SERMON 21 MAY 2017: MORALITY OF COMMUNITY

The Morality of Community 

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 To get into this discussion it's important to have everyone  on the same page about the meaning and the understanding  of “Morality” and “Community”

Definitions of “Morality” :

• Beliefs of what is right behaviour and wrong behaviour - Merriam Webster
• A particular system of values and principles of conduct  - Oxford Dictionary
• Describes a code of conduct put forward by society or a group or accepted by an individual for his/her own behaviour -Wikipedia
• Normally refers to a code of conduct that given specified conditions, would be put forward by all rational persons.

Definitions of “Community”:

• Group of people living in the same place or having a particular characteristic in common
• A particular area or place considered together with its inhabitants eg “a rural community”
• A district considered collectively – especially the context of social values and responsibility
• A feeling of fellowship with others as a result of sharing of common attitudes, interests or goals

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Concentric Circles  -

What communities can you identify yourself with?

• Turn into groups of 3 or 4 people
• Share your name,
• Write your own name in the middle circle
• Name 2 or 3 communities that you are part of
• Put the names of those communities into the each of those rings

Eg family, church , neighbourhood, book club, running club, etc

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Peter Block who is a Leadership and Organizational Development consultant and author says: ‘Most of our communities are fragmented and at odds within themselves’.

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He says - The essential challenge is to transform the isolation and self-interest within our communities into connectedness and caring for the whole”.

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How do we do this? “By shifting our attention from the problems of community to the possibility of community.”

What does Jesus teach us about the morality of community?

As Jesus comes of age at 30 we start seeing him through the gospel stories showing up in the most unlikely places for a King – Down by the sea of Galilee he talks to fisherman.  Good solid working class folk doing a hard days work so that they and their families can eat.  He went to the sick and those suffering with pain, physical and mental disease.  – He specifically went to the “down and out”.  In Matthew 5 Jesus started teaching His Disciples through the Beatitudes,  giving us a system of values with which to view people through His eyes.  His teaching provides a clear code of ethics which guides us with a way of being in the world

In Matthew 5 v 17 – “do not think I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfil them”.  He gathers with the people – where they are.   He talks in a manner that can be understood by all people, not just the elite and educated.  He invites the “least” to the centre of the conversation – “let the children come unto me”.  He does not make a mockery of the disciples who are terrified in the storm on their fishing boat, he takes a leadership role and calms them as he calms  the storm.   He appreciates – what people did for him and for others – Mary and Martha.  No person goes unnoticed - The leper he passes who reaches out his hand and asks for healing;T  he hemorrhaging woman who touches his robe;  The children, whom the disciples are trying shoo away – he welcomes.  He is paying attention to what is going on around him and within him.  He gives attention to the least in society and offers them respect and dignity by sharing a moment of interaction which is often life-changing for that individual.

 Can you identify one person or group of people in each of your communities, who you could reach out to?  Connect to?  Build relationship with?  Who can I offer respect to and dignity to that I have previously ignored or walked on by?  Who can I show hospitality to who I would not normally reach out to?  Who are we, as the parish of St Paul’s in Parkhurst, being called by God to build community with?

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Stephanie Dawson-Cosser

SERMON SUNDAY 14 MAY: MORALITY IN OUR PERSONAL LIVES

SERMON

Morality in our Personal Lives

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Faith in our triune God, our love for God and neighbour, our personal moral character, service and caring for others are all essential to Christian life. Our thoughts, how we live and what we do affects our entire being and whole life. As Christians, we are called to live our lives in accordance with Christ’s teachings and example - to live transparent lives of love, integrity, humility, respect and compassion.

However, if the majority of the South African population claim to be Christians why is our country in such desperate need of moral regeneration? In his thematic weekly letter based on the Johannesburg Diocesan’s “50 Days of Moral Action”, Bishop Steve states that ‘at no point in our history as a country, has the Gospel’s call to live a Christ-like life been more urgent than it is today’.

Let us now focus on morality in our personal lives - where morality is a personal inner righteousness - or goodness - which is achieved when God’s grace and our human will intersect as we deepen our familial relationship with Him.

In a very real sense, we cannot begin to understand or discern the moral values, actions and judgements of others until we first come to understand the foundational source of our own. We are complex beings - and our moral values and insight cannot be reduced to a few simple formulas. Instead we need to ask ourselves some hard-hitting questions that require honest answers. Where does our primary loyalty lie? With God, with ourselves, our leaders or our families, in our pursuit of status and wealth?  How do we - in truth - understand and define ourselves as individuals? To what extent do we - as regular church goers - absorb, embrace and live out ethical and moral values as contained in the Bible? To what degree do our attitudes and lifestyles match up to how we are called to be? As Bishop Steve comments, ‘to love Jesus is to live in truth; to live in light – not in darkness. Those who live in darkness hate the light for fear that their immoral actions will be exposed. If we walk in truth and light our lives will be deeply moral’.

