Have Nots or Have Yachts

It seems to me that the ideological knee-jerk defense of the rich by Libertarians and Republicans ignores some important points. The same can be said for the ideological knee-jerk attack on the rich by Democrats. Neither is helpful. 

I have been wanting to write on this for some time, but it has been difficult for me to articulate the two different principles the Bible has on wealth. In fact I promised to do this over one year ago. As I type this, the first of several blog entries I am planning on the subject, I am not sure how I will handle the various scriptures. Although obviously if I did not have a general idea I would not be starting. 

The Bible has no problem with the wealthy, and in fact insists that both rich and poor are to be treated the same. Here are three scriptures that fit in well with my personal libertarian template. (As a reminder, I am using the word template to describe a world view, a way of looking at things.) 

“The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less, than the half shekel, when you give The Lord’s offering to make atonement for yourselves.” (Exodus 30:15 RSV)

“You shall do no injustice in judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great, but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor.” (Leviticus 19:15 RSV)

“My brethren, show no partiality as you hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. For if a man with gold rings and in fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, and you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “Have a seat here, please,” while you say to the poor man, “Stand there,” or, “Sit at my feet,” have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts? Listen, my beloved brethren. Has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He has promised to those who love Him?” (James 2:1-5 RSV)

While this seems obvious to us, in the ancient world this was not expected. The Hammurabi code, for example, held that the rich should pay less when they had damaged a poor person. The Bibe does not teach this. This is what the Bible means by an eye for an eye—treat each person the same.

While it seems obvious that every person should be treated equally, this is not so obvious to some in modern times either. There was a scene from the recent Batman—Dark Knight Rising—where Catwoman and her buddy (there were gay overtones) are looking at a destroyed apartment. We see a broken picture of the family that used to live there. Catwoman is visibly upset. She says, “A family used to live here.” Her crime partner says, with glee, “Yeah!” The very fact that someone might have something she did not have filled the woman with anger. 

But on the other hand we have these two scriptures. The first, Isaiah 58, asks why God does not seem to be answering their prayers even though they fast. 

^3-5Well, here’s why:

   The bottom line on your ‘fast days’ is profit. 
   You drive your employees much too hard.
You fast, but at the same time you bicker and fight. 
   You fast, but you swing a mean fist.
The kind of fasting you do 
   won’t get your prayers off the ground.
Do you think this is the kind of fast day I’m after: 
   a day to show off humility?
To put on a pious long face 
   and parade around solemnly in black?
Do you call that fasting, 
   a fast day that I, God, would like?

 ^6-9”This is the kind of fast day I’m after: 
   to break the chains of injustice, 
   get rid of exploitation in the workplace, 
   free the oppressed, 
   cancel debts.
For some reason these posters do not include the previous verse about feeding the hungry. What I’m interested in seeing you do is: 
   sharing your food with the hungry, 
   inviting the homeless poor into your homes, 
   putting clothes on the shivering ill-clad, 
   being available to your own families.
Do this and the lights will turn on, 
   and your lives will turn around at once.
Your righteousness will pave your way. 
   The God of glory will secure your passage.
Then when you pray, God will answer. 

   You’ll call out for help and I’ll say, ‘Here I am.’  

I preached on this scripture, back when I spoke regularly, about once a year. Isaiah 58 is in fact a basis for much of the way I look at the Bible. 

Ritual, while important, is not crucial. Far more important is action. In particular this scripture is saying what good does it do to fast, when you force your employees to fast because you abuse them? Often, when I pay for an electronic gadget, I think on this scripture. 

In addition we have this scripture from Luke 12:

15Speaking to the people, he went on, “Take care! Protect yourself against the least bit of greed. Life is not defined by what you have, even when you have a lot.”

 ^16-19Then he told them this story: “The farm of a certain rich man produced a terrific crop. He talked to himself: ‘What can I do? My barn isn’t big enough for this harvest.’ Then he said, ‘Here’s what I’ll do: I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones. Then I’ll gather in all my grain and goods, and I’ll say to myself, Self, you’ve done well! You’ve got it made and can now retire. Take it easy and have the time of your life!’

 ²⁰”Just then God showed up and said, ‘Fool! Tonight you die. And your barnful of goods—who gets it?’

 ²¹”That’s what happens when you fill your barn with Self and not with God.” 

How do we reconcile these two principles? I hope to show you.