Rains And Floods

Jesus said to his disciples: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the Kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name? Did we not drive out demons in your name? Did we not do mighty deeds in your name?’ Then I will declare to them solemnly, ‘I never knew you. Depart from me, you evildoers.’

“Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock. And everyone who listens to these words of mine but does not act on them will be like a fool who built his house on sand. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. And it collapsed and was completely ruined.”

When Jesus finished these words, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as their scribes. (Matthew 7:21-29)

This reading from Matthew is excellent advice we all can understand, especially on Cape Cod with houses built on coastal sand and near/at beaches are collapsing after being buffeted by the winds, falling rains, and crashing waves.  Many of us act like fools when we ignore the signs such as glacier melting, rising seas, and other consequences of climate change such as the possible collapse of a key Atlantic Ocean current with a new study warning us that “Disruption of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Current could freeze Europe, scorch the tropics and increase sea level rise in the North Atlantic. The tipping point may be closer than predicted in the IPCC’s latest assessment.”  The IPCC is the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

To climate-change deniers I say: “And everyone who listens to these words of mine but does not act on them will be like a fool who built his house on sand. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. And it collapsed and was completely ruined.” Eventually we will be “tipped,” and coastal areas throughout the world will be flooded and submerged.  Perhaps not in the lifetimes of those over 60 or 70 years, but certainly for our children and grandchildren this tragedy of biblical proportions will occur.  Am I and scientists wrong?  One would hope, but unlikely.  The sky is not falling, but the seas certainly are rising.

Deacon David Pierce