Sunday, March 23, 2014

Economic Wholeness (Jeremiah 34: 8-17)

Does God really care about economics? 
Obviously I believe God does, or I wouldn’t be preaching on economic wholeness.
But let’s explore this question together.  And let’s start with the Exodus.
After the Israelites were set free from slavery in Egypt and led to the promised land to form a new nation, God gave them a series of teachings:  the Torah; or, what we often refer to as the Law.
And among the teachings and commandments of the Torah were many concerning slavery and the making of loans.
Someone might ask: “what do loans have to do with slavery?” … and it’s a good question.  In ancient, biblical times, taking out a loan often led to slavery. 
Sometimes slavery was the result of war and being the losing people, captured and forced into slavery by the victorious invaders.
But far more often, slavery was the result of a loan that couldn’t be paid back. 
A person who was down on his luck and couldn’t afford to live could take out a loan.  All loans need some sort of collateral, so the person would make a pledge.  And what does a person who is so down on his luck have that he could use to make a pledge? 
His life.  Or the life of one or more of his children.  It was all he had.
Default on the loan, and those whose lives have been pledged must become the slave of the one who made the loan.
And this slavery that one sells oneself or one’s children into, it usually had a set time, at least in theory.  But perhaps there were conditions for release that could not be met; perhaps the owner could “create” conditions that could not be met.  After all, he had all the power.  The slavery could last indefinitely.
That, of course, is not just.  It’s not fair.  Especially to someone to was already down on his luck, and probably got to that state because of oppressive land policies or taxes that favored the wealthy and powerful but were oppressive to individuals who owned little or no land.
And since our God is a God of justice, the teachings God gave to the people included many commands concerning land and property and slavery and economics.
There were limits on loans.  Loans to fellow countrymen were to have no interest at all.  If a fellow Israelite was desperate enough to need help, help should be offered freely, with no interest or profit.
Every 7th year, loans were to be forgiven and all slaves were to be set free.  This is an extension of the Sabbath laws, and was meant to ensure a level of economic justice and freedom.  No debt is so great that one should have to give up a lifetime of freedom.
The Torah is very specific as to how this is to be observed.  In Deuteronomy 15 it says:  “Every seventh year you shall grant a remission of debts.”  It even goes on to say, “Be careful that you do not entertain a mean thought, thinking, ‘the seventh year, the year of remission, is near,’ and therefore view your neighbor with hostility and give nothing; your neighbor might cry to the Lord against you, and you would incur guilt.  Give liberally and be ungrudging when you do so.  And if a member of your community… is sold to you and works for you six years, in the seventh year you shall set that person free.  And when you send him out from you a free person, you shall not send him out empty-handed.  Provide liberally out of your flock, your threshing floor, and your wine press… Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God redeemed you.”
It’s all about justice and equality and making sure that, in the pursuit of prosperity, the poor don’t get left behind.
Did the Israelites actually follow these teachings on debt and slavery? 
Sometimes.
The scripture we heard today from Jeremiah mentions that all the people, the officials and obeyed, and set their slaves free.  But then, later, they “turned around and took back the … slaves they had set free.”
And this just infuriated God. 
“Every seventh year,” God said in a very long tirade, “each of you must set free any Hebrews who have been sold to you and have served you six years.  You must set them free!  You obeyed, but then you turned around and profaned my name by taking back the slaves whom you had set free.”
Perpetuating economic injustice is such an offense to God that it profanes God’s very name.
And let me tell you:  you do not want to profane God’s name.
A promise to keep God’s name holy – and not profane God’s name – is at the start of the Lord’s Prayer which we pray every Sunday.  “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.”  And then, a little further in that same prayer, we say, “forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.” 
And as I’ve learned from John Dominic Crossan (who spoke last week at Chapman) as well as other Biblical scholars, when Jesus talked about forgiving debts, he really meant forgiving debts. 
Forgive us our debts.  Forgive us the money we owe to others… just as we forgive the money they owe to us.
And the reason Jesus meant this literally is that the debts people owed could really cost them their whole life.
Without forgiveness, one could never escape slavery.  One might never find freedom. 
And when people are forced into debt because of unjust economic policies, unfair tax laws and property laws, it all just flies in the face of justice.
And our God demands justice, especially for those who have had justice denied them.
In fact, according to Jeremiah, it is because of the great injustice surrounding the taking back of slaves that Israel eventually found itself – the whole nation – in captivity.  According to Jeremiah, the Babylonian captivity was a direct result of the officials and slave-owning leaders of Israel refusing to forgive debts and release slaves.
So clearly, God does care about economic justice, and economic wholeness.
I am no economist, but as I look at contemporary society – life in the 21st century – I see two aspects to economic wholeness today. 
Strangely enough, they seem almost contradictory.  But both are true.
The first is that we live in a time of great social economic injustice.  For several decades now, the disparity between the wealthiest members of society and the poorest has grown at an alarming rate.  CEOs who, in the middle of the last century, earned 50 times what an average worker made, now earn 400 times what an average worker makes. Tax rates for the wealthiest Americans have shrunk considerably.  Earlier this month, Warren Buffet – the 2nd wealthiest person in the United States – pointed out that he still pays a lower tax rate than his secretary or anyone else in his office.  And another report points out that the Obamas – they aren’t nearly as wealthy as Buffet, but they still do alright – have a lower tax rate than their secretary.
The last time we had such a great wealth disparity in this country was 90 years ago – and it all came crashing down with the Great Depression.  Changes were made to our economic policies to prevent another Great Depression, but in the past few decades, those changes have been rolled back, allowing wealth to once again become dangerously top-heavy. 
And in the Bible, especially during the 8th century BC, a series of prophets spoke out against the economic policies of their time.  As Jim Wallis points out, when the disparity between rich and poor grew too big – when the rich became obscenely rich and the poor became oppressively poor – the prophets cried out.  Isaiah.  Hosea.  Amos.  Micah. Obadiah.  All of them. 
But when there was a fairer distribution of wealth – something comparable to the 50 to 1 difference between CEO pay and average worker pay – there were no prophets speaking out.  For whatever reason, God called and sent no prophets then.  Only when the distribution skewed more toward something comparable to 400 to 1 did the prophets arise.
If anything points to how concerned God is with our economic policies, that must surely be it.
That’s the big societal view.  But now I want to take it down to a more personal level.
Clearly, we who are followers of Jesus have a responsibility to care for the poorest among us, to work for more just economic policies, and to do whatever we can to not inflict economic oppression on anyone.  Every person deserves to have adequate shelter, food, and health care.  Denying any of those to any person is contrary to the will of God.
Most of us, whether we are burdened by oppressive economic policies or not, do have adequate shelter and food.  Many of us also have adequate health care.  We are blessed.  We have much to be thankful for, even as we work for economic justice in our world.
And yet, money is still a headache for most of us.  We still dream about things we don’t have, things we can’t afford.  We willingly sacrifice our lives by accumulating huge debts in order to buy things that we don’t exactly need, but desperately want.
In my times of reflection I often wonder how it is that, in the richest countries of the world, there are such high levels of depression, anxiety, and a general lack of happiness.  Even if we’re not rich by our society’s standards, we still have so much that other people around the world can only dream about.  Almost a billion people around the world lack access to clean water.  Over 3 million people die every year from water-related diseases.  And more people in this world have a cell phone than a toilet. 
We really need to get our priorities straight.
And yet, all those people with cell phones aren’t happy.  Most of them wish they had more.  More money.  More possessions.  Just more.
So if you have access to clean water, shelter, food, health care, and possibly even a cell phone; if you have a TV, a car, or a computer; if you are wearing clothes today that you bought new … and you still aren’t happy … then listen up.
Did it ever occur to you that you already have everything you need to be happy?  So many people have less than you, yet are able to find happiness. 
Or maybe what’s really going on is that your ability to find happiness is being crowded out by your insatiable desire for more.
Maybe your ability to find happiness is being suffocated by all the stuff you already have.  After all, the more stuff you have, the more you have to take care of, the more you have to manage, the more you have to upgrade and maintain.
Joshua Becker runs a blog called “Becoming Minimalist.”  He does have a nice home and all that – he hasn’t given away all his possessions – but he has learned to find a balance between always wanting more, and finding happiness in what he already has.  I want to close by sharing with you his list of 9 Reasons Buying Stuff Won’t Make You Happy:

