Knowledge and Faith

Knowledge is power! The more a person knows about a tropic, the more they are seen as an expert, the more people will look to them for advice, and the more importantly they are treated. Such is our modern world.

Knowledge is power in another way as well. The more someone  knows about you as an individual, the more you rely on them not to make fun of you, or use the information against you.

Knowledge was power in Jesus’ time as well. Nicodemus was a religious expert, he knew the Scriptures and would have been held in high esteem because of this. Knowledge was also power, in a society where honour and shame  are paramount, being seen to do the right thing was often more important than what you did or why you did it.

Nicodemus goes to Jesus at night, because he doesn't want to be seen talking to Jesus. If his religious colleagues found out he would have some serious questions to answer.

Nicodemus doesn't initially ask Jesus anything, but tells Jesus what he knows about him: that he is a teacher, and that he must be sent by God because of the things he has been doing. Even though Nicodemus recognises that Jesus is someone special, he still goes in  with his current mindset of knowledge and what he knows about Jesus.

For many of us knowledge is not only power but also security, it gives us a sense of control in our lives, and control over the world around us. Doubt, mystery and questions signify weakness, weakness in ourselves that we don't want to acknowledge. And weakness in ourselves we don’t want others to know about.

When we look at what has been happening in our world this year: floods, bushfires, earthquakes, tsunamis, cyclones and civil disobedience.

It can be difficult to know what to do in the circumstances, we seek to know and understand so many things so that we feel in control. Even if we know how earthquakes happen, we can’t stop them from happening. Knowledge gives the illusion of control, but we are never completely in control.

Nicodemus came to Jesus at night and told Jesus what he knew about him. Jesus then proceeds to talk to Nicodemus about things he just doesn't understand, so much of life is mystery, so much of life is questions and doubts and fear and not knowing. That doesn't mean we shouldn't ask questions and we shouldn't try and learn, but it does mean that at times things happen that we just don't understand.

After Nicodemus tells Jesus that he must be a teacher from God because of the signs that he was doing Jesus answers him by saying :I tell you no one could see the kingdom of God without being born from above. The Greek phrase can be translated as being born again or born from above. Nicodemus chooses the wrong option. He sees only what is in front of him. While he can recognise that Jesus is a teacher and that he must come from God because of the signs and miracles Jesus has been doing, Nicodemus doesn't think any further than what he already knows. Jesus goes on and tries to talk to him about spiritual things, but Nicodemus is focused on the physical.

When we see people as purely physical beings we treat them as half people, we ignore the other side of our own life and the life of people around us.

The way the phrase born-again is used by some Christians, it suggests that we are the ones who are in control. That we choose to be born. If we read this chapter of John's gospel we read of God and the one who is in control. The well-known verse, of John 3:16 talks of God's love, of God's desire to save not to condemn. This is not to say that we should not respond to God with our whole lives, but we need to remember that it is a response and God is the main actor in this story and in the story of our lives.

Going back to the situation in Japan at the moment, and the other natural disasters that have occurred this year, each time someone for a group have tried to make sense of the situation in terms of God's judgment.

The same happened with hurricane Katrina, the bushfires in Victoria a couple of years ago, as well as floods and cyclones and earthquakes this year. These have all been explained in terms of God’s judgement, against homosexuality, abortion, egocentricity. One group is currently suggesting that the earthquake in Japan is God’s way of allowing Christian groups to move forward with evangelisation.

We know how floods happen, it's got to do with lots of rain and not enough space for the water to run away; we know cyclones are a weather phenomenon that occurs from time to time; we know of earthquakes happen when tectonic plates move and shove against each other; trying to explain why God let these things happen to some people and not to others is futile, and I would say irresponsible hurtful and an Godlike. But some people need the certainty of an explanation, when there is no explanation, and God becomes judge and executioner.

There are things in life that we have no control over, and at times all we can do is ask questions, knowing that there may not be an answer. That doesn't make the questions any less important but when we stake our faith and our life on having an answer to every question, we lose out. Faith is not about knowledge, faith is living in the mystery, faith is trusting in God when we don't know what's happening as well as when we feel like we are in some kind of control. Faith is Abram and Sarah walking away from the only place they knew.

Lament is one way that the people of Israel handled the questions for which there were no answers. We are shortly going to sing a song that is a lament, that expresses some of the unease, some of the questioning, some of the unknown.