God calls us to holiness just as He is holy. We cannot claim to be God’s holy people, made in His image and likeness, if we are dishonest with ourselves and others, self-serving and corrupt. Holiness is inseparable from goodness and must include moral goodness. We therefore need to deepen our relationship with our divine parent through continually responding to God’s will and grace in order to become moral ambassadors of Christ. For us, the interpretation of moral principles entails a balance of the intellect and the spiritual - as a disciple of Christ living a mature faith life.

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Both the Old and New Testaments show a link between intimacy with God and personal and social morality. God’s law, as contained in today’s Old Testament reading reveals God’s will for his people’s behaviour.  As we are all made in his image and likeness, the Ten Commandments serve as a framework for life – our obligations to God and others - and remain a central part of Christian morality and norms. In the New Testament, these commandments are summed up in love for God and love for one’s neighbour. Obeying them is not only a matter of obeying external rules but also requires action from our hearts where an inner spiritual righteousness is expressed in outward justice and integrity.

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Today, where greed, self-interest, violence, bribery and corruption appear to be the norm, our Gospel reading in Matthew, gives us a clear indication how we are called to be as followers of Christ. When Satan attempted to entice Jesus from the pathway of perfect obedience to the will of God, Jesus submitted himself to the authority of the Word of God rather than to Satan. Through this reading we learn that people often misappropriate biblical texts to suit their own agenda in order to persuade believers to do something they know is wrong or unwise.  Satan is our greatest enemy who tempts us continually through enticement and pandering to our fragile ego’s and weaknesses. Jesus’s reaction shows us what is truly valuable and that through our heartfelt acceptance of the guidance and wisdom of the Holy Spirit and the right application of the truth of God’s Word, we can resist temptation and overcome sin.

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What is the difference between how we live our lives and how we ought to live our lives? Today we are often challenged as Christians between what we say we believe and how we behave. Do our actions give expression to our faith? Are we prepared to stick our necks out and act out our moral convictions? Are we a voice to the voiceless? What price are we prepared to pay to live up to what we say we believe? Acts of moral courage are demanding.

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We all know that there is a difference between right and wrong and we need to make decisions and choices in our lives, guided by the Holy Spirit, the scriptures, our faith experience and our Christian community.  Moral or spiritual discernment and action is not easy as, to enact the ‘good’ often demands effort and courage – the motivating courage of one’s faith and personal convictions of what is right and just.

 Will we as individuals, allow God’s power to be at work within us for an ongoing, life-changing process of transformation that allows the very life of Jesus – the mind of Christ – to be lived in and through us? For, as Christians, morality is an enhancement and celebration of life and is essential.

Amen.

Jenny Tuckett

SERMOND, SUNDAY 7 MAY 2017: THIRD SUNDAY AFTER EASTER

Of good shepherds and good sheep

This is the first Sunday after 1st May - a day when our nation honours workers.  And it is a Sunday when our Bishop has asked us to reflect on morality in public service.  Our collect speaks of the Good Shepherd - surely a model for those who hold high office in our society.

As with Christ Leaders should serve those they lead, and not themselves.  Leaders should benefit those they serve, and not themselves.  Leaders should be accountable to those they serve, and not themselves.

Contemporary reality in our society tells us this is not always the case.  We have a President who does not see a problem with state funds being spent on his private home.  Nor does he see a problem with his son doing business with the government he leads.  We have an acting CEO of Eskom who sees no problem with his daughter receiving catering contracts from the company he leads to the value of R 1 billion.

Our bishop has urged us not only to look at others but also to look at ourselves.

How then can we as Christians be witnesses for Good Shepherds and indeed living witnesses of good sheep?

With regard to the Shepherds we have a prophetic duty to call our leaders to account. To account in terms of the values of our Lord.  We do this not simply as politically active citizens - DA or ANC or EFF.  Nor do we do this as angry or frightened members of a race group.  We do this as followers of Christ.  And as Christian disciples we note that in our beloved country the struggle for servant leaders is not a divide between parties, and still less a divide between races.  When a black president fired his Indian finance minister prominent black politicians both within and outside his party came to the finance minister’s defence.

And if our job is to hold our politicians to account as Christians we must do so as Christ did with the high leaders of society.  More in sorrow than anger and always in the hope of a prodigal son who may yet come home.

Is this easy to do? Of course not.  Imagine (in an Ignaition way) that you find yourself alone with President Zuma.  What would Christ want you to say to him?

How then can we Christians be good sheep?  As our Bishop has reminded us we are all both workers and also masters.  Do we see our work as Christ saw his work?  And as masters are we the good masters of Christ’s parables?  Do we honour the dignity of those who work for us?  Treat them, pay them, instruct them, indeed care for them as Christ cared for his disciples?

