ONE Lutheran Sermon Helps
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The following sermon helps are topical in nature and include background on how they relate to ONE: The Campaign to Make Poverty History, scriptural support, stories, quotations, and hymn suggestions from Evangelical Lutheran Worship (ELW). For more help, see Advocacy.
Special thanks to Pastor Alan Bray for his help in developing these sermon helps!
Advocacy
Vocation
Justice
Advocacy: Background
ONE Lutheran Campaign: What’s Advocacy Got To Do With It?
Advocacy, or ‘speaking out,’ is at the heart of the ONE Lutheran Campaign. Poverty is a historic reality of our world. Today, more than one billion of God’s children are bound by deadly poverty. Unlike previous centuries, however, the world presently has the necessary resources, technology and knowledge to end global poverty. What lacks is the moral and political will.
That’s why “ONE: The Campaign to Make Poverty History” was established to rally Americans, ONE by ONE, to the cause of ending poverty in our world and achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Through political action, its goals include:
- Directing an additional one percent of the U.S. budget to address extreme poverty.
- Supporting debt relief for the world’s poorest countries to help them meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
- Making the rules of international trade fair so all may benefit from the global economy.
How can you join ONE Lutheran?
1. Sign the declaration
2. Join the ELCA e-Advocacy Network at http://www.elca.org/Our-Faith-In-Action/Justice/Advocacy.aspx
3. Tell a friend about the campaign
4. Wear a white ONE wristband
5. Communicate your support of ONE and the achievement of the MDGs to your legislators
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Advocacy: Scriptural support
Exodus 4:1 - Long ago, it was Moses who feared that no one would listen to him.
Jeremiah 6:6 – Likewise, Jeremiah argued that he was too young to be a prophet. But in both cases, God provided the skills and the encouragement to launch these prophets into action.
Proverbs 31:8-9 - We are told to speak out for those who cannot speak, for the rights of all the destitute.
Matthew 25:31-46 - In the New Testament, Jesus pronounced blessings upon those who attend to the needs of the poor.
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Advocacy: Stories
On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks, an African American seamstress in Montgomery, Alabama, refused to give up her seat on a city bus to a white man during the period of racial segregation in the United States. Her conviction to stay seated and speak out sparked a national bus boycott and she will forever be remembered as “the Mother of the civil rights movement.” Ms. Parks’ bold action reminds us of the power of ONE – we can all make a difference in the world.
In 1990, civil war broke out in Liberia, leaving more than 200,000 people dead and one million displaced without adequate access to food and water. In the spring of 2003, after thirteen years of conflict, Christian and Muslim women united to advocate against the war. They spoke out by participating in daily sit-ins and non-violent acts of disobedience. They demanded “an end to the fighting, a dialogue between warring factions, and the deployment of an international peace keeping force.” Soon, peace talks began and the war ended. The women’s faithful voice was a critical factor in achieving a peaceful resolution.
Since the end of the civil war in Liberia, St. Peter’s Lutheran Church in the capital city Monrovia established the Women in the Peace Building Network (WIPNET). Today, more than 10,000 women participate in WIPNET, which seeks to help reconcile Liberians by assisting victims of the war to rebuild their homes and providing trauma care. WIPNET is supported by the ELCA World Hunger Appeal. For more information, see www.elca.org/hunger.
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Advocacy: Quotation
Pastor Martin Niemoller, a German member of the Confessing Church in opposition to the Nazis once said: “First they came for the Jews and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew. Then they came for the Communists and I did not speak out because I was not a Communist. Then they came for the trade unionists and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak out for me.”
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Advocacy: ELCA Social Statement Support
“In faithfulness to its calling, this church is committed to defend human dignity, to stand with poor and powerless people, to advocate justice, to work for peace, and to care for the earth in the processes and structures of contemporary society.” -Church in Society: A Lutheran Perspective social statement
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Advocacy: Suggested Hymns
“Spread, Oh, Spread, Almighty Word” (ELW, #663)
“Rise Up, O Saints of God!” (ELW, #669)
“Lord, Speak to Us, That We May Speak” (ELW, #676)
(Other hymns in the “Witness” section of the ELW)
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Vocation: Background
ONE Lutheran Campaign: What’s Vocation Got To Do With It?