As people of faith, we ask questions, we wrestle with doubt, but we know there are not always answers, or answers that make sense to us. As people of faith, part of the freedom that we have been given in Christ Jesus is not having to know everything, because we trust that God's love is stronger than anything else, and that God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world but that the world might be saved through him.

Just be!

Some people when they go on holidays or to something special like a wedding or a party, spend all their time taking photos, so that they can remember what happened. I am sure most of us know people who are so intent on getting souvenirs and taking photos, that they don't actually participate and experience what is going on around them. There are times when you really need to just be present.

In the chapter before the one we heard this morning from Matthew, Peter has declared that Jesus is Lord, and Jesus tells his disciples that he will die and that if they want to be his disciples they have to be prepared to leave everything and follow him. Then we get to this reading about the three disciples and Jesus going up to the top of the mountain, and something amazing happens.

Only three disciples went up the mountain with Jesus. Matthew tells us that Moses and Elijah who there with Jesus.  Moses was a great leader, it was Moses who led the Hebrew people out of Egypt and out of slavery. In the same way that Moses freed the people from slavery, so Jesus saves us from slavery of sin and guilt and shame. Elijah is one of the major prophets of the old testament and it is recorded that he was carried off to heaven in a chariot. Moses and Elijah, two of the great characters of the Old testament, are here seen talking with Jesus. There is lots of symbolism we could go into, but that can wait for another time.

I wonder what it's like for us when we experience something that leaves us speechless and not knowing what to do, what to say, how to describe what we've experienced or what we've seen?

And I wonder what it's like for those of us who haven't had those experiences?

I wonder what it was like for the disciples who were left at the bottom of the mountain?

I wonder what it was like for the three who were on the mountain,, seeing Moses and Elijah talking to Jesus, being told to listen to Jesus and then being told to keep quiet.?

There is a time to plan and think about where we go on holidays. But there are also times when we need to just be, to stop and breathe and taking the wonder of a sunset, the magnificence of a waterfall, the hug of a child. In the same way there is a time for planning and thinking and understanding and working through our faith, and there are times for us to think about our faith, there are times to count the cost of following Jesus, there are times to think about what that means and who Jesus is for us, but when we are here as we take the bread and the juice this morning is a time to be open to God a time to be present in the moment to what is happening.

A story [from 'It was on fire when I lay down on it' by Robert Fulghum, p 27ff]:

when Molly started school she helped pack the morning lunches for herself, her brothers and her father. Each bag got a share of sandwiches, fruit, milk money and sometimes a note or treat. One morning Molly gave her father two lunch bags to take to work. He asked Molly what the extra bag was? She said the other one is something else. Her father asked what was in it? Molly said: it's just some stuff, take it with you. And off it went to work he went. At midday the father quickly ate his lunch then tore open the other bag and shook out the contents: to hair ribbons, three small stones, a plastic dinosaur, the stump of the pencil, a tiny seashell, two animal crackers, one marble, a used lipstick, a small doll, two chocolate kisses and 13 pennies.

The father smiled and thought how charming, then getting ready a busy afternoon, he swept the desk clean, into the wastepaper basket, lunch scraps, Molly's bag and all. There wasn't anything in there he needed.

That evening Molly asked here father: where's my bag? Her father asked : what bag? She said: the one I gave you morning. Her father said he'd left it at the office, why? Molly said : I forgot to put this note in it, anyway I want it back those are my things in there, the things I really like, I thought you might like to play with them, but I want them back. You didn’t lose the bag, did you daddy?

OH!!!

Her father said: no, I just forgot to bring it bring it home. Molly hugged her father. Then he looked at the note: I love you daddy. OH!!!

 He rushed back to the office, picked up the wastepaper bin and pour the contents on his desk before the cleaner came. The next day he bought the back home. He asked Molly to tell him what was special about those things.

Sometimes we have missed the affection we were being given, like, “standing knee deep in the river and dying of thirst”.

Sometimes we think we don't need what we are being given, and sometimes all we can think to do is build a monument or take a photo.

Baptism reminds all of us that we are loved.

Baptism reminds all of us that we are part of the people of God.

Baptism reminds us that Jesus lived and died and rose, and in baptism we get to be part of the life and death and resurrection of Jesus.

