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December 10 was designated as Human Rights Day by the United Nations in 1950. This date commemorates the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations on December 10, 1948. In the wake of World War II it was determined that the nations of the world needed to agree on a universal standard of human rights.

The first few articles of the Declaration set forth the tone of the document:

Article 1.
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

Article 2.
Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty.

Article 3.
Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.

Article 4.
No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.

Article 5.
No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

Article 6.
Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law.

Article 7.
All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled to equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination.

How perfect that this was the day to celebrate the life of Nelson Mandela, a great champion of human rights.

Some of us participated in an interfaith dialogue event this evening here in St. Petersburg: Tell Me About the Muslim Faith. Nine people from Lakewood UCC were present. We heard a presentation about Islam and then engaged in dialogue about our faiths in diverse groups over dinner. It was a very enlightening evening.

Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights declares:

Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.

Given that affirmation of religious freedom and respect, the interfaith event at the Enoch Davis Center was also a fitting way to mark Human Rights Day.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights does not stop with matters of conscience, but also addresses very practical concerns. Article 25 states:

Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.

Here we still need to do a lot of work. As Christmas approaches and we prepare to celebrate the birth of one who truly honored and defended the human rights of each and every person, this is a time to think about how we are standing up for human rights. And when we look at the scope of the Declaration, we realize that we have opportunities to work for human rights right here in our own community.

People will sit under their own vines and fig trees with no one to make them afraid.
The mouth of Yahweh Omnipotent has spoken.
Micah 4:4

Prayer: In this season we prepare to celebrate the birth of one who embodied respect for the human rights of each and every person. Jesus shows us how to live out the universal love of God. He teaches us to love beyond the divisions and prejudices that we learn consciously and unconsciously. May we honor Jesus by extending human rights to all persons. Amen.

To read the entire Universal Declaration of Human Rights, follow the link below:

http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/index.shtml#atop

The classic image of Santa involves the critical question – Have you been naughty or nice? The answer determines your fate with Santa. Many people project this kind of thinking on to God and feel God makes a similar determination the result of which accounts for our destiny with God.

So, are we naughty or nice? The vast majority of people want to be or intend to be nice. Basically, people want to be good and do the right thing. But does that intention really make us good? And can being good actually make us bad?

Apparently, doing good can give us the impression that we are good people. We’ve done the right thing. We have been generous. We have helped someone. So, we feel good about ourselves and we feel that we are good. That’s all fine. But we start to think of all this good like “money in the bank.” Then when the opportunity comes to do something morally questionable, we think, “Well, I’ve done all this good, it’s ok if I do this bad thing. I have done plenty of good to make up for it.” We think of our good as the counter balance to the bad thing we do.

A minor example could have to do with eating. Say we are trying to diet. We eat a low calorie salad and flavored water for lunch. In the mid afternoon, we are feeling a bit hungry. So, we have some chips and dip to tide us over, thinking it’s ok because we only had a salad for lunch.

But this kind of thinking also happens with regard to moral decision-making by individuals and corporations. We may donate a lot to charity. Then when we are doing our tax returns, we think we’ve been generous, we have been good so, we’re entitled to cheat on our return and not declare something we should really be disclosing. Or a company may do all kinds of things that are helpful to the environment and then feel that that makes it ok for them to ignore an EPA regulation and dispose of waste inappropriately.

With this kind of thinking, we convince ourselves that being good makes it ok to be bad once in a while. Being good earns us the right to to be bad.

So as we prepare for Christmas, beware. Pay attention. Are you being nice or good or generous and then using that as an excuse to do something selfish, or wrong, or bad?

The message of Christmas is that we are loved naughty or nice. Naughty AND nice.

When you do acts of charity, for example, don’t have it trumpeted before you; that is what hypocrites do in the synagogues and the streets, that they may be praised by others. The truth is, they’ve already received their reward in full. But when you do acts of charity, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing; your good deeds must be done in secret, and your Abba God – who sees all that is done in secret – will repay you.
Matthew 6: 2-4

Prayer: This Christmas season and all year, we pray for hearts that are pure. We want to be good and we want to do good, not as license to do bad or out of self interest, but in response to the unconditional love at the heart of life. May we forgive ourselves and others with the same abandon God extends mercy to us. Amen.

In the musical, “A Christmas Carol,” which many of us saw at the FreeFall Theater this afternoon, Scrooge sings of his heart being broken and exposing all the evil inside. Yes, our hearts broken open by life’s circumstances, by tragedy, by crisis, can expose us to the truth. We may see the worst about ourselves. It can be jarring. It is natural to resist such exposure.

