Friday Feb. 16 2007: Jesus and Politics
February 19, 2007
Jesus and politics
Matthew 22:15-40
Introduction
Did Jesus’ life and teaching have political content?
This week’s fairly academic reflection is a review of a book by Alan Storkey called ‘Jesus and Politics’.
In the book politics is defined as ‘all the business of the state – rule, law, nationhood, power, justice, taxation, statehood, international relations, war, and government economic policy’.
Storkey recognises that Jesus may ‘not seem political’ inasmuch as ‘he did not have an army, collect taxes, or wear royal robes, except in his final trial’ but he made comments on all kinds of political issues.
Please reflect on three different conversations that Jesus has in Matthew 22: 15-40; according to the definition above all would be deeply political statements. How did people react to these in Jesus’ time and how do they challenge us to review our own practices.
‘Following Jesus’ politics today would require radical changes in our practices, both as individuals and as nation-states.’
Prayer
Please pray:
* That we follow Jesus’ example and when necessary dare to be as radically different from the traditional culture of our time as he was.
* For Micah Challenge exploration meetings in Hungary this week and Botswana and South Africa next week.
o Please pray for wisdom for those who present Micah Challenge to invited organisational and church leaders. May they be courageous as they work together and plan for the formation of national campaigns.
* That in this decade malaria incidences would begin to reverse as Target 8 proposes.
o Please pray for good will and appropriate allocation of resources from the pharmaceutical industry.
Meditate on the Statistics
As you spend time in prayer and reflection, you may like to take a moment to silently understand with your heart the focus statistic we include each week (see below). Our hope is that you will find this series of statistics a useful resource in preparing presentations.
Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
Target 8: Have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the incidence of malaria and other major diseases
‘Malaria has significant measurable direct and indirect costs, and has recently been shown to be a major constraint to economic development. For developing economies this has meant that the gap in prosperity between countries with malaria and countries without malaria has become wider every single year.’
Source: ‘Economic costs of Malaria’, WHO 2007
You can view all our reflections to date on our website
Posted at 12:22 PM EST
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Friday January 12, 2007
January 11, 2007
Welcome! We hope you will enjoy using these reflections with us!
Reflection
Drawing on the story of the prophetess Deborah, Amanda Jackson, coordinator of Micah Challenge Australia, comments that Micah Challenge is more than a human “battle” against poverty. It is a spiritual battle for Godly values of justice - and it will be God’s victory.
Please mediate on this remarkable story in Judges 4 and 5.
‘In our campaigning, we can use all the usual methods to win support and move political mountains but we should not be surprised when God uses unusual people and methods to win the fight.’
Prayer
Please pray:
Let us pray that we can be mighty because we have God’s mighty power at our disposal as the story of Deborah reminds us.
Amanda asks in her article: what has worship to do with advocacy?
“Worship gives God his rightful place and reminds us of his faithfulness. It cements the link between faith and justice and reminds us of God’s ultimate power.”
We want to praise God for the amazing growth in Micah Challenge national campaigns in the past year – we have gone from 15 to over 30!
We praise God for his sustaining of the campaign and for the many volunteers that give their time and energy worldwide.
We praise God for the interest Micah Challenge receives – from grassroots communities to high-level policy makers.
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Meditate on the Statistics
As you spend time in prayer and reflection, you may like to take a moment to silently understand with your heart the focus statistic we include each week (see below). Our hope is that you will find this series of statistics a useful resource in preparing presentations.
Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
Target 2: Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people who suffer from hunger
‘The worst-affected regions – sub-Saharan Africa and Southern Asia – have made progress in recent years. But their advances have not kept pace with those of the early 1990s, and the number of people going hungry is increasing. Of particular concern is Eastern Asia: in the early 1990s, the number of hungry people declined; but again it is on the rise.’
Source: The Millennium Development Goals Report, United Nations, 2006
http://mdgs.un.org/unsd/mdg/Resources/Static/Products/Progress2006/MDGReport2006.pdf
Yours in Christ,
Regine, Jill and Michael
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Deborah and justice
Amanda Jackson, Micah Challenge Australia
The story of Deborah only takes two chapters in the Bible, in the book of Judges, but she makes an impact. Her story – the victory of God’s people over Canaan - can help us see how we can have victory in the fight against poverty and injustice.
