In the Scottish Referendum vote in the interest of the most vulnerable….

This is God's year to act...

As we approach the historic day of September 18^th and the referendum on Scottish independence we are all bombarded with promises for our ‘Yes’ or ‘No’. For the followers of the Jesus of the Nazareth sermon the good news is that the manifesto for personal and social change is already written. We are all invited to be transformed by participation in a new way of living together.  In Luke 4 it’s recorded about Jesus that …

^16-21 He came to Nazareth where he had been reared. As he always did on the Sabbath, he went to the meeting place. When he stood up to read, he was handed the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. Unrolling the scroll, he found the place where it was written,

God’s Spirit is on me;
    he’s chosen me to preach the Message of good news to the poor,
Sent me to announce pardon to prisoners and
    recovery of sight to the blind,
To set the burdened and battered free,
    to announce, “This is God’s year to act!”

He rolled up the scroll, handed it back to the assistant, and sat down. Every eye in the place was on him, intent. Then he started in, “You’ve just heard Scripture make history. It came true just now in this place.”

So it’s simple really; as followers of Jesus we must say ‘yes’ to strategies and policies that work towards eradicating poverty, promote social reconciliation, enlighten the mind and remove the back breaking burden of:  weapons of mass destruction,  low pay, poor housing and poverty promoting social policy like the ‘bedroom tax’. We must act now and continue to act! Any other approach is to say ‘no’ to the participative transformation that is on offer through putting into practice the teachings of Jesus of the Nazareth sermon. On Friday morning we must be as enthusiastic for this radical personal and social change no matter if ‘our side’ in the referendum has won or lost?  The call to dedicate our lives to the eradication of poverty is not up for a referendum; these are the basic principles by which the followers of Jesus of the Nazareth sermon will live no matter the referendum outcome. When we vote on Thursday we should vote for the best possible outcome for the most vulnerable in our society.  

Micah 6 

⁸ But he’s already made it plain how to live, what to do,
    what God is looking for in men and women.
It’s quite simple: Do what is fair and just to your neighbour,
    be compassionate and loyal in your love,
And don’t take yourself too seriously—
    take God seriously.

It’s time to say ‘yes’ to ‘Interdependence’ seen in community development, community reconciliation and social transformation in favour of the poor and the vulnerable; this alone will be to the ultimate benefit of us all.