As the old saying reminds us, “The truth hurts.” It can be very difficult to see our shortcomings and our character defects. Realizing that long cherished perspectives are simply wrong and possibly hurtful can be like having the rug pulled out from under us. To see the harm we have caused ourselves and perhaps others can be quite painful. It is heart breaking to see the truth, to come to terms with our identity and our faults and weaknesses.

A broken heart is an open heart. Open to expose the bad. Open to let the bad seep out. A broken heart is also open to God, open to being filled with love, open to receiving goodness and grace. So the image of the broken heart is ultimately a path of healing as we see in the case of Ebenezer Scrooge. His heart has to be broken open so that he can be healed and made whole.

In this season, may we be willing to have our hearts broken, so that they are open to receive the coming of Christ.

God heals the broken hearted,
and binds up their wounds.
Psalm 147:3

Prayer: By nature, we seek to avoid pain. But just as the remedy for a physical malady may be painful but ultimately lead to health, so it is with our spirits. The healing process may be painful. May we allow our hearts to be broken open so that love may flow freely. May our broken hearts release the Christ within us. Amen.

On December 7, 1941, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, the naval base in Hawaii. It was the worst attack on American soil of the 20th century. The attack demolished all US resistance to entering World War 2 and this country plunged into war across the Atlantic and the Pacific.

This past week, US vice president Joe Biden visited Asia engaging in discussions about foreign policy and foreign relations. Part of Biden’s agenda was protecting the interests of the US and its allies, chief among them, Japan. That’s quite a commitment when you remember Pearl Harbor. China and Japan have been at odds for centuries and the tensions continue. Japan attacks the US and just decades later, we are tightly linked as allies. It truly is remarkable that the US is able to have this kind of relationship with Japan today.

When we look at Europe, we see more surprising alliances. In fact, the entire European Union is an amazing leap in the direction of harmony and peace. Today we think of Western Europe as one big, happy family. They use the same currency. They cross borders without passports. These countries, within the lifetime of many alive today, were the most bitter of enemies with conflicts going back generations upon generations.

May Pearl Harbor be a reminder for us of how far the international community has come. And may that inspire us to make the sacrifices necessary to increase the peace in the world.

Always strive for peace with everyone and for the holiness without which no one can see our God. See to it that no one falls short of God’s grace, and that no bitter root starts growing, causing trouble and spreading defilement as it grows.
Hebrews 12:14-15

Prayer: May peace prevail on earth. Amen.

 
Yesterday we learned of the death of one who is remembered as one of the greatest leaders and statesmen of the 20th century. So much has been said about him that eloquently captures his spirit and his commitment to what is right and good. He is admired for his leadership during South Africa’s transition from apartheid to democracy. He is extolled for embodying forgiveness and reconciliation.

So much of what we revere about Nelson Mandela stems directly from the teachings of the New Testament which is not surprising since he self identified as a Methodist.

Love your enemies and pray for your persecutors.
Turn the other cheek.
Bless your persecutors – bless and don’t curse them.
Don’t repay evil with evil.
Be concerned with the highest ideal in the eyes of all people.
Do all you can to be at peace with everyone.
Don’t take revenge.
If your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them drink.
Don’t be overcome by evil, but overcome evil by doing good.

We see these teachings and many others from the New Testament embodied in the life of Nelson Mandela. He took the moral high ground. He looked at the long term result that was desired. He knew, as did Jesus, that if you win through violence, then you must rule through violence and intimidation. And then you have lost the battle for true freedom.

So many times I hear people say that the teachings of Jesus and Christianity are all well and good, but that they are utopian; not realistic. They can’t be incorporated into the actual workings of society and government. They are not practical for every day life in the world of today. And yet we see so much of Christian teaching put into practical application in the life of Nelson Mandela and he is rightly receiving due adulation and praise for his courage and vision.

We have so many leaders in the United States in government and business from the White House on down who claim to be Christian, to be followers of Jesus, who go to church, who pray, and who read the Bible. May they do more than praise Mandela; may they follow his example.

Prayer: We have been given a rich heritage of wisdom and teaching which is intended to lead us to our highest good as a human community and as individuals. And yet so often we settle. We settle for what is easy. We settle for what is quick. We settle for what is cheap. And we deny the riches and the value of our inheritance. May we have the courage to pursue reconciliation and justice. In this season as we prepare for Christmas may we refocus our lives on Jesus, the reason for the season. Amen.