Deborah is a prophet and a judge living in difficult times. Israel has been oppressed by the King of Canaan for 20 years and the nation cries out to the Lord. Deborah tells the military commander, Barak, that God has commanded him to fight and that God will give the enemy’s army into the hands of Israel.
It is a clear command and promise, yet like so many of us when faced with a challenge from God, Barak is reluctant. He will not go without Deborah.
We live in challenging times as Christians – some of us are living under oppression, some live in nations where God is given only lip service, some face social and physical poverty and some are tempted by the false gods of materialism. And we should note that Israel is in trouble because it had turned its back on God – “they again did evil in the sight of the Lord” (Judges 4: 1).
God is calling us to radical action to restore righteousness and justice and promises to be there with us as we spread God’s Kingdom values. But we need to step out.
When Deborah and Barak go to fight, not all the tribes join in (see Ch 5: 14-18). Likewise, when we seek to include as many groups as possible in Micah Challenge, some will be reluctant and some may say No. It is vital though that we reach out to include as many groups as possible and speak in ways that different traditions will understand. But some may not join in (some may even be happy with the status quo). We should take heart from Deborah’s story that if we follow God’s calling we should not be discouraged if not all Christians join in.
We should also remember that God will surprise us with the way the “battle” goes. He uses the army of Barak in a conventional way but the full victory is only won when Jael, a farmer’s wife, kills the enemy commander, Sisera, in a totally unconventional way by driving a tent peg through his head. In our campaigning, we can use all the usual methods to win support and move political mountains but we should not be surprised when God uses unusual people and methods to win the fight, especially if, like Barak, we hesitate to take up the challenge.
Jael’s part in the defeat of the Canaanites also serves as a reminder that it was God’s victory – “So God subdued on that day Jabin the king of Canaan” and in Chapter 5 verse 20 it says “the stars fought from heaven, from their courses they fought against Sisera”. In the same way, Micah Challenge is more than a human “battle” against poverty – it is a spiritual battle for Godly values of justice and it will be God’s victory.
The complete story of Deborah and Barak is not revealed until the song in Chapter 5. Praise and worship for God are a key part of the victory – “I to the Lord, I will sing, I will sing praise to the Lord, the God of Israel” (v 3) and “Awake, awake, sing a song!” (v 12).
What has worship to do with advocacy? Worship gives God his rightful place and reminds us of his faithfulness. It cements the link between faith and justice and reminds us of God’s ultimate power.
In the end, we do all we can in faith and trust that God will multiply our actions, as He did with Deborah and Barak – “let those who love him be like the rising of the sun in its might” (v 31). What a fantastic image for Micah Challenge and one that is very understandable to those of us who know about the heat of the sun.
Let us pray that we can be mighty because we have God’s mighty power at our disposal.
Posted at 08:15 AM EST
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Friday January 5, 2007
January 04, 2007
Welcome and a blessed and peaceful New Year to you! We hope you will enjoy using these reflections with us!
Reflection
Irish musician Bono called the Millennium Development Goals “the beatitudes for a globalised world”. This inspired Bishop Christopher Gregorowski from Cape Town to see the 8 MDGs as Jesus might see them.
Reading the beatitudes in Matthew 5: 1-12 and then looking at the ‘beatitudes for a globalised world’ these offer us a possibility to reflect on what might be important to Jesus today: eight offers of blessings to people who are concerned about meeting their responsibilities as citizens of God’s Kingdom.
Prayer
Please pray:
§ That we will be faithful citizens in God’s kingdom and have the courage to carry out its up-side down values.
§ Please pray for the Micah Challenge called “Stop Armut” in Switzerland as they plan activities for the new year:
· for the campaign team under the leadership of Markus Meury as they seek to mobilize Swiss churches to make poverty an issue in their churches which reflects God’s heart to the poor.
· for the regional volunteers meeting on 5th February in Bern. Pray that those involved will be encouraged and newly motivated in their fellowship with each other.
