DECEMBER/JANUARY REFLECTIONS FROM OUR ASSOCIATE PASTOR
As you know, many missions conscious Christians (including St. Andrew's own Missions Committee) these days are changing their shopping habits to address human rights and economic justice issues all over the world. Sweatshop labor, and animal cruelty have all left their horrific marks on God's good creation and God's beloved children.
Now, with the Christmas season approaching... and along with it deals and sales, consumer spending frenzies, and just the plain old drive to pick out that perfect something for that special someone...we have the opportunity to make a difference in the name of Jesus Christ. Jesus said that we should care for the poor and needy, the orphan and widow. Jesus said that we should love our neighbor as ourselves. Jesus said that we each have a part to play in tearing down the evil kingdoms of the world and building God's Kingdom. What better way to start than by channeling our hard earned Christmas spending to support individuals, companies, and micro-economies that are changing, healing and renewing lives?
Fair Trade is a process by which businesses are corporations take responsibility to pay a decent living wage to employees and/or pay a fair price for a local peoples' produce or products. This allows for parents to provide for their families, children to be educated and receive medical care, andcommunities to thrive in a long term self-sustaining way. Fair Trade seeks to abolish the still all too common bottom line mentality of corporations that seek to use the cheapest labor and productions methods available to maximize profits. Many times this is done overseas by hiring factories that use child labor, or slave labor and by using processes that endanger health and welfare, environmental integrity, and the very existence of local communities. What is left is poverty, suffering, sickness and pollution for local people while a few corporate masterminds walk away with bulging pockets.
Many of us are familiar with Fair Trade and we don't even know it. A similar campaign of a few generations ago had a similar thrust... the Buy American initiative. The same principles were at play... corporations were (and still are) heading overseas where cheap labor increases profits. The American worker (who is more or less protected in the US and guaranteed a living wage) loses their job because it is cheaper to use children, slaves and factories that don't have to worry about pollution regulations and expenses.
So, this Christmas spread peace and goodwill in more ways than one... buy Fair Trade products for your gift giving. Your loved ones will be touched by the added meaning and importance each gift brings; local communities all over the globe will be sustained, supported, and encouraged to thrive, and a strong message will be sent to all coprorations... that we care about our neighbors and will not support their mistreatment with our spending dollars. Amen. Yours in Christ, Erik
Search and shop Fair Trade stores and products online:
http://www.globalexchangestore.org
http://www.tenthousandvillages.com/home.php
http://www.globalstewards,org/fairtradeshops.htm
http://shop.equalexchange.com/
http://www.abetterfootprint.com/servlet/StoreFront
http://www.gaiam.com/category/fair-trade.do
http://www.sweatfree.org/shoppingguide
http://www.shewhopaints.com/fairtrade/index.html
November/ December 2009
As you know, many missions conscious Christians (including St. Andrew's own Missions Committee) these days are changing their shopping habits to address human rights and economic justice issues all over the world. Sweatshop labor, and animal cruelty have all left their horrific marks on God's good creation and God's beloved children.
Now, with the Christmas season approaching... and along with it deals and sales, consumer spending frenzies, and just the plain old drive to pick out that perfect something for that special someone...we have the opportunity to make a difference in the name of Jesus Christ. Jesus said that we should care for the poor and needy, the orphan and widow. Jesus said that we should love our neighbor as ourselves. Jesus said that we each have a part to play in tearing down the evil kingdoms of the world and building God's Kingdom. What better way to start than by channeling our hard earned Christmas spending to support individuals, companies, and micro-economies that are changing, healing and renewing lives?
Fair Trade is a process by which businesses are corporations take responsibility to pay a decent living wage to employees and/or pay a fair price for a local peoples' produce or products. This allows for parents to provide for their families, children to be educated and receive medical care, andcommunities to thrive in a long term self-sustaining way. Fair Trade seeks to abolish the still all too common bottom line mentality of corporations that seek to use the cheapest labor and productions methods available to maximize profits. Many times this is done overseas by hiring factories that use child labor, or slave labor and by using processes that endanger health and welfare, environmental integrity, and the very existence of local communities. What is left is poverty, suffering, sickness and pollution for local people while a few corporate masterminds walk away with bulging pockets.
