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Sermon
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THE HELPING HAND IS MINE In our sport loving country we are very familiar with sport as a metaphor for life. Winning and losing are very familiar to us. We admire the winner and few would not see success and striving to do one’s best as qualities to be emulated. We use the terms winner and loser in a number of ways. Winners are successful and losers are unsuccessful. Winners have a gain and are better off and losers miss out and are worse off (e.g. a new set of tax scales might produce winners and losers). But there are some today who use the terms winner and loser to categorize people or social groups. This seems to be a response to the idea of the market-driven economy. There are two powerful developments in modern Australia. What Hugh Mackay has described as “two of our national pre-occupations: growing emphasis on me – self-discovery, self-absorption, self-indulgence – and the closely connected embrace of materialism.” It’s therefore not surprising that success is often defined in terms of wealth. There is an expression that goes like this, “he who dies with the most marbles wins!” Some fundamentalist churches seem to have the attitude that wealth is a sign of God’s favour. (I’m not quite sure what they make of St Francis of Assisi.) To talk of winners and losers for many is fairly harmless. The real problem arises when winners and losers are invested with moral values. Winners are better people and, by implication, losers are worse people. Or even, winners are good people and losers are bad people. The result of this is pretty horrendous for the losers. If those who make it in society did it by dint of their own efforts, then that means that those who don’t succeed clearly didn’t work hard enough – it’s their fault! Once this attitude of blame is apportioned then those who are at the lower end of society are no longer respected. But it can also affect the others too. If something goes wrong that they cannot do anything about, they can have the crushing sense that it’s their fault. This can have dire consequences indeed for those involved. It can foster the attitude that people are below the poverty line, not because of things beyond their control, but because of their own choice. It can make it appear acceptable that assistance to those who are struggling to keep their head above water can be reduced. Recent proposals would make single mothers, with children at school, work on a lowered payment that will make them $86 worse off if they work 15 hours a week. The proposed removal of unfair dismissal laws for small to medium businesses will make employees vulnerable to being treated disrespectfully by their employers who will no longer be accountable. Last week we learnt of the plight of indigenous communities in the Northern Territory. The report in "The Age” says, “An average of 17 people live in each sweltering, graffiti-covered house... Almost half the population is under 15, most of the teenagers cannot speak English, infant mortality is four times the national average and life expectancy is 20 years less than that of non-indigenous Australians. Up to 80 per cent of the prisoners in Northern Territory jails are indigenous and many of them are from remote communities… Norman Fry, the chief executive officer of the Northern Land Council, the peak indigenous organisation in northern Australia, says that spending on indigenous health, housing and other programs by the Northern Territory Government remains a ‘deep, dark secret’ that his organisation wants investigated.” If ever there was an example of a lack of respect for a group in Australian society, it is the way the indigenous people have been treated. While some have done more than others, Australian Governments have failed the indigenous people. Report after report, both national and international, has described the appalling health and social problems in communities. Let us hope that the current Government has the will to work with the indigenous people and help them to move forward with dignity. The winners and losers mentality has nothing to do with Christian values. Everything about Jesus indicated that who one is or what one possesses makes absolutely no difference to the value of a person. Everyone is worthy of respect. All are equal. And this is the heart of the matter. All these issues are justice and equity issues – and nothing could be further from the idea of winners and losers. Sometimes when people mention equity or rights they are confronted by disrespect. The most common put-down is to say with a sneer that they are ‘politically correct’ – a term that has come about because we have laws that make us a just society. But that does not make us a decent society that respects everyone. The late Sir Ronald Wilson, well known to all in the Uniting Church, worked with Mick Dodson to inquire into what is now known as the ‘stolen generations’. Their extraordinary report Bringing them Home was criticized for its methodology. Over a period of twelve months, Wilson went to the indigenous communities himself, set up the court under a tree and heard the stories first hand. He was sometimes accused of being ‘politically correct’ for his human rights advocacy. His reply is worth remembering. “In a democracy, the
majority can look after
themselves. It’s the people who are marginalized who need
help. Political correctness is invoked as a term of abuse for
those who have sought to bring marginalised people into the
framework of a unified nation. I am happy to be seen as
politically correct if that means being sensitive to the problems
of the disadvantaged and working to overcome them.”
The key to respect is given by the Apostle Paul when he reminds the Church at Philippi. “Always consider the other person to be better that yourself so that nobody thinks of his own interests first but everybody thinks of other people’s interests instead.” What is it that makes this the key to respect? If you humble yourself before another, it is to raise the other up. Many of you will have received the latest Salvation Army flyer. In it there is this story which bears repeating. Jason’s parents
separated when he was six years old.
His mother was starting a new relationship. His father was
struggling with full time custody of three young boys. Jason
recalls hearing: “You take him or I’ll have him put
in a home”. For as long as he could remember, Jason felt
that he was in the way – and it was no different at school.
“You ’re just taking up a place that could go to
someone else.” he was constantly told. In Jason’s
family you drank, not because you enjoyed it, this was just how
you coped. By 11 Jason was regularly drunk. At 16 he was an
alcoholic. Not long after he was living on the street.
Would you like to make a difference to Jason’s day? I mean a really big difference? When you see Jason begging on the street, don’t avert your eyes. Give him a smile. Or go up to him and say hello. The worst thing about being homeless or destitute is that you are a non-person. Every hour you are reminded that you are useless and not wanted. Initially, when Jason
was told about the Salvos drug and
alcohol rehabilitation program, he was surprised. Up until then
Jason thought rehab was just something that Hollywood stars did.
However, with genuine caring and continual encouragement, Jason
not only stopped drinking, he actually enjoyed being sober. These
days Jason is working at The Salvation Army as a storeman in our
Red Shield warehouse. He is engaged to be married to a wonderful
girl and together, they are making plans for the future.
So let me finish with the words of Jesus. The Gospel reading has Jesus teaching in the Temple. The religious authorities come up to him and ask him, “Who gave you the authority to do and say these things?” Jesus asks them a question in turn. “Who gave John the authority to baptise? Was it human or divine?” This threw them into deep consternation. They couldn’t say ‘human’ because they were afraid of the people who believed John to be a prophet. On the other hand, if they said that John’s authority was from God, Jesus could say to them, “John declared me the ‘Anointed One’ (the Messiah) so why don’t you believe him?” They could not acknowledge this and so they came up with the lame answer, “We do not know!” The people looked to their religious leaders for guidance. It was their job to detect false prophets. But their fear of the consequences for themselves resulted in silence. This is not just a story about Jesus’ authority. We are very familiar with this ‘pretended ignorance’. It has always been with humankind. Whenever we allow principle to defer to expediency, the answer to the question, “What is the truth?” is buried by the answer to the question, “What is safe to say?” And that can take many different forms. Whenever the truth is known but people are afraid to speak out, the answer cannot be “What is safe?” It must be “What is right?” AMEN ___________________________________________________ A sermon presented by Robert Sanderson at St Aidan's
Uniting Church North Balwyn, on 25th September, 2005. IT MAY BE
REPRODUCED WITH ACKNOWLEDGMENT. |
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Page updated 25/09/05
