Posted on 01/02/2009 11:02:52 PM PST by AlaskaErik
Jesus, the prophet and teacher from Nazareth, was killed by a group of Jerusalem elites who collaborated with the Roman Prefect, Pontius Pilate. Jesus was an irritant to every person who had a privileged position in the political, religious, social and financial system. His reputation as a critic of the dominant officials of his day was well-earned. He leveled his criticism of the wealthy and the powerful in almost every teaching session he led.
“Jesus died for our sins” might be an acceptable theological statement, but it is fraud as a statement about how and why he was martyred. The rich and powerful of Jerusalem had heard about this rabble rouser from the north before he came to Jerusalem for the last time. The last straw was when he went to the Temple and created a public disturbance of monumental proportions. Jesus was horrified with what was going on in the Temple. His creation of chaos in the courtyard is a classic example of street theater. In a society in which protest was not allowed, the fate of Jesus was sealed. They killed him.
My father-in-law was a great, one-of-a-kind man. He was a highly principled man. He was one of the most generous men I have ever known. His confession of faith was simple. “My maker and I are on good terms.” Even though he gave generously to the church, as an adult he never attended public worship. He could not tolerate the community elites who served as church officers and to whom the churches catered.
Christian churches have made friends with all the wrong people. As a result, our Christian pulpits are silent about almost every critical social issue and especially about money, wealth and the dangers of being selfishly rich.
Money and wealth were central to several of the parables that were told by Jesus. We read the parables and usually miss the point. We do not understand or relate to the economic system of first century Palestine. One parable is less difficult to understand. It is the parable of the rich man and Lazarus.
Lazarus was a miserable beggar who sat at the gate of a very rich man. The rich man lived the good life. He ignored the needs of Lazarus. Lazarus died and went to be with Father Abraham. He was content at last. The rich man died and went to hell. He was in torment. He called out to Abraham for help. Abraham told him it was too late.
Every time I read the story of Lazarus and the rich man I ask myself, “What is so difficult to understand?”
Rich people who fail in matters of generosity are going to hell. That is what Jesus taught. As I understand his style of ministry, Jesus told this story over and over again. He probably repeated it a few times in Jerusalem before he went to the Temple and created chaos.
As I understand the teachings of Jesus, he believed that none of us own anything. Everything belongs to God. The wealth we privately hold is held in trust. We are expected to use wealth wisely and generously. In his parable of the talents, people were given wealth in varying amounts, but everyone was held accountable.
America is not a Christian nation. America was never intended to be a Christian nation. However, religious people are American citizens. We religious folk have a responsibility to speak about the moral and ethical standards of our faiths. It is appropriate to bring our moral and ethical understandings into the public square and join the debate about how we as a nation will behave both nationally and internationally.
The United States and the world are headed into financial crisis. Is this a time for Christians to bring the values of Jesus to the discussion table? Yes. Here is the message.
Americans have made a lot of people rich. In our recent history, we have made it easier for people to become rich. They have become rich at the expense of the poor.
The United States has recreated the story of Lazarus and the rich man.
The year 1980 was critical. At that time nations such as Sweden and Japan began asking questions about economic inequities. Ratios between the wages of workers and executives were considered. In Sweden the ratio settled in at 8-1. In Japan, where worker/shareholders are common, the ratio became 16-1. In the United States the right to attain unlimited wealth triumphed. The top federal income tax was lowered from 70 percent to 28 percent. The ratio between earnings of workers and executives quickly rose to 145-1. That ratio is modest compared to 2008. By 1990 the top one-fifth of the American population was receiving more than 50 percent of the nation’s income and held more than three-quarters of the nation’s wealth. In the past eight years, all of the economic growth in the United States has ended up on the balance sheets of the wealthiest 5 percent of Americans.
Our churches are an embarrassment to Jesus. On issues of economics and wealth, our pulpits are and will remain silent. The rich and powerful assassinated Jesus for speaking out. Just now it is not easy for preachers to tell their wealthiest members that they are going to hell.
The Rev. Howard Bess is pastor emeritus of Church of the Covenant, an American Baptist church in Palmer. His email address is hdbss@mtaonline.net.
He makes some perfectly valid points about selfishness and the danger of going to Hell.
The final remarks about income “inequities” and tax cuts have NOTHING to do with the valid moral points that precede it. There is NOTHING about high tax rates or compulsory income limits that in any way responds to the teaching of Jesus.
This is a man who knows something about the Gospel, and NOTHING about economics.
“Liberation theology” is neither.
Blech.
So many Christians confuse two issues:
They think that just because is is right to help the poor that it must be OK to force people to help the poor.
They try to force a “win/win” situation. In reality it is a lose/lose situation.
The giver resents the receiver because he is forced to give the aid. The receiver hates the giver because he knows the the giver is only helping because he is forced.
