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Maître D’ of Heaven

A litany for worship

by Ken Sehested

The Maître D’ of Heaven commands the ’poverished-poor to table: the halt and helpless, lamed and maimed ushered up for honored seating.

The Beloved’s steadfast love is like a lip-smacking feast of abundance. But the Market’s squaloring famine sows the seeds of violent harvest.

“Food is not a weapon,” Jesus answered Satan’s bidding. Feasting is for mending, not for servitude and slavery.

Not even enemies are left to destitution, nor the table of sinners refused.

Is it against the law to feed the immigrant? Then join the jailhouse chorus singing praise for God’s provision!

Rejoicing in God is our melody. Befriending the hungry, our harmony.

The Banker heralds “peace” when each hoarded harvest comes, but declares war against those who can pay no tribute.

The Bread of Heaven annuls every Commodity Trader’s bonus.

The jar of meal shall never yield to famine’s dreadful toll.

The oil of plenty shall not fail the extravagant of soul.

Elisha led the enemy to Israel’s butchering floor. But no blood was shed—instead, they were fed—and ransacked and raided no more.

In the breaking of bread at the penitent’s table shall the Resurrection story be told.

©ken sehested @ prayerandpolitiks.orr
Inspired by a collection of texts, beginning with the story of Elisha in 2 Kings 6:8-23. Other texts: Zechariah 7:6-10, Psalm 63:4-5, Romans 12:20, Luke 6:27-35, Matthew 4:1-4, Mark 2:15, Proverbs 25:21, Isaiah 55:1, Micah 3:5, Luke 12:22, Luke 14: 12-13, 1 Corinthians 11:21-22, Luke 24:13-35, Revelation 3:20

Pace yourself

A litany for worship inspired by Psalm 37

by Ken Sehested

Sisters and brothers, don’t be fretful.
Don’t chew your nails or gobble your food.

Pace yourself, on both gas pedal and heart rate,
so you don’t race to ruin.

Don’t faint in despair when the gunslingers flourish.
Don’t let fearmongering threats upset your soul.

Let the confidence of Heaven throttle your breathing and
the breath of delight inspire all that you do.

Don’t go gettin’ all worked up when the hucksters and
the hypesters and the sub-prime shysters come out ahead.

God knows their boondoggles and bailouts are coming to an end.

Trust in the One whose justice can be trusted: the meek are
preparing for coheiring the earth.

Wait on the One whose way is sure mercy, paved with
justice and righteousness bright as noonday!

©ken sehested @ prayerandpolitiks.org

Another Word is in the wind

A psalm of complaint and avowal

by Ken Sehested

          Have mercy upon us, O Lord.
          Our soul has had more than its fill
          of the scorn of those who are at ease,
          of the contempt of the proud.
          —Psalm 123:3-4

In the end, if we are left to our own devices—to our
own amalgam of brains and brawn, of ingenuity and
charisma, sleight of hand and strength of arm, in
mobilizing sufficient force to bend the will of others
to our own, in accordance to self-ordained vision
masquerading as fate’s foreordained history—then
nothing is forbidden. All authority is subsumed in
the will to power.

          The arrogant boast,
          “My power and the might
          of my own hand have
          gotten me this wealth.”
          —Deuteronomy 8:17

If nothing is forbidden, brutality is relativized,
justice is stripped of meaning outside the bounds
of convenience and current arrangements. Them
with the gold make the rules. Covetousness
displaces covenant.

          Day by day the proud intone,
          “I will ascend to heaven;
          I will raise my throne above the
          stars of God. . . . I will ascend
          to the tops of the clouds, I will
          make myself like the Most High.”
          —Isaiah 14:13-14

When covenant life is eclipsed and no scale of
justice endures save that which we enforce,
might makes right and every moral compass
is reduced to the self’s enthroned appetite. The
commonweal is commandeered by shrewd
maneuvering, willful disinformation,
calculating propaganda, legislative malfeasance,
judicial folly, and political intrigue.

          What eventually will kill Abel
          is Cain. Cain in Hebrew means
          “to acquire, to possess, to own.”
          Cain represents power as ownership.
          The Hebrew word Baal, the name
          of the chief Canaanite god,
          has the same range of meanings.
          —Rabbi Jonathan Sacks

Desire’s ends are reduced to domination’s means:
You can have it if you can take it. You earn what you
deserve. You are what you consume. The just is the
expedient. By definition, there can be no
commonwealth, only private gain secured by duplicity
or threat. No friends endure, only interests, for bartered
safety along cutthroat roads.

          Pharaoh, king of Egypt, the great dragon
          sprawling in the midst of its channels, says
          “My Nile is my own; I made it for myself.”
          —Ezekiel 29:3

The remaining options are reduced to two: the choice
between demanding and deferring, overpowering
and submitting, usurping or capitulating. Only the
pitiless survive. Peonage is the sole option for those
without patrons. Creditors rule.

          “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! . . . As
          she glorified herself and lived luxuriously,
          saying in her heart, ‘I rule as a queen;
          I am no widow, and I will never see grief.’”
          —Revelation 18:2, 7

Morally leveraged claims from transcending sources are
relegated to the domain of fairytales told by witless
vagabonds and nannies. Everything is possible because
nothing is consequential. Meaning is proportionate to
mastery. Markets determine value. Mischief-makers
merchandise truth. Nothing matters that cannot be
measured, manipulated and monetized. To the
predator goes the prey.

          I believe that I shall see the goodness
          of the Lord in the land of the living.
          —Psalm 27:13

Tyranny, having once lost its claim to divine right,
now regains its stature under the guise of “freedom,”
admitting no scrutiny, suffering no dissent, brooking
no competitors, honoring no claim, and bowing to
no sovereign short of brute force and capital's claim,
and Leviathan is its older name.

