Rev Hugh Perry

Readings

Exodus 20: 1-4, 7-9, 12-20

Writing of today’s reading Maurice Andrew notes that contemporary New Zealanders still see the Decalogue as manageable and concise without apprehending the intricate creative framework that surrounds the law’. His most telling comment about contemporary Kiwis suggests people who keep saying, ‘I was poor, but I did this all by myself, and you can too’ are not liberated.  Even as atheists they are worshiping other gods because they are ignoring the real basis of all life in the world. ^[1]

That statement recognises our interconnectedness through creation.  We are a communal species and that is recognised in a statement by the father of the man who, from time to time, has been the richest man in the world.

Bill Gates Senior maintains ‘Society has an enormous claim upon the fortunes of the wealthy.  This is grounded not only in most religious traditions, but also in an honest accounting of society’s substantial investment in creating the fertile ground for wealth-creation’. ^[2]

Matthew 21:33-46

This second parable in chapter 21 repeats the condemnation of the religious elite that was evident in the previous vineyard parable.

This parable suggests that if those who are ‘the proper religious authority’ do not fulfil God’s call others will be called to the tasks God wishes to accomplish in that time and place.

According to Carter the first century setting of this parable announces judgement on the unfaithful leaders and interprets the defeat of Jerusalem by Rome in 70 C.E. as punishment of them.  The vineyard, Israel, is not destroyed but is given new tenants to care for it.

Francis Wright Beare suggests a different perspective by seeing the parable as Matthew records it looking back on the death of Jesus and understanding the parable in terms of the early church and its continuing conflict with Judaism.

The parable also reflects Matthew’s sub-theme of Jesus as a new Moses forming a new people of God.

The Judaism of the time is therefore being rejected and Matthew’s community are the new tenants of the vineyard.

Sermon

Tom Scot talks of meeting his Irish Whakapapa in chapter 2 of his autobiography Drawn Out and includes a cartoon of an Irish pub.  In amongst the diverse and unconnected speech balloons there is someone on the edge of the picture telling Scott:

‘The swines came loot’n and burn’n our crops and cottages.  I’d like to tear their black hearts out of their chests with my bare hands!’  Scott replies with suitable shock ‘My God-when did that happen?  To which the man with his pint of Guinness replies ‘O about 400 years ago!’[3]

That is an example of the sort of tribal law that occurs in many societies, from primitive humanity whose details are lost in the mists of time to criminal gangs disputing territory and the right to distribute mind altering drugs.

Altercations break out for one reason or another. Trespass on hunting ground or a raid by a tribe to compensate for the failure of their own crops.  As Tom Scott’s cartoon illustrates memory of lives lost in such skirmishes are remembered from generation to generation until an opportunity to redress the balance presents itself.  Often the subsequent revengeful rampage oversteps the mark and, grudges and the quest for revenge, is carried to the next generation.

So as wilderness wanderers draw near to becoming a people, we have a story about their adoption of a set of rules that seeks to codify acceptable behaver and avoid intergenerational vendettas.

Most significant about this story is the insistence that, in suitable smoke and lightening, God gave the rules to Moses.  These are not rules written out by a sage meditating in a mountain, a wise king with the wisdom of a Solomon or even a duly constituted parliament.  These are statements brought to the notice of humanity by a being that is greater and more loving than humanity and are held as sacred and beyond human amendment. Continue reading Sunday 8th October →

Rev Barbara Peddie

Justice for all

Festival of Francis of Assisi. 2023

It took me a while to decide where to go with this service. Officially, the Season of Creation has finished – although I suspect it’s a season we should be observing throughout the year, especially in these times of dramatic climate changes. Also, officially this is the Sunday when the Catholic Churches celebrate St Francis’ Sunday, with the Blessing of the Animals (I wonder what’s happening over the road?) – but of course, we’re all Protestants here! This year, the Catholic celebration also specifically focuses on justice, and I thought well, in this, our season of elections, we should all be focusing on justice; justice for all and that includes the animals and the environment. I don’t notice many of the election contestants really taking that seriously, but this is no excuse for us.

And so I chose the reading from Micah.

We might also remember that right back in the beginnings of Israel’s journey as a people of the living Creator, one of the Ten Commandments focused on the well-being of all in the community.

On Friday I was rostered on as a ‘welcomer’ at the Living Wage Forum which took place at Aldersgate. It was, for someone who isn’t an official member of the Living Wage association, an inspiring event – but also worrying. Aldersgate was online with forums in Auckland and Wellington, with Wellington the main host. When there was a rollcall of who was at the venues, I was startled at the variety of organisations that are passionate about a fair chance for all to live well and safely. The faith groups were well-represented, as they should be, if they take seriously what they have bound themselves to do. The teachers, the cleaners, the nurses, the doctors, the port workers, the rail workers, the hospitality workers, the organisations that work with refugees and migrant workers, the renters ……..(I lost count). But not the developers, not the farmers, not the landowners. And although all the major political parties were specifically invited to send representatives, only the Greens, Labour and NZ First showed up and were prepared to face the issue.

