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Celebrating Australia Day

Headlines in the media this week have featured a range of perspectives on modern Australia. A typically summer headline is that Queensland is bracing for the arrival and impact of tropical cyclone Kirrily. Meanwhile the main political headlines have been about changes to Stage 3 tax cuts and whether a fairer distribution is more to be welcomed than a broken election promise. And in sport there have been headlines about Australian cricketers daring to have a view on 26th January as the most appropriate day to celebrate Australia Day. Which begs the question as to whether and why this date should mark our national day when it has long been observed as a day of mourning for Indigenous people rather than a day to celebrate.

So what are we really celebrating on this day? A common suggestion is that we are simply relishing the opportunity for a long weekend at the end of the summer holidays before the year proper starts. A more reflective response might be that we are celebrating that Australia is a modern, multicultural, prosperous and peaceful nation where we welcome everyone – whether immigrants or refugees – from all around the world. This suggestion is partly true and partly myth, as our treatment of Indigenous people and asylum seekers has often been shameful and cruel. Another suggestion, often overlooked in the debate about the date, is that we are celebrating being home to the oldest living cultures on the planet in our Indigenous peoples and there is much to be learned from their resilience, wisdom and connection with country.

But even as we pause to celebrate Australia Day, we are reminded that Australia is in the main a highly secular country and the influence and presence of Christian faith is steadily declining. Our challenge as followers of Jesus is not so much to focus on how we might survive or find new relevance in modern Australia, but to remain faithful to Jesus’ call to love God and love our neighbour (Mark 12:28-34). As we do this we will contribute to and build a more just and compassionate nation whose place in the world is worth celebrating.

From the Minister

Hanging onto hope in times of disappointment and setback

For those who seek and advocate for justice and peace, the last year has been quite challenging. We have seen the war of attrition in Ukraine grind on. We have seen atrocities committed by both sides in the Israel-Gaza war. We have seen the climate emergency worsen while delegates at the latest COP meeting fail to agree any meaningful measures to reduce fossil fuel emissions. And back home in Australia, the referendum to give Indigenous people a Voice to our Federal Parliament was soundly defeated.

Justice often seems to be in retreat and destruction and violence seem to be everywhere. These are not new observations unfortunately. This was the exact same complaint that the prophet Habakkuk wrote about, questioning why God allowed such injustice to prevail. Or perhaps it is like Paul describes in Romans that the whole of creation is groaning, waiting to be released.

How are we to continue seeking justice without giving up or falling into depression?

We need to remind ourselves that when all seems like doom and gloom, God calls us to hang onto hope, even when we can’t see it distinctly. It was this imaginative sort of hope that Isaiah gave to the exiles in Babylon that God had not forgotten them. It was this same hope that helped Mary envision a world turned upside down. It was this hope that was given startling new form in the resurrection of Jesus when all hope seemed to have died.

And we are called to pray. This can be hard when we see no change or things getting worse. But when we don’t know how or what to pray, Paul reminds us that God’s Spirit intercedes for us with groans too deep for words. So we pray for God to act.

We also pray that God would give us the courage and perseverance to continue the struggle for justice, just as God inspired people like William Wilberforce and Martin Luther King Jr to keep going in the face of seemingly intransigent opposition, for God’s justice will eventually prevail.

From the Minister,

Had any epiphanies lately?

An epiphany is a sudden revelation or thought. There may well have been a gradual build-up beforehand, but suddenly you have a ‘Eureka!’ moment when a new thought becomes suddenly clear to you. It may be about your job, or about a problem that’s been baffling you or perhaps about your sexual orientation or gender identity.

Having had this epiphany, you now need to decide what you will do about it and who you will tell. There may be a significant cost in doing this and you may be misunderstood or rejected. But you may also be pleasantly surprised, find support from unexpected sources and have a deep sense of peace about taking a new direction in life.

In the church, Epiphany is both an event and a season in the calendar. As an event it refers to the wise men from the East (Magi) visiting Jesus and offering him exotic gifts. Their epiphany was linking a new sign in the sky (a comet?) with the birth of a new king, who turns out to be Jesus. It is also a revelation that foreigners should recognise and seek to worship a Jewish boy born to be king.

As a season in the church calendar, Epiphany follows the season of Christmas and is the period where Jesus appears to the world as both the Son of God (revealed at his baptism) and the hoped for Messiah (King) of Israel, as revealed at the start of John’s Gospel. How Jesus himself recognised and responded to these epiphanies is never really shared in the Scriptures, but we might imagine that they caused a range of emotions. These revelations also led many to misunderstand or reject Jesus.

So I wonder whether you’ve had any epiphanies lately, whether about your personal life or who this person Jesus may be as we’ve travelled through the Christmas season and beyond. What will you do differently now as a result? Who will you tell?

From the Minister,