God is not a Punitive God
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Do not pimp the poor
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Today I share some insights from Nadia Bolz-Weber:
“… while we as people of God are certainly called to feed the hungry and cloth the naked … It can be dangerous when it starts to feel like we are placing ourselves above the world waiting to descend on those below so we can be the “blessing” they’ve been waiting for like it or not. It can so easily become a well-meaning but insidious blend of benevolence and paternalism. It can so easily become pimping the poor so that we can feel like we are being good little Christs for them.
Jesus says I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me. Which means … Christ comes not in the form of those who feed the hungry but in the hungry being fed. Christ comes not in the form of those who visit the imprisoned but in the imprisoned being cared for. And to be clear, Christ does not come to us AS the poor and hungry. Because as anyone for whom the poor are not an abstraction but actual flesh and blood people knows … the poor and hungry and imprisoned are not a romantic special class of Christ like people. And those who meet their needs are not a romantic special class of Christ like people. We all are equally as Sinful and Saintly as the other. No, Christ comes to us IN the needs of the poor and hungry, needs that are met by another so that the gleaming redemption of God might be known. And we are all the needy and the ones who meet needs. Placing ourselves or anyone else in only one category or another is to tell ourselves the wrong story entirely.”
Peace, Alan
Gift of vulnerability
//I was given a gift this week — a Christmas present. It was not wrapped up in Christmas paper and it did not come with a card attached. When the gift was being given to me the person did not say: “Happy Christmas”. If you had to ask the person who gave me the Christmas gift: “Have you given Alan a Christmas present?” The answer would be, “no”. But they did — they just don’t know it. And what is more the gift fitted perfectly — it was tailor made for me — one of a kind in all the world. As I said, I was given a very precious Christ-gift this week.
I was given the gift of vulnerability. Vulnerability through open and honest conversation. These days this is quite a rare gift to be given even though it is a gift all of us have to give, as well as being a gift all of us desperately need — although we are perhaps equally afraid of.
The vulnerability I am speaking about is not to be confused with fragility. Weaknesses are spoken about but there is nothing weak about this vulnerability. It takes strength to share ones weakness. It takes courage to stand exposed before another. It takes confidence to strip.
I was reminded again how vulnerability begets vulnerability. I experienced how shared vulnerability can facilitate inner freedom and caring connection.
Humble, gentle, truth-telling and humble, gentle, non-judgmental listening. These are gifts we are all able to gift each other with. They really are the most authentic Christmas gifts. They are not for sale because they are free — may God give us the courage to share them.
Jesus came full of grace and truth … let us do the same. Alan
The horror of hunger
//Each week after we have shared in the benediction I walk to the doors to be available to shake hands with you as you leave. Last Sunday after we had spoken the words of our disturbing benediction (printed below) I was met by a young man who spoke earnestly into my ear. He looked like he had slept rough the night before — perhaps he was homeless I am not sure — I had not seen him before. He was asking me for something. I thought he was asking me for money — and I was about to tell him that I don’t do that — when he even more earnestly repeated his request. This time I heard him clearly. “Pastor please give me the left over bread on the table over there.” He was referring to the remainders of the bread from Holy Communion. I was reminded again of the horror of hunger that companions so many people in this beloved country! And the words of our Benediction of discomfort echoed again …
May God bless us with discomfort,
At easy answers, half-truths, and superficial relationships, so that we may live deep within our heart.
May God bless us with anger,
At injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, so that we may work for justice, freedom, and peace.
May God bless us with tears,
To shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation, and war, so that we may reach out our hand to comfort them and turn their pain to joy.
And may God bless us with enough foolishness,
To believe that we can make a difference in this world, so that we can do what others claim cannot be done.
Amen.
Remember that we always are need of volunteers after each worship service to help serve Sunday Lunch at the service dining hall on Canterbury Street.
Mary
//A different interpretation on the story of the Virgin Mary.
SABC Radio Broadcast – Lazarus and the Rich Man
//Earlier this year we had a sermon broadcast on SAFM – one of the SABC’s radio stations. This sermon – entitled Lazarus and the Rich Man – was recently rebroadcast, and we have received a few requests for a link to the sermon. You can download the sermon using the download link provided below.
