Sunday, October 24

Thou Shalt Share: Honouring God, Respecting Others

The focus of today’s service was justice and forming a just society.

The lesson for the children really resounded with us. Andrew talked about an ice cream factory that made his favourite flavour: mint chocolate chip. He explained to the children that, to make this delicious ice cream, you need a large vat of milk, a bucket of sugar, a small bowl of chocolate chips, an even smaller dish of green food colouring, and, lastly, a very tiny container of mint flavouring.

One day, however, the ice cream factory made the ice cream but forgot to include that tiny container of mint flavouring. Nobody liked the taste of the ice cream, and nobody wanted it. They learned that, in this case, the smallest ingredient was the most important – the one that completed the recipe and gave the ice cream its distinctive and appealing flavour.

Andrew asked us to think about how this story might apply to society. He asked us to think about people in our city and in our lives: those who are poor, those who struggle with school, those who are old, those who are ill. Jesus said that it is, in fact, these people who are the most important. If we can’t take care of them, if we can’t love them, then nothing in the world is right. In other words, we’ll be missing an essential ingredient, just like the mint in the ice-cream.

Andrew also encouraged us to look at the commandment “Thou shalt not steal” in a new light. He put forth the idea that, instead of thinking only of the prohibition contained in these three words, we might want to consider them as a positive exhortation, something more like, “Thou shalt share.”

Stephen Allen, Associate Secretary, Justice Ministries of the Presbyterian Church in Canada, expanded on this idea in his sermon, called “Signposts to Freedom.” Drawing on the experiences of diverse groups of people who struggled – and still struggle – for justice and freedom, he suggested that we think about the commandments not just as rules that tell us what not to do, but as constructive starting points that could help frame the way we live.

Quoting Leviticus 25, Stephen spoke about the year of jubilee: Every 7 years, fields are to lie fallow; every 50 years, land is to be returned to its owner and debts are to be cancelled. He spoke of how this concept applies today, a time in which many people – the Global South in particular – struggle with crippling debt. Stephen also mentioned the active role St. Andrew’s played in working to cancel these debts during the Ecumenical Jubilee Campaign (1999-2001), reminding us not to underestimate the role that the church can play in public life and how it can contribute as a forum for moral deliberation.

What we took from this morning’s service: In a world plagued by suffering, injustice and inequality, we should think more about those in need and find new ways to act on the lesson of sharing behind the four words “Thou shalt not steal.”

After all, we all need a little mint in our ice cream.

-Katherine and Jeremy Boyes

UPDATE: Listen to Rev. Johnston's children's story here. (8minutes, 7.8MB)