Many of us are familiar with Fair Trade and we don't even know it. A similar campaign of a few generations ago had a similar thrust... the Buy American initiative. The same principles were at play... corporations were (and still are) heading overseas where cheap labor increases profits. The American worker (who is more or less protected in the US and guaranteed a living wage) loses their job because it is cheaper to use children, slaves and factories that don't have to worry about pollution regulations and expenses.
So, this Christmas spread peace and goodwill in more ways than one... buy Fair Trade products for your gift giving. Your loved ones will be touched by the added meaning and importance each gift brings; local communities all over the globe will be sustained, supported, and encouraged to thrive, and a strong message will be sent to all coprorations... that we care about our neighbors and will not support their mistreatment with our spending dollars. Amen. Yours in Christ, Erik
Search and shop Fair Trade stores and products online:
http://www.globalexchangestore.org
http://www.tenthousandvillages.com/home.php
http://www.globalstewards,org/fairtradeshops.htm
http://shop.equalexchange.com/
http://www.abetterfootprint.com/servlet/StoreFront
http://www.gaiam.com/category/fair-trade.do
http://www.sweatfree.org/shoppingguide
http://www.shewhopaints.com/fairtrade/index.html
Autumn 2009: Growing and Changing Faith
You know… a faith that is not growing, not changing, isn’t really a faith at all. God may be unchangeable and God’s Word may be the ultimate authority… but we are works in progress, living out our days on the shifting sands of a perilously broken world.
Oftentimes this means making hard decisions with imperfect knowledge or doing our best with a bad situation. We are often plagued by worry and fear, greed and pride, and the defining characteristic of sin itself: addiction to selfishness. Let’s face it… oftentimes it means our grasp on truth and our course of action, as clear and straight as they may seem to us, are actually murky and riddled with error.
That’s why we hold fast to the words of Jesus, “I AM the way the truth and the life…” Jesus uses this phrase “I AM” a number of times in John’s Gospel both to show the world how he is the one who fills and fulfills the basic needs of humanity and to identify himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob… the God of Moses (Exodus 3:14) who led the people out of slavery and into the Promised Land.
“I am THE WAY the truth and the life…”
Our ‘way’ of doing things is almost always colored by our own agendas and appetites on the one hand, and our fears and aversions on the other. No matter how we try to rationalize it our ‘way’ is rarely what God had in mind… and God’s WAY is not what we had in mind. Take Peter, for instance, when he is called upon by the Roman Centurion, Cornelius, to preach the Good News to his household (in Acts 10). God’s WAY was to open the possibility of salvation and the gift of the Holy Spirit to non-Jews (even Romans!!!)… Peter’s way was the status quo of ‘Jews only’ and ‘clean vs. unclean’. Thankfully, in the end, Peter knew whose ‘way’ should rule the day.
“I am the way THE TRUTH and the life…”
Our ‘truth’ is often rigid; painfully universalized and institutionalized until it is more like a weapon with which to berate others who hold differing views, or more like a crutch upon which we rest our hearts and minds so we don’t have to go through the arduous and humbling process of re-listening to God in each new day and situation that life brings. The ‘TRUTH’ Jesus lived and spoke was processed by the religious leaders through their own system of laws and traditions… their own systems of ‘truth’. The result was predictable: Jesus was branded a nut, a blasphemer, and in league with the devil, while Jesus convicted them of being hypocrites (see Mark 7).
“I am the way the truth and THE LIFE…”
Our ‘lives’ are short, messy, and often full of contradictions. It is easy to be ashamed, afraid, or apathetic. It takes real courage to hope for a life more than just our broken years on the face of the Earth, a greater life that encompasses, validates, and makes whole our broken life. Maybe it is in this that our deepest, greatest fear is realized: we cannot fix our brokenness, we cannot ultimately validate our years of life, and we cannot save ourselves, literally or spiritually. Whatever we might think happened in the crucifixion, one things is for sure: God took the worst evil, the greatest shame, the messiest torture, and the most apathetic and selfish power people… in short the ultimate worldly brokenness… and through Jesus made the most incredible promise of transformation, healing, and renewal… in short the ultimate eternal salvation.
