Sheep Feeding the Hungry
Gate Pa – Year A 34th
Sunday of Ordinary Time,Christ the King Sunday
Readings:
Psalm
Psalm 100
First Reading:
Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24
Second Reading: Ephesians
1:15-23
Gospel:
Matthew 25:
31-46
What I want to say:
explore
Christ the King and Matthews last block of teaching by using my submission to
the City Council regarding Easter Sunday Trading
What I want to
happen:
Do we act to earn something,
because it is the right thing to do, or because that is just who we are?
The Sermon
1. Introduction:
Lot going on today
·
baptism
·
Christ the King
Sunday –
Instituted by Pope Pius XI in 1925 to
combat the rise of secularism throughout much of Europe, including rise of non
or nominally Christian dictatorships
-
reminder that true authority resides in Christ
-
Christ’s authority resides in the church
-
and our first allegiance is to Christ and not our
country
-
honest -
self-assuredness and arrogance I struggle with
-
because too often we are simply a voice for status quo
-
or we have confused our cultural beliefs with
Christianity
o Christians
arguing for slavery, racism, sexual harassment
§ against gun
control
2. Matthew
also have
Jesus final words to teaching in Matthew
about sheep
and goats
when all
nations – not individual
judged on
how they treat little ones
Matthews
world meant the Christians
how do you
feel being called the Community of The Little Ones?
how does that fit with ideas behind Christ the
King?
interesting thing is that this judgement is
not based on what people believed
not on what they professed
But on how they acted
that none of those judged had acted that way
to earn anything
hadn’t said that if they fed hungry they would
get into heaven
they just acted that way because that is who
they were.
3. Who are we?
Last week Bonnie said our liturgy is life!
When we really engage in liturgy
it has the potential to be where we live out
who we are meant to be.
it is where we learn compassion, forgiveness,
generosity.
we learn to be people of aroha
we become people who feed the hungry, give
drink to the thirsty, welcome the stranger, clothe the naked take care of the sick and visit those in prison
and we don’t do this to earn anything
don’t do this because it is the right thing to
do
we just do it
When Christ is our first allegiance
this is who we become
it should mean we see the world a little
differently
4. An example
want
to offer an example of what I am talking about
during
week I presented an oral submission on behalf of the parish against Easter
Sunday Trading
Interesting
experience
I
could have taken the line other Christians took
that
Christ the King Sunday suggestes I should take
and
argue the bible forbids it.
That
would have gained no traction
Instead
I based my comments around two question
1.
what do we
gain as a city? –
very little
2.
what do we
lose? – great deal.
I said that
a) the dominant society and culture
in Aotearoa is based upon Christian values and beliefs
o because until very recently vast
majority of people live here where happy to be identified as Christian even if
they did not go to church
-
half still identifying themselves as such
o those values prioritise people,
family, relationships, community and space to rest
§ over production, consumerism, and
profit
o Current policy of having shops
closed on Good Friday and Easter Sunday remind us of the Christian roots or our society
o affirm the importance of those
values
o in discarding that policy and
allowing shops to open on Easter Sunday we are losing contact with these roots and are walking away from these
important values – at our cost as a community.
è I even the USA –
-
home of greedy capitalism – mantra many is “greed is good”
o which is so clearly articulated
in Trump’s presidency
o people treated as either
producers or consumers in the market
o and profitmaking reigns supreme
o even here, shops are closed on
Easter Sunday.
o why then are we are in such a
hurry to abandon our roots and walk away from the values they represent?
o We only have 3 ½ days a year
where shops are closed-
o 3 ½ days which say for this time
we put people ahead of profit,
§ communities ahead of consumerism,
§ rest ahead of the endless call to
be productive and work.
o it is already too little
o why are we wanting to be rid of
one of them?
o
when
legislation led to current discussion was put before parliament, The Anglican
Archbishops in Aotearoa New Zealand wrote a submission
§ in it they
questioned what they call the “false freedom” of open-slather trading on Easter
Sunday.
§ they suggested that such a move in the name of “freedom”
will strip away family freedom and workers’ rights.
I
quote
§ “The market has permeated every aspect of our
life. The question that we are faced with, and which Easter Sunday reminds us
of, is whether the market ultimately defines who we are, or whether there is
any human value that can exist outside the market – values like care for
others, compassion for those in need, justice, integrity, hope.”
§ “Are
we simply consumers, running like hamsters on a wheel in a market place, or is
there more to us than this? We believe
that there is more to life than this. The reality of Easter Sunday shows that who
we are as human beings is not ultimately determined by the market place, by
wealth, or by economics..”
Please don’t walk away from these values that are inherent in both Christian story and in or
society
c) with the Archbishop I wonder about the cost to
workers
o they currently enjoy 2 days over
Easter to enjoy Jazz festival
o be family and friends
o rest from demands owning or
working in retail
o with no pressure to be open or to
work
o it is such a gift for these
people based on the values I have been talking about.
o many workers in retail earn
minimum wage
o they have little voice in when
they work
o saddened that group that is often
poorly paid with the least amount of voice are once again being asked to meet
the demands of others with very little remuneration
§ they don’t even get penalty
rates.
o A day that was a gift for them to
be with friends and family with no pressure to work taken away from them
§ little gain for them
§ little gain for us as a city
è why do it?
In conclusion –
I would suggest that the benefits from allowing shops to open on Easter
Sunday are few and the costs to our community are too great
·
The costs of the placing of profit ahead of people and families
·
the cost to workers
are too great a price to pay
Ask you please to vote this proposal down
We have thrived with shops closed on Easter Sunday
allow us to continue to thrive as we have at Easter
please continue with policy that reminds us of the Christian roots to
our culture and values
that at its best treats people as important and not
as cogs in economic wheel
and values family, community and
rest over productivity, profit and consumerism.
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