National Day is an occasion for celebration. As Singapore celebrates its 39th birthday, we as members of the Christian community join people of other religious faiths to give thanks to God for the considerable progress we have made and the comparative peace that we enjoy. Although we tend to recognize the leaders of government, business and industry in our country we often forget the contributions of those from other sectors of our societies especially those at the lower level. People in all levels of community life have worked individually and collectively to make our nation what it is today. In one form and another we all have made certain distinctive contributions. We have a continuing responsibility for the future as a community and as a nation. This is particularly so when tomorrow is so uncertain and unpredictable in these times.

More specifically we thank God for Free Community Church as it takes its legitimate place in Singapore society. Many of you have moved from the isolation of your closets to the safety of Safehaven and now the diversity of Free Community Church. The flow of our history is moving forward for people like us and we thank God for all those who are part of this piece of history.

Celebration is not just an occasion to give thanks to God for what has been accomplished in history of the nation and its people. I suspect that this is all that most churches will do as we observe National Day in our worship services this Sunday. In fear of the uncertainties of tomorrow we then petition God to bless our nation with peace and prosperity. What more do we do? Not much more usually. Since we have instructed God we claim the faith and promises that God will now work to bless our nation. Have you stopped to think why God will want to bless Singapore and not Laos or Bangladesh or North Korea and other poor countries. Is it because we as Christians have prayed and that God has a preferential treatment for us?

Recall Acts 10:34 And Peter opened his mouth and said: "Truly I perceive that God shows no partiality, but in every nation any one who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him." Not just the Jewish nation but every nation. Not just the Jews who regarded themselves and the special ones, the chosen ones for it was recorded that "the believers from among the circumcised who came with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles." Verse 45.

We cannot just pray for peace without being involved in peace-making. We cannot just petition for prosperity without being engaged in providing fullness of life beyond only the material to all people. The prophet Micah reminds us in Chapter 6:8 He has showed you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

As we celebrate we need to remember the commitment of people who have charted the course of our history. As Christians we look back at our own religious tradition and identify the commitment of people. We see the towering figure of Moses who is reputed to be the founder of the Hebrew nation.

In his youth Moses saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew and rising with righteous indignation killed the Egyptian and fled to the land of Midian where he married one of the daughters of the priest there. He settled there for a while but his heart was with his own people left in the land of slavery. He could have settled down comfortable for he had married well. But he could not dismiss hearing the cries of his people for help. Moses in his experience of the Burning Bush responded to the ! call of God to lead his people out of bondage to a land flowing with milk and honey. He returned to Egypt and demanded that Pharoah set the Hebrews free. This became an event known as the Exodus when the slaves were liberated from the land of bondage. The Lord's mandate, "Let my people go" has become the watchword for succeeding generations of committed people until today.

People are still caught in different kinds of bondage. They are imprisoned in the hovels of poverty, ghettoes of race, and closets of sex. They cry out for help. Can we be numbered with those who have received the call of God to lead such people our brothers and sisters out of bondage.

There is a classic movie called "The Mission" which some of you may remember. It was based on a true story of Jesuit missionaries who developed a self-supporting community of indigenous people in Latin America. They no longer wanted to be traded as slaves. This threatened the flourishing slave trade in the area and thwarted the colonial expansion of Spain and Portugal. These governments applied tremendous pressure on the Vatican to end this particular mission. If not, the Jesuit mission of establishing colleges and missions throughout the world will be closed.

The representative from Rome was sent and he saw the commendable work that the Jesuits were doing in that mission. The people received the social teaching along with the Christian faith. After much agony and prayer he reluctantly acceded to the demands of the European colonial governments and ordered the mission to close. But the natives refused to leave and the Jesuit missionaries stayed with them. The colonial powers launched a massive offensive and hired mercenaries to attack with arms and cannons. All the natives and missionaries died in the massacre and the buildings were destroyed.

In the last scene of the movie, the ambassadors of Spain and Portugal met with the same representative from Rome who in anger asked "Was this massacre necessary?" The reply was "Your Eminence, do not feel badly. After all, such is the way the world is!" The church representative replied vehemently, "No! Such is the way we have made the world!" He then turned away from them and walked looked outside and said sadly to himself, "Such is the way I have made the world!" Tears flowed from his eyes. We celebrate their commitment of these Jesuits who opposed economic exploitation.

Related to poverty is the situation of hunger. Actually there is no reason why anyone should go hungry even for a day. There is enough food around and we know food is being wasted and thrown away in our affluent society even here. It is an issue of distribution of food. We are not only to feed the hungry but to change the situation which causes the problem of hunger. That does not sit well with comfortable Christians and complacent churches.

There is a well-known story of Brazilian Archbishop Dom Helder Camara who lived to ninety and died only in 1999. Pope John Paul II called him a "brother of the poor," while the country's military dictators called him a "subversive communist." His campaign against social inequality and human rights abuses won him international recognition. He worked to draw attention to the suffering of the poor, even after his retirement from his post in 1985.

