Pastor's Blog
- Details
- Published on Saturday, 28 January 2012 13:39
This morning it snowed. I was working on finishing up my confirmation lesson on the Sermon on the Mount, but decided to take a break. I went out to shovel the drive and was listening to This American Life. The episode's title was "Mr. Daisey and the Apple Factory."
From the title, you might think it sounds like a children's fairytale, but it's anything but. A divergence from their usual format it is a single story by Mike Daisey who curious sets off to see where his iPhone is made.
I must admit I am not surprised by what he found, though it is shocking. Over the last couple decades I've heard similar stories about Nike shoe Factories and clothing manufacturer. But though we know at least a modicum of the truth, we choose not to ask the question. It's better just not to know. Knowing it, I have to ask myself what I must do about the knowledge. Knowing it, challenges me to reassess buying the latest technological gadget. Knowing it, ultimately leaves me with the question, "Am I going to ignore it so I don't have to worry about it?"
It seems compelling that I listened to this story as I prepared for a lesson on the Sermon on the Mount. Afterall, Jesus' purpose in the Sermon on the Mount is to lay out the upside-down ethics of the Kingdom of God. This radio story is ultimately about the "poor in spirit" and "meek". As I prepared for the the lesson, the Lutheran Study Bible I was looking at asked this question about the Beatitudes, "If Jesus Teaches who to bless not how to be blessed how would that change your life?"
What does living the upside-down ethics of the Kingdom of God given to us in the Gospel (not just Matthew 5-7, read also Luke 1:46-55) mean when I have to be a blessing to those who make the stuff I so readily consume? Is it enough to say, with a swipe of the hand, that at least they have a job and their life is better than it would be without? Or do we, you and I, bear a responsibility to be a blessing to them?