          . . . all flesh shall see the salvation of God.
          —Luke 3:6

It is, we are told, The-Nature-of-Reality and
The-Way-Things-Are. Wolves will forever devour
lambs—it’s only business—and a nation’s interests
always calibrate its gunsights, followed by its
investment bankers’ poaching (and their clerical
consorts). The empire’s envoys seize what they can;
the meek endure what they must.

          The kingdom of the world has
          become the kingdom of our Lord,
          and Christ will reign forever and ever.
          —Revelation 11:15

The issue at stake in the sovereignty of God is not a
debate over whose divine Daddy can whip whose.
The issue is whether any human may claim divine
sanction for sovereignty over any other, or over
the creation itself. God’s jealousy is aligned against
human piracy legitimized by every tribal idol.

          The meek shall inherit the earth.
          —Matthew 5:5

Yet, Another Word is in the wind, a subversive,
incendiary word. And the meek are getting ready.

˙©ken sehested @ prayerandpolitiks.org

Another Word is yet to be heard

A rant following the 14 February 2018 mass shooting at Douglas High

by Ken Sehested

“A child of God is dead. Can not we acknowledge in this country that we cannot accept this?” —former FBI agent and counterterrorism expert Philip Mudd, breaking into tears when talking about the 15 February 2018 school shooting in Broward County, Florida. Who could predict that a terror expert could be anointed as the Spirit’s agent in prophetic protest against the spirit of the age?

nothing says ash wednesday
or valentine’s day
like murdered children

thoughts and prayers
yachts and snares
crackpots and debonairs

mascots and nom de guerres
mug shots and glares
onslaughts and concierges

whatnots and au pairs
Croats and Khmers
tater tots and teddy bears

the next public figure
who offers thoughts and
prayers to grieving parents

and traumatized teachers
should be sentenced to
cradling stillborn babies

in their arms
for at least
half an eternity

and tie gun barrels
into knots
for the remainder

we have had
on average
one school schooling

per week in the
last five years
this year alone

138 children have
died or been wounded
from gunfire

the nra be damned
can you imagine the
sh*tstorm of missiles

that would fly
toward Syria
if US troops endured

such casualties
it requires no
grammatician

to read the
second amendment
where the dependent clause

“the right to bear arms”
is subordinate to
the independent clause

“a WELL REGULATED militia”
g-ddam the nra and their
every congressional lackey

“unfortunately, lessons are
never, never learned” was the
response of news anchor

Wolf Blitzer to Philip Mudd
who broke into sobs
when asked to make

sense of such abomination
there was no emotion in
Blitzer’s voice, only

resignation, as if so say
“that’s the way  it is and
will be, world without end”

this is lent’s reproach
to easter’s promised rise
for whose approach we

will never intercede
short of facing these
facts, drinking these

dregs, eating this
sorrow, with (literal)
death-defying resolve

that another
WORD
is yet to be heard

#  #  #

©ken sehested @ prayerandpolitiks.org
*figures from Gun Violence Archive +29 casualties in Ash Wednesday’s school shooting in Florida

News, views, notes, and quotes

Signs of the Times  •  7 February 2019 •  No. 185

Processional. School principal Zhang Pengfei and students at Xi Guan Primary School in Shanxi Province, China.

Special issue
TAXING MATTERS
Tax law and troublesome faith

        The question of tax fairness has long been on my radar. But it wasn’t until the phrase “marginal tax rate” made headlines recently that I realized few people know what it means, and my own understanding was pretty vague.

        At about the same time I came across the following quote while reading Rebecca Solnit’s book, Call Them by Their True Names:

        “If you boil the strange soup of contemporary right-wing ideology down to a sort of bouillon cube, you find the idea that things are not connected to other things, that people are not connected to other people, and that they are better off unconnected. . . .

        “Taxes represent civic connection: what we each give to the collective good. This particular form of shared interest has been framed as a form of oppression at least since Ronald Reagan. . . .

        “‘Freedom’ is just another word for nothing left to limit your options. And this is how the ideology of isolation become nihilism.” —continue reading “Taxing matters: Tax laws and troubling faith”

Invocation. Sheikh Qari Barakatullah Saleem call to prayer, performing the Adhaan/Azaan in Afghanistan.

Call to worship. “Angels filled the air, shouting, ‘Holy, holy, holy! Just and Righteous and Merciful is God’s name! Every bit of the earth is filled with the Blessed One’s caress!’ And in my vision, Heaven’s Voice made the mountains shake and the meadows rumble.
        "And I said, ‘I am not worthy to see such things! My lips cannot speak such wonder. My hands cannot hold it. I am only a little girl.’ But the One who breathes every breath said to me: ‘Do not say I am only a little girl. For you shall go where I send you, speak what I command you. Fear not, fear not.’” —continue reading “Send me,” a litany for worship inspired by Jeremiah 1:7-9 and Isaiah 6:1-8

Hymn of praise. “I got two hands / I want to clap my hands together / I got two legs / I want to dance to heavens door / I got one heart / I gonna fill it up with up Jesus / And I ain't gonna think about trouble anymore.” —Townes Van Zandt, “Two Hands”

¶ “Right before Congress passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act in December 2017, President Trump proclaimed: ‘It’ll be fantastic for the middle-income people and for jobs, most of all … I think we could go to 4%, 5% or even 6% [GDP growth], ultimately. We are back. We are really going to start to rock.’

        “A year later, it’s very clear that the . . . the only thing that ‘rocked’ were corporate profits and the stock market. And we’re facing trillion-dollar deficits as far as the eye can see.” —Howard Gold, MarketWatch (Thanks Jeanie.)

Dutch historian Rutger Bregman told a room full of billionaires at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland that they need to step up and pay their fair share of taxes. (4:34 video. Thanks Dick.)

