From the Pastor

March 2009

“The question of bread for myself is an economic question. The question of bread for my neighbour is a spiritual question.” - Nikolai Bordyaev 

I am almost hesitant to bring up the economy. After all, it has saturated the media to such an extent that I am sure many of us have become numb to the repeated warnings of closures and job loses. I wonder if the church shouldn’t be one oasis of hope and good news in the midst of a desert of doom and gloom. 

Furthermore, the church has a sketchy history with wealth. In an effort to offer our very best to God in worship, the church has often erred on the side of opulence. Striving to faithfully speak a prophetic word of mercy and compassion to power, the church has instead been perceived as sentimental and naïve and having little or nothing to offer the public discourse on serious economic issues. 

And yet, to not speak in church of the economy and the just distribution of wealth is to ignore the overwhelming witness of the Bible to these very issues. In an effort to set Israel apart from her neighbours, the Law of Moses makes radical demands of God’s people especially in their business practices, and it shows special concern for the most vulnerable of ancient Israel: the orphan, the widow, and the stranger. The prophets’ dire predictions of Israel’s demise are primarily critiques of Israel’s unjust pursuit of wealth and political power. Mary’s response to the good news of her pregnancy and the upcoming birth of Jesus is to sing in celebration of God’s acts of lifting up the lowly and sending the rich away empty. And Jesus’ famous teaching that it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God is but one of many of Jesus’ teachings on the issue, yet summarizes them well. 

God cares about the economy. God cares about how we manage the economy. God cares about these things because God cares about how we use the resources we have been given and about how we care for one another – especially the most vulnerable among us. This is not a promotion of one political or economic ideology over another, but it is to suggest that our economic choices are religious and spiritual choices, and should be considered and weighed accordingly. 

Jesus once stood among a people as uncertain about their future as many of us are today. He said to them, “Why do you worry, why are you anxious? Look at the birds. They don’t sow or reap or store up in barns, and yet God feeds them. The lilies of the field don’t labour, yet God clothes them more splendidly than even King Solomon.” (Matthew 6) 

Perhaps, ultimately, the faithful witness of the Christian Church during difficult economic times is to do everything in our power to show that these words of Jesus are trustworthy and true, to replace anxiety with the hope that comes from friendship and community, and in the words of Mary and in imitation of Christ, to “fill the hungry with good things.”

Peace,
Pastor Brian