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Australia’s hardening attitude towards refugees

This week we have seen Australia scrambling to evacuate our citizens from Kabul in Afghanistan along with interpreters and security staff who helped Australians during the last 20 years. It’s clearly been a difficult and dangerous task to undertake in the current circumstances but our government’s tardiness and flip-flops on visas haven’t helped. Our offer to take in 3,000 refugees from Afghanistan sounds reasonable at first blush, but not when compared to historical precedents.

After World War 2, Australia accepted some 100,000 refugees/migrants from Europe every year for 15 years. After the Vietnam War ended, we took 8,000 refugees per year for 10 or more years. We accepted 40,000 refugees from Kosovo and 12,000 from Syria. There is a trend here. Australia has steadily become less compassionate and less generous. Our language reflects our hardening actions. Asylum seekers are now ‘illegals’ and our Immigration Department has become Australian Border Force. We claim to be the land of the fair go but we have closed our hearts to the needs of the vulnerable seeking hope and a new life in our midst. I have witnessed first-hand the effects of our cruel policy of indefinite detention of asylum seekers. Yet Scripture is unambiguous. We are called to love the foreigner in our midst, because God’s people have known what it’s like to be foreigners and to be oppressed. Jesus calls us to feed the hungry and to welcome the stranger. Sadly, these Scriptures are ignored by our Christian Prime Minister who himself oversaw the ring of steel placed around Australia in 2014, supposedly to protect our borders (who remembers Operation Sovereign Borders?). Please pray that our political leaders would become more compassionate and that the Australians who vote for them might also be more empathetic and kind to the plight of refugees.

From the Minister,

Enduring the battle with evil

This last week has been pretty grim on the news front. The spread of Covid seems to be getting away from us in Australia, especially in NSW but also in Victoria and ACT. Lockdowns are being extended and made more restrictive. The collapse of the Afghan government and the mad scramble to evacuate people from that country are deeply troubling on many levels. Good news seems to be rather thin on the ground at the moment.

The closing remarks of Paul’s letter to the Ephesian church are a reminder that we live in an often dark world and we are engaged in a battle against evil whether we like it or not (which is not to say that Covid in itself is evil, although some of the actions of the Taliban in Afghanistan appear to be evil). Paul is not trying to alarm the church, but rather is being fairly practical. He writes that there are evil forces at work that will try to tempt, deceive or manipulate us in ways that will undermine or threaten our faith. So we must resist these forces and stand firm. This call is consistent with the line in the Lord’s Prayer ‘Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil’.

The way to stand firm is to arm ourselves – inwardly – with the character of God – with truth, righteousness, peace, faith and the hope of salvation. We’re also to immerse ourselves in God’s word – the Scriptures – and to pray as we are led by God’s Spirit. If we follow these suggestions it does not mean that evil will cease to buffet our lives … but we will have our focus where it needs to be – on God and what God is able to do in us and through us. Then we can be strong and able to withstand what comes in our direction.

From the Minister

Living wisely

As we endure our sixth Covid lockdown in 18 months, many of us are feeling somewhat fatigued and frustrated. Why does it keep happening? When will life ever return to ‘normal’? In Paul’s letter to the Ephesians he calls on followers of Jesus to make the most of every opportunity and to live wisely. But what does this look like in practice?

We’ve had a couple of glaring examples this week of the opposite – how to live unwisely. The first came from Liberal MP George Christensen who gave an impassioned plea for Covid lockdowns and other health measures to be abandoned, labelling them as ‘madness’. While it’s true that lockdowns are costly and curtail our freedoms, the evidence from Australia and elsewhere in the world is that the alternative – just letting the virus rip – is far, far worse both in terms of lives lost and the economic impact. Luckily for our country, State Government leaders have wisely avoided the path suggested by Christensen.

The second example has been the Government’s quick response to the newly released IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) report. This report paints a fairly gloomy outlook for the global climate with temperatures predicted to rise by at least 2 degC over pre-industrial temperatures, locking the world into more intense bushfire events, cyclones, flooding and the like. The time to act to prevent the worst effects is right now with reductions in carbon emissions of around 50% needed by 2030. Our government’s predictable response is to maintain its hope that future technology can solve the problem while refusing to do anything substantial to reduce emissions in the short or medium term. While governments have generally been praised for following the advice of scientists in how to handle the Covid pandemic, they casually ignore the advice of climate scientists. This seems a very unwise path to follow. How about Paul’s advice on how to live wisely? At first glance it seems simplistic and to those outside the church probably ridiculous. The advice – focus on worshipping God and living holy lives, whether in the church, in the home or in the workplace. Paul puts his finger on some important truths. If we want to live wisely we need to tune into God’s wisdom and God’s ways. These include putting people first, rather than profits, as Christensen would suggest. It also suggests that listening to scientists who have spent a lifetime observing the physical world – whether in the area of human health or the area of climate – would also be wise.

From the Minister

More lessons from the Olympic Games

The focus of the Olympic Games has shifted from the pool to athletics this week. There have also been finals in team sports and new events like BMX and skateboarding. There have been many highlights … medals for competitors as young as 13 (in the skateboarding) and as old as 62 (Andrew Hoy in equestrian) … Australian track athletes making it to their respective final … teams playing ever so well yet not quite winning.

One particular highlight came in the final of the men’s high jump competition where the two leading competitors, Mutaz Barshim from Qatar and Gianmarco Tamberi from Italy, both cleared 2.37 metres (or 7 ft 9 inches in imperial measurements). Both failed to clear the next height of 2.39 metres. They were offered a jump-off to determine the winner. Instead they asked if they could share the gold medal. Barshim said “I know for a fact that for the performance I did, I deserve that gold medal. He did the same thing, so I know he deserved that gold.” Tamberi said “Sharing this moment with a friend is even more beautiful … It was just magical.” Two competitors, two friends, sharing the joy and sharing the spoils.

In Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, he encourages the community to speak the truth and to speak only words that are full of grace and useful for building up. The example of the two high jumpers and their words of grace for one another show how this can work in practice. Imagine how much more could be achieved in the political sphere if our politicians actually spoke the truth and stopped trying to score points off each other, and worked to build up rather than tear down. Paul’s advice is really so simple yet could make such a difference in our families, our churches and in the wider community.

Due to lockdown, worship this week will once again be on Zoom. Please contact the church office for the link.

From the Minister