Since newly-elected Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s “60 Minutes” television interview, where she said out arguments for a 70% marginal tax plan for the wealthiest individuals, polling show that 59% of Americans favor the plan. —Eric Levitz, “Majorty Back’s AOCs 70% Top Marginal Rate,” Intelligencer
        (By way, the plan is not to collect 70% of an individual’s income—only 70% of the amount over $10 million annually.)

Here are two brief videos to explain marginal tax rates.

        • “Understanding Marginal Tax Rates,” Michael Linden. (2:16)

        • “How marginal tax rates actually work, explained with a cartoon,” Alvin Chang, Vox. (2:48, with accompanying text.)

Confession. “A bad enough situation / Is sure enough getting worse / Everybody's crying justice / Just as long as there's business first. . . .” —Maria Muldaur & Mose Allison, “Everybody Cryin’ Mercy”

How to get your head around how rich a billionaire actually is. “Let’s say you earn $50k/year and save every single penny. After 20 years, you’d have saved $1 million. After 200 years, you’d be dead, but would have saved $10 million. Only after 20,000 years would you have saved $1 billion.” —Nathan H. Rubin, Twitter (Thanks Susan.)

¶ The Republicans’ 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which was supposed to boost business investments and crank up the economy, didn’t.

        • 84% companies questioned said the savings (which will add $1.9 trillion to the national debt over the next decade) will not change their hiring and investment plans.

        • The $1 trillion in tax savings went mostly to stock buybacks, boosting returns for investors as well as CEOs, most of whom receive stock options as part of their compensation.

        • Analysis at Merrill Lynch Wealth Management refer to the tax break as “The investment boom that wasn’t.”

        • 80% of American taxpayers will see no reduction in the income tax liability; the wealthiest citizens enjoy a 20% reduction, along with various other tax breaks. —Chris Tomlinson, Houston Chronicle

Even before the dramatic lowering of rates for individuals and corporations, taxes in the US “made up a smaller share of national gross domestic product than in nearly any other of the rich countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.” —Christopher Ingraham, Washington Post

¶ “It’s Time to Get Billionaires Off of Welfare.” “Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, is the wealthiest person on Earth, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. He is now worth $168 billion. In fact, since the beginning of this year, his wealth has increased by about $277 million — every single day. [This article published in mid-January, just prior to market’s dramatic downturn.]

        “Meanwhile, Mr. Bezos continues to pay many thousands of his Amazon employees wages that are so low that they must rely on food stamps, Medicaid or public housing in order to survive. In effect, the middle-class taxpayers of this country are subsidizing the low wages paid by the richest person on Earth. That’s nuts.” —, CommonDreams

A quick summary of the history of marginal tax rates in the US

        • In 1917, to help pay for World War I, the rates jumped from 15% to 67%

        • It rose again, to 77%, in 1918.

        • In the early ‘20s it dropped to the upper fifties, then down to 25% through 1931.

        • In 1932 the rate rose to 63%, then up to 79% in 1936, then to 81% in 1941, then to 94% in 1944, before dropped back to the lower 90s through 1963.

        • In 1964 and through1981, it dropped to 70%, then 50% in the mid-eighties, down to mid-to-upper 30s through 2017.

        • The 2019 marginal tax rate is 37% for annual income higher than a half million, the lowest in nearly a century. —for more details see “Historical Marginal Tax Rate,” Wikipedia

Words of assurance. “When my morning comes around / From a new cup I'll be drinking / And for once I won't be thinking / That there's something wrong with me / And I'll wake up and find / That my faults have been forgiven / And that's when I'll start living / When my morning comes around.” —Iris Dement, “When My Morning Comes Around”

Corporate welfare: two examples

        • A study shows that between 2010 and 2016, every one of the 210 new drugs approved by the US Food and Drug Administration were funded by the National Institute of Health (public money). None of the profits made by companies selling these drugs goes to reimburse the federal government’s research. —watch this short (3:11) video of congressional testimony (Thanks Michael.)

        • About half of the Pentagon’s $700+ billion budget goes to private companies.  —William D. Hartung, The American Conservative

And in more Pentagon news

Left: Illustration by Victor Juhasz

        • In 1990 Congress passed legislation requiring the Pentagon to undergo an audit—just like other branches of government. It took 28 years to comply, and the effort cost $972 million (including the cost of fixing financial systems) and announced a failing grade. So it was put off to January 2019, but now the Pentagon has delayed its congressional briefing on the results. —Aaron Gregg, Washington Post

        • “For decades, the DoD [Department of Defense] leaders and accountants have been perpetrating a gigantic, unconstitutional accounting fraud, deliberately cooking the books to mislead the Congress and drive the DoD’s budgets ever higher, regardless of military necessity. DoD has literally been making up numbers in its annual financial reports to Congress.” —Dave Lindorff, “The Pentagon’s Massive Accounting Fraud Exposed,” The Nation

Professing our faith. “Though Ann [Pettifor, British political economist, in her new book, Just Money: How society can break the despotic power of finance, wouldn't call herself a theologian, and although this is ostensibly not ‘that kind of book’, the way she discusses and expounds finance and economics is therefore profoundly theological.

