When we think about our readings today – Moses having is spectacular face to face – or in this case, face to back, encounter with God, and Jesus calling on us to render unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s and to render unto God that which is God’s we are left to consider how our world interacts and relates to itself …
As I consider this, my mind drifts to a sermon by Martin Luther King I first heard over 30 years ago when our then minister Rev. Ross Cumming pulled out an old vinyl LP – remember those? – and played Martin Luther King’s Christmas Sermon on Peace for us in the basement of Centennial United Church in Stratford.
King, spoke of attaining peace by saying:
Now let me suggest first that if we are to have peace on earth, our loyalties must become ecumenical rather than sectional. Our loyalties must transcend our race, our tribe, our class, and our nation; and this means we must develop a world perspective. No individual can live alone; no nation can live alone, and as long as we try, the more we are going to have war in this world. Now the judgment of God is upon us, and we must either learn to live together as brothers or we are all going to perish together as fools.
Yes, as nations and individuals, we are interdependent. I have spoken to you before of our visit to India some years ago. It was a marvelous experience; but I say to you this morning that there were those depressing moments. How can one avoid being depressed when one sees with one's own eyes evidences of millions of people going to bed hungry at night? How can one avoid being depressed when one sees with ones own eyes thousands of people sleeping on the sidewalks at night? More than a million people sleep on the sidewalks of Bombay every night; more than half a million sleep on the sidewalks of Calcutta every night. They have no houses to go into. They have no beds to sleep in. As I beheld these conditions, something within me cried out: "Can we in America stand idly by and not be concerned?" And an answer came: "Oh, no!" And I started thinking about the fact that right here in our country we spend millions of dollars every day to store surplus food; and I said to myself: "I know where we can store that food free of charge? in the wrinkled stomachs of the millions of God's children in Asia, Africa, Latin America, and even in our own nation, who go to bed hungry at night."
It really boils down to this: that all life is interrelated. We are all caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied into a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. We are made to live together because of the interrelated structure of reality. Did you ever stop to think that you can't leave for your job in the morning without being dependent on most of the world? You get up in the morning and go to the bathroom and reach over for the sponge, and that's handed to you by a Pacific islander. You reach for a bar of soap, and that's given to you at the hands of a Frenchman. And then you go into the kitchen to drink your coffee for the morning, and that's poured into your cup by a South American. And maybe you want tea: that's poured into your cup by a Chinese. Or maybe you're desirous of having cocoa for breakfast, and that's poured into your cup by a West African. And then you reach over for your toast, and that's given to you at the hands of an English-speaking farmer, not to mention the baker. And before you finish eating breakfast in the morning, you've depended on more than half of the world. This is the way our universe is structured, this is its interrelated quality. We aren't going to have peace on earth until we recognize this basic fact of the interrelated structure of all reality.
Today is world food day – the day when we are to pause and think about our food and where it comes from and how it is produced and in many circles, we are challenged to intentionally think about those who do not have enough food.
Today is also the day when many in our area, including our sisters and brothers within the United Church are gathering in Honeywood to enjoy a food festival while raising awareness about the proposed mega-quarry and the threat it poses to local food production there, and perhaps across the entire province.
Couple these with the movement around the world that is protesting not only corporate greed, but the growing chasm between the rich and the poor, and you have an interesting time in which to live … despite assurances from our governing party in Ottawa that it is simply people expressing themselves and their discontent at some aspects of the modern market system, I would dare to say that we stand on the edge of something bigger than just random protests.
I believe that with the growing awareness of how things work – or perhaps don’t work, we stand on the edge of a social revolution that will radically change how we do ‘business’ and how we live in the world.
There is a stark contrast between the have’s and the have-not’s in our world, and even in our own country the gap between the rich and poor is widening. Something as basic and mundane as homeownership is no longer and option for an ever increasing sector of our society. With spiralling housing costs, stagnating wages, the loss of good paying jobs, and changes to the legislation by our Government, owning your own home and building the security of equity in something tangible is no longer and option for many.
And overarching all of it are voices saying – “things have to change.”
Our approach to food has to change.
Our approach to wealth and money has to change.
Our approach to the rich and the poor has to change.
Our society not only has to, but WILL change … and that change has begun … and the question we need to consider from a faith perspective is – where will we stand ?
From a faith perspective we are called to care for the poor and the marginalized. We are the ones told to care for and care about those who lack adequate food and necessities for life. We are the ones who should be first to stand up and cry out when the brokenness of our system is revealed.
Yet, often we remain silent … often we hope someone else will do something … often we wait praying and hoping that things will just work out.
Yet, over and over, we can look back on our history and our heritage and see clearly that seldom do things just happen, nor do they just work out. Instead, it is often people deeply committed to their faith and to the value of justice and righteousness, that have enacted and embodied the very change we yearn to see and experience.
As Gandhi once said – “be the change you seek …”
If we want to do something about the growing gap between the rich and the poor in our world, or even in our own community, the burden of action rests on OUR shoulders.
While we support and assist agencies and groups like our local food bank in meeting the immediate and urgent needs of those around us, we also need to be working to change the system that creates those needs to begin with.
We need to appeal to our politicians to address the issues of hunger, food security, poverty and homelessness in our country.
We need to appeal to our banking and business leaders to put people BEFORE profits.
AND, perhaps most challenging of all – we need to be informed consumers who change the way things are done from the bottom up … look at the fair trade movement – something we’re now deeply involved in as a Church community. 20 years ago the ONLY fair trade products that were relatively easily available were those offered by Bridgehead and OxFam Canada. Then along came small groups like Just Us and Level Ground who opened the door with quality products available first at specialty stores and through some churches and associated agencies.
NOW, you are truly hard pressed to find a grocery store that DOESN’T have fair trade coffee and tea on its shelves. Even the big companies like Starbucks, Second Cup, Nabob, Maxwell House and the others have responded to consumer pressure and offer a wide variety of fair trade and more fairly traded products.
AND it happened because a dedicated group of people believed that because of that inter-relatedness in the world we truly can change the world one cup of coffee at a time …
Our readings today, particularly our Old Testament reading, reveal a God who is intimately involved in our lives and our world, and who cares about us … Moses experienced that care when God carefully protected him … Jesus speaks of that care when acknowledging the necessity of faithful people be informed and mindful stewards … and ultimately, the task of experiencing and sharing that care rests with us.
How we live our faith, and what we do in faith, is how the world will experience the very presence of God … if we go about our daily lives without thinking about others, or how our actions and decisions might affect them, we are failing to live our faith … but if we move through our days mindful of life’s inter-related qualities and aware that what we do here affects others around the world, we can’t help but live a faithful life …
Our decision in the grocery store aisle here in the Grey Highlands ultimately offers us a moment to faithfully consider how we shall render unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s and to render unto God that which is God’s … the choice is ours to make.
May it be so – thanks be to God … Let us pray …
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