Can A Balloon Change The World

I ordered 3 bags worth of balloons today for our Memorial Day retreat programs. They are Fair Trade balloons! Seriously! You might laugh at me, being naive enough to believe that a balloon can change the world. Yet the truth is, I DO believe a balloon can change the world. In order for them to change the world, we have to change the minds of people, the heart of Christians, and even the connotation of certain words.

Let's start be redefining the connotative implications of a word. Sacramental. Classically, this words pertains to any object created by the church to aid in devotion. Items meant to assist the user in preparing their heart and mind to receive the sacraments. Catholics would place holy water, the rosary, and saint cards in this category. Evangelical churches have sacramentals as well, they just do not refer to them as such. In our church we use music and a meditative thought, and even some iconography occasionally. In both of these cases this word sacramental is disconnected from everyday life. I "GO TO CHURCH" and use an object or an activity to prepare my mind and heart for the Communion meal.

This is the idea that needs to be changed. Recently the phrase a "sacramental lifestyle" has been used in many missional and emergent conversations. This idea, for those of you who are not familiar with it, is that we are called to live in such a way that our LIFESTYLE is constantly engaged with God in his redemptive work. The sacramental lifestyle understands that we do not prepare to participate in a sacrament of atonement bust instead we are perpetually participatory as the incarnation of God's atonement.

Buying a balloon is a sacramental decision! The decision of where I spent my fiscals resources is FUNDAMENTALLY SACRAMENTAL! I can not be honoring with God in my heart as a eat a piece of cracker and take a shot of grape juice, if I am not honoring to God in the places where I buy my food, my clothing, and all my purchasing. When Christ states that the love of money is the root of all evil, he challenges the distribution of all our resources! Am I searching for the "Best Deal Available" at the expense of ignoring the slave labor in it's manufacturing, or am I purchasing responsibly to participate with God who "hears the cries of the oppressed."

There is SO MUCH available now that one can buy responsibly. Coffee, Tea, Chocolate, Fruit, T-Shirts, Socks, Flowers, and more I am forgetting. Yet, this is only the beginning! For love to change the world EVERY PURCHASE must be God honoring! The more products we the people of God insist on buying only when they are life affirming rather than life destroying, the more products that will be available.

I recently heard Rob Bell point out that Solomon's great mistake was to use forced labor to build the temple to the God of the slave and the oppressed. Once Solomon lost sight of the identity of his God, and his identity in God's Kingdom, his own kingdom was on a ripcord toward collapse.

Our hearts and minds must be changed. We must understand that our God is not a god like the corporate demigods of comfort, convenience, and consumption! He is the God of the bruised reed and the smoldering wick. He is the God who hears the cries of the slave, who feels the pain of the orphan, who longs for the release from bondage to the sex addict, the alcoholic, and the crack whore. He is the God who proclaim Jubilee, the redemption of all that needs to be restored.

A sacramental life can change the world because it is in that lifestyle that we align with God in his redemptive work, even in a purchase as simple as a pack of balloons, or maybe your mother's day flowers.

SOME FAIR TRADE LINKS:

Trade As One
Bright Hope

Fair Trade Valentines?

How do you plan on showing love to your special someone tomorrow? Flowers? Chocolates? Sugary Sweets? Coffee? Tea? Wine? What if by purchasing these items you were making a statement of love that was bigger than your mate?

Corporate Greed, and modern feudalism creates a system of exploitation that any follower of Christ should be ashamed of each time we sit to eat. Flowers are grown in literal sweatshops in the Andes. Coffee is grown in slave camps in South America, while the slavery of the cocoa, tea, and sugar industry is in Africa. The food chain of our "simple luxuries" is a reminder of one of Solomon's rants from Ecclesiastes.

Ecclesiastes 5:8-11 - If you see the poor oppressed in a district, and justice and rights denied, do not be surprised at such things; for one official is eyed by a higher one, and over them both are others higher still. The increase from the land is taken by all; the king himself profits from the fields.

Whoever loves money never has money enough;
whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income.
This too is meaningless.

As goods increase,
so do those who consume them.
And what benefit are they to the owner
except to feast his eyes on them?

The workers of the third world are exploited through 80 hour work weeks, minimal food, subhuman housing, and unclean water all while being told by US corporations and their subsidiaries that they owe more for these "services" than they earned. Tennessee Ford sang about this during the US depression.

You load sixteen tons, what do you get?
Another day older and deeper in debt
Saint Peter don't you call me 'cause I can't go
I owe my soul to the company store

As we goto our local store to purchase our holiday wares, we should make no mistake who we are in this equation. We are the rich man, the exploiter. Dante, famously stated there was a special place in hell for those who remained silent in a moral crisis. Although a bit harsh, Dante is right in his emphasis that we are responsible for the oppression, slavery, and injustice our purchasing has. Go back to Solomon's warning, and see that this gift is not a symbol of love, it is simply meaningless lust to gorge our senses!

This valentines day, I would encourage you to make a different choice than the roses, Russell Stovers, or other exploitative products. This holiday demonstrate your love through a holistic decision. A love that shows your feelings to that special someone, but also shows your commitment to the life and justice of the person who labored to make that product. Transfair and Equal Exchange offer ways to connect to companies that support the ethical treatment of their workers. Your commitment to purchasing Fair Trade items is a commitment to "real love" the kind of love Christ spoke about when asked, "Who is My Neighbor?" Purchasing Fair Trade is the responsibility of the people of God.

The Spirit of God calls us to JUSTICE! Will you be the rich man consumed with his wealth, or will you listen to the spirit and practice love!

Isaiah 32:15-17 - Till the Spirit is poured upon us from on high,
and the desert becomes a fertile field,
and the fertile field seems like a forest.
Justice will dwell in the desert
and righteousness live in the fertile field.
The fruit of righteousness will be peace;