Sermon Archive
Fair Trade Fortnight
Sermon preached by Clephane Hume at Matins on 29 February 2004
Deuteronomy 26.1-11 ; Romans 10.8-13 ; Luke 4.1-13
This is not quite a unique opportunity. I haven't tried to work out how often Leap Year must occur on a Sunday, maybe one of you has, but it is certainly a relative rarity.
On my way here I passed meadows of crocuses, planted a few years ago by local schoolchildren, gleaming in the bright sun. Now I can see beautiful patterns as the sunlight streams through our stained glass windows. It takes the focus away from thoughts of wilderness.
Be that as it may, this year the beginning of Lent this year combines with the start of Fair Trade fortnight. One of the things I have learned during my travels in the last few years is the significance of income generation activities in developing countries. The connection between this and the forthcoming Fair Trade Fortnight is one that I cannot ignore. Last Sunday was unemployment Sunday, and some of us are more aware than others as to what that means in day to day reality. I do not wish to belittle that experience, and acknowledge that in the UK we still have third generation unemployment, not very far from here. But at the same time, in some other countries, lack of remunerative occupation is a lifetime reality, and often in a situation in which there is no state support.
The group of us who went to Ethiopia recently saw evidence of that. People may be fully occupied, or more accurately burdened, with the daily chores which add up to subsistence living, but they have little or no way of gaining an income unless they produce enough grain to sell the surplus in the market. And the effort in involved in accomplishing that is considerable - trekking for miles across the mountains.
When I went to the supermarket on my return home, I was confronted at the entrance, by piles of hot cross buns. Which seemed even more excessive when we had not even reached the season of Lent. But it was also challenging in terms of the range of produce available in contrast to what we had seen in the village shops in Ethiopia, or even the towns. I believe that someone has just completed a study which demonstrates that people here feel stressed by the choices available to them and make decisions more easily when the options are limited. I can understand that - having been overwhelmed by choice on occasion and given up and gone home. But that was in relation to clothing. Food is a more pressing need, certainly for the people of Ethiopia. It felt difficult eating hotel meals, knowing that folk outside had little to sustain them, and there were signs for NGO feeding programmes. I was certainly aware as we travelled north, that life was becoming more of a struggle.
One of the other things we found difficult at times was the number of people who would surround us, seeking to provide help that we didn't really want. But for them, it was a form of income generation. And as I indicated already, this is a necessity for people in many countries. Certainly for the patients my colleagues were trying to rehabilitate, who were often in an even more dismal situation, due to the reality of a lifestyle which put the focus on feeding the healthy, who were perceived to be the ones who could contribute to the workforce. However shocking we may find it, if there is not enough to go round, providing for the handicapped is secondary.
But of course it is not only disabled people who have to find work, or create work opportunities and this year the Bishop's Lent appeal is targeted towards a project which aims to give people the skills with which to earn their living. In a subsistence culture a bit of extra cash provides additional purchasing power and hence improved quality of life.
For us it provides a different opportunity - to use our earnings, rather than our first fruits and tithes - and in the words of the lesson, to place the basket before the Lord. To share our wealth. As a way of giving thanks for what we have.
There is no shortage of places in the world which are in need of help. In this instance we have the opportunity to support Papua New Guinea. A country that is perhaps not so well known, though the regular reports from John and Della Rae, are providing a colourful insight. Those of you who knew John Rae when he worked for the Children's Hospice Association will be aware of his powers of persuasion. Distance is no object! You can read more about the Simbai workshops on the posters or in the Episcopalian. (Scottish Episcopal Church newspaper).
The men, and smaller group of women, at the Simbai workshop will gain skills through which they will be able to earn an income. This, as any unemployed person will tell you, leads to greater self respect and a more positive outlook on life, together with improved physical and mental health. It brings to my mind echoes of some of the projects we came across in Ethiopia, from the which viewpoint I can tell you just how valuable the Lenten Appeal money will be.
And here I return to Fair Trade Fortnight. If people make an end product, they need a market for it. And that equally applies to farmers who work to grow cash crops rather than things that they would eat themselves. They require a fair reward for their work, not a middle man who will take part of their potential income. The fair trade symbol looks rather like the yin yang sign, which reminds us of the balance in life. The haves and the have nots. And if you look carefully, you see the person at the centre. We may have to pay a bit more, but the cost to us is minimal compared to the benefits to the grower at the other end. Jesus did not succumb to the easy way out, however tempting it might have been. We have the power to make a difference.
Our own One World Shop aims to make us aware of these things, in their effort to get Edinburgh recognised as a fair trade city. I have a friendly agreement with them that I buy my coffee in the supermarket, rather than the shop, to push up demand in the community. And other people must be doing the same because the range of products is expanding. At least where I go - and I don't all take the credit for that!
So you could do worse than take up buying fairly traded products, for Lent and then let it become a habit. As magazine put it - it is how to change the world - one shopping basket at a time. (Good Housekeeping, March 2004)
In Papua New Guinea and other poor places, people have little to choose from and they therefore appreciate all the more what our Old Testament lesson describes as the good things. They rejoice in them in a way which we have forgotten how to do.
In this penitential season, we can make amends for that. As Henri Nouwen told us, ignoring the suffering of others is not an option for Christian people - we are commanded to love our neighbour - known and unknown. The same Lord is Lord of us all and as we prepare to celebrate the joy of his resurrection, we can respond to the needs of others, rejoicing our ability to do so.
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