        “It says that we do not have to be enslaved to a commodified mystification. It announces the possibility of deliverance. It demolishes the moneylenders' temple. It calls for metanoia, for turning around and heading in a new direction. And it achieves all this without the use of the kind of 'religious' language that so often masks genuine theological insight.” —Simon Barrow, Ekklesia

Hymn of resolution. “We will go by night, by night / to search for the well / only thirst will light the way / only thirst will light the way.” —English translation of the Taizé song, “De noche iremos”

Word. “The moral crisis of our age has nothing to do with gay marriage or abortion; it’s insider trading, obscene CEO pay, wage theft from ordinary workers, Wall Street’s continued gambling addition, corporate payoffs to friendly politicians, and the billionaire takeover of our democracy.” —Robert Reich

By the numbers. “Myth #1: Immigrants take more from the U.S. government than they contribute. Fact: Immigrants contribute more in tax revenue than they take in government benefits.” —for more see Gretchen Frazee, “4 myths about how immigrants affect the U.S. economy,” PBS

Preach it. “When the orbit of worship properly encircles the world of work, the result upsets every pattern of domination.” —kls

Can’t makes this sh*t up. When senior economic advisors warned President Trump about the calamitous effect over the next decade of the budget deficits, he responded: “Yeah, I won’t be here.” —Asawin Suebsaeng & Lachian Markay, Daily Beast

Call to the table. “You are the wine / I am the cup / I can yield nothing till I am filled up / Hold me upright / And pour forth your life / O Wine, come fill me with you.” —Peter Mayer, “O Sun”

The state of our disunion. “In 2018, The Average Family Paid More To Hospitals Than To The Federal Government In Taxes.” —, Forbes

¶ “Back in the 1960s, our top marginal tax rate ranged from 70% to 91%. That was also the decade when our country had its highest average economic growth rate. More importantly, it was an era when workers generally shared in the country’s prosperity. Since the 1970s, wages for most U.S. workers have flatlined, even as productivity has steadily increased. But back in the 1950s and 1960s, wage growth kept pace with productivity.” —, CommonDreams

For the beauty of the earth. It got so cold last week that part of Niagara Falls froze. (0:22 video)

This is why Republicans want to privatize everything. Major corporations that do contract work for the federal government have much higher CEO-worker pay ratios than other companies.” —Kevin McCoy, “CEO vs. worker pay: Federal contractors have the biggest compensation gaps,” USA Today

Altar call. “Rejoice in the presence of those who resist the counsel of the arrogant, who sidestep the influence-peddlers, who refuse to participate in political payoffs. Blessed One, multiply their presence in our midst! And may we have the courage to be among their number!” —continue reading “Multiply their presence,” a litany for worship inspired by Psalm 1

Benediction. “May the Christ who lightens every burden, and heightens every cheer, be ever-near, ever-here, no matter the road’s rutted way, no matter the journey’s bitter dismay.  Listen for that which no libelous tongue can say nor grief-plugged ear can hear: The One who suckles you and savors you and thrills at the sound of your beating heart—this One knows your need and will bleed in your defense.” —continue reading “Safe harbor awaits,” a litany for worship inspired by Psalm 20:4, Jeremiah 17:7-8, Jeremiah 29:11, Matthew 11:28-30, Psalm 34:8, Numbers 6:24-26

Recessional. “Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace according to thy word. / For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, / Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people; / To be a light to lighten the Gentiles and to be the glory of thy people Israel.” —English lyrics to Nunc Dimittis, performed at the Taizé Community

Lectionary for this Sunday. “Send me,” a litany for worship inspired by Jeremiah 1:7-9 and Isaiah 6:1-8

Lectionary for Sunday next. Three litanies for worship inspired by Psalm 1:

        • “We Shall Not Be Moved”

        •”Multiply Their Presence”

        •”Bound to this freedom”

Just for fun. Mesmerizing: Trains plowing through snow. (8:07 video)

#  #  #

Featured this week on prayer&politiks

• “Taxing matters: Tax laws and troubling faith,” a new essay

• “Safe harbor awaits,” a litany for worship inspired by Psalm 20:4, Jeremiah 17:7-8, Jeremiah 29:11, Matthew 11:28-30, Psalm 34:8, Numbers 6:24-26

©Ken Sehested @ prayerandpolitiks.org. Language not otherwise indicated above is that of the editor, as are those portions cited as “kls.” Don’t let the “copyright” notice keep you from circulating material you find here (and elsewhere in this site). Reprint permission is hereby granted in advance for noncommercial purposes.

Feel free to copy and post any original art on this site. (The ones with “prayerandpolitiks.org” at the bottom.) As well as other information you find helpful.

Your comments are always welcomed. If you have news, views, notes or quotes to add to the list above, please do. If you like what you read, pass this along to your friends. You can reach me directly at kensehested@prayerandpolitiks.org.

 

Taxing matters

Tax laws and troublesome faith

by Ken Sehested

“Some people are so poor all they have is money.”
—Bob Marley

        The question of tax fairness has long been on my radar. But it wasn’t until the phrase “marginal tax rate” made headlines recently that I realized few people know what it means, and my own understanding was pretty vague.

        At about the same time I came across the following quote while reading Rebecca Solnit’s book, Call Them by Their True Names:

        “If you boil the strange soup of contemporary right-wing ideology down to a sort of bouillon cube, you find the idea that things are not connected to other things, that people are not connected to other people, and that they are better off unconnected. . . .

        “Taxes represent civic connection: what we each give to the collective good. This particular form of shared interest has been framed as a form of oppression at least since Ronald Reagan. . . .

        “‘Freedom’ is just another word for nothing left to limit your options. And this is how the ideology of isolation become nihilism.”

§ § §

Question: “What's wrong with the world?”

Response: “We are buried beneath the weight of information, which is being confused with
knowledge; quantity is being confused with abundance and wealth with happiness.
Leona Helmsley's dog made $12 million last year… and Dean McLaine, a farmer in
Ohio, made $30,000. It's just a gigantic version of the madness that grows in
every one of our brains. We are monkeys with money and guns.”
—singer-songwriter Tom Waits in a 2008 self-interview

 §  §  §

        My mother was an accountant all her working days. I can remember when I was young, visiting the office where she worked, watching her stare at a ledger—left index finger tracing down a column of penciled numbers—while her right hand worked an old fashioned manual adding machine, punching the keys, hitting + or –, then pulling the level downward with amazing speed and precision, never taking her eyes off the ledger. Her right hand knew that machine more intimately than the most skilled thumbs of modern smart phone texters.

        I, too, have dexterity on a computer keyboard (though I still don’t text—I’m among the remaining 5% of US Americans who don’t use a cellphone). But I didn’t get Mom’s penchant for maneuvering through tax filing forms.

