Sermon Notes June 3, 2007

Peace with Justice Sunday

Proverbs: All this stuff is God’s
Romans: 5:3-4 And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,
Today is Peace with Justice Sunday. We can generally accept that it is true that without Justice there is no Peace. I want to add that without Economic Justice there can be no Peace.

Extreme Poverty according to the World Bank is an income of $1 a day (1 billion people), Moderate Poverty is defined as $2 a day with 2.7 billion people living at that level. Nearly HALF of the world population lives on an income of $2 a day or less.

In many developed countries the official definition of poverty used for statistical purposes is based on relative income. As such many critics argue that poverty statistics measure inequality rather than material deprivation or hardship. For instance, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, 46% of those in "poverty" in the U.S. own their own home (with the average poor person's home having three bedrooms, with one and a half baths, and a garage
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poverty

In the United States poverty was set at $19,350 for a family of four for 2007.

Minimum wage in WA State is $7.93 (highest in the U.S.) Recently President Bush signed a law raising minimum wage gradually to $7.25 in 2009, currently the Federal minimum wage is $5.15.

Imagine the possible situation for person living on minimum wage. Minimum wage Job “full time” 32 hours / week, minus taxes brings that to approximately $995 per month. Obviously in our society that is not enough income for basic needs.

Rent $500
Utilities $200
Food $200
Gas $120
Car Insurance $100
Credit Card $75 ($4,000 debt, minimum payments, 116 months to pay off)
Total $ 1,195 (a negative balance of $200 for our poor worker)

The averabe Americans’ average credit card debt is $8400 per household.
Americans pay, on average, an 18.9% interest rate on credit cards.
More than 40% of American families spend more than they earn. (Federal Reserve).
http://creditcounselingbiz.com/credit_counseling_statistics.htm
The average worker earned $41,861, while the average CEO made $10.9 million, or 262 times that of the average worker. (2005)
From 1992 to 2005, the average CEO saw his or her pay rise by 186.2%, while the median worker saw wages rise by 7.2%.
http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/311/executive-pay.html

Economic Justice is necessary for world peace.

When we achieve better economic equity in our country there will be more help available for those living in the poorest nations of the world. We must close the gap between the richest and the poorest of our nation, peace is dependent upon a stable middle class.

Economic equity is closely tied to our ability to recognize that all of this stuff belongs to God. Our hope must not come from how much stuff we are able to have, but in our relationships with each other and with our God.