There are times in life when we need to be present, we need to let the love of God, and the love of those around us, to wash over and through us. There are times when we need to just be. As we share in communion shortly, we rehear the story of God's interaction with people throughout history, we rehear the story of the night when Jesus was betrayed and how he died for us. There is more to this ritual than just rehearing the story. In being part, in participating, we become part of the story. We can see it as something that we don't need, just a little bit of bread and a mouthful of juice. Or it can be a time when we allow God to be part of us, it can be a time to be, and see what happens.

Some people will have been on the mountain top and experienced God in really powerful and amazing ways, but whether we have been to the mountaintop or not we have all experienced the love of God. God loves each one of us and is offering each one of us life and nurture, is offering each one of us love, forgiveness, grace; is offering each one of us hope and peace.

Experiencing God is life changing, transforming.

we take some time to think about the ways God has and is transforming our lives.

Choose life

Moses and the people of Israel, well a motley band of ex-slaves, have been wandering for 40 years in the wilderness. This is towards the end of this particular part of the journey. Moses knows that he is not going to cross the river Jordan into the promised land, and here there is this long speech that Moses is making to the people. Moses is reminding the people to keep the law, reminding them of where they have come from and who it is who has guided them on the journey. This passage is the end of one of the speeches Moses gives at this time. Here he is challenging the people of Israel, the people who have travelled 40 years in the wilderness, to decide if they will follow the living God will choose the way of despair and curse.

Some of the language of blessing and cursing is not language that we would regularly used today. But the challenge that Moses gives is one that we also have. The challenge to choose life.

What does it mean to choose life. For the people who were travelling with Moses choosing life was about leaving Egypt, no longer being slaves, and moving into a new land, being a new people, trusting in God.

What does it mean to choose life. We are not people who have left Egypt, who have left slavery, who have wandered in the desert for 40 years:, we are not in the process of moving into a new land, and becoming a new nation. What does it mean to choose life.

This we will come back to this in a moment.

The passage we heard this morning from the gospel of Matthew, is part of the beatitudes. The beatitudes that started so beautifully two weeks ago with the blesseds and then last week we heard about being salt and light. In the part of the beatitudes we heard today, Jesus is explaining the meaning of some of the teaching of the law. Again he is using typical rabbinical technique in his teaching. The repetition of ‘you have heard it said… but I say to you’  is traditional rabbinic technique.

In this, the most Jewish of the gospel is, Jesus is a very Jewish teacher. He covers four areas or topics in this passage: anger, adultery, divorce, and oaths. Each of these areas is to do with relationship with other people.

Starting with the first section,  Jesus says you have heard that it was said to those of ancient times you shall not murder but I say to you if you are angry you will be liable to judgement if you insult a brother or sister will be liable to the council. Jesus isn't making light of murder, but is saying there's other ways of dishonouring life. The Greek translation for anger isn't about getting angry, but about staying angry, holding on to anger. The teaching not to murder is one of the 10 Commandments. The prohibition about murder is because of the sanctity of life. God is the giver of life, and if we are working with God we too will be bearers of life, this means more than not murdering, it means living in ways that promote life. We dishonour ourselves, and others when we harbour resentment and anger. In the Lord's prayer we say: forgive our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. This does not mean that we forget, but it does mean that we don't carry resentment, that we don't let the anger infest our lives or the life of those around us.

You have heard that it was said you shall not commit adultery but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. These days that would not have been written only as a man looking lustfully a woman. Scholars discuss this in terms of harbouring lustful thoughts, fantasising about being with another woman who is married to another man. I think it also has some things to tell us about some modern areas of life.

It is not that many years ago that the way to sell a car was to have a beautiful woman draped across the bonnet, and a recent TV ad for some kind of cooking cream had men with well-defined muscles doing the cooking. When we turn people into sexual objects, we no longer treat them as people, people who are deserving of respect and dignity.

I'm told that for some people Face book and the internet are ways to meet people with whom to have basically a nonphysical affair. Sounds like lust to me.

Then we come to the section on divorce. Divorce is not in the 10 Commandments, but it is implied in Deuteronomy 24, where a man who is displeased with his wife is able to write her a certificate for divorce, if she marries another man who also divorces her, her first husband cannot take her back again. There are times in the history of Israel when polygyny, where you could have more than one wife, meant divorce was less common. If you found something distasteful or unpleasant about your first wife, and you could afford it, you could take another wife. Once monogamy became the norm, you couldn't take another wife so divorce became the more common option, and could be for relatively minor reasons. Only the man could institute a divorce, the woman could not.

