ONE Lutheran Sermon Helps
JANUARY 11, 2008
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 at
www.elca.org/one
2. Join the ELCA e-Advocacy Network at
www.elca.org/advocacy
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
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.
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.
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.”
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
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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