Stewardship Sermon:

Facing Our Fiscal & Christian Responsibilities
Mark 12: 13-17
by Rev. Elaine Wing
 

          It is with great joy that I share this story…  

          Just the other night, the phone rang and the caller identified himself as a representative of the Internal Revenue Service.  The caller asked me, “Did David Smith give $10,000 to Calvary United Methodist Church in 2010?” I thought for a moment and carefully replied, “He will!”  (Pause for effect - Too bad this story came to me as a dream!)  

          A cynic said recently “”Death and taxes may always be with us but at least death doesn’t get any worse.”  This morning I want to tackle two topics that are not easy studies for me – economics and politics.  I find both topics confusing, complicated and full of rhetoric. After trying to digest the plethora of information, I usually end up making cynical comments about politicians, the government, corporations or individuals like our fictitious Mr. Smith.    

           What finally drove a reluctant cynic like me to spend countless hours in sermon preparation was not statistics or emotionally laden stories of people turned away from empty food pantries.  The tipping point came from Paris Hilton, the heiress whose fame is solely the result of being rich.

          Hilton was giving ABC News Reporter Dan Harris a tour of her Beverly Hills mansion.  She pointed through one window to the 300 sq. foot house she had built for her six dogs.  The $325,000 two floor pooch mansion has a clay-tile roof with copper gutters, intricate ceiling molding, central air conditioning and a crystal chandelier hanging in the bedroom. The dogs even have a closet and a downstairs living room! In the book of Genesis we are told to care for animals but I do not believe God meant that our four legged friends need such extravagant quarters.

          Given the increase in our government debt, one might think that Ms. Hilton was in charge of spending federal dollars! Using official government statistics, the US federal deficit grew by $1.5 trillion in 2010.  The total outstanding US Treasury bonds was $14.5 trillion meaning the size of our total debt was near to the size of the total US annual economy.  The numbers are now so big that we struggle to comprehend their impact on our lives.  No wonder fear is utilized as a tool by politicians and religious groups of every stripe to win debates and pass legislation.

          With the exception of the extremely rich, I believe nearly all US citizens (and undocumented residents) are fearful of not having enough money to live simply.  One recent news story showed the shock and anger in the faces of police, firefighters, and public service workers in a Northeastern town forced to make Draconian cuts in their pensions.

          Governors of Maryland and Virginia, states closely linked to the economies of the federal government are preparing for the worst if the federal debt ceiling is not raised by August 2^nd.

           A colleague, who works as a hospice spiritual counselor in California, reports that she sees many patients who cannot afford a skilled nursing facility or care in the home.  While the patient’s family members are working to pay for rent, food, and medicine, the very sick and dying person is left alone, weak and vulnerable to falls, or worse.

           The fear of Social Security, Medicaid, and Medicare drying up before one departs this world is palatable.  I know that our kids, both in their mid twenties, do not count on having the type of financial safety net that my parents depended upon.

           You, the parishioners of this church, and the general public are expressing your fear as frustration, anger, cynicism, discrimination, and hopelessness. These secondary emotions are often the root of violence in the community as we wait for our elected leaders to stop blaming each other and to resolve the problem with a long term, not election cycle, strategy.  

          Competing ideologies abound with the first issue on our agenda: the role of government in the lives of the people. Should the federal government have any role in welfare/ assistance programs for the poor and elderly?  As expected, answers vary among Christians as well as non Christians.

          One writer on a blog I perused suggested that many people – mostly Republicans - believe the answer is NO.  And that, “churches and private charities should step in to help others because forced charity is not charity at all.”

          Interestingly enough, many find that the Bible does support the role of government in charitable acts.  In Ezekiel 34 and Romans 13, as well as the gleaning laws and jubilee commands from God, we can see such intervention as part of government’s responsibility.

          Experts in Christian ethics suggest the Bible affirms that  government is ordained by God for the good of the people and establishment of justice, lawn, and order and the prevention of anarchy. 

          The overarching Biblical imperative is to take care of the weak and marginalized as a collaboration of many societal structures of which government is a part.  Oh boy, that means everyone has a role and that politicians, bureaucrats, religious and social service leaders need to work together!     

          Now let’s look at what the Bible says about the sticky issue of how much government assistance is given to whom and through what channels. We begin by looking at taxation because that is a primary source of income for the government.

          In Mark 12: 13-17, we find Jesus in the center of a debate on taxation that rivals what is happening in Washington D.C. right now.  Following is the context of this text before we hear Jesus’ words.  