1. They all begin to fade. All possessions are temporary by nature. They look shiny and new in the store. But immediately, as soon as the package is opened, they begin to perish, spoil, or fade.
2. There is always something new right around the corner. New models, new styles, new improvements, and new features. From clothes and cars to kitchen gadgets and technology, our world moves forward. And planned obsolescence makes sure our most recent purchase will be out of use sooner rather than later.
3. Each purchase adds extra worry to our lives. Every physical item we bring into our lives represents one more thing that can be broken, scratched, or stolen.
4. Possessions require maintenance. The things we own require time, energy, and focus. They need to be cleaned, organized, managed, and maintained. And as a result, they often distract us from the things that truly do bring us lasting happiness.
5. Our purchases cost us more than we realize. In stores, products are measured in dollars and cents. But as Henry David Thoreau once said, “The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it.” We don’t buy things with money, we buy them with hours from our lives.
6. We discover other people aren’t all that impressed. Subconsciously (and sometimes even consciously), we expect our newest purchases will impress other people. They will notice our new car, computer, jacket, or shoes. But most of the time, they are less impressed than we think. Instead, most of them are too busy trying to impress you with their newest purchase.
7. Someone else always has more. The search for happiness in possessions is always short-lived because it is based on faulty reasoning that buckles under its own weight. If happiness is found in buying stuff, those with more will always be happier. The game can never be won.
8. Shopping does not quench our desire for contentment. Contentment is never found in the purchase of more stuff. Our overflowing closets and drawers stand as proof. No matter how much we get, it’s never enough.
9. Experiences make us happier than possessions. All research points to the fact there are far more effective way to find happiness: enjoying life-changing experiences, for example.
And 1 Thing that Might Make You Happy:
Adyashanti, the American-born spiritual teacher, explains it this way:
When we make a purchase and/or get what we want, we are temporarily happy and fulfilled. But the reason for happiness is not because we got what we wanted; it’s  because for a brief moment in time, we stopped wanting, and thus we experience peace and happiness.  But almost immediately, we start wanting again, and our happiness fades.
The apostle Paul learned the secret to happiness. To the Philippians, he wrote: “I have learned to be content with whatever I have.  I know what it is to have little, and I know what it is to have plenty.  I have learned the secret of happiness in being well-fed and of going hungry, of having plenty and of being in need.”
Indeed, Paul wants nothing but to live for Christ, to proclaim the gospel.  Doing that brings contentment.  Doing that makes his life complete, and helps him find wholeness.

I started this sermon talking about slavery.  Always wanting something more is a form of emotional slavery.  If your basic needs are met, but you are always wanting more, then you are captive to that unending, insatiable desire.  It’s a terrible burden.  Freedom comes when we find happiness with what we have.  Freedom comes when we fill our hearts with gratitude.  Freedom comes when we stop wanting, and start living.



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