        The worst sort of groaning goes on at our house when, pressed by April's tax filing deadline, we wrangle the herd of numbers needed to calculate our liability. And we use an accountant to tally the result. In part because of technical provisions related to clergy filing and the fluid nature of retirement income reporting. But even the simplest of 1040 IRS reporting form feels, to me, like trying to make sense of hieroglyphics.

        You know the aphorism, attributed to Benjamin Franklin, about death and taxes being the only certainties. But there’s no ideological divide when it comes planning a funeral. On the other hand, we invest gargantuan amounts of energy into legislating tax policy. Few things are more contentious, as was made clear in the year-long fight in congress’ “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act,” approved by the slimmest of margins at the last possible moment in 2017—even though Republicans controlled both houses and the administration.

§  §  §

“The man who attempts to live for others is a dependent. He is a
parasite in motive and makes parasites of those he serves.”
—novelist and philosopher Ayn Rand, “The Fountainhead”

§  §  §

        The title of one of Ayn Rand’s shorter essays—“The Virtue of Selfishness”—summarizes the ruthlessness of her social vision. She writes, “Altruism is incompatible with freedom, with capitalism, and with individual rights.” In her telling, the great commandment to love your neighbor is tantamount to “moral cannibalism.”

        Former Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, who shepherded that 2017 tax legislation, openly declared himself a devotee of Rand’s political vision. “I give out Atlas Shrugged [another of Rand’s major works] as Christmas presents,” he told a reporter in 2003, “and I make all my interns read it."

        In a 2009 video, Ryan said “I think Ayn Rand did the best job of anybody to build a moral case of capitalism, and that morality of capitalism is under assault.”

        Maybe the clearest recent example of such conviction was Nirmal Mulye, founder of Nostrum Pharmaceuticals, who in 2018 raised the price of an essential drug treating urinary tract infections from $500 to more than $2,300 per bottle.

        He told the Financial Times that his company had a “moral requirement to sell the product at the highest price. . . . I think it is a moral requirement to make money when you can.”

        I can’t think of any opinion more antagonistic to biblical values, where one of the most consistent characteristics of God’s attention to creaturely affairs regards the fate of the dispossessed. (See “A List of Some of the More Than #2000Verses in Scripture on Poverty and Justice,” Sojourners magazine.)

§  §  §

“Last time I talked to her she didn’t sound like herself. She’s depressed. It’s awful what
happens when people run out of money. They start thinking they’re no good.”
—Barbara Kingsolver, Pigs in Heaven

§  §  §

        After newly-elected Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s “60 Minutes” television interview, where she laid out arguments for a 70% marginal tax plan for the wealthiest individuals, many in the chattering class threw a fit.

        On a panel discussion at the recent World Economic Forum, Michael Dell, founder and head of Dell Technologies, said “Name a country where that’s worked—ever.”

        Well, as it turns out, the US had a higher rate for several decades in the 20th century.

        (Though the general public is confused on what this means: A 70% marginal tax rate doesn’t mean the same thing as a 70% tax rate. The special issue of “Signs of the Times,” 7 February 2019, #185, offers clarity on this and many other misconceptions—including the fact that even before the new tax laws took effect last year, Americans have paid lower taxes that those of most every other industrialized country. And there have been many years in the past when dozens of our largest corporations paid no federal income taxes—and, for a few, even got rebates from the government. It's a scam, if I've ever seen one. But also entirely legal.)

        While President Trump didn’t make an explicit connection to Ocasio-Cortez’s plan, in his recent State of the Union message he did trot out that scariest of political hobgoblins, socialism!

        Our sitting president is the veritable incarnation of Ayn Rand’s reasoning.

§  §  §

“O, that we who declare war against wars, and acknowledge our trust to be in God only,
may walk in the light, and therein examine our foundation and motives in holding onto money!
May we look upon our estates, our treasures, the furniture of our houses, and our garments,
and try whether the seeds of war have nourishment in these, our possessions.”
—“The Journal of John Woolman” (1774)

§  §  §

        Tax law is taxing to most people's brains. It's labyrinthian, prompting the growth of ever-larger accounting and law firms to sort out the details. The law has countless exceptions to exceptions to exceptions that apply in narrow circumstances, especially for individuals and corporations with deep pockets.

        Though not specifically about tax law, one recent example of pay-to-play governing is the case of Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME). Her 2018 third quarter campaign contribution tally was $140,000. Then, in the opening week of October, she voted to approve Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the US Supreme Court at the end of a highly contested and contentious Senate hearing. Suddenly, abracadabra, her fourth quarter campaign intake soared to $1,800,000, most from out-of-state donors.

§  §  §

“We who formerly treasured money and possessions more than anything else now hand over
everything we have to a treasury for all and share it with everyone who needs it.”
—Justin Martyr, second century church leader and theologian

§  §  §

        I dare say that the current levels of economic inequality—both domestic and global—constitutes the most dangerous and volatile threat to democratic governance. Twenty-six of the world’s richest individuals now own more wealth that the bottom half of the world’s population.

        "I love all people, rich or poor," President Trump told a crowd of supporters at an Iowa rally in late June 2017. "But in those particular positions [i.e., members of his cabinet], I just don't want a poor person." Collectively, his cabinet appointees are worth $4.3 billion. The median net worth of members of Congress is quintuple the median net worth of US households. It would take a really, really big adding machine to do the global numbers.

        We remember Karl Marx as the political economist (which he was good at) and philosopher (not so good at) who posited economics as the prime motivator of human behavior. But long before Marx was separated from his mama’s placenta, there was one who said in a single sentence what took Marx decades and thousands of pages to say:

        “Where your treasure is, there your heart is also.”

        Reimagine, then, what it means to give your heart to Jesus. Fair warning: It might make you troublesome.