[button type=”3″ link=”https://www.cmm.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/01-Lazarus-and-the-Rich-Man-1.mp3″]Download Sermon[/button]
You can download other sermons by accessing our sermon archive:
[button type=”3″ link=”https://www.cmm.org.za/sunday-sermon/”]Visit archive[/button]
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Credit: Image by Mr. Kris, used under creative commons license.
An African Nativity by Harry Sitole
//The Christmas Day Service is at 10 a.m.
New Year’s Eve Reflection and Communion is between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m.
New Year’s Day Service is at 10 a.m.
Advent Emancipation
//On the 1st Dec. 1834 the Emancipation of the Slaves within the British Empire was announced from the Town House steps on Green Market Square. It actually took another four years for the Slaves in the Cape Colony to be free because the colonial government of the day wanted to give the protesting slave owners time to adapt. Slaves therefore worked as apprentices for their former owners without pay for four more years. Many therefore regard 1st Dec 1838 as the real emancipation Day. This reminds us that freedom was something hard struggled for. We think of William Wilberforce who struggled against slavery for 50 years of his 74 year life. The following speech he made some 42 years before the 1833 Slavery Abolition Act:
Let us not despair; it is a blessed cause, and success, ere long, will crown our exertions. Already we have gained one victory; we have obtained, for these poor creatures, the recognition of their human nature, which, for a while was most shamefully denied. This is the first fruits of our efforts; let us persevere and our triumph will be complete. Never, never will we desist till we have wiped away this scandal from the Christian name, released ourselves from the load of guilt, under which we at present labour, and extinguished every trace of this bloody traffic, of which our posterity, looking back to the history of these enlightened times, will scarce believe that it has been suffered to exist so long a disgrace and dishonour to this country. [House of Commons, 18 April 1791]
This past week we celebrate (though very late) the new Government plan to counter the AIDS epidemic and thank God for those who persevered in struggle. Let us assist and get ourselves tested – trusting that the truth will set us free. Advent Emancipation. Alan
Advent and the secrecy bill
//This past Tuesday I went to the National Assembly and witnessed the passing of the Secrecy Bill. To see MPs voting as slaves to their party rather than as servants of the people was sad — the notable inspiring exception being Gloria Borman. But as Upton Sinclair said: “It is difficult to get a man [sic] to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it.” The Secrecy Bill goes against what we know to be true about the human condition and that is when we mess up — we cover up. Adam and Eve taught us that. And therefore laws should make it more difficult to cover up and not easier. Laws should encourage people to be whistle-blowers of the truth rather than threaten to criminalise the truth-teller. Let us stay awake….
In the evening I bore witness to another meeting — this time in Khayelitsha and of mostly young people. The venue was very different to parliament’s plushness and that was not the only difference. The conversation was defiantly hope-full. I listened to people dream of “one Cape Town” and declare that they “cannot wait for government to deliver” so they must “deliver themselves – through education” and I listened to speakers encourage young people to become “lawyers for the poor”. How the crowd appreciated being seen as a generation full of potential rather than a lost generation. Today is the first Sunday of Advent — a day of hope-filled expectation. For me Advent started on Tuesday evening. Alan
Gospel economics
//In the sermon last week we reflected on Gospel Economics as revealed to us through Jesus’ parable of the talents found in Matthew 25. The popular interpretation of this parable encourages us to not waste the gifts that God has given us and advises us to work hard. Simply put: “God helps those who help themselves” (which by the way is not in the Bible). But as we discussed last week (if you missed it you can listen to it at www.cmm.org.za ) it may well have been a peasant’s protest against the harsh master of economic inequality — who gave more to those who have, and took away from those who have little, leaving them with nothing.
In this light let me share some facts about South African income groups as printed earlier this year in the Business Report of the Cape Times:
24 060 179 people earn between R0-50k p/a
3 206 445 people earn between R50-100k p/a
3 489 549 people earn between R100-300k p/a
789 744 people earn between R300-500k p/a
304 767 people earn between R500-750k p/a
217 570 people earn R750k or more p/a
No wonder we are known as one of the most unequal countries in the world. Alan