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Last Sunday night I preached on the Good Samaritan. My final point was that the only sustainable motivation for loving our neighbours is an understanding of grace as opposed to morality.
I said that morality is used by secular society as well as every major religion to get its followers to do good deeds to those who are poor. Morality is essentially this: I am a good person if I do good deeds and I will therefore be worthy to receive an award. In religion it often manifests itself in: you must give to the poor because the bible commands it or the Koran commands it or the Torah commands it. If you do this, you will be rewarded by going to heaven; if you don’t do this you should feel guilty!
I stated that morality is a weak motivator; it doesn’t take people where Jesus wants them to go because it is essentially a selfish motivation. If I do good things then I will get a good reward, but if doing good things causes me to sacrifice then I will not do it because the reward doesn’t seem to be worth it. You see this clearly in the Priest and the Levite who show us how far morality can take you: not far enough. Morality is a weak motivation for mercy.
I then went on to say that experience of grace is the only motivation; Jesus puts the law expert (and us) into the story as the beaten Jew lying on the road being aided by our enemy who had no obligation to help us. A real understanding and experience of this in the saving work of Jesus is the only motivation for grace because it is not selfish but responsive.
Anyway that is all preamble to my current thought that I wanted to share with you.
(AAP: Alan Porritt)
I was thinking about how to illustrate this and I didn’t come up with anything decent for the night but since then I have had the thought that maybe the weakness of morality brought down an Australian Prime Minister!
I am speaking of course of Kevin Rudd who famously called climate change “the greatest moral challenge of our time!” The implication being that if you were a moral person – a progressive person, a good person, then you would care about climate change and vote for him. Which Australia did in the Ruddslide that was the 2007 election.
But morality is a essentially a selfish motivation and so once the cost became real, once the implications of sacrifice came home, once businesses didn’t want to pay for a price on carbon; the reward wasn’t worth it and it fell by the wayside. We couldn’t even take the first step towards conquering the greatest moral challenge of our time. Morality is weak in the face of sacrifice. Now neither party has a real policy on climate change.
I am not saying that everyone in Australia needs to become a Christian for us to do something about climate change (indeed that might even be a step backwards considering that the Christian Democrat Party for example are self confessed ‘agnostics’ when it comes to climate change, are against the Kyoto Protocol, against a prince on carbon (ETS) and refuse to do anything that will have a negative economic consequence).
The reality is that we are stuck in a way of life that has a large negative environmental impact, if we want to change that then it is going to mean sacrifice. Calling something the greatest moral challenge of our time and appealing to morality is not going to work.
But then again a citizen’s assembly of 150 randomly selected people isn’t going to work either.
Anyway, what do you think?
Last night Liz and I went along to an Italian cooking class, it was a gift given by Liz’s aunty and uncle. It was fun and educational and so I though I would share the things I learnt with all of you.
1/ God plays a very big role in Italian cooking. When you make pasta you get 220 grams of flower and immediately remove 20 grams, which is God. Then when you have added the egg and made the dough you may need to take from God to firm up your dough – but only in small quantities because we have to respect God.
Moreover it is impossible to tell people how long they should do things, whether that is to dry the pasta or sauté the garlic. You have to use God! Let me illustrate this with a question someone asked:
Student: How long do you dry it for?
Italian chef/teacher: God!
Student: But just a rough guide…
Italian chef/teacher: God!
Student: so if…
Italian chef/teacher: God!
I didn’t really understand it either. Though I think her understanding of God is very skewed, mainly because she had statues of Mary and Jesus right next to figurines of the red M&M in a wizard’s hat.
2/ Kevin Rudd and Tony Abbott should be referred to as ‘Uncle Rudd’ and ‘Uncle Abbott’
3/ Olive oil should be used liberally. Very liberally!
4/ it is a crime in Italy to use stock that you purchased at a store, you simply cannot do it. The police will come and arrest you. You must make your own.