Only hatred and resentment are created through Government redistribution. Not Christian at all. Nation becomes less Cheistian as a result.
Yes. Especially since it would be a lie.
There are several parts of this screed which are factual and common sensical. Then there are other parts which could simply be summed up as, “socialism, now, comrades”.
Jesus was not a Socialist. Successful people don't go to hell for creating wealth. In fact, I seem to recall that a lot of Christians believe that the steps for achieving eternal life (Heaven) are: 1. Accept Christ. 2. Be Baptized. 3. Repent. No catch-22. No other requirements. Some people think that is too easy, so they try to make up other rules, such as “give away all your money to the poor, but only if we consider you rich, of course.”
Very true. This paragraph made that clear:
Americans have made a lot of people rich. In our recent history, we have made it easier for people to become rich. They have become rich at the expense of the poor.
“Thou shalt not steal.”
Seems to me that Christians are sinning if they use the state to steal from others.
This sounds like a Jesuit spouting his Marxism.
He's actually a Baptist. A one of a kind Baptist if there ever was one.
You can search the words of Christ in vain looking for an economic theory. You won’t find any instructions to raise or lower taxes, to promote business or regulate commerce. It just isn’t there; and thinking it should be merely shows a lack of understanding about the entire purpose of Scripture.
He furnishes an example of why this might be so.
“On issues of economics and wealth, our pulpits are and will remain silent.”
Perhaps they should be if they share his misunderstanding of the parable of Lazarus and the rich man. Hint: It had to do with spiritual condition and the reversal of that condition not CEO pay.
“The rich and powerful assassinated Jesus for speaking out.”
He tiptoes past saying it was the religious leaders that feared Jesus’ message. Too P.C. I guess. Note the following,
The CHIEF PRIESTS and PHARISEES said,
“If we let him alone this way, they will all put faith in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.” (John 11:48)
The Romans came, but not because of Jesus’ message.
“Just now it is not easy for preachers to tell their wealthiest members that they are going to hell.”
He means they hesitate to lie? It was the LOVE of money that was the root of all evil, not the money. Just being wealthy is not a sin or Solomon would have been the greatest of all sinners.
He is supposed to be a “pastor emeritus”, and he does not understand even these simple things? Amazing! and sad.
Or you could point out that the other man with a speaking part in the parable (Abraham) had also been ‘a rich man’ when he was alive. Still, despite the author’s obvious Marxist axe-grinding, it is true we have an excessive love for wealth in the country; you can just check out the “health and wealth” preachers to see that ugliness in action.
One reason I suggested that parable dealt with spiritual
riches was that in Matthew, chapter three, when the
Pharisees and Sadducee's met John the Baptist he told them
their claim of Abraham as a father meant nothing since God could raise children to Abraham from the stones.
They could claim Abraham as a physical forefather but here
they presumed to say to themselves, “As a father, we have
Abraham.”, spiritual sons of Abraham, unlike the rabble.
But in the parable the once poor Lazarus now has the “bosom position”, leaning back in closeness as a friend might when
reclining at a meal with Abraham.
I agree completely about the materialistic preachers. Their
crass message of religious hucksterism is disgusting.
[22] But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.
[23] Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven.
[24] And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.
Jesus' own teachings on money include the following: The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'
Matthew 25:39-41 (in Context) Matthew 25 (Whole Chapter)
Luke 16:15 And He said unto them, “Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.
verse 16 The law and the prophets were until John: since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man pressseth into it.
verse 17 And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail.
Lazarus and the ‘rich’ man was not a parable but Christ exposing the Pharisees’ traditions concerning the dead.
Abraham had died and is in heaven and when Lazarus dies he even as a poor beggar goes to be comforted in Abraham's bosom. But the ‘rich’ guy (representing the traditions of the Pharisees) dies and is buried but could see afar off Abraham and Lazarus....
The ‘rich’ guy calls out to ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.’
Abraham answers the rich guy reminds him of his ‘flesh’ life and Lazarus and then says in heaven there is a gulf (chasm) that is impossible to pass. Abraham is not giving financial advice to the ‘rich’ guy but Christ is instructing the Pharisees where they are going to end up because .... verse 31 And he (Abraham) said unto him, ‘If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.’”
Some of these Reverends need to get real jobs and stop passing the plate pretending to be Lazarus.
He tiptoes past saying it was the religious leaders that feared Jesus’ message. Too P.C. I guess.
The religious leaders WERE the "rich and powerful" of the time in Judea. The Jewish political system of the time was much like that of Muslim countries today. Religion and politics were intertwined, not separate as Jesus said they should be.
The gospels make it pretty clear that the religious/political leaders of the day wanted to kill Christ for essentially political reasons. They believed he threatened their cozy collaboration with the Romans that left them in power over their fellow Jews and from which they drew their wealth. They used religious justifications for this murder to the Jews and political ones before Pilate.
Thank-you for that.
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