His comment about hunger has been heard around the world. "When I feed the hungry they call me a saint but when I asked why they are hungry they call me a Communist."

Turning to racism we look at the events of World War II, we have the rise and fall of the Third Reich under Hitler and the tragic event of Holocaust in the German concentration camps and the elimination of millions of Jews. The Church including the Roman Catholic Church kept silent and only a few German Christians spoke up against Hitler and paid the price. The Pope only recently officially apologized for their non-interference for the Church was aware of the persecution of the Jews in Europe and did not speak up in protest.

Martin Niemoller was a submarine commander in WWI, a loyal citizen, an ardent nationalist and a faithful pastor in Germany. At first be welcomed the rise to power of Adolf Hitler. Later, however, he realised that Hitler was heading in the wrong direction. He became an outspoken critic of Hitler and Nazism. While most churches and church leaders acquiesced to the leadership of Hitler, Niemoller protested against his anti-Semitism and anti-Christian tendencies. Once Hitler said to Niemoller: "I will protect the German people. You take care of the church. You pastors should worry' about getting people to he! aven, and leave this world to me."

Niemoller was arrested in 1937 for his subversive activities. He spent the next seven years in concentration camps in "protective custody." He survived the Holocaust and was liberated in 1945 when the war ended. He was elected President of the Protestant church in Hesse and Nassau in 1947. He became a President of the World Council of Churches in from 1960 till 1968 and was a tremendous influence to the world wide Christian community. He died in 1984.

Holocaust survivor, Martin Niemoller is credited with this oft-quoted statement: "In Germany they came first for the Communists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me, and by that time no one was left to speak up."

Here was a small group of Christian leaders who were committed to take their stand against fascism and dictatorial political leadership and paid the price of imprisonment. We celebrate their courage and bravery as they opposed the dictatorial government and the hideous crime against humanity

In more recent times we saw how Christian leaders like Martin Luther King, a black Baptist pastor led his fellow clergy and church members in their struggle against racial discrimination in the United States.

When I went back to Boston University in 1959 to begin my doctoral studies Martin Luther King was there finishing his Ph.D. dissertation. He worked quietly at the library and found the theological base for his involvement in the civil rights movement. Little did we as fellow students realize that he was soon propelled upon the national and international arenas. King was a preacher who spoke in strong clear biblical tones in leading the stride toward freedom.

We recall his commitment in his fight against social or racial discrimination. We marvel at the victory he achieved and regret the high cost he paid for his commitment to lead his people out of racial servitude. For his leadership in the civil rights struggle he was granted the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964.

In the contemporary world the name of Nelson Mandela is well-known. When he was arrested and tried he made this statement "During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to the struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But, if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die." He was found guilty and sentenced to prison. While he languished in prison for thirty years in South Africa he inspired the battle against apartheid government.

When I first entered the ecumenical scene and attended the Assembly of the World Council of Churches in Nairobi in 1975 I encountered the Free Nelson Mandela Movement. The world wide campaign especially by church leaders was successful in getting him out of political imprisonment in 1990. He was elected in 1994 as President of South Africa. In his Inaugural Address he said: We have, at last, achieved our political emancipation. We pledge ourselves to liberate all our people from the continuing bondage of poverty, deprivation, suffering, gender and other discrimination. We succeeded to take our last steps to freedom in conditions of relative peace. We commit ourselves to the construction of a complet! e, just and lasting peace.

We celebrate the commitment of Mandela who established a more just and equal nation. His successful battle against apartheid government and the way he conducted himself with dignity in victory is a fine example of Christian witness in society. He was awarded the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize.

An ally of Mandela is Desmond Tutu , the former Archbishop of Cape Town and a Nobel Peace Price winner earlier in 1984. He has lent his name to the fight against homophobia in Africa and around the world. The prominent South African says homophobia is a "crime against humanity" and "every bit unjust" as apartheid.

The former head of the Anglican Church in Southern Africa made these statements at the launching of the book "Sex, Love & Homophobia", published last week by Amnesty International UK. Archbishop Tutu has written the foreword to the human rights group's book.

"We struggled against apartheid in South Africa, supported by people the world over, because black people were being blamed and made to suffer for something we could do nothing about; our very skins," wrote the prominent Church leader. "It is the same with sexual orientation. It is a given," he added.

Tutu says he could not have fought against the discrimination of apartheid and not also fight against the discrimination which homosexuals endure. South Africa is so far the only country in the world where the constitution guarantees equal rights non-regarding sexual orientation. This is in stark contrast to most of South Africa's neighbour countries, where homosexuality often is punished by the penal code. Yet, al! l over the world, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people are persecuted, writes Archbishop Tutu. "We treat them as pariahs and push them outside our communities. We make them doubt that they too are children of God - and this must be nearly the ultimate blasphemy. We blame them for what they are," he adds.

