AD CLERUM - October 2004

My Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ

Having arrived home intending to spend my last week of leave just skulking around the house, I have found myself drawn into both diocesan and Provincial matters to such an extent that I have simply cancelled my last week of leave and am back in harness. Hence this brief reflection in an Ad Clerum that was to have been put out by the Vicar General.

We spent our time away in Namibia, a wonderful, beautiful country whose desolate, desert spaces I find so enormously conducive to prayer. Some of our time was spent in the Caprivi region which is one of the more densely populated parts of the country. As in so much of Africa, everywhere there is evidence of the church - in missions and hospitals and schools, and in little churches in every village. But everywhere, from the little reed huts that are their churches, to the surrounding buildings and homes, I was struck by the poverty of the people and their ongoing struggle to eke out an existence. And it evoked a deep sadness and pain in me. The poor may indeed be blessed by God, but there is nothing blessed about the state of poverty.

I was again struck by the level of poverty as we returned home through parts of a parish in which I once served in what is now the Diocese of Matlosane and I was reminded of some words of Archbishop Njongonkulu about his ministry in the Diocese of Kimberly and Kuruman. In his excellent book, "A World with a Human Face," he wrote:-

"It is there I came face to face with the reality of poverty as found in women, children, the elderly and people with disability. It was there where I saw women spend four to five hours a day fetching water and firewood - where I saw in real terms the evil of apartheid with electricity pylons going over the houses of people to supply farms for white people, where I saw water supplies made available only to white farmers."

Those words echo my own experience in that part of the world and the visual reminder again of all that poverty rekindled in me the pain of trying to minister God's love to the marginalised in the face of the world's blatant selfishness, indifference and injustice. And I could not help but reflect on that poverty and the incredible relative wealth of our diocese. Even the poorest of our parishes enjoy levels of prosperity most of those communities can only dream about. The problem of poverty may be one of material deprivation and need, but it is, at heart, a deeply spiritual problem.

As long ago as 1970, Julius Nyerere, then President of Tanzania, said that poverty was not the real problem for we had the knowledge and resources to overcome it. The problem, he said, lay in the division of the world into rich and poor. That is undoubtedly true, but I believe that it falls into one of the basic traps of human sinfulness; that of always seeking to shift the blame onto others and to abdicate our own responsibility. As long as the world is divided into rich and poor, we can always blame the other. The problem always lies with someone else. And in believing that, we become part of the problem rather than a part of the solution.

But there is also another spiritual dimension that confronts us. We are all, from the richest to the poorest caught up in a culture that creates in us longing for material possessions and luxuries, most of which we do not really need. We all aspire to a "better" life which is measured in economic terms. From having worked in one of the wealthiest parishes in the country, I know that in the minds of most people the word "rich" always refers to others who have far more money than they do.

A former CEO of General Motors is reported to have once said, "Greed is good. It should be encouraged. Greed is what drives our economy." While the blatant "in-your-face" brazenness of the statement might both shock and offend us, the reality is that greed does, indeed, drive our consumer society, and the advertising industry exists to fuel that greed. And that has enormous spiritual implications for all of us.

At our Diocesan Conference in May, I spoke of the need for us to be a people of passion, purpose, and provision, and spoke of the need to cultivate a spirit of generosity born out of gratitude for the wonderful goodness of God to us. As we have been blessed, I said, so we are called to be a blessing to others. I went on to say that this would require of us a simpler, more sacrificial lifestyle for the sake of the kingdom and challenged us all to set aside a percentage of our personal, parish and diocesan income for the work of blessing others. If we really are passionate about building the kingdom, I said, we have to put our money where our mouth is.

A number of people thanked me for that challenge saying that it was a word from God. If so, we need to respond. The crisis of poverty is not diminishing, nor is the culture of greed that fuels it. And sadly, there has been no surge in generosity for the goodness of God. Parish giving to the diocese has remained largely static for the past few years, to the extent that the diocese is struggling to find the money we need to do the work we believe that God, and you, are asking of us. I have justified the lack of increase in giving to the diocese by saying that the significant increases in giving in parishes is being used where it is most needed - in improving the quality of ministry in the parish itself. But in looking at Provincial returns I was shocked to discover that our "significant" increases in parish income is not even keeping pace with the levels of giving in other diocese.

Poverty may be a material issue; it is also a spiritual one. Giving to God may have material implications, but it is entirely a spiritual issue, and one we need to address as a matter of urgency. Our failure to give generously and sacrificially is disobedience to God which fails God's church and hinders the coming of God's kingdom.

Many years ago I visited a church of another denomination where they took two offertory collections. The first was taken to meet the running expenses of the church, the second to fund the work of the church in the world. Both were taken in silence and in an attitude of prayer. As the pastor received the two offerings, he held them in his hands as if weighing them. And he said to the congregation:-

"Before I offer our gift to God I want us all to pause and prayerfully answer two questions:-

i)                    Does my gift truly express my gratitude to God for the blessings of this past week? And

ii)                  Is this gift of mine a true reflection of the extent of my commitment and desire to see God's kingdom grow?"

And then he prayed:      "Lord, take us and our possessions to do your work in the world."

That, of course, is the only prayer any of us can pray if our faith is to be the central driving force in our lives. That is the prayer we need to be praying daily and teaching our people to pray. Then, having prayed it, the challenge is to put our money where our mouth is. And it begins with us.

May the poverty of God's world be met by the generosity of our sacrificial giving.

+Brian

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