§ From the statistics below you may wonder if Mobile phones or telephone lines are of interest to God?
The answer is probably ‘yes’ when they are seen as tools for development to e.g. increase people’s ability to communicate in emergencies or for the sharing of important information.
o Please pray for the wise use of ICT (Information Communication Technology) in both rich and poor countries and for the organisations who work to improve this sector in development.
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Meditate on the Statistics
As you spend time in prayer and reflection, you may like to take a moment to silently understand with your heart the focus statistic we include each week (see below). Our hope is that you will find this series of statistics a useful resource in preparing presentations.
Goal 8: Develop a global partnership for development (trade/aid/debt)
Target 18: In co-operation with the private sector, make available the benefits of new technologies, especially information and communications
Indicator 47: Telephone lines and cellular subscribers per 100 population
‘The country with the most telephone mainlines are Mauritius and the Seychelles, with 288 and 253 per 1,000 people, respectively. The countries with the fewest telephone mainlines are the Democratic Republic of Congo and Chad, with less than one and one per 1,000 people, respectively.
The average for Sub-Saharan Africa is 10 mainlines per 1,000 persons and 74 mobiles phones per 1,000 people. In 44 out of the 48 SSA countries (92%), there are more mobile phones per 1,000 people than mainlines per 1,000 people.’
Source: Statistics from Sub Sahara Africa, World Bank, October 2006
Yours in Christ,
Regine, Jill and Michael
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BEATITUDES FOR A GLOBALISED WORLD
‘Irish musician Bono called the Millennium Development Goals “the beatitudes for a globalised world”. This inspired me to see the 8 MDGs as Jesus might see them.’
Bishop Christopher Gregorowski, Cape Town
Jesus said, “You are blessed when you are merciful: you will receive mercy.” (Matthew 5:5)
You are blessed when you seek bread for the hungry: you will be filled.
You are blessed when you provide schooling for all girls and boys: you will see God’s light.
You are blessed when you support women and girls in their quest for empowerment and equality: the power of God’s Spirit is yours.
You are blessed when you bring vulnerable children to health and strength: you will be healed and strengthened.
You are blessed when you seek the health of pregnant women and young mothers: you will be called God’s children.
You are blessed when you strive to combat HIV/AIDS, TB, malaria and other diseases: you will receive mercy.
You are blessed when you care for my creation, and seek clean water and sanitation for all, and a better life for slum dwellers: you will inherit the earth.
You are blessed when you open your borders to fair trade and your budgets to sound development: you will be richly rewarded.
You are blessed when you are persecuted for being just and seeking justice in the world: you are members of my family – for just as you do these things for your sisters and brothers in need, you do them for me.
Posted at 01:09 PM EST
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Friday December 15, 2006
December 14, 2006
Welcome! We hope you will enjoy using these reflections with us!
Reflection
If Christmas giving is a feast of mutual delight in exchange of gifts within the circle of family or friends, how do we reconcile this with a world of massive and unrelenting need?
Croatian born theologian Miroslav Wolf reflects that the son of God did not dwell among humans just to open our eyes to the intimate relationships of the trinity but also so that ‘the fragile flesh of humanity could be taken up into God’s embrace’.
Please reflect on 2 Corinthians 8:1-9 - a rather unusual passage for Christmas time!
‘At Christmas we should celebrate two kinds of gift giving, not just one. Christmas should be a feast of reciprocal giving in a circle of intimates, a provisional enactment of the advent of God’s future world. But it should also be a feast of giving to those outside the circle, a small contribution helping to align the world of sin and need with the coming world of love.’
“For you know the generous act of our Lord Jesus Christ,
that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor,
so that by his poverty you might become rich”.
(2 Corinthians 8:9)
Prayer
Please pray:
§ That God will give all of us a generous heart - not only at Christmas and not only to family and friends.
§ For the development of the Micah Challenge Blow the halftime whistle campaign plans.
o Various working groups have been formed and will start their work in the next weeks. Please pray for God’s wisdom and good communication between Micah Challenge coordinators across the world.
o For National campaigns as they contextualise international plans for their own contexts.
