An excerpt from todays sermon picking up theme of Genesis 21:8-21 - Hagar and Ishmaels expulsion into the wilderness by Sarah and Abraham. This past week has been Refugee Week. At Mountview Uniting Church in Mitcham our Moderator participated in a service of Lament over Australia’s treatment of Asylum Seekers. As a nation we have acted the part of Sarah – jealously guarding ‘what is ours’, while sending Ishmael and his mother off into yet another wilderness to fend for themselves. Recently former Moderator and National President, Al Macrae was among a number of colleagues and Christians from other traditions who were arrested when they held a ‘pray-in’ at Bill Shorten’s office to express concern for those being harmed by both the Government and Opposition’s cruel policies. This week Daniel attended the funeral of Leo Seemanpillai (I was not well enough to attend). Leo was the Tamil refugee whose despair had become so great that he took his own life. Like Hagar, he had come to the end of his resources; unlike Hagar he could not see a well hidden in the wilderness. Refugee Week culminates today with the March for Refugees in the city – when leaders and members of the Uniting Church will celebrate our 37th birthday by joining with other concerned citizens seeking to uncover the wells of grace and life in the wilderness faced by those exiled from their homes.
Posted on: Sun, 22 Jun 2014 11:34:08 +0000
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