)

The story hurries on towards its famous climax. But everyone who has been to a hot country will know the joy of feeling the evening breeze as the day turns, the temperature drops, the light and colour return to the land.

To realise that God too, embraces the cool of the evening is to understand that the earth is created for his pleasure. Its beauty, its variety and all its delights are there for God. And God shared them with us, his creatures, in love.

Herein lays the true character of stewardship, that care for the earth is our sacred task as God’s companions, for his pleasure and for our salvation. Such is the word of the Lord.”

From The Carbon Fast in Hong Kong by The Most Rev. Paul Kwong, Archbishop and Primate of the Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui, also known as Hong Kong Anglican Church.

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We might have all been wishing we were walking in a garden in the cool of the evening of a hot day instead of a freezing cold morning, but the whole earth “the variety and all its delights are there for God.”

We are privileged to be in the park which contains a lovely garden.Imagine you are walking with Jesus, seeing what he is seeing, enjoying what he is enjoying, delighting in the variety of what we have around us and thinking of the life that is waiting to burst forth in spring.

As you walk round have a “conversation” – and reflect on how God might want you to care for his earth.

Some ideas that might help from www.greenchristian.org.uk

Using your LOAF:

LOCAL : Do you consider sourcing locally produced goods?

ORGANIC : Could you consider buying organic goods or gardening more organically?

ANIMAL FRIENDLY : Do you consider the way animals are treated in when you are shopping?

FAIRTRADE : Could you buy more Fairtrade products?

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And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.  Micah 6:8

In a few moments of silence

Let’s ask God that our actions may help us to walk more in step with Him so that we may be a blessing to our global neighbours and the rest of creation.

Sharing bread and wine.

What do we bring to Christ’s table?

We bring bread,

made by many people’s work,

from an unjust world

where some have plenty

and most go hungry.

At this table all are fed,

And no-one is turned away.

Thanks be to God.

Take the bread.

What do we bring to Christ’s table?

We bring wine,

made by many people’s work,

from an unjust world

where some have leisure

and most struggle to survive.

At this table all share the cup

of pain and celebration,

and no-one is denied.

Thanks be to God.

Take the wine.

This bread and wine shall be for us the body and blood of Christ!

Our witness against hunger,

Our cry against injustice,

And our hope for a world

Where God is fully known

And everyone is fed and loved.

Thanks be to God.

Blessing.

In a world of excess and waste,

Lord, help us bring care and respect.

In a world of inequality,

Lord, help us bring your justice.

In a world of selfishness,

Lord, help us to be generous.

In a world of greed,

Lord, help us to be contented. Amen.