          When Herod the Great died in 4 B.C., he was the Roman government’s puppet ruler of all Palestine.  Nearing death, he divided his kingdom and gave it to his three sons.  Archelaus was given southern Palestine which included Judea and Samaria.  Archelaus failed miserably as a ruler and the Roman government had to take over.  That sounds familiar doesn’t it? 

          Soon after the Roman government took over, they established taxation on the people.  Many of the general population accepted this as inevitable.  One man, Judas of Galilee, raised violent opposition to the taxation saying “It was no better than an introduction to slavery.”

           Judas started a movement known as Zealots – persons who believed they had one allegiance only, and this was to God.  Well, as you can imagine, all sorts of disagreement and posturing was heard by various political and religious groups. 

          The groups became interested in knowing what the man who called himself the “Messiah” would say to the issue.  So he was asked “Should we pay the tax?”  Like our current politicians, Jesus avoided a direct answer.  Instead he said, “Bring me a coin,” knowing the image on the coin was of Tiberius, the current emperor.

          At that time, all emperors were called Caesar and coins were also imprinted with the royal title “pontifex maximus” meaning “high priest of the Roman nation.”

          Listen to our Lord’s words:

          “Jesus knew the hypocrisy of those asking if they should pay taxes. “Why are you trying to trap me?”  Bring me a denarius and let me look at it.  They brought the coin and he asked them, “Whose portrait is this? And whose inscription?”  “Caesar’s,” they replied.  And Jesus said, “Then give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.”

          Jesus’ response establishes what Rev. Donald Strobe calls “A Priority of Loyalty” – a principle that can guide us more than 2,000 years later.  He emphasizes that what bears the mark of Caesar is money, and what bears the mark of God is humanity.  “Therefore,” writes Strobe, “a Christian’s highest priority is humankind.  When we are called to “love our neighbor,” that means caring deeply about the welfare of persons – all persons – not just ourselves.”  Matthew 25: 34-40, the scripture frequently cited by pastors is even more comprehensive.  It calls persons to care for Jesus by caring for the least of these who are hungry, thirsty, lonely, naked, or imprisoned. 

          In spite of scriptural mandate, we quickly return to the place where humanity’s fear about the depletion of monies comes home to roost.  As long as finances are in good shape, we don’t seem to mind helping others, within and beyond our borders.  When money gets tight, however, the ideological debates about the virtue of “who” helps and “how” begin to surface.

           It becomes easier for us to forget that the vast majority of our nation was, or is, a recipient of entitlement programs deemed necessary by our predecessors. The easiest examples are our parents who could make ends meet only because of Social Security or our children or ourselves who required grants or loans for college tuition. 

          When the chips are down, or fear is on the rise, the tendency is to quickly cast judgment and then to plug our ears when an explanation is given. Two of my siblings, are among “those who are on the government dole.” Each sibling has always worked for a living but their wages are minimal and health benefits unaffordable.  Therefore, they both require the assistance of Medicaid for treatment of diabetes and cancer.  Our family helps to pay their medical bills but we could not underwrite the entire expense. 

          Fear and anger leads many to assume that everyone,  rather than a percentage who habitually abuse entitlement programs, views themselves as entitled to free assistance.   This story might entertain, as well as, capture my meaning…

          A well-dressed businessman was walking down the streets of Manhattan one morning when a beggar stopped him and asked if he had a dollar to spare.  The businessman said, “Look if you are down on your luck, I’ll be glad to help you, but first let me ask you something.  You look like you are in pretty good health…why don’t you get a job?”  The beggar answered, “Oh, I have a job!  I am an author.  In fact, you may have seen one of my books.  It was a best seller entitled “500 Ways to Make Money.”  Well then, said the businessman, “Why are you out here begging?”  “Because, said the beggar, “This is one of the ways!”

          When Jesus gave the response, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar and to God the things that are God’s, it would have been helpful if he had told us what belonged to whom!

          In other words, how much of our federal budget should go toward defense, health and welfare, education, the environment, administration, infrastructure, international humanitarian aid and so on?  And how should we fund the budget? 

          Before we go on, I must point out that all Christians are citizens of two worlds: the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of this world.  In fact, the guiding principles of Judaism and Islam would suggest a similar dynamic. 

          When there is conflict between the two kingdoms, the Apostle Peter writes in Acts 5:29, “We (all Christians) must obey God rather than men.”   So I ask each of us – By our lives, our political votes, our use of money and time, who gets our supreme loyalty every day? 