5/ An Italian porn star once became a MP by campaigning topless. Thus if Uncle Abbott would go further than just budgie smugglers he would be PM for sure. Remove the cozzie and he would have the Italian vote in the bag!
6/ Butter should be used liberally. Very liberally!
7/ by hitting a chicken you can make it feel like fish as you eat it.
The finished product! The fruit of our labour
8/ Australians use expensive wine and cheap stock, Italians use cheap wine and home made stock. Australians have it wrong.
9/ before you start making pasta you should close all those doors and windows.
10/ the master chef people have it all wrong!
This is an article that was forwarded on to me by a colleague. It is a very interesting read and I encourage you all to read it when you have the time. It is an essay that was written by David Marr for the Monthly in September last year on Christmas Island. But it is not just on Christmas Island, it also talks about the Australian politics of immigration, how we like to keep immigration determination at a good arms length.
Christmas Island is far closer to Indonesia than it is Australia.
Some excerpts
“In a tin shed on Phosphate Hill, a brisk woman from the Department of Immigration and Citizenship sits facing a slight kid of 17. Though Ali Jaffari knows something of what is coming, he is battling nerves. His face is grey. One leg is trembling. His father, Sharif, sits quietly beside him, his head bowed. An air-conditioner thunders in the background. Both men keep an eye on the envelopes the DIAC officer has on the table: brown envelopes that hold the answer to the rest of their lives.”
” What is the audience for this operation? Evans concedes everything done here could be done on the mainland: “It was in the past.” It would be cheaper: “There’s no doubt that the cost of supplying labour and materials to Christmas Island makes it more expensive than such an operation on the mainland.” And he makes no big claims that processing on the island deters people smuggling: “I think it offers a message about excision and a strong commitment to ensuring people who seek to come to Australia arrive lawfully.” So who is that message for? Isn’t this operation really about reassuring us back home that only the chosen will reach Australia? That the boats are under control? That these people are being held, checked and sorted at a safe distance before they’re let loose on the mainland? “That’s not part of our rationale,” replies the minister. “But I think there probably is something in that.” “
“Canberra could send all boat people intercepted near the 4000 or so reefs and islands “excised” from the nation’s “migration zone” straight into the Pacific Solution. But it could not fiddle its legal obligations to those who slipped through the net of air and sea surveillance to reach the mainland. These people had to be dealt with on Australian soil by Australian tribunals and courts. So in July 2003, when a fishing boat called the Hao Kiet almost sailed into Port Hedland, the 53 Vietnamese on board were taken by HMAS Canberramore than a thousand kilometres and dumped on Christmas Island, where they languished for two years.”
“I remember as a kid being taught that this country’s survival depended on putting a wall between us and the hordes to the north. How I absorbed that lesson, I don’t remember. In my mind’s eye, I see big canvas maps on a classroom wall. It was taken for granted then that everyone up there wanted to come down here. They would not be led by armies; they didn’t have much in the way of military forces back then. They would come in little boats. I’m of the generations who can see boat people as the advance party of unimaginable numbers. Let even a few arrive and, God knows, Australians could end up looking like the people of Christmas Island.”
Some food for thought …
“Elderly homelessness remains one of the most tragic & inexcusable faults of our society that, at the time of their life when they are most vulnerable, elderly homeless men & women can expect little or no support, sympathy or services (Lipmann, 2006:274).
Sydney is a city that is comparable saturated in services for the homeless. Moreover, a Federal program to reduce homelessness and a mayor who has set ambitious targets to end chronic homelessness also supports the city’s homeless population. However elderly men and women who are homeless are being left behind 21% of the current homeless population are over the age of 55 (up from 14% in 2001) - this is a sobering statistic when you realise that people age much quicker when living on the streets. Moreover 59% of the increase in homeless numbers over the past 8 years has been people over the age of 55! The current homeless services that exist are ill equipped to meet the manifold needs of men and women who are both older and homeless. One classic example of this is the Matthew Talbot hostel, an accommodation service, which indirectly serves elderly homeless men, but is realistically nothing more than a bed and a warm meal. Men who need higher medical attention because of the health issues that come with old age are not being treated. Plus, nursing homes are often too expensive and/or don’t meet the specific needs of people who have been long term homeless.
