St. Margaret’s Uniting Church
Mooroolbark
Sunday 24th November, 2013
Reign of Christ
WE LISTEN TO GOD’S WORD:
READINGS Jeremiah 23:1-6 & Matthew 2:7-15
I read an article this week about some American Christian authors
who had written about what they thought it meant to be a ‘biblical’
man. Four authors and four differing opinions. Not just differing
opinions, but sadly they could not see that the values they espoused
actually had no basis in the Holy Scriptures, but rather they were a
construct of American history and culture. Such as being a man
meant somehow to emulate the chivalry of the Founding Fathers or
to dress and act tough like Civil War soldiers.
Similar reflections can be made about Australia. A lot of things that
have shaped ideas and opinion here that are not related at all to
faith.
Like the infamous White Australia policy – designed to promote
migration from Britain and similar countries in response to Pacific
Islanders and Chinese migration;
Or the myth of Terra nullius – that Indigenous Australians had no
legitimate claim to the land of this place because they were
nomadic, hunters and gatherers.
In popular media and by extension popular opinion we have a
pervading idea that boat arrivals are bad. It is somewhat ironic
because many of us arrived here by boat in waves of migration. My
family arrived on a boat in 1955, speaking a foreign language and
acting in different ways to the dominant English. I don’t think I turned
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out too strange, and I love my country of birth. Perhaps it is easy
because I am a beneficiary of the White Australia policy – that is not
too different and white enough to get by.
Ironically, our current Prime Minister who seems so vocally opposed
to boat arrivals was himself a boat arrival, a ten pound pom. And
sadly his rhetoric and that of many others muddies the facts.
For example, a report available on the Australian Parliament website
says this:
many argue that the number of boat arrivals in Australia is
very small in comparison to the significant flows of
‘unauthorised’ arrivals in other parts of the world over the
last few decades. In the US, for example, it is estimated that
more than 500 000 ‘illegal aliens’ arrive each year. Similarly,
parts of Europe struggle to monitor and control the large
influxes from Africa and the Middle East each year. In 2011
in Italy alone there were over 61 000 …
There is also a lot of rhetoric or public posturing that can so easily
persuade or distract if we are not discerning. Like minister Morison
making the recent decree that boat arrivals be spoken of as
“illegals”. When put under pressure on the issue he had to concede
that it is not illegal to seek asylum, something we need to remember
in order to be discerning of news and political reports.
Muhammed Ali once famously said: “float like a butterfly and sting
like a bee”. We might not think of ourselves as people of faith as
heavyweight boxers, but perhaps we should? I don’t mean that we
should get physical or violent, but perhaps we need to be
heavyweights in discernment – that is sharp in our critique and
response to the world using eyes of faith.
So to put that in more church like language – Jesus called the
disciples to be as cunning as serpents and yet as innocent as doves
(Matthew 10:16).
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In relation to those seeking Asylum, we need to hold many disparate
things together. It is not a simple thing at all. I encourage you in the
first instance to watch Mary meets Mohammed if you get the
chance. It was shown in short form on ABC TVs Compass recently.
The local Uniting Churches are arranging a screening of the
documentary, possibly in Healesville. It is a real, personal journey of
a new arrival to Australia from Afghanistan, and an ordinary church
lady named Mary who was fearful and resentful that a scary Muslim
man would become part of her community. Over time Mary meets
the real person and has seen Australia with new and more
discerning eyes as a result.
I don’t want to paint a glossy picture though, which is why we need
to be cunning and innocent at once. I know there are people who
see Australia as a land of milk and honey and are attracted to the so
called honey pot. I know there are people who make a living
smuggling vulnerable people on dodgy boats.
But genuine asylum seekers need our love and advocacy. And
those who become refugees have much to offer our beautiful
country, as Mary is discovering.
And as part of our discernment, we are not being inundated with
boats or asylum seekers. The number shows that boats are a
political football rather than a real issue.
On this day when we honour Jesus as servant and king, and also
remember that he was a refugee, let us be cunning as serpents and
innocent as doves as he calls us to be. Remember that we have all
benefitted from this land of milk and honey. It is embedded deeply
within Christian faith to welcome the stranger, for in welcoming the
stranger we welcome Christ. It is deeply embedded within our faith
that those who have much are expected to share God’s gifts with
those who have little.
This is our God, the servant king. He calls us now to follow him.
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[1]
From heaven You came, helpless babe,
Entered our world, Your glory veiled;
Not to be served but to serve,
And give Your life that we might live.
[chorus]
This is our God, the Servant King,
He calls us now to follow Him,
To bring our lives as a daily offering
Of worship to the Servant King.
[2]
There in the garden of tears,
My heavy load He chose to bear;
His heart with sorrow was torn,
'Yet not My will but Yours,' He said.
[3]
Come see His hands and His feet,
The scars that speak of sacrifice;
Hands that flung stars into space
To cruel nails surrendered.
[4]
So let us learn how to serve,
And in our lives enthrone Him;
Each other's needs to prefer,
For it is Christ we're serving.