A Warning to Our Country
Deut. 10: 17-21
Luke 4: 16-22
July 2, 2000
Every three years, the Episcopal Church gathers in a national convention. In a few days, we will begin our convention in Denver, Colorado. You will probably read about the disputes over sexuality, ordination, the Prayer Book, and other hot-button topics. It always amazes me that the press devotes its space to these items when so much more is going on. We are often given the impression that the principal reason the church convenes every three years is to debate sexual issues.
Somehow, I think there are other, more valid reasons to come together. And on this day, when we anticipate a national holiday, as well as our national convention, I would like to draw your attention to a theme that hopefully will be sounded throughout the convention, and hopefully as a national theme,(although you probably will not read much about it in the newspapers). It is one of sharing what we have.
Let me introduce our topic by giving you all a quiz. What subject was most talked about by Jesus and his disciples? Was it sexuality? Not very likely. I doubt if you can find anything in Scripture that Jesus said about sexuality. Was it women’s rights? Hardly. To my knowledge, there was only one incident with a Samaritan woman that Jesus clearly £louted societal conventions regarding women. Was it the Prayer Book? Sorry, that hadn’t been invented. Well, if you haven’t guessed by now, let me help. The subject that Jesus talked about most in his ministry was money. He constantly warned all who would listen of the dangers of prosperity. He told us that it could choke the work of God right out of us. He said that it was as hard for a rich person to enter heaven as it was for a camel to go through the eye of a needle.
Why do you think it was so dangerous? Was he an anti-capitalist?. Not really. Then why do you suppose Jesus spent so much time warning us about the difficulty in handling prosperity?
Why? Why, because prosperity can separate us from other people. It allows us to become blind to the rest of the world. Here’s how it often works. We re our prosperity, so we have to focus on how to keep it, rather than on sharing it; on how to get more of it, rather than on giving a portion away; on how to enjoy our prosperity, rather than on raising the difficult questions like, ‘Why don’t others have the same level of prosperity as we do?
Jesus also understood that prosperity has the power to distort one’s view of the world. We forget that not everybody is as blessed as we are. We start to think that because I have enough of this world’s goods, everybody else, if they work hard enough, will also be able to have sufficient. Jesus and the Old Testament writers knew that prosperity can blind, distort, and cut off a person or a nation, keeping them from joining the rest of the human family Jesus understood that a people can see themselves as set apart from all the troubles and foibles of the world and how this can shrivel one’s soul. Judaism as a religion understood this problem. This is why the writers of Deuteronomy, as well as the later prophets, tried to remind the people that they hadn’t always been as prosperous and as secure. Moses says to Israel in our Old Testament lesson, “You shall love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” You, too, were poor, slaves, in need, so beware. If you forget your past, you may still be well aware, but your soul will shrivel, and your heart will harden.
The Jewish people were so aware of these problems that they introduced a special feast. It took place every five years. It was called the Jubilee Year Celebration. In that year, all slaves were to be liberated, all mortgaged property was to be canceled, and all debts were to be forgiven. This Jubilee Year concept was commanded by the Hebrew religion as a reminder – a reminder that all things came from God, and are ultimately owned by God.
The Jubilee Year concept was a counterbalance to the power of prosperity. It forced one to have a sense of responsibility not for what one has, but for those who have not. The Jubilee Year was what Jesus was referring to when he said that he had come to preach, “The acceptable Year of the Lord.”
I mention this concept of the Jubilee Year, not only because it’s part of today’s Gospel, but also because it’s the theme of the Denver Episcopal Convention. The Presiding Bishop (remember him in your prayers) has the toughest job in the church. The Presiding Bishop, in a tremendous attempt to keep the church focused, has declared this next year to be Jubilee Year. The convention is being asked to deal with Jubilee matters, rather than putting its energy into internal squabbles over subjects like sexuality.
Well, you might be thinking, “What does all this Jubilee business have to do with the Fourth of July, and our coming holiday?” The Fourth is a day when all Americans are reminded of their heritage. It’s a day when we feel a tug of patriotism, or as Jimmy Cagney used to say, “It’s a day when all Americans begin to bleed red, white, and blue.” It’s a day we are thankful for being an American.”
But what then is patriotism? Is it saying, “My country, right or wrong?” Is it being an uncritical lover? No – it’s loving our country and still acknowledging our faults, our flaws, and our problems as a country. The ancient Roman, Tacitus, defines patriotism as entering into praiseworthy competition with our ancestors. So why not compete with Jesus and Moses when they remind us that our task is to welcome strangers and preach deliverance to the captives, and show what we have to prepare for the Jubilee year? And why not compete with Washington and Jefferson as they declare their interdependence with the whole world, welcoming the poor, the hungry, the destitute from many lands?
And why not become responsible for more than the Gross National Product? Why not realize on this national holiday weekend that our prosperity, our abundance, can be a stumbling block to our joining the human race, and that a Jubilee Year can be the beginning of real greatness for us as individuals, as well as our country as a whole.
When our forebearers stood with few resources and powerful enemies, they reached backwards for great truths. They looked to Scripture to guide them through perilous days. And the words of Jesus were a solemn warning to them of the dangers of prosperity. They used this warning as they formed this country, knowing they too were immigrants.
The warning has been sounded. Do we join the human family, or do we hold on to what we have? Hold on to our comfort zones, or do we risk being thought of as mad by beginning to think in Jubilee terms? I’ve been asking a lot of questions today. Let me try one more. Are we defined as a country by our prosperity, or are we known by the way we reach out to those less fortunate? Our answer will be the legacy we leave for generations to come.
Pray for our convention as well as our nation.
Amen