Jesus sounds to be tightening up the divorce law, by prohibiting divorce in most circumstances. But this gave women much more economic and social security than the existing system.

You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times you shall not swear falsely but carry out the vows you have made to the Lord but I say do not swear at all either by heaven or by earth. The seriousness of an oath depended on what you swore by.  If you swore by your little finger that is not as significant as swearing by your hand. Jesus is saying a truthful, be honest, don’t swear an oath, say what you mean and mean what you say.

In all this, Jesus is expanding the teaching of the law, not doing away with the law. Often the law had been interpreted in ways that were restrictive. For example, when Jesus and his disciples were hungry and plucked corn on the Sabbath, or when Jesus healed on the Sabbath. Many were shocked because he broke the law of the Sabbath, but the law of the Sabbath was not to stop people working, but to give people the time off we all need, time to remember and reflect on God's love for each one of us, time to build family and community.

This week this congregation has been involved in helping people choose life. A young man whose marriage is over and the house has been sold has stored some of his property in our building while he lives at a mates place until he works out what to do next. On Tuesday morning a group from this congregation were at Garrawarra, as you are twice each month, offering life to people living with dementia.

In what other ways are we  life-bearers as a congregation?

Moses challenged the people of Israel to choose life or choose despair.  This week I've been quite conscious of the situation in Egypt. In Egypt this week 300 people have died choosing life.

What does it mean for us today to choose life?

heat wave

Here we are in the midst of a heat wave, it was 42 C [107 F]  in the city of Sydney today. The maximum has been over 30 C [86 F] for 6 consecutive days - some kind of record. Unfortunately the nights have not dropped below 22 C  70 F, so the house doesn't cool down. Tomorrow afternoon there is a cool change expected. The forecast for tonight is a minimum of 26 C 79 F, with a maximum tomorrow of 32 C 90 F.
then the forecast is for a few days of 20 C 68 F overnight and 25 C 77 F  maximums.
and in Melbourne today flash floods, two days ago a level 5 cyclone in Queensland, Queensland and Victoria still cleaning up form major floods, and parts of New South Wales and Victoria still in flood.

Who are you?

Children's talk:

We all have a name, and sometimes we called other names. What names do you get called?  

[I have 5 variations on my Christian name that I have been called at some point in my life, there is another variation I refuse to answer to]

The cricketer Michael Clarke is called pup – why?

 Ian Thorpe is called thorpedo or Thorpey.

Have you ever named a pet? how did you choose that name?

In today’s reading we heard some names that God calls us , can you tell me what they are?

Salt, light

What do you think it means when God calls us salt and light?

[I will have a light and something to cover the light]

Proclamation:

You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world. I did think of making name tags for each of you today with salt and light written on them. In this reading you is plural, some commentators say this reflects that Jesus was speaking to many people, others that it is because Jesus is speaking to the church as a community as in,  You, ....... Church are the salt of the earth. You, ........ Church are the light of the world.

This first part of today’s reading, which I will focus on, is about our identity.   It serves a number of purposes. Firstly it reinforced for the people in Matthew’s community, that being a disciple of Jesus was in fact grounded in Jewish faith and Jewish history. God is often referred to in terms of being the light of the world.

Identity is a big issue for people in many places. If you want to travel overseas, you need a passport, and for that you have to be able to prove your identity. To apply for a licence, to open a bank account, to volunteer at a service with children or elderly people, you need to be able to prove who you are. And we are told identity theft is a growing problem, as people bank and shop on-line and use social networking sites. More and more information is available for people who want to use our name and information for their own purposes.

This morning I want us to think about a different kind of identity theft. Matthew records Jesus speaking to the crowd on the mountain, telling them, and us: You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world.

Do you think of yourself as salt and light? Do you recognise that you are crucial for life?, because we can’t live without salt or light.

When I was talking with the children earlier we talked about what names we are called – here are some that you may have heard: old, slow, fat, thick, boring, do-gooder, old-fashioned; none of them meant to be flattering. At school many of us would have been called unhelpful names by other students and sometimes by teachers. When I was at school I was put out of the school choir because I was not only singing out off pitch, I was singing enthusiastically and loudly enough to put other people off. For many years, I have worn a label which says ‘can’t sing’. I am guessing many of you have labels that say ‘ can’t sing’, or ‘ not creative’ or  ‘ bad parent’ , or something similar.