The Living Wage. It should be a no-brainer. If you work a 40-hour week, whatever the work is, that should mean you have enough to house, feed and clothe yourself – and your family. Some of the speakers who used their three minutes to describe the outcomes of being on the living wage made this quite clear. For one instance, the allowance that schools have to cover all their maintenance work does not factor in the living wage for all employees. Some schools have individually decided to do this and we heard from one Auckland Secondary School that does. All those cleaners and caretakers and secretaries work very hard indeed. I wonder how many of us have ever taken just a moment of time to think about the school cleaners? As the young lady who spoke about that pointed out, it’s not a soft job. She advises her new team members to use nose pegs when they clean the boys’ toilets! And then there was the Tongan minister who pointed out that yes, his people are built for hard work – but that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be fairly paid for what they do.

Altogether, it was a lively Forum. But very thought-provoking. And it brings me right back to the call for justice that sounds through all the church’s teaching. In the voices of the prophets and in the life and work of Jesus. Do justice, love kindness and walk humbly with your Lord. Simple. No need to work through all the other commands. Just get on with it, and all will be well with the world.

Except that it isn’t and it never has been. Even although most if not all of the world’s religions have much the same instruction in their books. Christianity, Judaism and Islam most certainly do. I can’t speak for the eastern faiths because I don’t know enough about them, but even with those there are expectations about care for people and the environment and, in the case of the Jain people, for every living thing. But humanity has a fatal tendency to decide that the rules for living only apply to ‘my’ special group. And the next step is then, when my group has it right, it’s OK to disregard all the others, or, to take it to extremes, to dispose of all the others. In our own lifetimes, we’ve seen it over and over again. Jews don’t count – they’re not the true people – it’s OK to get rid of them. For Jews, substitute indigenous people, other castes, other colours, other ways of dressing…. And so on, ad infinitum. We Christians even do it in our churches. Our ordination is the only correct one. Our way of doing communion is the only right way. Our baptism is the only authentic one.

If we go back to the fundamental understanding of our faith: that God, the Creator, whatever name we use, loves God’s creation, then we are saying God loves all of creation. If we are born into the Christian tradition, and faithfully follow the way of Jesus, then we have no excuses to turn our backs on any of our neighbours. We can be honest with them about where our beliefs differ from theirs but honest evaluation of other religious beliefs should not shape our commitment to living our faith.

Let’s go back to the prophet Micah for a moment. Micah lived around seven hundred years before Christ, among a people surrounded by hundreds of gods and goddesses that belonged to their neighbours. As we do. His people knew all about pluralism. Sometimes they destroyed their neighbours, and sometimes they bought just a few of their idols, just to feel a little safer. Like an insurance policy perhaps. Nevertheless there was something of a religious revival happening in Israel at the time. (It happens here sometimes.) The Temple was crowded, and giving was over budget. That rarely happens here! And when it does happen, there’s no indication that the money goes where the needs are.

Micah wasn’t happy about the vibes. Israel had become arrogant and uncaring. And so he created an image of God taking Israel to court. God calls the mountains and the hills and the foundations of the earth – the whole landscape – as witnesses for the prosecution. And when I think about that, I can imagine what witnesses for the prosecution God would call from our landscape, never mind the witnesses from among the people. The court would be crowded.

The people of Israel missed the point. Seven hundred years later they missed the point all over again and drove Jesus out when he reminded them what living in God’s kingdom meant. They thought all you had to do was to trot along to the temple or the synagogue once and week and follow the principle aim of religion (or rather, of life) which they had decided was to have more – and more – and more. Grow the GDP. Get more of everything. More roads, more power, more tourists bringing in more money. More development everywhere. Never mind what happens later down the track. That will be their problem to work out. Does that sound familiar? After all, more is what we want now.

But what does God want – now? What God has always wanted. God wants justice. God wants us to be a voice for oppressed people, unprotected people, lonely people, poor people, disabled people, young people, old people, minorities and migrants. God wants every person to be treated as God’s own child. And God wants the birds and the animals and the oceans and the lands to be treated as God’s own creation.

God wants us to love kindness. The Hebrew word hesed used in the text means, literally, God’s loving-kindness. God loves us and we are to respond by loving others.

And God wants us to be humble, not arrogant. All that we have is an undeserved gift from God. Use it; listen for the voice of God wherever and whenever we are; learn how others on the road make sense of their lives.

We are learning – slowly – that all of creation is part of one unified web of life. I carry in my mind the image of a hydrogen atom, split in half and thrown into the cosmos but still the two parts of the atom are connected and if ever they came together again they would merge into one. Knowing that connection as we now do, the practice of justice and love needs to embrace both human and non-human life. In the words of Carol Dempsey, “The humble walk with God is a walk of holy reverence and awe across the planet, with people being attuned to, and learning from, the divine Spirit that pulsates at the heart of all.” Amen.