Micah 6:8 (NIV)
8 He has showed you, O man, what is good.
And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.
Matthew 25:31-46 (NIV)
31"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all
the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly
glory. 32All the nations will be gathered before him, and
he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd
separates the sheep from the goats. 33He will put the sheep
on his right and the goats on his left.
34"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come,
you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance,
the kingdom prepared for you since the
creation of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat,
I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you
invited me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you
looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit
me.'
37"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry
and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38When did we see
you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When
did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'
40"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for
one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'
41"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are
cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42For
I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me
nothing to drink, 43I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed
clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not
look after me.'
44"They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty
or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'
45"He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for
one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'
46"Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to
eternal life."
David Sims tells the following eye-opening story:
“Two years ago my family and I were at the park,
on a main highway near our home, enjoying an afternoon
of watching my oldest daughter play softball.
I had noticed the man, in dirty clothes, sitting at one of
the far tables near the street, with all his earthly belongings
in a single shopping cart. I then noticed him walk our way
and I tried to make myself invisible (probably as invisible
as he feels every time someone ignores his outstretched hand.)
To my relief he was only going to the drinking fountain for
water. I was so relieved, I didn't even consider reaching
into my ice chest full with cold bottled water and offer
him one. I just allowed him to continue to drink the questionable
quality of water from the public park fountain.
After he finished his drink he lingered for a moment to watch
the girl's game. Many thoughts passed through my mind as
I looked at him. How old was he, if he had children, how
did he get into the position to be living on the streets?
He walked back to his cart without asking anyone for anything.
As the day in the park continued, my two sons, ages 9 and
3 were playing kickball on the grass around the outside of
the ball field.
I was absorbed by the softball game, but I can still remember
the scream my older son made, "ERICK STOP!" As
I turned I could see the ball my son had kicked being chased
by my younger son directly toward the highway, loaded with
fast moving cars. I screamed my son's name and began to
run the 40 or so yards to the street. To my amazement the
man
in the dirty clothes with the cart jumped up and ran in
front of my son only a few feet from the highway. The kick
ball
continued into the street to be bounced along by several
cars. I reached them both a few seconds later and immediately
begin to thank the man who so unselfishly protected my
son from harm.
I tried to give him all the money I had in my pocket. All
he said was, "that's OK man, I just wanted to help." I
begged him to take the money, and finally he reluctantly
did and walked back to his cart.
Ironically, here was someone just an hour earlier I was trying
to ignore so he wouldn't ask me for spare change. Now I would
gladly give everything I had for his act of kindness. It's
truly amazing how our vision can change so quickly. No longer
was he just a man in the dirty clothes with a cart.
He was looking like a big, beautiful Guardian Angel.”
Mr. Sims tells a story on himself and on many of us. We
can be uncomfortable with people who are different—particularly
with those who show signs of poverty.
Those of us who live comfortably often have a very hard
time understanding how people can live like the man in
the dirty
clothes. We make assumptions about how the poor got that
way and about the kind of people they are. Our assumptions
don’t usually get challenged but, as Mr. Sims’ story
points out—perhaps they should.
Jesus made no such assumptions. Jesus’ care for the
poor and all others who struggled in life simply reflected
the care God shows throughout Scripture towards those who
don’t have the advantages of others.
In our Gospel lesson we have the famous parable of the
sheep and the goats. It’s a very powerful parable because
it speaks to God’s judgement of people. It’s
not a parable that we hear preached on a lot because
it has the ability to make us uncomfortable.
In the parable, there is a division made between sheep
and goats—between the righteous and the unrighteous—between
those who are in tune with God and those who oppose God.
The division has to do with how people are treated—people
who are hungry, thirsty, people who need clothes, people
who are strangers, people who are sick and those who
are in prison. These people the parable defines as the
least,
as brothers of Jesus and ultimately as Jesus, Himself.
Those who pass the test are the ones who show compassion
and care and even sacrifice for the least. They are the ones
who see Christ in all people and treat all people as if they
were Christ.
The parable offers a powerful and sobering lesson. It has
made followers of Jesus uncomfortable from the moment it
came out of the Lord’s mouth.
But it’s essential to hear it because it reminds
us of the basic dignity and worth of all human beings.
It reminds us of the responsibility we have to share with
those who are not as blessed as we are.
It reminds us of a remark made by one of my old Social
Work Profs who taught us on the very first day of classes
in my first year, “There, by the grace of God,
go I.”
Jesus calls us to care for those we don’t understand.
He calls us to love the unlovable.
He calls us to replace assumptions with service.
This is Micah Challenge Sunday.
The Micah Challenge is a program initiated by Churches
and Christian organizations world wide. It takes its direction
from the famous verse, Micah 6:8.
8 He has showed you, O man, what is good.
And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.
This was part of the lectionary reading at the end of January
and in that sermon, I said that this verse really, in
a nutshell, speaks to what it means to be a disciple—a
follower and learner of Jesus Christ. It expresses what it
means to
live our lives as Christians.
And so the Micah Challenge offers Christians everywhere
a focus on living out our lives in ways that can help those
who are less fortunate than we are. The emphasis of the program
is on the poverty and resulting issues in the Third World.
While the Micah Challenge takes its cue from Micah 6:8 it points very clearly
to another document that has offered a great deal of hope to those living
in conditions of poverty that we could never imagine.
I quote from the insert you have in your bulletin:
“In September 2000 189 nations, including Canada,
affirmed a set of international development goals in the
United Nations Millennium Declaration. These have come
to be known as the Millennium Development Goals. They reflect
an understanding of the devastation caused by global hunger
and poverty, and aim for a world that is free of such misery.