Is this easy?  Of course not.  To see Christ’s kingdom in our own work, and Christ in those who work for us requires a majestic mastery of our faith.

And indeed alone, and using our own wisdom. courage and energy it is simply impossible.  But we are not alone.

Gillian and I have recently returned from a pilgrimage to an extraordinary chapel designed and constructed by the French impressionist painter Henri Matisse.  He devoted the last 4 years of his life to designing every aspect of this chapel for his dearest friend, a Dominican Nun.

Central to this chapel is the quality of the light that enters it through 15 magnificent windows.  These windows use the shapes of the prickly pear, and the primary colours yellow, green and blue. 

On our last visit I sat watching the light blend and stretch across the chapel.  I noticed that when the light was refracted by the chair in front of me it changed colour.  Then I noticed that my foot was also refracting this light, re directing it and changing its colour.

Take a look at this video of the chapel:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APaXLXAVkmQ

It struck me that the light was indeed the Holy Spirit at work.  We need to be in this light.  To stand firm in this light.  And by so doing indeed we become this light.

In this dark hour in our country’s history Christians more than anything else need to find, hold and share this light and power of the Holy Spirit - God with us.  

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Bobby Godsell

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SERMON, ​SUNDAY 30 APRIL 2017: SECOND SUNDAY AFTER EASTER

Collect:

Risen Christ; You revealed yourself to the disciples; and calmed their fears; meet us in our uncertainties; and walk with us into the new life you bring; for you live and reign with the Father; and the Holy Spirit; One God, now and forever. Amen

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Readings:

First  Reading:  Acts 2:14a, 36-41

Psalm 116:1-4, 11-18 

Second Reading:    1 Peter 1:17-23

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Gospel:  Luke 24:13-35

13 Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, 14 and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. 15 While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, 16 but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. 17 And he said to them, ‘What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?’ They stood still, looking sad.[b] 18 Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, ‘Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?’ 19 He asked them, ‘What things?’ They replied, ‘The things about Jesus of Nazareth,[c] who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, 20 and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. 21 But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place. 22 Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, 23 and when they did not find his body there, they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive.

24 Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but they did not see him.’ 25 Then he said to them, ‘Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! 26 Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?’ 27 Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures.

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28 As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. 29 But they urged him strongly, saying, ‘Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.’ So he went in to stay with them. 30 When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight. 32 They said to each other, ‘Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?’ 33 That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together. 34 They were saying, ‘The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!’ 35 Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread

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This week, we have two themes. Not only is it a healing service, but we are also continuing with our “Passion to Pentecost” 50 days of Moral Action series.

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In his letter to us all this week, +Steve invites us to join our brothers and sisters in Christ in our diocese, as:

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“we reflect on the morality at work and in business. These 50 days of Moral Action are an opportunity for us to examine ourselves, both in public and private life. In calling for good moral behaviour in the public sector, we should never forget that this presupposes that we, as Christians, recognise our calling to follow the high moral standards which Jesus sets for us in his ministry.

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We are sometimes quick to remind those in public service, not least ministers of state, that they are servants of the people who placed them in their positions of power. But in whatever work we do, we too are servants – whether we happen to occupy executive posts, such as that of a Bishop, or do more simple tasks of work in life, even unpaid ones. We are all ministers (servants). In Matthew 20: 26-27, Jesus tells us “… but whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be your slave; just as the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life, a ransom for many.”

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Workers’ Day occurs tomorrow and it is a fitting time to reflect on our morality as both employer and employee. Do we pay fair wages; are conditions of service fair and equitable? Are we honest in our dealings with our employers? As workers, do we treat all fellow workers as we would like to be treated? 

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 This is a time when there are many issues to consider. May Christ continue to walk with you on your journey.

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 Yours full of grace, The Right Revd Dr Steve Moreo”

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Our bishop is inviting us to Moral Action, which he calls an opportunity for us to examine ourselves, both in public and private life. So, it seems only appropriate that we pray, not only for healing of those who are sick, but also for God to open our eyes to our own PERSONAL IMMORALITY, as well as to INSTITUTIONAL or STRUCTURAL IMMORALITY, SO THAT WE MAY CONFESS both TO GOD, AND THAT WE MAY ALLOW God to HEAL US, so we can, through the power of the Holy Spirit within us, BE shining lights OF LOVE and INTEGRITY, thus challenging others to also approach GOD, CONFESS their sins so they too become God’s agents of healing…

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In what ways are we PERSONALY IMMORAL? We are called to LOVE, to turn the other cheek, to forgive, to go the extra mile, to BE LIKE CHRIST…

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Thus it is PERSONALLY IMMORAL if we refuse to love someone, or a class of people, if we hold grudges or are resentful, if we shirk at work, at home or in our faith lives, if we seek private gain to the detriment of the common good…

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HOWEVER, there is a more insidious kind of IMMORALITY, GROUP OR INSTITUTIONAL IMMORALITY that is perpetrated on a such a large scale, it is almost invisible…

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GROUP OR INSTITUTIONAL IMMORALITY is caused by an unjust use of power that establishes laws or practises that promote immorality, like when government and institutions ‘normalize sin’ and encourage the belief that what they are doing is right.

