Civic Service

Outside the United Nations building in New York is a statue of St George and the Dragon. It was presented by the former Soviet Union, and is made up of parts of rockets used by the former communist state and the United States as delivery systems for their nuclear missiles during the cold war. It’s intended as a dramatic symbol of reconciliation coming at the end of the last century in which over 100 million people perished in wars and civil conflicts.

Apparently inside the Building there is a brightly lit mosaic with the words, ‘Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.’ Delivered in such a grand setting the words seem to have little relevance to most individuals – they are in the arena of national politics to be interpreted and put into practice by international statesmen and women.

But these words relate very much to each one of us as individuals, just in the same way as the words of Paul in his letter to the Romans (12:6-18) that we have just heard, concern each one of us. Just a recap of some of those words, ‘Hate what is evil, love what is good… rejoice with those who rejoice, mourn with those who mourn, live in harmony with one another… Do not repay anyone evil for evil… Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody…’

Each one of us is, as the reading reminds us, given gifts. The gifts include serving others, teaching, encouraging, leadership and giving. And we are challenged from this list to seek out and use the gifts we have been given, not to further our own career or position, but for the good of others.

There’s a story about the actor Kevin Bacon who shortly after making the film ‘Footloose’, was talking to his 6 year old son. The boy said, ‘Dad when you jumped from the roof that was really cool’, and Kevin Bacon replied, ‘Well actually son, that wasn’t me. A stunt man did that for me.’

After explaining what the stunt man did the boy shrugged his shoulders and said, ‘well what about when you spin around on the gym bar and land on your feet – that was really cool too !’ Again Bacon replied, ‘No that was the stunt man as well.’ ‘Oh’ said the boy, after a long pause, ‘Dad what did you do in the movie ?’ Bacon sheepishly replied, ‘I got all the glory.’

All of us I suspect know people who sometimes seek the glory without the effort, but this reading from Paul’s letter to the Romans reminds us that it is our duty, not just as Christian people, but as human beings, to take our responsibilities seriously to care for each other and for the world around us.

It’s very easy for us to blame others for the problems we see around us, it’s very easy to say that we can do nothing to help or solve a problem, but individuals make a difference, and each one of us has an individual responsibility that we can never abdicate. It seems to be increasingly popular to criticise the nanny state these days, and one of the problems of that so called nanny state is the feeling that government knows best…

Well, in many cases perhaps they do. They have the advisors, they have the expert analysis and knowledge, but it still doesn’t remove the responsibility from us as individuals to seek and do what is right and just at all times. ‘Do unto others as you would have them do unto you’ is a challenge which contradicts so much of our society today, and the words of Paul about not repaying evil for evil, and being careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody, confound people even more.

Being called to serve in whatever we do is a huge privilege, and a constant challenge. The example of the Good Samaritan was the example of someone taking this call seriously – the call to help the enemy, the call to love the unloved, touch the untouchable – it extends to feeding the hungry, looking after the prisoner, helping the lonely, caring for the suffering, giving hope to those who seem to have no hope, whether it be in terms of drug addiction, alcohol, money or relationships.

These duties are the duties of every one of us privileged enough to be called to positions where we must help, and of course the best example of a person to follow is Jesus himself. He lived for only a short time in public ministry, but what a difference he made. 2000 years later, people still recognise his example because he did the things that so many of us think about doing but either fail or never really try because they seem too difficult.

In all of his ‘busy-ness’ he found time for people, and these people weren’t the leaders in society. These were the people shunned by the rest of society, these were the untouchables, the unloved, the hungry, the powerless and so on… He loved with no preconceived ideas and without any limits. He prayed for those who persecuted him, he resisted the taunts of his captors, and simply offered prayers for them.

Through him lives were transformed. Through his commitment to building a better life for everyone, people found hope and they found peace. Our little part of the world may not see quite the problems some other places do, but all around us there are people in need, people who are hurting, people who are desperate for someone to care for them, and just make their lives a little bit better.

There’s a story about a security guard at a factory. One day this guard stopped a worker who was walking out of the factory gate, pushing a wheelbarrow with a suspicious looking package in it. The guard opened up the package to find it contained nothing but odd bits of rubbish, sawdust and some sweepings from the floor. The next day the same thing happened and the day after that as well. The following day the man approached again with his wheelbarrow and his suspicious looking package – again it contained some rubbish, and sawdust and sweepings. And the guard finally said to the worker, ‘OK, I know you’re up to something but I don’t know what it is. I promise I won’t tell anyone else, but what are you doing.’ The worker smiled and replied, ‘I’m stealing wheelbarrows.’

Like the guard we can be distracted from the problems around us, or we can get out and find those problems. The responsibility to build a better world may lie with great leaders of nations, but it also lies with each one of us… May God give us the vision to see our own needs and the needs of all around us, and the strength, the wisdom and the courage, to do his work, for the good of all. AMEN