Horizons — Water justice

Let Justice Roll Down: God’s call to care for neighbors and all creation
Lesson 4: Water Justice

I love thunderstorms — seeing clouds build, the wind whip up the underside of leaves, lightning flash and the rains inundate the earth. We are drawn to water whether it is the ocean with its rolling waves, gentle creeks, still lakes or thunderous waterfalls. Put a baby in a bath and the child can be soothed (or stimulated).

Scripturally, images of water point to the vitality and deliverance that God brings. God separates the waters to form the seas and the dry land. Before there are plants and animals, a stream flows over the land, and from dirt and water God forms the human being. Pharaoh’s daughter draws Moses from the water, saving him to become the one who leads the Hebrews out of bondage. God parts the sea so the Hebrews can escape Pharaoh’s army.

In the New Testament, water often denotes new life. Washing with water signifies purification in the baptism for the repentance of sin that John the Baptizer brings. Jesus blesses those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, saying they shall be filled. Jesus tells the Samaritan woman that the water that he gives will become a spring rushing up to eternal life. Jesus turns water into wine at a marriage feast. In the Book of Revelation, an image of the new creation is the river of life flowing from the throne of God, nurturing the tree of life for the healing of the nations.

Sadly, humans pose the greatest threat to safe, clean water. Fertilizer run-off creates dead zones in which fish and shellfish cannot live. Wastewater from fracking leaches into groundwater. “Forever chemicals” pollute water worldwide.

In 2014 in Flint, Michigan, the water supply was diverted from the city system to the deeply polluted Flint River, resulting in inadequately treated, highly corrosive water that broke down the lead in old pipes, leading to high levels of lead in the population. The Michigan Civil Rights Commission found that the change in water supply was a “result of systemic racism,” according to a 2024 report from The Natural  Resource Defense Council.

Whereas we sometimes truly need bottled water in places like Flint or after a hurricane has damaged water supplies, plastics end up in our bodies and brains and now form giant islands of microplastics in the oceans. The
Pacific “island” of microplastics, between Hawaii and California, is estimated to be twice the size of Texas. Due to the overuse of old permits, bottled spring water manufacturing has left communities in short supply of water (p. 47, Let Justice Roll Down).

Various countries are trying to protect their waters. New Zealand granted the Whanganui River the legal status of a human being, meaning polluting or harming the water supply is illegal. Ecuador also passed legislation that grants respect to the earth and all its life cycles. Uttarakhand, a state in Northern India, granted the Ganges River and its tributary full legal status (p. 49, Let Justice Roll Down).

What would it be like in America to treat water as having the same legal rights as a human being? What if we recognized water as something we must protect? It would require a significant mind shift from thinking of water as a commodity to viewing water as a God-given blessing for all people. It would mean loosening the belief that consumption and consumerism is the point of life.

Baptismal waters signify our cleansing and inclusion in Christ. As baptized people, we are called to a new way of living — sharing the good news of Jesus Christ in word and deed. This includes the stewardship of the planet. We can do much. Churches and individuals could stop using bottled water and recycle everything possible, for instance.

Your congregation might explore becoming an Earth Care Congregation. You can find “A Guide to Greening Presbyterian Churches” on the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) website.