Seventy new Toys
From Wellington Cathedral of St Paul
Seventy new toys: 3 April 2011: pm: The Very Revd Frank Nelson
- Psalm 31
- Micah 7
- James 5
Tonight’s rather long readings leave us uncomfortable and challenged. The prophet Micah, active during the 8th century before Christ, roughly the same time as Isaiah, Amos and Hoseah, reflects the changing of the times. For nearly half a century the people of the northern kingdom of Israel had lived in prosperity and peace. At least, those who had jobs, were land-owners and business people, did. But even as the rich got richer, those at the bottom of the pile got poorer as their access to land for farming was stripped away. It all came to an end when the Assyrians, under the leadership of Sennacherib, came sweeping westward, swallowing up one little kingdom after the other. Micah’s great cry, heard in the opening words of tonight’s reading, is that there are no longer people who live lives faithful to God and the Covenant.
Contrary to what a lot of people think, Jesus was not the first to link the love of God and neighbour. Those ancient prophets focused on justice and righteousness in response to God’s love and care. To worship God, was to care for the widow and orphan. Love of God and love of neighbour cannot be separated. Yet this is precisely what was happening in late 8th century BC Israel – the kingdom which was obliterated by the Assyrians. Less than two hundred years later, and apparently having learned nothing from their northern cousins, the people of the southern kingdom of Judah, focused on Jerusalem, were over-run by Nebuchadnezzar’s armies from Babylon.
Centuries later, and into New Testament times, St James lends his name to a letter which continues the theme. “Come now, you rich people, weep and wail for the miseries that are coming to you. Your riches have rotted and your clothes are moth-eaten.” (James 5: 1 & 2) The theme is quite simple: You say you love God. Let the actions of your lives, in taking care of the poorest in society, the most vulnerable, demonstrate that love in practical ways. When talking about the Epistle to James, Martin Luther’s words are often quoted. In the 1522 edition of Luther’s Preface to the New Testament he refers to James as an epistle of straw. Luther himself removed the words in later editions; but of course they stuck, and Luther continues to be associated with those who would excise James from the New Testament. Now is not the time to argue the relative merits of law and works as propounded by St Paul, and interpreted by Luther and other Reformers. What we should rather note are perhaps more important words of Luther, who also wrote: 'Faith is a living, restless thing. It cannot be inoperative. We are not saved by works; but if there be no works, there must be something amiss with faith' [Here I Stand, 259]
And this is precisely the point of both Micah and James: religious practices, beautiful though they might be, are empty unless accompanied by works of action. This is a real challenge to those of us who sing beautiful music – in both Lutheran and Anglican churches. If our worship of God stops at the music ….?
Micah spoke out against the unjust practices of his day, as did James in his. Lest we think that we are immune from the practices condemned by these two books in the Bible, let us look briefly at two examples from our own age. I don’t pretend to understand the ins and outs of the financial markets, but we continually hear about the Financial Crash of 2008/9. We also hear about the absurdly high salaries that CEOs in the world’s banks and companies continue to receive. Writing just last year in a book entitled “Them and Us” Will Hutton comments on the way in which “the base pay of CEOs in the FTSE 100 has risen from 47 times an average worker’s salary in 2000 to 81 times now.” (page 6)
Hutton goes on to list some of the truly absurd and obscene amounts of money bandied about. Even given Hutton’s obvious bias it is hard to understand how anyone can justify paying $100 million for a piece of art. It is even more obscene when the art work, a death mask created by David Hirst, is entitled For the love of God?
These examples of greed are hard to comprehend.
Yet an article in Your Weekend, an insert in yesterday’s paper, explores the current trend in children’s toys. The author, Matt Philip, comments on the unusual phenomenon of his young children amusing themselves for over an hour simply painting stones. He quotes a US statistic that suggests children will get an average of 70 new toys each year – that’s more than one a week. Where does the money come from to buy all those toys, and what happens to them? Who and what is being left out? What do the Micahs and the Jameses of today say about this big spend? And just in case you think I am getting at children who receive, and parents and grandparents who give, toys in quoting the article in yesterday’s paper, notice the placing of an advert at the end of the article for an entertainment Expo – clearly aimed at adult entertainment!
In his day Micah was not afraid to call down the wrath of God; to see the approaching Assyrian army as the hand of God. Today, we are less quick to see things like financial crashes as God-inspired. We are uncomfortable with self-appointed prophets who claim that tsunamis and earthquakes are God’s punishment on an age which has largely turned away from religion.
As we move through the midpoint of Lent let us recall that the cross of Jesus remains intensely disconcerting to our age. A current advert for hot cross buns includes the line – “for a short time only, just like Jesus.” On Holy Saturday we will light our Easter Candle. A few minutes later three people will make a solemn commitment to Christian life and service as they are presented for Confirmation. Among the questions is this one: “Will you seek to love your neighbour as yourself, and strive for peace and justice?” To which they are asked to reply, “With God’s help, I will.” Perhaps we are not that different to the people of by-gone ages who grappled with the ever current phenomenon of the rich getting richer, and God’s uncomfortable prompting to care for the underdog in our midst.