For Tutu, these "destructive forces" of "hatred and prejudice" are an evil. "A parent who brings up a child to be a racist damages that child, damages the community in which they live, damages our hopes for a better world. A parent who teaches a child that there is only one sexual orientation and that anything else is evil denies our humanity and their own too," Tutu concludes.

These representative Christian men of faith are in the endless line of splendour of those who made commitments to serve God by establishing justice in society and promoting peace in the world. Their Christian faith informs them that they have a case for social involvement and a responsibility for the common good.

The history of the church has been the history of social transformation. Wherever Christians have gone, they have improved living conditions, championed the homeless, the poor, the victims of injustice. They have built schools and hospitals, developed literacy programs. They have ministered to the poor and needy, set up orphanages and homes for the aged. They were involved in prison reform, abolition of slavery, improvement of worker's conditions, campaigning for human rights, striving for peace with justice. We have this historical tradition to guide and encourage us today.

The Church is set in the world and what happens in the world has an impact upon the life of the Church. But more importantly, the Church has an obligation not only to the members who come to Church but to the people in the community. There are important Biblical teachings that we cannot so easily dismiss and remain as comfortable Christians taking care only of ourselves. We have an obligation to society and a mission to fulfill in the world. It is a mandate from God.

The care and concern for the well-being of humankind is a commandment which is inevitably not limited by the immediate circle of family and friends in which we move. So it is incumbent upon us, as Christian men and women to show unlimited love. Wherever we have opportunity - in the circle of family and friends, or in wider circles - we have also a responsibility to shoulder. One cannot be a Christian without social concern and involvement.

We may feel convicted and conflicted when we hear about such committed Christians who are such good stewards and expressed their love of God and neighbour in concrete ways. Faced with the enormity of the world's problem of poverty, oppression and peace we may well ask, "What can I as a lonely little individual do in the face of such massive global problems." "How can I contribute to peace and justice when I myself am under the influence of my selfish desires for more pleasures and more security and comfort?" It is then we take seriously that we can and must think globally and act locally.

Jesus replied in Matthew 25:35, "I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink. I was a stranger and you welcomed me." It is the exercise of compassion to our neighbours. Moses was stirred initially by the suffering of one fellow Jew who was being beaten up by an Egyptian. He nurtured his compassionate heart to respond to the suffering of the whole community of slaves under Pharoah and led them out of the land of bondage.

In the Lord's Prayer we are to pray. Thy Kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. It is not just to pray for a spiritual kingdom. It is the real kingdom on earth where the rule of God is predominant and established. It is for this purpose that God has endowed us with gifts to play our part in the establishing God's rule on earth here and now.

The prophet Isaiah has clearly given us the vision of the future of God's reign in the Scripture passage today. The Spirit of the Lord is upon all those who rule. For those in leadership, God requires wisdom and understanding. These are intellectual qualities. Then God expects counsel and might. This is application of wisdom and decisiveness in judgment. Finally God demands knowledge and fear of the Lord. This is the religious character of leadership.

When we are able each in our own way promote and support such leadership in the family, church, nation and world we are working towards the bringing in of Gods rule on earth.

Isaiah painted a picture of the nation of peace with justice. This is characterized by how we act with justice to the helpless and the poor and humble. Righteousness and faithfulness shall surround all of life. It is a social order where justice rules.

He also painted the serene picture of reconciliation with nature. The animosity between man and beast will no longer exist and seeing meek children playing with wild beasts. Right relationships are being restored through God's created world.

It has been said that we deserve the kind of world we live in. The world is what it is because we either individually or corporately made the decisions. Even our indifference and decision not to participate is a decision to allow the status quo to remain and carry on. Our involvement and action will determine the state of the world or nation or society.

Free Community Church has a special ministry in Singapore. A Methodist colleague saw the current stage play, Top and Bottom. It is a play about a group of friends mourning over death. Death caused them to re-examine life and death itself. Hossan Leong on stage suggested that they g! o to find the answers in the church with the qualification that not all churches but only the Free Community Church. He was pleasantly surprised to hear that and was quick to inform me. Is FCC able to provide meaning to these people in bondage. We have heard earlier Shaun's moving testimony how he found respect and acceptance when he first came into this church. In our life as a congregation we must embody diversity and witness to the inclusivity of our community. Each one of us must play his and her part to the building up of this kind of a church to witness to God's love for all people.

As we celebrate National Day there are many reasons for the happy state that we are in and there is good reason to give thanks to God. But we must not forget we have a commitment to make.

We celebrate the commitments of the faithful which surround us like a cloud of witnesses in the pilgrimage of faith and the march to freedom to the Promised Land. We celebrate the commitment that we are to make when we pray daily Thy Kingdom come Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.