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(For helpful information and graphics to make sense of tax matters, see the special issue of “Signs of the Times,” dated 7 February 2019, #185.)

©ken sehested @ prayerandpolitiks.org

 

We shall not be moved

Happy are you who do not heed the advice of evil ones, or take the path of deceivers, or sit in the chambers of the haughty. We shall not be moved!

But our delight is in the Way of Life; we labor along its path by day and we are wrapped in its protection by night. And we shall not be moved!

Because of this, you are like trees planted by fresh streams of water, yielding your fruit in season, holding your leaves without fail. Your future is assured. We shall not be moved!

The self-centered are absorbed in empty boasts. They are driven by foul winds. They shall be scattered to distant wastelands, withering in wanton decay. But we shall not be moved!

People of Mercy, live in the world, but don’t get addicted to its junk food. Don’t get hooked on its sugary colas. For we shall not be moved!

Our face is set, no fear, no regret. With hearts approved, we shall not be moved!

As planted tree by flowing stream, as ripened fruit from nurturing vine, mercy ever be our theme as we abide in love divine.

Singing: We shall not, we shall not be moved. {x2} Just like a tree planted by the waters, we shall not be moved.

©Ken Sehested @ prayerandpolitiks.org. Inspired by Psalm 1 [A revision of “Bound to This Freedom.”]

News, views, notes, and quotes

Signs of the Times  •  25 January 2019 •  No. 184

Processional. “Hark, the Song of Jubilee,” Maungaturoto Congregational Church, Ralph Cullen, organist.

Above: Ice castles in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin

Invocation. A reading (2:11) of Evelyn Underhill’s poem, “Immanence.”

Call to worship. “What is it you wish to know, oh mortal one? Do you think you must ascend to the highest heaven or descend to the deepest pit? Do you not know that Wisdom has pitched a tent in your midst?” —continue reading “Go out in joy,” a litany for worship

Hymn of praise. “This is the year of Jubilee / My Lord says He’s coming by an’ by  / My Lord has set His people free  / My Lord says He’s coming by an’ by.” —“Rise, Shine, for Thy Light is a-Comin’” William Appling Singers

Good news. “After a deadly attack last year on a mosque in Quebec, Christians and Jews formed human "rings of peace" around mosques across Canada to help Muslim worshippers feel safer on their way in. This past weekend, Muslims did the same for six synagogues in Toronto. This past weekend, Muslims did the same for six synagogues in Toronto.

        Several hundred people, arriving in busloads from different mosques, stood shoulder to shoulder around the synagogues with one very clear message.

        "We're here for you," Fatima Sajan said. Sajan was one of the organizers with the National Council of Canadian Muslims for last weekend's "Rings of Peace." A dozen organizations got together days after the October 27 attack on a Pittsburgh synagogue to plan how they could best show their support for the Jewish community.” —Christina Maxouris & Brandon Griggs, CNN (Thanks Chris. See photo above, by Imam Dr. Hamid Slimi, Sayeda Khadija Centre.)

More good news. “The Girl Scouts of Western Washington says it has returned a $100,000 donation because it came with the provision that the money couldn't be used to support transgender girls. The group sent back the money in late May after the donor had asked that the gift be returned unless the group guaranteed that it would not be used to benefit transgender girls. The local Girl Scouts council set up a crowdfunding campaign Monday asking for help to fill the gap. By midday Tuesday, more than $170,000 in donations had poured in.” —Associated Press (Thanks Julie.) 

Confession. “We come to confession fretfully. For we fear that a spotlight of shame will shine on our failed dreams and frail hopes. We come to confession fearfully, for the god of Maximum Return has confused and confounded us. So we denounce this god, in the name of the God Without Price.” ­—continue reading “Come to the Waters: Litany of Confession and Pardon,” inspired by Isaiah 55

 

THE WORLD ACCORDING TO DAVOS

Today is the final day of the 2019 World Economic Forum held annually in Davos, Switzerland.
Here is some brief background on what you need to know and why you should care.
And why Scripture’s long tradition about the “year of jubilee”—“the year of the Lord’s favor,”
as Jesus named it in Luke 4:19—should occupy our attention.

The jubilee theme goes all the way back to the covenant making work between God and the
escaped Hebrew slaves at Mt. Sinai; what’s more, the social disruption and land regeneration it
promises is tied up with sabbath-keeping. From this beginning, the faithful practice of piety entailed
commitment to a new world order: The very integrity of God is tied up with cancelling debts,
releasing slaves, and renewing soil.

For a more detailed examination of the biblical theme of jubilee, see
“Good news for yahoos: The year of the Lord’s favor,” an essay on the biblical theme of jubilee.

Testify. “For the sake of your children, of your grandchildren, for the sake of life and this beautiful living planet, I ask you to stand on the right side of history. . . .” —16-year-old Swedish climate activist Greta Thurnberg (1:44 video) appealing to World Economic Forum participants

¶ “The World Economic Forum (WEF), based in Cologny-Geneva, Switzerland, was founded in 1971 as a not-for-profit organization. The Forum's mission is cited as "committed to improving the state of the world by engaging business, political, academic, and other leaders of society to shape global, regional, and industry agendas. The WEF is best known for its annual meeting at the end of January in Davos, in the eastern Alps region of Switzerland.”

        This year’s theme is “Globalisation 4.0: Shaping a New Architecture in the Age of the Fourth Industrial Revolution,” The meeting brought together 3,000 “top business leaders, international political leaders, economists, celebrities and journalists for up to four days to discuss the most pressing issues facing the world.” —Wikipedia

Right: Armed security personnel stand guard on the rooftop of a hotel in Davos, Switzerland. Fabrice Coffrini-AFP-Getty Images

¶ “The Air Charter Service expects that roughly 1,500 private jets will shuttle attendees to and from the [WEF] conference this week.” —Business Insider

¶ Here’s a short (9:35) podcast, “Does Davos still matter?” from Axios.