We are constantly being told what other people think of us, by their words and their actions. And it is easy when people treat us poorly or put us down to feel insignificant and worthless. Here we are told who and what God calls us, names us, to be: salt and light.

While there has been an effort over the past 20 years to encourage people to reduce the amount of salt they consume, because of the link with high blood pressure, salt is a necessary part of life. Matthew’s community knew that salt was used not only to strengthen flavour and preserve food but in ancient times was rubbed on newborn children, used to seal covenants, sprinkled on sacrifices, and understood as a metaphor for wisdom. Salt is used for lots of things today, I found one website that says it has 60 uses for salt.  From soaking stains to polishing silver. You can even put it in your cooking and on your food, not too much if your blood pressure is a bit iffy.

None of these uses for salt are for the salt. Salt helps with house cleaning and gives food a different flavour or preserves food. In all these cases salt is there for the benefit of the item being cleaned or flavoured or preserved.

In the same way light is important, if our eyes will let us we can read, write, and distinguish what is in front of us when it is light, but not in the dark. Light is a useful tool, it allows us to do things. At the end of each baptism service the child, or parent, is given a candle as I say to them:

N, you belong to Christ,

the light of the world.

Let your light so shine before the world

that all may see your good works

and give glory to our Father who is in heaven.

This last line is Matthew 5: 16, from the passage read this morning.

We are salt and light, we are salt of the earth and light of the world. Just as salt and light are useful beyond themselves, in naming us salt of the earth and light of the world, God is  saying we are useful in the world.

I read somewhere while I was at college that we grow into our names. It can seem strange sometimes for a small baby t have an old sounding name, but he or she will grow into the name. We grow into our names, we grow into the names God gives us: beloved, child, forgiven, salt of the earth, light of the world.

A short story:

 A rabbi was wandering through the forest one evening.  As he was praying and walking along, he lost his way and found himself in front of a military base, where a guard brought him out of his reverie by shouting, "Who are you?  What are you doing here?"  The rabbi replied, "How much do they pay you?"  "Why do you ask?" the guard wondered.  "Because," said the rabbi, "I need someone to ask me those questions every day. Diane

Light a candle and hold out to the congregation

....Church, you belong to Christ,

the light of the world.

Let your light so shine before the world

that all may see your good works

and give glory to our Father who is in heaven.

Put candle in  holder

Who are you?

Where is your salt and light being used for the glory of God?

Let us take some time to listen for what God is saying to us today.

Friday Five: perks of ministry

Kathrynz wrote at RevGalsBlogPals:
Thanks to #snOMG this week has had a different rhythm to it for me. Fortunately, one of the perks of ministry is a fairly flexible schedule and quite often the ability to work from home. Another perk of ministry is that I will be part of a worship service that celebrates my friend's gifts in ministry and the ministry she will do with the church she has been Called to lead.

These two things have me reflecting on the gifts and perks of ministry and what else I would put on that list.

What about you? What are 5 perks/gifts of ministry for you?

Please let us know if you played in the comments and if you can check on the person before and after you. I will do my best to check in, but will be traveling to the above mentioned worship service.

 Not sure I would call these perks on Ministry, maybe blessings of Ministry.

1. being invited into peoples lives, especially at significant times on their lives.
2. in my mid-forties finally being in a place I feel like I fit. I had not imagined how comfortable I would be as a Minister, in fact I feared the worst. [though Ministry is not always comfortable or easy]
3. getting hugs for doing my job, even when a certain person is telling me they didn't like what happened on Sunday, when they tell me that with their arm around me, I know I am still loved. and I know that this elderly lady is comfortable enough with me to tell me hat she does and doesn't like.
4. the reaction of children, their honesty, their joy. The waves and smiles if we bump into each other  shopping, the hard drawn letters and cards, for my birthday or for no particular reason.
5. being accepted in various places in the community, because I am ordained.
6. I actually get paid to tell people that God loves them.

Beatitudes in action

Sometimes it seems we are so familiar with the Bible, and particular passages in the Bible that we let them flow over us, like a warm shower. One comment I read this week suggested we are no longer afraid of God, afraid of Jesus or afraid of the Holy Spirit, therefore we no longer read the Bible in fear and trembling. We are not challenged and changed by the words we read.   The Beatitudes with all their Blesseds, seems so nice, so innocent.  But they are not. The  beatitudes are not so sweet and simple as they first sound.

