Sunday Eucharist, St. Michael’s, 27 September 2015
Is. 24:1-13; Ps. 113; 2 Corinthians 5:14-17; John 6:1-15
Waste Not Want Not
Chris Luyt
A Shiny Face and a Happy Heart… for All
Jesus struck at the very heart of human inequality by asking his
disciple Philip a single question: “Where shall we buy bread for
these people to eat?”
For a moment Philip forgot that he was being addressed by the Lord
of the universe of whom it was once sung: “He waters the
mountains from His upper chambers; the earth is satisfied by the
fruit of his work. He makes grass grow for the cattle, and plants for
man to cultivate – bringing forth food from the earth: wine that
gladdens the heart of man, oil to make his face shine, and bread
that sustains his heart” (Ps. 104:13-15).
As Paul would say in our Corinthians reading, Philip regarded the people
Jesus served merely from a worldly perspective (2 Cor. 5:16) – in other
words, in terms, only, of Rands and cents. When Philip saw the needs of
the people around him, he only saw cost. Jesus saw possibility because
Jesus knew His own potential (John 6:6).
There is something deeply heartwarming here for us. In these
passages of Scripture, we are reading about a God who delights in
using His creation to meet the needs of His people; and not only
their needs, but also their wants. God is generous, but He is deeply
concerned with equality.
Selling the Poor for Sandals
Our Old Testament reading today reveals the profound darkness
associated with a society that abuses natural resources for the
excessive benefit of a few at the expense of the rest – human,
animal, plant and element.
Isaiah pulls out all the stops in his articulation of God’s deep disapproval of
this unequal state of affairs. When Isaiah says that God will ‘lay waste the
earth’, he is picking up on a very important theological theme that winds
all the way through Scripture. It is the teaching that as human beings
continue to exploit God’s resources (including other human beings), He will
progressively withdraw Himself and allow human corruption to reach its
logical end (2 Pet. 3:1-18). The earth, Isaiah says, will end up like an olive
tree beaten and stripped of its fruit.
The prophet Amos similarly warned: “Woe to you who are complacent…
you lie on beds inlaid with ivory and lounge on your couches. You dine on
choice lambs and fattened calves. You strum away on your harps like David
and improvise on musical instruments. You drink wine by the bowlful and
use the finest lotions, but you do not grieve over the ruin of my people.
Hear this, you who trample the needy and do away with the poor of the
land, saying, ‘When will the… Sabbath be over so that we can go back to
market?’ – skimping the measure, boosting the price and cheating with
dishonest scales, buying the poor with silver and the needy with a pair of
sandals, selling even the sweepings with the wheat” (Amos 6:1,4-6; 7:4-6).
The Great Betrayal
A report entitled ‘Global Food Waste Not Want Not' of 2012 found
that:
• between 30% and 50% or 1.2-2 billion tonnes of food produced around
the world each year never reaches a human stomach
• as much as 30% of UK vegetable crops are not harvested due to them
failing to meet exacting standards based on their physical appearance,
while up to half of the food that’s bought in Europe and the USA is thrown
away by the consumer
• about 550 billion cubic metres of water is wasted globally in growing
crops that never reach the consumer
If we dig a little deeper as South Africans, we may find that we
ourselves are not that far off from this complacency.
The second important question to reflect on this week is:
2. What am I doing with the waste that I generate?
A Season for Reflection
It is with all of this in mind that our liturgy calls us to deep reflection during
this Season of Creation. This week in particular is the week dedicated to
the theme of excessive living and wastage. In our first week we considered
the importance of being good stewards. Both of these themes are directly
related.
We need to ask ourselves two very important questions:
1. What am I doing with the resources that God has given
me?
Paul, in our Corinthians passage, reminds us that Jesus, being in fact God,
put His own needs aside in order to reach out and benefit others in need.
Paul reminds us that in being true Christians, we have dedicated ourselves
to a life where we imitate Jesus selflessness – “For Christ’s love compels
us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died”
(2 Cor. 5:14). What does Paul mean when he says that (we) ‘all die’? The
answer is in the very next verse: “And he died for all, that those who live
(in the truest possible sense) should no longer live for themselves but for
him who died for them and was raised again” (2 Cor. 5:15).
We live for Christ as we live for others rather than ourselves. If this is true
of us, we will not horde resources or indulge in excess when so many
around us are struggling just to survive because of the fundamental
inequality of the world that we live in.
Our psalm assures us that God is the God who “stoops down to look on the
heavens and the earth [and] raises the poor from the dust and lifts up the
needy from the ash heap” (Ps. 113:6-7). As followers of Christ we are
unmistakably called to a life of simplicity and service. The issue is whether
we have the courage to fulfil that call.
The first question challenges us to produce as little waste as possible
because we are not hording everything for ourselves in excess. The second
question challenges us in regard to our management of the waste that we
do produce.
Here are a few practical ways in which we are constantly being
challenged to conserve resources and be responsible with our
waste:
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Be conscious of the effect that the processing and packaging of your
consumables will have on the environment and, where possible, opt
for unpackaged products or products packaged in biodegradable or
recycled packaging
Don’t be too picky about the look of the fruit and vegetables you buy.
Buying for look alone encourages wasteful food production practices.
Buy more simply and give the money you save to other who need it
more than you do.
Where possible, buy consumables from reputable vendors who are
working for themselves to make a living for their families
Share excess food and resources with others instead of allowing them
to rot or expire in your cupboards
Reuse and recycle potential waste products
Compost all biodegradable waste
Conserve water by harvesting rain water; maintaining your water
system, and by using grey-water to water your garden
Conserve energy by switching to more energy efficient household
systems
Borrow and lend resources that you don’t actually need to own
“I brought you into a fertile land to eat its fruit and rich produce.
But you came and defiled my land and made my inheritance
detestable.” Jer. 2:7