“Sell your possessions and give to the poor!!”

Dr Richard Smith - 7th August, 2022

Readings - Luke - 12:33

It must have caused a bit of a panic among the disciples when they heard this.

It certainly sent a shock wave through me, as a member of the Evangelical Union at University; some years later I came to realise the Bible was not to be read literally. But in some way, it inspired the early monastic movement that spread Christianity throughout the western part of Europe into Ireland then via Iona into Scotland and northern England. Following the invasion by William the Conquer of France in 1066, Roman Catholicism would eventually subsume Celtic Christianity, which is now experiencing a revival. Such is the mystery and power of faith.

We are reminded locally of this impact of monasticism in such institutions as the Christian Brothers whose oath of Chastity, Poverty and Obedience resulted in their wealth being directed towards building a network of Catholic Colleges across the world, providing education to many poor and disadvantaged people.

To stop backsliding Jesus followed this teaching on poverty with the apocalyptic warning in Lk 12:40 of: “You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him”. A literal belief in the second coming of Christ is still prevalent today.

We are often in need of wake-up calls when we expect the status quo to continue forever. During her maiden speech, our newly elected independent for Curtin warned her fellow Parliamentarians, that we humans might be engineering our own extinction. She said “We are facing the reality that endless material growth is a myth, built into all our systems and decisions”.  “We must find different ways to define and measure progress and wealth”.

The lust for endless material growth, (which has delivered most of us a comfortable life), has come at the cost of endless wars and conflicts, both large and small. This occurred when our Christian ancestors arrived here two centuries ago, for a new source of wealth from under utilised land. An historical paradox, since Luke stressed more than any other Gospel writer, the imperative of forsaking worldly ambition for the spiritual riches of an ideal world (Kingdom of Heaven) – a kingdom of distributive justice – where everybody gets a fair share of its resources and opportunities. 

Imagine how challenged the early disciples must have been with Jesus’ teachings to forsake wealth and his warnings of the consequences of failing to do so. But Jesus reassured his disciples that since his Father looks after the birds and flowers of the Earth, so Nature will also care for them. The wisdom of Jesus holds true today. The reciprocity between our future wellbeing and care for Nature is becoming more apparent by the day.

The anti-materialist views echoed in our Gospel reading from Luke have been kept alive over the centuries by the Church, in their Sunday gatherings such as this today. The Christian religion, despite all its faults has shaped the modern social democratic societies of the West, with universal suffrage, education, social welfare, community services and acceptance of diversity. Such nations still represent only 35% of the world and remain under increasing threat of being overwhelmed by the other 65% living under autocratic rule from which we are presently experiencing escalating global tensions and conflicts. The situation is not unlike that facing Luke, as he wrote his Gospel while under the domination of the Roman Empire’s use of its military might, to steal the wealth of Jerusalem to build the Colosseum in Rome. A story recorded in stone within the arch of Titus in Rome.

Luke’s anti materialist Gospel has been kept alive in the denominations that formed the Uniting Church, giving us Saints. Not least you have one in this congregation, but you know his story.

In my contact with the Aboriginal people of the NW Kimberley, I encountered the work of the late John Robert Beattie Love (1889–1947).

Love qualified as a teacher but proved to also be a bushman, explorer, scholar, linguist, anthropologist, soldier, naturalist, minister and friend of the Aborigines. He used his undoubted skills, NOT to amass wealth, but to serve the Presbyterian Mission in the remote NW Kimberley.

 Serving in World War I, he was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal and Military Cross for his courage. On his return he studied theology, was ordained and returned to the mission at Kunmunya. There he trained the Aboriginal people to transition to agricultural and pastoral self-sufficiency – a belief he held to be essential for their longer-term survival.  He actively encouraged them to conserve their culture, believing that Christianity could only be taught by example. Kunmunya was widely regarded as one of the most successful missionary enterprises in Australia, and Love and his wife were much revered by the Aboriginal people and are still remembered by the Mowanjum people to this day.

Love a natural linguist, translated the Gospels of Mark and Luke and preached in their own language. He is one of the Uniting Church’s Saints, whose memory and lasting impact is contributing to the ongoing process of reconciliation between the First and Second Nations People. In 1936, Love published his experiences with the Aboriginal people in a book entitled “STONE AGE BUSHMEN OF TODAY”.

From my volunteer guiding on Rottnest Island, I have become acquainted with another Saint, a Methodist named Francis Fraser Armstrong (1813-1897). He arrived aged 16 soon after Captain James Stirling and the early colonists. Armstrong mixed with the local Aboriginal people, studied their customs and being a natural linguist learnt the local Nyungar language. Brutal conflicts and killings soon developed as the natives defended their land, which was both their source of food and their sacred inheritance. This conflict was intensified as displaced Aboriginal people were pushed onto the land of neighbouring tribes, creating inter-tribal warfare. A cycle of violence caused by two diametrically different cultures and religions – one being Christian. A fact which we are still coming to terms with today.

Into this maelstrom, the Government turned to young Armstrong as an interpreter for the native people appearing in the Magistrates court.  Many of the young Aboriginal men ended up being imprisoned on Rottnest Island, wiping out their tribe’s ability to resist the colonisation of their land. Of the 4,000 Aboriginal men imprisoned, almost 400 would die from disease, malnutrition and the cold, and buried in unmarked graves on the Island. It is the largest ever Aboriginal deaths in custody.

Making Rottnest an Aboriginal prison was in its own way a humanitarian act, seen as preferential to keeping them in chains on the mainland. On Sundays they were given the freedom of the Island to roam, to catch and immediately cook Quokkas to supplement their meagre vegetarian diet.

However, under Superintendent Henry Vincent, complaints of brutality at the Prison grew, and Armstrong was part of a commission of enquiry into the treatment of Aboriginal prisoners. Armstrong was later sent to Rottnest with the title of Moral Agent, to educate and be present at any punishment of the prisoners.  Henry Vincent detested the intrusion and made life so unbearable, that with failing health Armstrong resigned. Having been driven from the Island, he continued to serve the Aboriginal people as an interpreter and teacher. With his wife Mary he ran the Mt Eliza School for Aboriginals at the site of the old Swan Brewery. He assisted the Methodists who arrived on the Tranby to establish the Wesley Church in the City where a commemorative stained-glass attests to his life and service.

The human lust after wealth and power remains an ever-present threat to the peace and good order of the world.  How fortunate we are to have these scriptures passed down through the ages giving us an alternative way, when we interpret them in the context of our modern times.

The challenge is now with us, to carry on the work of Jesus Christ who we proclaim as Lord, whose memory and mission we keep alive as we read and meditate on the scriptures.

Dr Richard Smith