"Blessed are the poor in spirit,”

[1]This can be economically poor, as in exploited, or poor in spirit. The poor in spirit are humble, they know they don’t have all the answers, so look to God for guidance. When we become self-righteous and think we have all the answers, then we think we no longer need God.  These poor in spirit, theirs is the Kingdom of God.

Blessed are those who mourn

That is those who are grieving the loss of someone they loved. But it is more than that, this also refers to those who mourn their sins, who repent, and those who mourn over the injustice of the world. These are the ones who are comforted.

Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth

Meek didn’t mean submissive and docile, meek refers to those who are economically and socially powerless. The meek, the ones without land, will inherit the earth.

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness

Not those who demand their rights, but those who hunger and thirst for right relationship with God, and that means living in right relationship with all of God’s creation.

Blessed are the merciful

This is not about forgiveness, but about releasing from bondage. An alternative translation is Blessed are those who reach out to others with compassion and relieve their needs."

Blessed are the pure in heart

This was a time when religious piety and purity had outward signs, the length of the tassels on ones garment, the time spent in public prayer etc. Here Jesus is saying it is those who are pure in heart, not those who show outward signs of purity, that will see God. 

Blessed are the peacemakers

Often when we see inequality we think the way to solve it is through force and violence. Here we are told that unity with God and each other only comes through peace.

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake and

Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.

These final 2 remind us that working for change, working against injustice and oppression is not popular, standing with the outcast will not win us friends. But standing with the oppressed, the outcast and the exploited is where we meet God, where we are blessed by God.

Alan is going to show some faces on the screen, do you know any of these people?[2]

1.                  NSW Young Australian of the Year 2011 Tara Winkler  Orphan rescuerOn a holiday to South East Asia in 2004, Tara was deeply moved by the suffering of children she encountered at a run-down orphanage. She began fundraising and made several trips back to Cambodia. In 2007, she discovered the children were being subjected to neglect and abuse. Tara now employs local staff to care for 41 orphans, some as young as two. Its community development and outreach projects are supporting poor families in the Battambang region so that their children do not need residential care. Tara has begun developing enterprises that will enable CCT to support itself. In conjunction with a major hospital in Phnom Penh, she also has plans to develop a medical facility. Tara now speaks fluent Khmer and against huge odds is changing the lives of some of Cambodia’s most vulnerable children

2.                   VIC Senior Australian of the Year 2011 Leslie Erdi OAM  Generous entrepreneurLeslie Erdi counts himself lucky to have escaped a firing squad line-up in Nazi occupied Hungary. This harrowing experience has instilled in him a strong work ethic and a desire to make a difference. He has been involved in the creation of a $1 million centre for youth arts which allows young people to work with professional artists to develop their careers. He is also responsible for revitalising Melbourne’s Sandridge Bridge which pays homage to the contribution of immigrants in Australia. He has made major contributions to the Diabetic Institute, Leukaemia Foundation, Melbourne University Research and the Jewish National Fund. Les believes that success is not based on wealth but on your treatment and respect of others.

3.                  VIC Young Australian of the Year 2011 Angela Barker  Young care advocateLife for Anj Barker changed forever when she was brutally bashed by her ex-boyfriend. She suffered severe brain injury and spent three gruelling years in hospital, rehab and a nursing home before being able to return home, still needing full time care. Anj describes the two-and-a-half years spent housed in a nursing home as ‘hell’. As a teenager living among the very elderly, she felt angry, sad and trapped. She campaigns to stop young people ending up in nursing homes for the elderly and for the introduction of a national no fault insurance scheme, so that people with acquired brain injury can have an equal opportunity to regain an active and productive life.

4.                  QLD Australia's Local Hero 2011 Dr Don Bowley  Rural doctorFor the last 14 years Dr Don Bowley has been working as a doctor with the Mount Isa Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS), caring for people in an area larger than the country of England. Living in an isolated area and facing accidents and illness generates a great deal of anxiety. Even with the RFDS, help can be two hours away, but Don is always on the end of the phone, calmly offering advice, understanding and reassurance. Don believes it is a great privilege and honour to get to know people’s stories and look after them in good times and bad.