There are however, two specific services that are aged care facilities for the homeless in Sydney. Mission Australia runs one called Charles Chambers Court and the St Vincent de Paul society runs one called Vincentian Village. However, as is the classic case in Social Work, there is significantly more demand than supply; and with the most recent City of Sydney street count showing a 13% increase in the numbers of homeless men and women in Sydney it is unlikely that this situation will change any time soon.
As part of the Federal Government’s White Paper on Homelessness “Which Way Home?” the Rudd government has committed to building one aged care facility specifically for the homeless every year for the next four years. That’s four facilities in Sydney. It’s a good start, but as our population ages and the recession continues to swell the number of homeless men and women we can’t afford to continue forgetting about the elderly homeless population.
The numbers of youth homelessness have thankfully reduced significantly. The number of 12-18 year olds has gone down by 16% and the number of 18-24 year olds has only slightly increased by 4% (compared to an increase of 36% of homeless men and women aged between 55 and 64). These results show that targeting a specific demographic will yield results. We have had great gains in the area of youth homelessness – and we should celebrate that, but we can’t forget the elderly homeless. We can’t let them continue to be the hidden homeless.
-This was taken out of an assignment that I am currently doing on elderly homelessness with some other students in my class.
In other news…
It is Kevin Rudd’s birthday today! Just realised in time (thankyou Twitter)
Well… Happy Birthday I guess.
courtesy of Timothy J
This is an article that was emailed to me by a secular coalition on homeless who got it off the Christianity Today website. To me that is strange. Anyway I think it is worth a read so I have copy pasted it below.
“Together with Tim Costello, CEO of World Vision Australia and representatives from the Micah Challenge they launched ‘The Poverty and Justice Bible’, published by the Bible Society in association with World Vision Australia.
“I congratulate those who have put together this extraordinary work. I congratulate those who have seen fit to assemble a version of the Bible which draws starkly to people’s attention the challenge of Micah, the challenge of John, the challenge facing us all as an informed community of faith,” said Mr Rudd.
The Poverty and Justice Bible uses the Contemporary English Version of the Bible and highlights in orange over 2,000 verses that deal with the issues of poverty and justice.
“When you actually flip through this, as I did last night at The Lodge, and see the extraordinary shadings of orange all the way though, it catches your eye, and I’m sure that’s what those who have put together this particular edition of the Bible have had in mind,” Mr Rudd said.
In the Poverty and Justice Bible passages that talk about the poor are hi-lighted in orange. There are over 2000 hi-lighted passages.
Speaking at the launch, Tim Costello from World Vision said, “It was US pastor and writer Rick Warren who laid the foundations for The Poverty and Justice Bible. He’d discovered that there were 2,000 verses on poverty – and couldn’t believe he’d never noticed before,” Mr Costello said.
From this initial idea, a team of Bible Society researchers read the CEV to identify every verse that’s specific about God’s take on social injustice. These range from Old Testament prophecies to Jesus’ radical teachings. “This Bible is proof that, on issues of social justice, God has plenty to say,” said Mr Costello.
In his address at the launch, Leader of the Opposition, Mr Turnbull challenged Australians to act to relieve poverty and suffering.
“I come to you today with a slightly different approach. My challenge is directed to all Australians: that if you believe strongly in justice, then you should act to alleviate poverty and suffering, give something of yourself to others. You can donate, you can give money and we should all do that when we can, and of course there are various ways to do this, but it is also important to support the work of organisations who are on the ground, working in poor communities to give them food, water, skills for life, but also hope,” Mr Turnbull said.
The Poverty and Justice Bible also contains endorsements from Church and community leaders including US based Jim Wallis, Christian activist and author and Dr Lowitja O’Donoghue, Australian Aboriginal leader. A companion journal is also available.”
On the web: www.povertyandjusticebible.org.au
