October 25, 2009

When times are tough sometimes people turn to new innovations out of necessity or even desperation. During tough times there is seemingly nothing to lose and people are willing to try things they would not normally consider. Sometimes amazing things happen as a result. In India, home to 1.1 billion people, the worldwide economic slump has challenged Indian companies to innovate. Traditionally, many ofIndia's engineers have spent much of their time serving rich consumers in the west. The products they design and engineer are high-end items for people with means and sometimes cheaper, knock-off versions of these items trickle down to the low end consumer in India and around the world. However, in the past few years with the world-wide economy in crisis, they have turned their attention to the lowest sector of the economy - the poor. Billions of people around the world live on less than $2 a day (Wall Street Journal Oct. 20, 2009, p. 1). Western and Indian companies have traditionally ignored this segment of society because it is not profitable?. until recently. Over the past few years, Indian engineers have been busy developing products for these folks that are relatively affordable. These include:

· a wood-burning stove that makes more heat and less smoke for the housewife for $23;

· a tiny refrigerator that looks like a cooler, but costs $70 and consumes half the power of a regular refrigerator and survives power outages which are common in poor communities, by running on batteries. High-end insulation keeps the mini fridge cool for hours (Ibid);

· a family can get clean water by buying a water purification system for $43;

· rural health clinics they have designed heart monitors and baby warmers that are designed to cost 10% of what they normally cost; A heart doctor in India whose patients can only pay $5 for a visit can buy a heart monitor that has been redesigned to cost only $1,000.

Even the distribution system of these new products is different. Instead of selling them at stores or kiosks where local folks shop, they are being distributed by self-help groups and microlenders in villages. Yes, the profit margin of these re-designed items is slim, but the volume that they are selling is making up for that. The water purification system is now in over 3 million homes in India thanks to a network of 45,000 Indian women who demonstrate and distribute these systems in their homes and sell them door to door in villages. The efficient stove has sold around 400,000 in India alone. There is even the Nano car, made by Tata Motors for $2,200. It took over 300 engineers four years to develop the Nano and required them to rethink everything about the car, from the engine to the seats to keep the sticker price down.

A housewife in Udgir, a remote village in India, has a refrigerator for the first time in her life and doesn't have to boil milk every time she makes tea. Some American companies have jumped aboard this new way of doing business. Now, are they doing this because they care about the poor who make under $800 a year? No, they are doing this to make money in a difficult economic time. However, what a confluence of needs being met! Businesses are taking advantage of what they call "reverse innovation," focusing on the undeveloped world for a change instead of the developed world- they are making money on the people on the lowest end of the economic food chain who are now able to have life-changing products!

When I read this story this week in the Wall Street Journal I was struck with the creative way that these businesses have responded to the economic situation worldwide. Talk about real "thinking-outside-the-box" behavior! The bottom line for the business world is profit, not compassion, but what a rare blending of the two principles!

I read this story after I selected my Bible text this week for our first sermon on Stewardship. I had selected the text from Deuteronomy which recounts an ancient biblical harvest festival where the early Jewish religious community is required to celebrate the Feast of Weeks by bringing an offering to God in proportion to the degree in which God has blessed them. They are instructed that seven weeks after they put the sickle to the corn they are to bring their offering to the temple. Further, they are to rejoice in the presence of their God, along with all those living in their home and community and to always remember that once they were slaves in Egypt, a time when they had nothing. Think about it; these folks lived off the land and had no control over things like rain and pests and other weather-related situations that affected their crop. Yet, within weeks of harvesting their crop, their food source, they are asked to live in faith that God would provide and to bring their offerings in gratitude. They did not give out of their abundance; they gave with the hope and with the faith that there would be enough that year.

In ancient times people were urged to offer their "First Fruits" to God. In modern times it has often shifted to the bottom of our giving list and we take care of necessities first, and then skim off a portion of our abundance and offer it to God. Oftentimes when we do our Stewardship Campaigns in churches, it is presented not as an offering of gratitude to God but instead a sacrifice that we make out of our hard-earned money. Giving is seen not as giving back in thankfulness to God for our lives, but giving because we finally have enough to share with others. Different emphasis than in Deuteronomy. "Remember you were once a slave in Egypt." God is reminding them of how far they have come with the guidance and grace of God.

Back to the Indian engineers and innovators. What if we approached Christian stewardship more like them, but with a faithful twist? What if we looked at the world as both a committed Christian with a business mind-set? Instead of stewardship being an afterthought that makes us holy and upright in the eyes of God, we saw it as the very heart of living out our faith and living compassionately in relationship to others? Imagine if we combined our passion for justice and helping others, with our intelligence and creativity? Imagine if that passion was driving our business ethic in churches so that we gave to our church communities because the product we are building has a return that is more valuable than money! For a business, it is profit, the bottom line; income. For a church, the return is people whose lives are offerings to God. Investing in the church means you are investing in children and adults who will look at and live in the world in a God-centered way.

I love the innovation that is coming out of India that is helping the poor become more self sufficient and to live better lives. And I wish that we in the Christian Church could adopt some of that creative thinking when it comes to utilizing our vast array of gifts that we have. So, what if we approached our stewardship giving differently this year? Instead of looking at our personal budget and considering what we could give and how much we can part with; instead of feeling how much we will be deprived if we give 50 or 100 or 300 dollars a month, how about if we focused on the impact that our church has on the lives of people? What if we saw our contribution as an investment in transforming the lives of everyone we come in contact with through our church and its programs? Every time people come to our worship or participate in our programs, they are welcomed and affirmed and lifted up as gifts from God. Here at the First Congregational Church, hospitality is heralded, differences are honored, people finding their life's path is celebrated here in this house of God. I certainly want to support that with my creative and financial resources. Children are warmly included and cared for here, folks who are sick or in need are remembered and tended to, and we worship God together and remember to give thanks for what we have. If you give to this church, you are investing in the lives of people who will vote, purchase, and advocate for peace and justice and who will take their passions into the world and make this world the place that God has envisioned.

Jesus, the cornerstone of our Church, modeled a ministry that moves from scarcity to abundance. When people needed to eat, Jesus offered them food; when disciples went out to preach, Jesus assured them that their needs would be provided for; when outsiders were ostracized for their physical ailments, bleeding, leprosy or poverty they were healed and led back to abundance by the intervention of Jesus; when the rich man had a poverty of soul he was directed to abundance by giving some of his riches away; when women had no voice, Jesus lifted up their self-determination in the face of unjust judges. Again and again we see Jesus moving people from scarcity to abundance and he is our model for how we are to be living our own lives!

On November 8^th we will ask you to turn in a pledge card with your financial commitment to this church for the coming year. We are asking for you to make a generous donation to the work and mission of this church and the people who come through out doors seeking the transforming presence of God. No other monthly bill invites us to look at the world differently - paying our mortgage, our insurance bill, going out to eat or even paying for soccer doesn't invite us to build a better world. When we give to the church we are giving to a vision of the world where the poor matter, not because we can make money off of them, but because we understand that their lives are as special and unique as any other. Giving to the church is giving to support an institution that has as its central vision a commitment to caring for people whether they are in this community or on their way to it in the future. Help us make an investment in the lives of others through our ministry. Help us move people from scarcity to abundance through the love, support, teaching and inspiration found here at our church. I hope you will give your First Fruits to God's church on November 8^th. Amen.