          When we insert this same question into how we disburse tax revenue, we draw attention to the profound ethical principle that Jesus put on the table thousands of years ago.   As followers of Jesus Christ, do our dollars further the Kingdom of God or the Kingdom of the world which is built on materialism, fear, power, and greed?    

          The various proposals floating OR SINKING between President Obama and Congressional leaders illustrate the struggle to put align our budget with our loyalty to the teachings of God.

          Within the very heated debate about where monies should be retained or cut, is the dialogue about giving assistance first to US citizens before sending money abroad.  This line item alone illustrates our responsibility us to study the data streaming out of our Capitol and on numerous web sites.  I found concurrence   that these cuts of as much as 50 percent to international humanitarian aid will have life and death consequences for millions around the world. And, because such aid is less than one percent (1%) of the budget, the cuts would have little impact on the deficit. 

           Sixteen religious leaders, included Bishop Larry Goodpaster, president of the United Methodist Council of Bishops, expressed their concerns in a recent letter to the Congress:  “In an interdependent world, the security and prosperity of any nation is inseparable from that of even the most vulnerable both within and beyond their borders.  While ‘shared sacrifice’ can be an appropriate banner to the economic crisis, those at home and abroad who would be devastated by these cuts have nothing left to sacrifice.”

          Our last scripture passage for this morning comes from I Kings 17:7-24 in the Old Testament.  The story told could easily be transposed to fit our economic situation. 

          The woman was worn and thin, a lonely woman collecting firewood in the midday sun. As a widow, she had no means of income save the occasional handout of the monarchy and her religious community.  After gathering sticks she would go home, kindle a small fire and cook the last of her cornmeal and oil to feed her son and herself.  She knew that they would soon die: he of sickness, and she of starvation. 

          Suddenly a voice called to her from a nearby bush.  “Bring me some water so that I may drink.”  She moved toward the well to do as the man lying next to the bush asked of her.  “Bring me bread so that I may eat,” he added.  The woman stopped, “I have no bread except the meal in this jar.” 

          “Do not worry.  Do not be afraid.  Go and do as you had planned.  But feed me some cake of the cornmeal  before you and your son eat. For the Lord God of Israel says your jar of meal shall not be emptied and your jug of oil will not fail…” 

          The woman did as she was asked.  The stranger, whose name was Elijah, went home with her and he ate first. It was, as he said - the food and oil never ran out. 

          This story clearly tells us that in times of hopelessness, God can bring consolation and hope to those in need.  It also shows that we have a role to play. Both the widow and Elijah, DO something that ultimately made a difference in each of their lives.  The widow gave what she did not have.  Elijah went where he would not have gone otherwise and he healed her sick son. 

          History is filled with examples of provisions made at the last minute, bringing reprieve and hope for people in despair.  Sometimes, it is not what we have that determines our condition, as much as how we use what we have that makes a difference.

          Friends, the reality of our times is as frightening to us as life must have been for the widow. 

Every 32 seconds a child is born into poverty in the US.

14.1 million unemployed are looking for work; 6.3 of them have not worked for the past 27 weeks

40 million depend for their daily bread on programs that fight hunger

1.4 billion live in extreme poverty around the globe

Millions are dying of HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria

          It is my prayer that you join me today or tomorrow in emailing or calling our elected leaders on Capitol Hill to advocate for a fiscally responsible and moral budget that brings hope and stability to the lives of millions of people.

          Recently Speaker John Boehner told colleagues he envisioned cutting $3 trillion to $4 trillion in spending over 10 years.  As you cut through the rhetoric to study the issues, ask yourself, who would Jesus say should bear the burden of cuts to the budget? 

           Who will bear the pain of revenue (tax or usage) increases from the same budget? It cannot be the 113 million households (14.3% of the population) living below the poverty line. Nor can it be the growing numbers of seniors living near, at, or below poverty lines.  And how much debt can we reasonably thrust upon our next generations?  

          In addition to raising your voice to express the guiding principles of Jesus Christ, I encourage you to demand that we begin teaching fiscal responsibility in our schools.  In all of my research, I failed to see one indicator that we are intentional about this critical step.  I believe that all the political decisions in the world will not lead us to true change until we deal with overspending by individuals, organizations, and the government.

          Let us arm our children and youth with tools that will help them as adults to withstand the temptations and cultural persuasion of a society that lives for immediate gratification with little consideration for sustainability of things or people.

          Amen and amen.