Highly recommended long read. “The new elite’s phoney crusade to save the world—without changing anything.” — , Guardian.

The Transnational Institute, a Dutch non-profit think tank, has gone further, attacking “the Davos class” and suggesting the WEF’s purpose is “to function as a socialising institution for the emerging global elite, globaliation’s 'Mafiocracy' of bankers, industrialists, oligarchs, technocrats and politicians. They promote common ideas, and serve common interests: their own”.

Prophesy. “The failure to tackle climate change and extreme weather events are the most threatening global risks this year, according to the World Economic Forum. Inability to mitigate or adapt to climate change leapfrogged several places on the list as the second-most likely risk facing the world in 2019 after extreme weather events, the WEF said in a report published Wednesday. What’s more, worsening international relations mean the capacity to deal with those major problems has plummeted.” —Jill Ward, Bloomberg

Furthermore, the above assessment comes just days after a Pentagon report warning “that rising seas and more frequent wild fires threaten U.S. security.” It is the “most comprehensive study done to assess the link between climate change, war and migration has confirmed that the warming planet is fueling conflicts that lead to more refugees." —Jonathan Tirone, “Pentagon Fears Confirmed: Climate Change Leads to More Wars and Refugees,” Bloomberg

For more details click on the World Economic Forum’s site.

Remembering history. The Liberty Bell, a symbol of the US Revolutionary War’s success ending British rule, is inscribed with “Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof” is a direct quote from Leviticus 25:10, part of a section mandating “Jubilee” provisions which required every 50 years that ancient Israel to free its slaves, forgive all debt and return land to original owners, and allow land to lie fallow.

Hymn of supplication. “Ah, the fields are crying out—it's Jubilee / We sold ourselves for love but now we're free / I'm so sorry for that ghost I made you be / Only one of us was real and that was me. . . . / And I wish there was a treaty we could sign / I do not care who takes this bloody hill / I'm angry and I'm tired all the time / I wish there was a treaty, I wish there was a treaty / Between your love and mine.” —Leonard Cohen, “Treaty”

Words of assurance. Mzansi Youth Choir of South Africa (singing in Xhosa) “Ndikhokhele” (Lead me). (Lead oh Father / Lead me my savior / in all the sorrows of this world Father . . . / for you still protect me.)

Professing our faith. “The build-up of personal and collective debt . . . should have sent warning signals to anyone familiar with the biblical institutions of the Sabbatical and Jubilee years, created specifically because of the danger of people being trapped by debt.” —Rabbi Jonathan Sacks

Like me, you probably would have heard little if anything about the Indigenous People March in Washington, DC, if it hadn’t been for that viral video featuring a Kentucky high school student. This article, “The Indigenous Peoples March was about a lot more than the kids in MAGA hats” by Tekendra Parmar, fills in the gaps.

Hymn of intercession. “Who said that everything's lost? / I'm here to offer my heart, / So much blood carried away by the river, / I'm here to offer my heart.” —first verse in English translation of “Yo vengo a ofrecer mi corazón ,” Mercedes Sosa

By the numbers. Last year, the number was 43; the year before, 61. Now it’s 26—it being the number of billionaires whose combined wealth equals that of 50% of the globe’s population. All told, the world’s 2,200 billionaires’ wealth increased by 12% in 2018; that of the world’s poorest 50%, declined by 11%. —2019 report on inequality issued annually by Oxfam just prior to the World Economic Forum, , Guardian

Preach it. “When words are changed into deeds of liberation—that's preaching. And anything else is just talking.” —Rev. William Barber’s Martin Luther King Jr. birthday sermon is worth your time (27:44)

Can’t makes this sh*t up. “A union that represents Border Patrol agents recently deleted a webpage that said building walls and fences along the border to stop illegal immigration would be ‘wasting taxpayer money.’ The deleted webpage, posted in 2012, argued that border barriers don’t tackle the root causes of migration—and could potentially encourage more migrants to enter the U.S. fraudulently or overstay visas.” —Ted Hesson, Politico

Call to the table. “And I can tell by the way you're searching / For something you can't even name / That you haven't been able to come to the table / Simply glad that you came / And when you feel like this try to imagine / That we're all like frail boats on the sea / Just scanning the night for that great guiding light / Announcing the Jubilee.” —Mary Chapin Carpenter, “Jubilee”

The state of our disunion. “When the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery surveyed its members in 2017, 55% of surgeons said patients’ motivation was to look better in selfies, up from just 13% in 2016.” —Elle Hunt, “,” Guardian

Left: Art by Bro. Mickey McGrath

Best one-liner. “Just a reminder that lightning and lettuce killed more people in 2018 than illegal immigrants.” —from the internet

For the beauty of the earth. “The World Below,” time-lapse video from the International Space Station, edited by Bruce W. Berry Jr. (6:03. Thanks Abigail.)

Helpful tools: You’ve got to be taught. “The Ultimate List of the Best Children’s Books About Kindness,” (and other comments on practical parenting strategies), by Kelly, Happy You, Happy Family. (Thanks Anne.)

Altar call. “If you sacrifice for your children, or someone else’s children; or even if you risk your neck for the Beloved Community: Don’t get all high and mighty and come-uppity! The last thing you want is to get to heaven and discover there’s no VIP lounge.” —continue reading “What of it?” a litany for worship inspired by 1 Corinthians 12

Benediction. “Throw off the covers of earth’s darkened slumber! Unplug your ears, you creatures of flesh! From deepest sigh of tear-stained eye, set your sight on Heaven’s resolve. For the sky’s bright luster, alive with motion, shows the wonder of Blessed intention.” —continue reading “Blessed intention,” a litany for worship inspired by Psalm 19

Recessional. “L-O-V-E,” Joan Chamorro Quintet with Andrea Motis.