Now, many Christians stop here and say… “Now THAT is the Gospel!!!” … and surely it is, but it is only the beginning of the story. The way, truth, and life that Jesus lived was completely and utterly spent in healing the sick, serving the poor, befriending the outcast, helping the criminal, opposing the powerful, condemning the selfish, and fostering justice and mercy. Jesus life was never dull, always changing, and had a big impact on people’s lives. Those whom he chose and called to be his disciples were always being challenged to grow and change in their faith… and in turn have their faith grow and change the world around them.
Here at the beginning of the 21st Century the boundaries of our faith are being replaced by rapidly expanding ‘growing edges’. Issues of global culture, terrorism, global economic crisis, environmental degradation, global warming, global poverty, fair-trade, third-world, immigration, and universal health care (just to name a few) show us that we cannot just rely on the faith that grandma brought us up with. It means hard choices, sacrifice, life-style changes, and a whole new global sensitivity to the question, “who is my neighbor”.
If our lives are dull or unchanging, if people are not being impacted with the Gospel by our words and deeds, if everything is just the same old, safe old way doing things for me, me, me, and mine, mine, mine… it isn’t really faith, is it?
Here at St. Andrew UMC there is something for your heart, mind, spirit and hands whether you have been a Christian for 8 hours, 8 days, 8 years, or 8 decades… faith is growing and changing around here… and it’s changing lives. I am looking forward to seeing both old and new faces at the autumn session of Open Doors Church Gathering on Wednesday evenings (5:30 Dinner, 6:30 Gathering, 7:00 classes/discussions 9/16 through 10/22). Pastor Mark and I will be leading a great DVD discussion put out by the Wesley Ministry Network called Serious Answers to Hard Questions. It showcases some of the most perplexing and difficult issues of faith and the life of the church such as: the problem of evil, tolerance and other religions, the role of science, and the sins/hypocrisy of the church. I will also be assisting in the Spiritual Gifts small group discussions during Open Doors. I encourage everyone to come out and talk about how God has specifically equipped you for a transformative work in this world. Finally, we will also be discussing ‘Faith and Growing Edges’ during the autumn morning chapel services at 8am (beginning 9/20). Hope to see you all there.
SUMMER 2009
With summer on the way we look forward to a much needed change of pace. In the life of St. Andrew that means many of our programs 'take the summer off'. And while the programs of the church may have stopped for a season...and while the faithful folks of our church community may be off on vacation...the real truth of who we are as followers of Jesus Christ never stops or goes on vacation. We are the people of God with a special identity to live fully, a special example to show the world, and a special gift to claim: God in Jesus Christ...saved us and the world...gathered us together and changed us into something new and better than we were before... and continues to transform us and the world into the eternal and perfect, that God had planned from the beginning.
Now THAT is Good News!!!
With this in mind, and knowing how folks really appreiciate summer lists like: the top ten best vacation spots or the top ten day trips of the summer or the top ten summer restaurant picks... I offer to the community of faith a list of ten 'out of the church' things you can do to stay connected with your faith during the summer:
1. Summer is the time to be outside. Take a moment to look, taste, touch, hear, and smell nature around you...and pray a little prayer of thanks to God. For added enjoyment, do it as a family.
2. Summer is the time for blockbuster movies. Take a few minutes to have a family discussion about the movie you have seen and how the story might relate to the Christian faith.
3. Do a day trip service project or volunteer opportunity.
4. When out of town, visit a church completely different from St. Andrew... see how other Christians worship God.
5. If you go to the beach or the lake or camping in the woods...bring a little packet Bible along with your other reading material.
6. Get a few friends together and have a book discussion. Pick an easy read book of any, genre... but have your discussion focus on drawing connections to your life of faith.
7. Make a 'program year' resolution. We make new year resolutions... make one change or improvement to your faith life over the summer to carry over into the new program year come September.
8. 'Work' for God. While doing those long neglected summer work projectd, like cleaning out the garage or painting the house, focus your thoughts and attention on 'doing it all for the love of God'. Faithful Chrisitians for thousands of years have used 'work' as a way to pray and mediate on God.
9. Go to a Christian concert, festival, or event. There are manyof these happening all over New Jersey and the wider region. Nothing encourages faith like hanging out with thousands of other faithful folks.
10. Rest. We are all always way too busy. When we don't slow down we miss hearing God's voice, we miss seeing God's face, and we miss being a full part of God's love and plan. Schedule some down time with no other expectations than to look and listen for God. God WILL speak. God WILL reveal.
Happy Summer Everyone!
Erik