Working to end poverty is a central part of our call, or vocation, as Christians. Vocation is defined as “a summons or strong inclination to a particular state or course of action; especially: a divine call to the religious life.” For more than 30 years the ELCA has encouraged Lutherans to work toward the end of poverty through advocacy, service and giving, as part of their vocation.
The ONE Lutheran Campaign challenges Lutherans to live out vocation in a variety of ways, including: 1) through prayer and solidarity with the poor; 2) through learning more about extreme poverty in our world today; 3) through organizing efforts in our congregations and communities, and 4) through advocacy, like writing or speaking to our elected representatives concerning poverty-related issues.
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Vocation: Scriptural Support
2 Corinthians 5:20 - We are all “called” to be ambassadors for Christ and ministers of reconciliation.
John 21:15ff - Jesus calls us to work for justice: “Do you love me?...Tend my sheep.”
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Vocation: Story
Hildegard von Bingen, a 12th century visionary and author, had known of her prophetic calling from the time she was five years old. She felt that she could not live her prophetic witness because it was too strange, too bold and audacious for a weak woman to proclaim the words of God. She held it in so long it eventually literally made her sick. And so, at the age of 42, she finally “gave in” to the call and began to write. Centuries later, Christians continue to be inspired by her words. Let each of us be brave in honoring the vocation that is ours.
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Vocation: Quotations
Martin Luther once said that we are “all alike consecrated priests and bishops, and every one by means of his (or her) own work or office must benefit and serve every other, that in this way many kinds of work may be done for the bodily and spiritual welfare of the community…” One could argue that Luther would affirm an understanding of every Christian’s vocation to include advocacy on behalf of the poor.
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Vocation: ELCA Social Statement Support
Sustaining Vocation:
The ELCA commits itself to sustain and support its members in their baptismal vocation to serve God and the neighbor in daily life. Through its congregations, synods, and churchwide organizations, and affiliated institutions and ecumenical relationships, this church therefore shall:
- Foster in its members a faith that is active in love, a love that seeks justice, and an insight that strives to discern what is right, good and fitting;
- Support its members in their callings to love their neighbor, to mend the creation, to advocate justice and mercy in situations of brokenness, and to seek peace where there is conflict;
- Join with others to remove obstacles of discrimination and indifference that prevent people from living out their callings;
- Promote sound, critical and creative citizenship and public service among its members;
- Work to further democratic processes in our country and throughout the world, and to redress the persisting social and economic inequalities that prevent many from participating effectively in these processes.
- Encourage its citizen-members to join in the public deliberations at all levels, particularly through organization that mediate between personal and public life, and to engage in prophetic actions. Church in Society: A Lutheran Perspective social statement
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Vocation: Suggested Hymns
“Great God, Your Love Has Called Us” (ELW, #358)
“We are Called” (ELW, #720)
“Lord, Whose Love in Humble Service” (ELW, #712)
(Others found in the ELW topical index under “Vocation”
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Justice: Background
ONE Lutheran Campaign: What’s Justice Got to Do With It?
Working for justice, or acting to change the broken and sinful conditions that create human need in the world, is a foundational principle of the ONE Lutheran Campaign and the Millennium Development Goals. Justice is not the same as charity, or financial or material gifts which seek to respond immediately to human need. Justice seeks to change unfair systems and structures in the world so that acts of charity are no longer necessary. Our faith gives us hope that another world is possible. We are called to build the kingdom of God on earth and speak out against systems that trap people in poverty. Working for justice is the only way to make poverty history.
The ONE Lutheran Campaign needs your voice and actions for justice. This involves building a relationship with your elected officials and faithfully urging them to support U.S. policies that are more just and compassionate. Not only should our nation provide more effective aid to the poorest countries in the world, we must also continue to cancel the burdensome international debts that stand in the way of development and make changes in trade policy so that all nations have the opportunity to participate in the global economy and reach self-sufficiency. As Irish rock star Bono, from the band U2, has stated in relation to his advocacy for Africa, “It’s not about charity. It’s about justice.”