They are achievable.
Most of them are very specific, and the UN has indicators
by which progress can be monitored.
Many countries have made significant strides in fighting
poverty despite major obstacles, such as scant resources.
Few additional resources, however, have been contributed
since the goals were adopted. If additional new funding
is not put forth, at the current rate, none of the Millennium
Development Goals will be met by their target dates.”
If you’ll recall last July when the leaders of the
G8 countries met in Edinburgh there was a real push to
have these most powerful nations on the face of the earth
recommit
to the Millennium Development Goals so that the targets
can be met by the pledged date of 2015. Rock stars Bono and
Bob
Geldof were front and centre pressuring the politicians.
To a small degree the pressure paid off. The debts of
many poor nations have been written off but more debt from
more
nations needs to be forgiven. Generally speaking the
commitment to the Millennium Development Goals from the G8
leaders was
lukewarm.
In Canada’s case such a response was very disappointing.
As David Harris, the editor of the Presbyterian Record
pointed out, we can do more as a nation who is thriving economically:
“Last year, Canada's economy generated about $1.25
trillion dollars. Last year, Canada's economy grew by about
$30 billion. Last year, Canada had a federal budget surplus
of about $8 billion, the provinces another $4 billion.
Last year, federal debt charges declined for the fourth year
in
a row.
Last year, if Canada had met the UN standard (0.7 per cent
of a country's gross national income) — set in 1969
with instrumental support by the late Lester Pearson — we
would have contributed about $8.7 billion to international
aid. Instead, last year, Canada spent about $3 billion
in foreign aid. This year, the federal government plans
to spend
only a little more, about 0.34 per cent of our gross national
income on foreign aid.
Challenged during this summer's Live 8 concerts to increase that to the Pearson
standard, Prime Minister Paul Martin said the country can't afford such an
increase, that it would threaten our financial stability, that it would put
us into debt.
…In 2003, a study by Foreign Policy magazine and the independent Centre
for Global Development in Washington, D.C., measured "foreign aid, openness
to international trade, investment in developing countries, openness to legal
immigration, contributions to peacekeeping operations, and responsible environmental
practices."
At the top of the list were the Netherlands, Denmark, Portugal and New Zealand.
At the bottom? Canada, Australia, the United States and Japan.”
David Harris
Presbyterian Record Editorial
September 2005
If that difference of $5.7 billion between the standard
accepted and the actual we gave seems a lot, please keep
in mind that each year we, in Canada, spend more than that
on pet food. (Canadian Foodgrains Bank Make Hunger History
CD)
And so the Micah Challenge offers Christians a chance to
learn about poverty in the Third World.
It offers us a chance to understand how poverty is so invasive
and affects everything in life.
It offers us a chance to make our voices heard so that
pressure can be put on the powers that be in our nation
and developed
world in order that the Millennium Development Goals, those
leaders freely accepted, won’t be ignored or forgotten.
The eight Millennium Development Goals are on the insert
in condensed form. I’ve added an expanded version of
them, as well as some websites of interest, to the text of
this sermon. If you wish a copy please sign the sermon sheet
on the table at the back or check out this sermon at St.
Timothy’s website.
The Micah Challenge is an ongoing mission. I will refer
to it and keep you informed in the months and years to
come. It’s too important an issue to lose track of.
(1794)
Websites of interest:
www.micahchallenge.ca
www.makepovertyhistory.ca
www.foodgrainsbank.ca
www.presbyterian.ca/pwsd
THE EIGHT MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS
By the year 2015, all UN member states pledged to:
1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
o Reduce by half the proportion of people who live on less
than one dollar a day.
o Reduce by half the proportion of people who suffer from
hunger.
2. Achieve universal primary education
o Ensure that all boys and girls complete a full course of
primary schooling.
3. Promote gender equality and empower women
o Eliminate the gender discrepancy in primary and secondary
education by increasing opportunities for girls to attend
school preferably by 2005, and at all levels by 2015.
4. Reduce child mortality
o Reduce by two-thirds the percentage of children who die
before age five.
5. Improve maternal health
o Reduce by three-quarters the percentage of women who die
in pregnancy and childbirth.
6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
o Halt and begin to reverse the spread of HIV/ AIDS.
o Halt and begin to reverse the incidence of malaria and
other major diseases.
7. Ensure environmental sustainability
o Integrate the principles of sustainable development into
country policies and programs and reverse the loss of environmental
resources. Sustainable development means reducing hunger
and poverty in environmentally sound ways, by: meeting
basic human needs, expanding economic opportunities, protecting
and enhancing the environment, and promoting democratic
participation.
o Reduce by half the proportion of people without sustainable
access to safe drinking water.
o Achieve significant improvement in the lives of at least
100 million slum dwellers, by 2020.
8. Develop a global partnership for development
o Reform the trading system (i.e., the World Trade Organization)
and the financial system (e.g., private capital flows and
international financial institutions like the International
Monetary Fund) so that poor countries can more easily sell
their products to developed countries at fair prices and
obtain the financial resources needed to create stable,
growing economies that lift people out of poverty.
o Focus special attention on how to help the poorest countries
mobilize the resources needed to reduce hunger and poverty
and become self-reliant.
o Focus special attention on how landlocked and small island
developing countries can promote economic development and
poverty reduction.
o Make an all-out effort to resolve the problem of unpayable
debt for the world's poorest countries.
o Develop decent and productive work for youth.
o Provide access to affordable, essential drugs in developing
countries.
o Make available the benefits of new technology
© The Rev. Dennis Cook, St. Timothy’s Presbyterian
Church, Ajax, ON, Canada