5.                  TAS Senior Australian of the Year 2011 Mary Parsissons  Lifeline volunteer Mary Parsissons worked as a midwife and child health nurse for 48 years until retiring in 2008. However, working in a low socio-economic area with one of the highest rates of cot death in Australia, Mary felt she needed more counselling skills. So 25 years ago she trained to become a Lifeline counsellor. She volunteered on the phones for many years and then joined the Board of Lifeline Tasmania. She was President for six years, then served on the national Board for 14 years, and was the Australian representative for Lifeline International for nine years, providing training and advice to a number of Pacific countries during her tenure to help them establish their own telephone counselling services.

6.                   TAS Australia's Local Hero 2011 Ian Edwards  Police officer As a member of the Tasmania Police Early Intervention & Youth Action Unit, Senior Constable Ian Edwards has helped transform his local community of Shorewell Park. Prior to 2008 the community had a number of challenges to face. A large number of its residents are in long-term unemployment and low school attendance was common in children of all ages, coupled with a high rate of anti-social behaviour. . Through sheer hard work and conviction, Ian has created a safe and accepting environment that today attracts up to 200 children, with 50 on a regular basis. Positive friendships between the children are encouraged to develop alongside constructive relationships with police and youth and family service providers. As it receives no official funding, Kommunity Kids relies on donations from the community and Ian and his fellow police officers have dug into their own pockets to keep the program alive. Under Ian’s guidance the program has been successful in creating trust between troubled children, their parents and the police

7.                  NT Senior Australian of the Year 2011 Barry Abbott  Caring cattleman Barry Abbott is an Arrente stockman who has had remarkable success rehabilitating young male trouble makers and substance abusers of the outback. Barry established the Ilpurla Aboriginal Association a treatment outstation in a remote south-west corner of Central Australia in the seventies, and estimates that he has looked after about 300 boys over the years, some for as long as 12 months at a time. Drug abuse and petrol sniffing in particular are the main reasons young men end up at Barry’s station. A stockman by trade, Barry gives the boys the opportunity to become part of a working cattle station. They start work at day break and learn new skills like saddlery, vehicle and stock maintenance and break in horses. He instils in them a strong work ethic, discipline and a sense of pride and self-worth. Unlike other treatment centres, Barry accepts boys from anywhere, usually at the request of the Alice Springs courts, some arriving at his station still handcuffed. Barry is one of the hard men - uncompromising in his demands - but he also takes on the hard cases, the ones considered to be hopeless; boys who the doctors say could die at any time, and proves them wrong.

8.                  ACT Australia's Local Hero 2011 Alan Jessop  Salvation Army champion Alan Jessop has collected for the Salvation Army, watching the city evolve and change around him.. There are not many prepared to sit for hours collecting but Alan is inspired by the Salvation Army’s good work in the region which includes a drug and rehabilitation program, a welfare centre and community churches. Alan continues to collect three days a week for the charity he is so passionate about, only missing the odd day for a medical appointment. At the age of 80, Alan has no intention of stopping his charity work.

9.                  Australian of the Year 2011 Simon McKeon  Social EntrepreneurWhile enjoying a successful corporate career, Simon decided he didn’t want to put off serious engagement with the community sector until his most productive years were behind him. So in 1994 he transitioned into a part-time role as Executive Chairman of Macquarie Group’s Melbourne office, enabling him to support a range of causes and organisations, including joining the board of World Vision Australia. His association with World Vision International continues and he is involved with the Global Poverty Project and Red Dust Role Models, which works with remote Indigenous communities.

10.             Australia's Local Hero 2011 Donald Ritchie OAM  Suicide prevention advocate.
Each day, Don keeps an active eye out for people who might need help. For years he has been coaxing people away from the cliffside by inviting them back to his home for a chat over a cup of tea. In this way, Don has saved more than 160 lives. In a situation where most would turn a blind eye, Don has taken action.

While these people may or may not be religious, I think they show some of the qualities we have read in the Beatitudes. People who have looked at the world through the eyes of others, or the eyes of God. People who have seen poverty and oppression and mourned it, and done something to alleviate it; people who have looked at their community relationships and obligations rather then just their career and financial relationships. People who have sensed a need and trained and worked to meet that need. These are examples of people who mourn, people who are merciful and people who hunger and thirst for righteousness.  

Read this passage and listen for the truth of it.

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[1] I have taken much of the information on the Beatitudes from the paper:  The Beatitudes: A Call to Social Justice by Paul Raushenbush

[2] Information about Australian of the Year nominees is from  www.australianoftheyear.org.au