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Justice: Scriptural support
Amos 5:24 – Amos cried out: “Let justice roll down like the waters…”
Micah 6:8 – Micah said that the LORD required acts of justice.
Matthew 25:31-46 - Jesus commended those who practiced acts of charity.
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Justice: Story
Debt cancellation is a good example of how global poverty advocates work for justice. Many poor countries spend more each year to repay decades-old debt to the world’s wealthiest countries and international institutions like the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) than they do on the fight against poverty, including stopping the pandemic of HIV/AIDS, putting children in school and ensuring access to clean water. Moreover, many highly-indebted poor countries also spend more on debt repayment than they receive in foreign aid. For example, Sub-Saharan Africa, the poorest region in the world, receives about $13 billion annually in international aid but spends nearly $15 billion every year repaying old debts.
Many of these highly-indebted poor countries accumulated their debt through unjust practices. In the 1960s international currency prices and interest rates collapsed, which launched banks into an international financial crisis. To avert the crisis, banks sought to lend money – and lots of it – quickly. Thus, significant amounts of money were lent to poor countries with little thought as to how they would pay the money back. Moreover, many of the loans were either lent to former corrupt regimes that did not use the money in ways that benefited their people (known as ‘odious debt’), or in the self-interest of rich countries or financial institutions (known as ‘illegitimate debt’).
Today, many poor countries are trapped in a deadly cycle of indebtedness – forced to borrow more money to make payments on the interest accrued from the principal loan that has long since been paid in full.
Debt cancellation has proven to save lives and reduce poverty because it frees up critical financial resources that governments commit to investing in the well-being of their people. For example, Mozambique has increased rates of childhood vaccination by more than 80 percent; Uganda has provided clean water for 2.2 million citizens; and Tanzania has eliminated school fees for primary school, putting an estimated 1.6 million kids back in school.
Raise your voice for debt justice today. See www.elca.org/advocacy or www.jubileeusa.org for more information.
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Justice: Quotations
“On the one hand we are called to play the Good Samaritan on life’s roadside, but that will be only an initial act. One day we must come to see that the whole Jericho Road must be transformed so that men and women will not be constantly beaten and robbed as they make their journey on life’s highway. True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar. It comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring.” - The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
“I don’t preach a social gospel; I preach the gospel, period. The Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ is about the whole person. When people were hungry, Jesus didn’t say “now is that political or social?” He said, ‘I feed you’ because good news to a hungry person is bread.” – Archbishop Desmond Tutu
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Justice: ELCA Social Statement Support
“We commit ourselves as a church and urge members to:
- Address creatively and courageously the complex causes of poverty;
- Provide opportunities for dialogue, learning, and strategizing among people of different economic situations and from different regions who are harmed by global economic changes;
- Give more to relieve conditions of poverty, and invest more in initiatives to reduce poverty
Also, we call for:
- “Scrutiny of how specific policies and practices affect people and nations that are the poorest, and changes to make policies of economic growth, trade, and investment more beneficial to those who are poor;
- Efforts to increase the participation of low-income people in political and civic life, and citizen vigilance and action that challenges governments and other sectors when they become captive to narrow economic interests that do not represent the good of all;
- Shifts throughout the world form military expenditures to purposes that serve the needs of low-income people;
- Support for family planning and enhanced opportunities for women so that population pressures might be eased;
- Reduction of overwhelming international debt burdens in ways that do not impose further deprivations on the poor, and cancellation of some or all debt where severe indebtedness immobilizes a country’s economy."
Sufficient Sustainable Livelihood For All social statement
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Justice: Suggested hymns
“Let Streams of Living Justice” (ELW, #710
“Lord, Whose Love in Humble Service” (ELW, #712)
“Lord of All Nations, Grant Me Grace” (ELW, #716)
(Others in the “Justice, Peace” section of the ELW)
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