FROM WHISPERS
TO DEEDS
Aditya
Chakrabority has reminded us recently that those “inside” Communism in the
former Soviet Union, the politicians and civil servants, knew for decades that
the system wasn’t working. They whispered among themselves but they did
nothing. They were afraid. He says something similar is happening in the
“neo-liberal” world we now live in which is dominated by “western” capitalist
values. Those employed in the system may whisper among themselves that it is
not bringing growth and development to people but they do nothing about it.
This
week, in Zimbabwe, there have been protests pointing to much the same conclusion.
Those in the system have known for years that the present policies are not
delivering justice to the people. But they are benefitting from the system and
they do nothing. Besides, they are afraid.
The
story of the Good Samaritan, in Luke’s gospel, is about a man who sees a
situation and is moved with compassion to do something about it. He overcomes
his fear of becoming involved in a roadside robbery which has left a stranger
half dead. He calls an ambulance and gets the guy to hospital. The Samaritans
were heretics to the Jews: they were outside the law. And yet here is a
Samaritan acting on the basis of a law “written on human hearts” (Deut 30:14).
Once
you are “inside” a system it is hard to think outside it. It is much easier to
disappear into the crowd and do what everyone else does. Yet history is full of
individuals who step out of the crowd and do something. Pope Francis must be
the only world leader who tells young people, “create a disturbance! Make a
noise!” He is not calling for anarchy. He is just calling on them to take a
stand. Don’t just be part of the system!
We
can think of many people who have done this. It is not just the well known
names – Mandela, Martin Luther King, Lincoln, Ghandi – but many ordinary people
we have come across in our lives who have stood for something and been prepared
to take risks.
Courage
is available to all of us in one way or another. The underlying message of the
bible is that we live in a world coming to birth; a world struggling to become
what it is designed to be. God’s plan is that “all things be reconciled through
his Son” (Col. 1:19). And each of us has the capacity to make our contribution
so that this happens.
The
Wimbledon finals, which are contests between individuals, may not have the same
appeal as the World Cup which is a contest between teams. But in tennis everything
gets narrowed down to the skill, courage and stamina of a single person. That
single person can, in my imagination, be me.
Can he or she do it? It can be an epic battle and it can mirror the
struggle I face. That is why we love sport: we see on the field a contest which
most of us never come close to being involved in. The contestants do it for us.
And we cheer them on and hope we too can touch the hem of their gament. Yet we
are uneasy. They struggle. We watch. How about my getting involved? What about
my moving from whispers to deeds?
10 July 2016 Sunday 15 C Deuteronomy
30:10-14 Colossians 1:15-20 Luke 10:25-37
