In this third installment of the Ecological Stations of the Cross, Simon of Cyrene carries Jesus’s cross. Today, communities of color bear of the brunt of environmental racism and eco-crucifixion.
[This resource is part of the EcoPreacher 1-2-3 series that helps preachers and congregations address environmental issues in their sermons and ministry. The Ecological Stations of the Cross is made possible through support from the Interfaith Center of Sustainable Development with editing assistance from Rabbi Yonatan Neril. You can access all the reflections as a full booklet here.]
What do I mean by “eco-crucifixion”?
I coined this word in my book, Creation-Crisis Preaching: Ecology, Theology, and the Pulpit (Chalice Press, 2015) to describe the torture, suffering, and death of the natural world and human communities due to environmental violence.
I draw support for this idea of eco-crucifixion from the work of ecotheologian Mark Wallace. In his book, Finding God in the Singing River: Christianity, Spirit, Nature (Philadelphia: Fortress, 2005), Wallace makes the case that the “cruciform Spirit” embodied in and through Earth suffers just as Jesus did on the cross, this time under the continual siege of “ecological sin.”
Wallace warns of a “permanent trauma to the divine life itself” through the crucifixion-like ecocide that humans continually inflict upon Earth and its inhabitants (129). He equates God’s suffering through Jesus on the cross with God’s suffering through the embodied Spirit in Earth. Understanding this will spur “a conversion of the heart to a vision of a green earth, where all persons live in harmony with their natural environments . . . [and] work toward a seamless social-environmental ethic of justice and love toward all of God’s creatures” (136).
Scripture: Matthew 27:32
As they went out, they came upon a man from Cyrene named Simon; they compelled this man to carry his cross.
Reflection
The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke tell of the Romans compelling a man from the northern African city of Cyrene to carry Jesus’s cross for him on the way to Golgotha. It is likely that Simon of Cyrene had no choice in the matter. The Roman forces conscripted him to shoulder the burden of a condemned man.
Environmental racism is the systemic oppression of people of color through policies and practices that put the burden of waste and pollution in close proximity to communities of color. Polluting industries have a history of siting things like plastics plants, fossil-fuel refineries, trash incinerators, and methane gas pipelines in places where people of color live. This exposes them to numerous harmful pollutants that afflict them with health problems and decreased lifespans. White and higher-wealth communities do not face these same problems. Our racist systems have conscripted black, brown, Indigenous, and impoverished neighborhoods to shoulder the burden of our fossil-fueled society.
Prayer for justice
Jesus our brother, bless those who are organizing to fight toxic industries and waste that is hurting and killing people of color. Empower activists with education, tools, courage, and funding to protect vulnerable communities and dismantle environmental racism.
Jesus in your mercy, hear our prayer.
Read also:
Ecological Stations of the Cross: #1 – Condemned to death
Ecological Stations of the Cross: #2 – The Cross and Deforestation
Race, Faith, and the Climate Movement: Interview with Rev. Lennox Yearwood, Jr.
“Green” Black History Month: Spotlight on Rev. Dr. Gerald Durley
The Rev. Dr. Leah D. Schade is the Associate Professor of Preaching and Worship at Lexington Theological Seminary in Kentucky and ordained in the ELCA. Dr. Schade does not speak for LTS or the ELCA; her opinions are her own. She is the author of Preaching in the Purple Zone: Ministry in the Red-Blue Divide (Rowman & Littlefield, 2019) and Creation-Crisis Preaching: Ecology, Theology, and the Pulpit (Chalice Press, 2015). She is the co-editor of Rooted and Rising: Voices of Courage in a Time of Climate Crisis (Rowman & Littlefield, 2019). Her newest book is Introduction to Preaching: Scripture, Theology, and Sermon Preparation, co-authored with Jerry L. Sumney and Emily Askew (Rowman & Littlefield, 2023).
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