Manifesting the manifesto

The readings for this Sunday 30th January, the 4th Sunday after Epiphany are from Micah 6:1-8, Psalm 15, 1Corinthians 1:18-31 and Matthew 5:1-12

A manifesto is a grand idea

A statement of beliefs and principles

which undergird what we are trying to do.

One such is alongside

it is a conservationist manifesto

And it's about repairing instead of throwing away.

It has a number of interesting points, 11 in all

2. Things should be designed so that they can be repaired

10. Repairing is about independence

What we have this morning is three manifesto like readings and a psalm manifesto

Micah says

What does the Lord require of you:

but to do justice, and to love kindness

and to walk humbly with your God (Micah 6:8)

This is a powerful manifesto.

If you want to know what God's person does

it is not about being smart, powerful, rich or succesful

It is to be an agent of justice,

to live life with kindness

and to always walk remembering that we are creaturesnot the creator

Justice, kindness and humility....if you want three buzz words to check

the quality of your actions then they work

Is what I am doing just?

Is it kind?

Does it reflect my ultimate submission to God?

Paul reminds his fellow Christians in Corinth

with this manifesto:

We proclaim Christ crucified

God's way is not the way of the world he says God chose what is foolish to shame the strong

and the source of your life is Christ Jesus

an important manifesto. The Cross, the strength of God and Jesus

Jesus

In the passage so often seen as Jesus's manifesto...the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:1-12)

Jesus points us to various places where we might find God's holiness and transformation of our lives

Places where we might look to see the work of God

and, it needs to be remarked,

places where we might often miss the powerful presence.

Not in the life of the expert: but those who are poor in spirit

Not with the proud and the successful, but the meek and lowly

Where we mourn

where we hunger and thirst for what is right

where peace is being proclaimed and worked at

the need for purity of heart

at places where good is being tested, and even persecuted

and never to forget

that it is when we are being ridiculed, picked on and victimised

for doing what is right that we are blessed.

So there is a comprehensive manifesto to follow

if that's what engages us

The Comprehensive Manifesto

*Justice, kindness and mercy

*The Cross, God's wisdom, focus on Jesus

* poverty of spirit, comfort in the face of death, humility and meekness, the thirst for what is right, mercy, purity of heart, peace making, fighting for what is right, and being prepared to suffer for what is right

It rather makes our minds reel

but let it not do that

let us see it as the standard that we hold

to keep ourselves connected to Christ.

THIS WEEK

Perhaps take one of those items from the manifesto

and ask yourself

What does this mean for me?

What can I do this week to deliberately implement the Christian manifesto?

And then

Do it!

Fighting prejudice; winning wholeness

Readings for Proper 23 Sunday 14th October.

Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7 and Psalm 66:1-12 [or 2 Kings 5:1-3, 7-15c and Psalm 111 ]
2 Timothy 2:8-15 & Luke 17:11-19

Leprosy has a sort of romantic attraction for many Christians

but in reality that romanticism is ill-placed.

It is as romantic as AIDS in the modern context

and as socially stigmatising as skin cancer

or any disease which has disfigurement associated with it.

The story (Luke 17:11-19) has not only some interesting reflections to make about seeking healing from God

...Do we for example live out of the thankfulness of answered prayer?

Or do we quickly forget that God desires healing for us all?

This story reflects that 9 out of 10 people

forget to give thanks to God.

and my estimation would be that that is about right!

But the story also tells us that God's healing is not confined by religion,

it isn't just confined

to who we think

God should be disposed towards.

God's concern is towards humanity and not just to Jews or Christians,

white or black.

It is not just to be nice to children

or those who say their prayers

God's concern is for the whole of humanity.

God's grace, the free gift of eternal life,

is without bounds

and is offered to all.

It is a reminder to us that we should be no less open.

That our compassion needs to be challenged beyond the bounds of niceness.

We are to be open to be compasssionate

beyond the bounds of our own social caste or religion.

The world is not like this.

9 out of 10 people get this wrong.

Prejudice

This week we saw a curious little incident

which indicates how easily we are seduced

to be partial, racist and selective in showing mercy.

It is our enlightened view that although criminals need to be punished,

the days of the death penalty are behind us.

I think this is a view that accords with God's universal generosity and mercy.

When we see our politicians on both sides

saying

"No death penalty"

except for those who we call "terrorists" or who kill Australians

then we are allowing the sort of discriminations

that Jesus himself stands against.

Why do they do this?

They do this because substantial parts fo the electorate do indeed make this sort of discrimination.

I want to say that Christians need to stand against this.

As we follow and worship a man who was himself killed

not for any guilt of his own

but because of political process gone mad

we should be the first to stand against such political machinations.

Political expediency is not the standard we follow.

Christian mercy is.

This week

Can you reflect on where you make judgments

based on prejudice rather than compassion and mercy?

Invite the Holy Spirit to let you do better than this and to show you how?

God who is truth and love

grant to us your people

the wisdom and compassion

to act justly and with mercy

in the name of the guiltless Jesus

who died that all people might know the love of God.
Amen

Justice, mercy and humility.

The readings for Sunday July 15th (Proper 10)  can be found here

Amos 7:7-17 and Psalm 82
Colossians 1:1-14
Luke 10:25-37

One of our best loved stories....The Good Samaritan...features this week

If you can't read the cartoon then click on it to go to a larger version.

It's worth it!

My suggestion would be that God's will is not terribly hard to discern

Most of us have a fairly well developed sense of it.

Indeed, theologically we would say that baptism orients us towards God

and so we grow in that direction.

Like plants towards the sun.

So I am always puzzled when I meet someone who is genuinely hard

who hates refugees

who thinks that poor people deserve everything they get

because they are lazy.

Very few are so perverse as to think that the poor are being punished by God

for something or other,

but secretly many of us despise the poor.

So it is opportune to be told, reminded if you like,

by the prophets, like Amos, Hosea and Isaiah

that God's measuring stick

....for Amos it is the famous plumbline....

is not just right belief or thoughts

it is not just correct religious practice.

In fact at times the prophets are downright dismissive of such things,

as indeed Jesus can be.

But we are to heed in the call of Jesus

the call to care for the poor, the needy.

To look around and see 

that there are people in our society

who are in danger

and it is part of our job to walk around with open eyes

and respond as we can to their need.

Fear et al

What I think it is that makes us like this

is fear!

The cartoon illustrates this quite well.

I can be compassionate until the fear button is pushed.

For this man when he hears the beaten up man speak Spanish

(the language for Americans of illegal immigrant...what would it be for 

an Australian...Indonesian, Sudanese, Vietnamese!!)

suddenly his world view is changed.

This is confronting for us at this time.

One of the things this story confronts us about is

Will we challenge our own fearfulness,

will we stop to help the person who has been beaten up,

will we venture into the dangerous environment

where we know people are in trouble?

Will we confront our own inner ghosts...terrorism, illegal immigration,s

fear that our comfort may be jeopardised...

and respond rather to God.

Often we just say No!

God wants more of us than we are often prepared to give.

There is a reason for this.

God sees that we need to to be challenged more deeply

than we often begin to suspect.

Where might this be for you?

Can you at least pray for courage to be a little braver

than you are inclined to be?

Can you, can we take the next step?

This week

• Where is God asking you to respond to the desperate need of others?
• What prevents you from doing this?
• Can you find someone else to support you in venturing into difficult territory?

God of the Samaritans, God of the Poor, God of the Broken

give me the same eyes of compassion that you have.

The eyes and heart of Jesus. Amen.