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Meditate on the Statistics
As you spend time in prayer and reflection, you may like to take a moment to silently understand with your heart the focus statistic we will include each week (see below). We are hoping that you will find this series of statistics a useful reference in preparing presentations.
Goal 3: Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women.
Target 4: Eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education, preferably by 2005, and to all levels of education no later than 2015
‘In only 10 of 30 developing countries surveyed did 50 per cent or more of women participate in all household decisions, including those regarding major household spending, their own health care or their visits to friends or relatives outside the home.’
Source: State of the World’s Children 2007, UNICEF December 2006
http://www.unicef.org/sowc/
Yours in Christ,
Regine, Jill and Michael
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Taken from chapter 2 of ‘Free of Charge’ by Miroslav Volf (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2005) with kind permission of the publisher
Gifts to the needy
God “scatters abroad” and “gives to the poor” (2 Corinthians 9:9). So should we. Let’s return for a moment to Christmas giving. I described it earlier as a feast of mutual delight in exchange of gifts within the circle of family or friends. But there is something very one-sided about celebrating Christmas only by ritually enacting a community of joyous giving and receiving. Though such a loving community is an earthly good on par with any other, in a world of massive and unrelenting need, it’s positively sinful for such communities to remain turned inward. The gifts should not just circulate within the community to delight its members. They should also flow to outsiders to alleviate their needs.
Consider the true gift we celebrate at Christmas, God’s advent into the world. Here is how the apostle Paul told the story of Christmas: “For you know the generous act of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9). The Son of God did not dwell among humans just to open our vista onto the circle of blissful exchanges within the Godhead. He divested himself of heavenly wealth and became an impoverished child so the fragile flesh of humanity could be taken up into God’s embrace. The circle of the Eternal Intimates opened up, and gifts traversed its boundaries to reach those in need. Our gifts shouldn’t just travel on a two-way street so givers and receivers can delight in one another; they should travel on a one-way street so that the needy may be helped, being imparted to those who may not be able to give in return.
At Christmas we should celebrate two kinds of gift giving, not just one. Christmas should be a feast of reciprocal giving in a circle of intimates, a provisional enactment of the advent of God’s future world. But it should also be a feast of giving to those outside the circle, a small contribution helping to align the world of sin and need with the coming world of love. The advent of the light into the darkness of the world is not the goal; it is part of the movement toward the goal. At Christmas we celebrate this movement. Gifts should therefore chiefly flow out to the needy; they shouldn’t largely circulate among friends.
Like God, we should give to the needy without any distinction – to stranger and to kin, to undeserving and deserving. Where the needy come from, what the colour of their skin is, or how they behave doesn’t matter. Their needs matter, as do their incapacities (though if they are able but unwilling to tend to their own needs, they are illicit takers, not legitimate recipients). It is sometimes hard to decide what exactly constitutes a need. For instance, a need in one place (a wealthy Western nation) may be opulence in another (in sub-Saharan Africa). Different givers may assess a need differently. But whatever the assessment ends up being, when the need is present, a gift should be given, irrespective of whose need it is.
You will recall that in Nathan the Wise, Sultan Saladin sought to enlist Al-Hafi, an ascetic and therefore a beggar, as his treasurer, because only a beggar knows how to give to beggars appropriately. To persuade Al-Hafi and to let him know what he expected of him, Saladin disparaged his predecessor: “He gave so ungraciously when he gave; first inquired so vehemently into the situation of the receiver; never satisfied that he was lacking, also wanted to know the cause of the lack, in order to measure the cause stingily against the offering”.
For a giver, every need is in a sense like any other need, and the mere fact of its existence is a sufficient reason for attending to it. Only ungracious and reluctant givers inspect the causes of a need and dole out the benefits in proportion to its legitimacy.
Some needy recipients may prove unworthy. They may be ungrateful, they may squander gifts irresponsibly before their genuine need is satisfied, and they may greedily refuse to pass even a crumb from their table to neighbours in more dire need. They clearly need to learn how to both receive and give – though probably not from those who give to them, lest the givers prove to be reluctant and arrogant, and therefore bad givers. Yet if recipients are in need, gifts should be given. Need is the only justification a gift requires.
Posted at 08:29 AM EST
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