The fast that we choose
Isaiah 58.1-12, Matthew 5.13-20
The Third Sunday Before Lent, 5 February 2023
Do you remember when you had your first-ever cup of fair trade coffee (or tea)? Chances are it would have been at a church function in the 1980s; and it wasn’t unusual in those early years for people’s first impression to be, “Well, I think it’s a good idea… but it doesn’t taste too good.”
I remember one PCC I was involved in voted for all the church refreshments to be fairly traded; but some time afterwards it came to light that the ladies responsible had been buying Nescafé and surreptitiously pouring the granules into empty Traidcraft jars.
Things have changed since those pioneering days: thankfully fairly-traded teas and coffees have greatly improved in taste; fair trade companies have proliferated and the fair trade product range has expanded to include many different kinds of groceries, household products, fashion and footwear, home and garden, and health and beauty items. And like most of the big corporations Nestlé now operates its own ‘responsible sourcing’ policy to help improve the ‘livelihoods and resilience’ of the farmers who produce for them. [1]
So when the news came through last week that Traidcraft plc had ceased trading and was to go into administration, there was a pause for sadness at the demise of this social enterprise which pioneered fair trade in the UK and helped to develop the globally recognised Fairtrade Mark. But it was also an occasion to give thanks, for, “It’s no exaggeration to say that the fair trade movement as we know it would not exist without Traidcraft.” [2]
Traidcraft had its roots in the churches, among Christians who realised that an overarching theme of the scriptures is that God is concerned above all else with the well-being of the hungry, the poor, and the outsider; and that God demands that those who seek to follow him, live justly towards society’s vulnerable ones.
In Isaiah 58 God couldn’t be any clearer: that he’s not interested in those who make an outward show of their religion - in this instance, by fasting - if, in matters of business, they wrong others: “Look,” he says, “you serve your own interest on your fast-day, and oppress all your workers.”
God is angered by those whose self-interest drives their business; when he sees that workers are being mistreated God is quick to raise his voice in condemnation.
God is clear that the religious life well lived is one which puts just living towards others at its heart.
“Is not this the fast that I choose,” God says: “to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke?”
The fair trade pioneers extracted from scripture the practical teaching that, whilst living justly towards others might involve charitable acts, it ought to go further. It ought to lead us to seek out and discover what causes people to be in need of charity in the first place, and to start to do something to address these underlying issues. As one influential leader said, “There comes a point where we need to stop just pulling people out of the river. We need to go upstream and find out why they’re falling in.” [3]
Thus developed what has come to be called ‘people centred trade’. In a world where trade doesn’t usually value people very highly, where CEOs are receiving in just 4 days the lifetime earnings of one of their workers, where businesses get away with destroying lives and nature, supported by governments intent on lifting all restrictions on commerce, the fair trade pioneers realised that it doesn’t have to be this way, that trade can be equitable, that businesses can find ways to pay higher, fairer, prices to producers and improve their social and environmental standards. [4]
The CEO of one of Traidcraft’s partners last week said that “Since 1979 Traidcraft has reimagined the relationship between producers and consumers, putting justice at the heart of trade.” The God of Isaiah would be pleased that in this era of escalating deregulation and profiteering, the fair trade movement steered many businesses in a completely contrary direction.
Though Traidcraft plc has ceased trading, fairly traded goods are now readily available. And the notion of fair trade, of people centred trade, is widely understood and accepted - if it is still largely resisted by those who would rather not let ethical considerations compromise their lucrative business practices.
“If you offer your food to the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted,” says God in Isaiah, “then your light shall rise in the darkness and your gloom be like the noonday.”
So let us give thanks for every business that breaks with convention, and chooses to treat people all over the world as more important than their own profit. [5]
Let us give thanks for everyone who sees the hard truth of the way trade currently works, and seeks out a better way of living, giving and spending their money. [6]
Let us give thanks for everyone who sees that the scriptures are more than just ‘private spiritual nuggets’ but that they have ‘a political and economic dimension’ which we must act on. [7]
These people may struggle to be seen and heard and taken seriously. They may try and not succeed. If they do begin to make a difference they will encounter opposition.
But God knows that this is the fast they have chosen… a fast which, God says, will be vindicated through the light and healing it brings into the world.
God knows that this is the fast they have chosen… is it the fast that we choose?
How do we act towards businesses who we see are driven by self-interest, and the politicians who enable them? How do we act towards workers who we see are being mistreated, and the campaigners who stand with them?
God is clear that the religious life well lived is one which puts just living towards others at its heart.
“You are the light of the world,” says Jesus to his followers. “Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.”
Notes
[1] Nestle: Responsible Sourcing.
[2] Julie Pybus, ‘Odds stacked against it’: Traidcraft, the UK’s pioneering fairtrade enterprise to close. Pioneers Post, 27 January 2023. Quoting Charlotte Timson, CEO of Traidcraft’s charity partner, Transform Trade.
[3] Desmond Tutu, azquotes.com. Acknowledging Revd Henry Corbett's nod in the direction of this quote during his BBC Radio Merseyside Daybreak interview, 29 January 2023 [from 3:09 to 3:43].
[4] Transform Trade, Sign the official record of support for people centred trade.
[5] Transform Trade, The Movement.
[6] Transform Trade, The Movement.
[7] Based on words of John Bell in Sing a new song: John Bell on music and congregations, an interview in Christian Century, July 25, 2006.
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