Obvious examples of Institutional immorality where the powerful manipulate social, religious and economic systems to their own benefit at the expense of the many from the past include slavery, oppression of women, oppression and exploitation of the poor, warmongering, Apartheid and religious exploitation…

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Examples of Institutional immorality from the present includes president Jacob Zuma and the cronies who support him ignoring laws and the courts as they enrich themselves. Dictators or democratically elected governments which do not work to the common good are potent examples of institutional immorality because the immorality is on a massive scale and that the powerful can promote the immorality with laws. Many dictators force thousands sometimes millions of people to commit immoral acts solely because they the power to do so.

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There are significant opportunities for the unscrupulous to commit institutional immorality in ECONOMIC SYSTEMS, be they CAPITALIST, SOCIALIST, COMMUNIST, or some combination thereof.

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Major businesses and even the stock market can control our lives and influence us to do wrong things – our retirement funds and savings are invested in companies that may be immoral, if we only look at our financial returns and ignore the means used to achieve those ends…

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Not only individual citizens or politicians, but also many large businesses are corrupt as they often steal from others (sometimes legally), this allows people to believe that if they want to be successful, they must steal too, be it tax fraud, company fraud, shirking one’s social, family or work responsibilities, etc…

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South Africans rightly moan about corrupt government officials, but who is bribing them?  Corrupt individuals, either privately or in and through corrupt organisations.

Other examples of institutional immorality include slavery and child labour in the past, as well as the present – many are wage slaves: have you considered how your domestic worker survives on their earnings?

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And what about the huge gap in wages between management and workers?

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What about how the economy is set up around relatively expensive skilled labour, while so many are unskilled and thus largely unemployed and even unemployable?

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What about the training and education we receive at and after school that is set up to support the status quo, rather than equipping people to also live outside of the corporate system, if they need to?

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Access to capital to even start a business is an issue – in SA, many black land owners do not have title deeds to their land, and thus they struggle to either sell the land or raise capital as they are unable to use their land as security.

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Clearly our education system, our banking system, our wages and labour system and even the legal and commercial system are set up to serve the interest of the powerful who have capital and or skills, rather than those who do not.

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THERE ARE MANY OTHER EXAMPLES ONE CAN THINK OF, AND I KNOW WE ALL AGREE WE HAVE THE MORAL RESPIBILITY TO BE INFORMED AND TO TAKE APPROPRIATE ACTION, BUT WHAT IS APPROPRIATE ACTION, IN THE WORKPLACE?

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Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the brilliant German theologian who was executed in Nazi Germany after being involved in a plot to assassinate Hitler said:

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“The only way to overcome evil is to let it run itself to a stand-still because it does not find the resistance it is looking for” and

 “All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing”, as well as

“Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act”.

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In our context at work, be it in the church, or in government or private business, be it as employers or employees, or be it in the way we treat those who work for us or serve us as politicians, traffic officers, cleaners, or clergy, we need to take a proactive stand and do the Christ-like thing, as we LOVE, and CARE for and ACKNOWLEDGE the other, as well as ourselves, treating them and ourselves with LOVE, and DIGNITY, as fellow CHILDREN OF GOD….

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The power of Easter is our real power, as we allow God to subvert injustice, in God’s way…

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We see God’s way on the road to Emmaus – the risen Jesus engages with and SHOWS his fellow travelers that He is risen gently, he does not condemn and destroy unnecessarily, but builds up and restores, wherever possible …

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We too need to draw alongside the other, with Jesus, and allow Jesus to minister through us, like He ministers on the road to Emmaus - gently, compassionately, and non-judgementally, understanding and loving the other, as we, too:

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DISCERN, in our contact with work, workers and markets, what we can SAY, and HOW we SAY IT so we may APPROPRIATELY bring about meaningful change... but also NOT RESISTING EVIL WITH EVIL, but being conduits for the evil to run itself to a stand-still because it does not find the resistance it is looking for in us… The way Jesus shows us, and then

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DO WHAT IS RIGHT AND SO RESIST the EVIL we see AND acknowledge around us in the market and workplace, and then, led by the Jesus, take appropriate action, laying our ego’s aside, acting humbly, subversively and powerfully as Jesus did, as the saints did, as Bonhoeffer did…

Amen!

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Rev Gavin Smith