This weekend I’m out of town in this sunny nations capital, Canberra. Why they didn’t just agree that Sydney was a lovely city and really should have been made the capital is beyond me. Canberra is quite similar visually it seems, to the boil on the British landscape that is Milton Keyenes, but there is no accounting for taste. Anyway, why am I here?
Stevey B and I are down here to lead worship for Micah Challenge’s Voices for Justice conference. VFJ is an amazing event that gathers Christians together to lobby parliament on issues of social justice, aid, poverty, climate change and more, it was set up to help Christians take seriously the mandate of Micah 6:8:
Do justice, love kindness and walk humbly with God.
It’s fair to say I’m being challenged by it all. Tomorrow a group of about 300 people of all ages will be going into Paliament house to meet with Prime Minister Rudd and other parliamentary leaders to question and challenge them on where the government will be spending its money in the next year. It is practical, powerful and acknowledged at the most senior level, to be the most effective challenge to government for how Australia should respond to the issues of inequality in our world. Deeply impressive stuff.
You can find out more about Micah Challenge and Voices for Justice right here, and you can web search Micah Challenge to find out more about what they are doing in your country from wherever you are reading this as it’s a global initiative.
Perhaps slightly controversially, considering the theme, Steve and I stayed in a pretty swanky hotel last night, but we got a very good last minute deal. The beds and the breakfast were pretty special affairs.
Despite a few technical challenges, leading worship yesterday was a very great privilege.
Photos to be uploaded later as I’m mobile blogging, but check back here for the update soon.
Update:
300 prayers of repentance and a room full of people with a heart for justice.
Uncontrollably excited.
Inordinately comfortable.
The sausage on this plate was described as ‘beaf’?
A very moving service of corporate repentance for our collective apathy about issues of social justice, climate change, poverty, aid and more held on the lawn outside parliament house by solar lamp light.
Parliament house looks a little like a set from a bond film.
I’m now contemplating ways of living differently.
Love this passage in Micah, it says so much in 3 neat phrases. Do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with God. For me, I find this whole thing of walking humbly quite tough. Don’t know if anyone else finds this difficult but I’m maybe inclined to glance over that phrase too easily. That’s the challenge for me, to work that out….
Thanks for this one MC, sounds like you had a very classy time with your ozzy PM. Good work : )
JG
Thanks JG,
Yep, think you’re right, really easy to take this one rather lightly, but being at the service really made me want to think differently about how I treat and respond to others.
Bless you
Peas
M : )
Thanks for blogging about Voices for Justice, Darcy – Mel saw this post in her google alerts and posted it to the Micah Challenge facebook page, but I only just had a chance to have a read. Glad we could give you some material
I for one have found re-entry into the “real world” quite tricky, as I try to communicate the whole experience to the people in my life who weren’t there. So thanks for putting some of it into words.
Tab
Pleasure Tab, was a very powerful time.