Lectionary for this Sunday. “Did you see the lectionary readings for this week?” Nancy asked over dinner. I hadn’t.
      “This is one of those times the selections fail to tell the whole story. The Gospel reading is the famous Luke 4 text where Jesus preached his first sermon. But it only covers the first part of the story (vv. 14-21) but not the rest (vv. 22-30).
      “It separates the part where we learn when, and for whom, the News is good. It leaves out the part where we learn when, and for whom, the News is bad.”

Lectionary for Sunday next. “Sister Anna. Last-named prophet in Holy Writ, more likely listed among household property and livestock. When did your Temple-dwelling vocation begin? What sustained your twenty-four-seven vigil for all those years? Anna, school us in the habits of vigilant perseverance.” —continue reading “Sister Anna,” a litany for worship inspired by the Prophetess Anna (Luke 2:22-40)

Just for fun. “Amazing Jesus,” Mr. Bean (Rowan Atkinson) retells several Jesus stories. (3:41 video. Thanks Loren.)

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Featured this week on prayer&politiks

• “Good news for yahoos: The year of the Lord’s favor,” an essay on the biblical theme of jubilee

• “Sister Anna,” a litany for worship inspired by the Prophetess Anna (Luke 2:22-40)

• “What of it?” a litany for worship inspired by 1 Corinthians 12

• "Blessed intention," a litany for worship inspired by Psalm 19

©Ken Sehested @ prayerandpolitiks.org. Language not otherwise indicated above is that of the editor, as are those portions cited as “kls.” Don’t let the “copyright” notice keep you from circulating material you find here (and elsewhere in this site). Reprint permission is hereby granted in advance for noncommercial purposes.

Feel free to copy and post any original art on this site. (The ones with “prayerandpolitiks.org” at the bottom.) As well as other information you find helpful.

Your comments are always welcomed. If you have news, views, notes or quotes to add to the list above, please do. If you like what you read, pass this along to your friends. You can reach me directly at kensehested@prayerandpolitiks.org.

 

Come to the Waters

Litany of Confession and Pardon inspired by Isaiah 55

by Ken Sehested

Call to Confession

The Word of Strong Deliverance is whispered in the ears of all who long for the relief of pardon. “Listen,” says the Assuring One, “all of you who thirst for righteousness, who hunger for justice, come to the waters. All of you who know you are broke, who have no way of buying your freedom, no way of bargaining for joy—come, buy, eat and rejoice!”

Here, in this Circle, the good news is learned: “Come, buy wine and milk with neither cash nor credit. Provision is freely offered, but only to those acquainted with their penniless condition.”

Here, in this Circle, the secret is broadcast to a world built on deception: “Your anxious toil buys bread that does not satisfy. You languish in illusion. Lay down the labor which separates each from the other—and from The Other.”

Litany of Response

Bare your hearts as you approach this table of bounty.

We come to confession uneasily.

For we fear that our lives have come up short.

We come to confession fretfully.

For we fear that a spotlight of shame will shine on our failed dreams and frail hopes.

We come to confession fearfully, for the god of Maximum Return has confused and confounded us.

So we denounce this god, in the name of the God Without Price.

In the Name of the One Who established the earth’s bounty and purse as available to all.

Having passed through the waters of baptism, and tested in the desert of deception, we come confessing and pardoned to the table of bounty. It’s fiesta time!

Burst forth in song, you mountains! Clap your hands all you trees of the forest! For God is not done. Deliverance is at hand!

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©ken sehested @ prayerandpolitiks.org

Good News for Yahoos – “The Year of the Lord’s favor”

The emphasis on justice in the biblical theme of “jubilee," cf. Luke 4:14-21 & Isaiah 61:1-5

by Ken Sehested

In his first sermon, Jesus chose to read from Isaiah 61, an explicit references to the
covenant terms from Mt. Sinai regarding jubilee observance and its profound
project of social, political and economic restructuring.

{Written in 1998, prior to being a founding co-pastor of Circle of Mercy Congregation, Asheville, NC.)

      I occasionally substitute for my wife, a pastor, when she’s out of town on Sunday. Several years ago her pulpit absence occurred when the lectionary text called for a sermon on the “jubilee” theme in Scripture. She had originally planned to address the celebrative aspect of jubilee, with a projected sermon title of “Jubilee Whoopee.”

      Which was fine with me. But as I began preparations for my own sermon, I discovered that the word “whoopee” carries some unfortunate associations with promiscuous sex. So, to circumvent that potential confusion, I went looking for an alternative term, preferably one with similar exuberance. “Yahoo” soon came to mind.

      Further study confirmed the choice. “Yahoo,” according to Webster’s dictionary, was the name given the race of brutish beings in Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels. The term generally signifies “an uncouth or rowdy person.” Yahoos are lowlifes.

      What’s more, “yahoo” appears as a dictionary entry just prior to “Yahweh,” the most common Hebrew name for God. What a fortuitous opportunity! “Yahoo”—denoting the uncouth, sometimes rowdy, generally uncultured—listed right next to “Yahweh,” the one whom Jesus named as Abba. Yahoo and Yahweh, what an unlikely sequence of words . . . yet what a perfect coincidence to highlight the biblical theme of jubilee!

      Few in our congregations are familiar with the jubilee theme in Scripture. As a common English word, “jubilee” is generally associated with special anniversary celebrations or with the high emotional intensity of “jubilation.” The term’s historical background in Scripture—and its subversive implications for modern economic life—are unfamiliar even to most “Bible-believing” Christians. The practical function of the classic jubilee texts is similar to that of the Zacchaeus story in Luke’s Gospel: We teach our children the popular song about the “wee little man,” but the song fails to finish the story which outlines the content of Zacchaeus’ confession of faith in Jesus Christ as personal Lord and Savior.

      But I’m getting ahead of myself. First, let’s review the basics.

      The fountainhead of the Bible’s teaching about jubilee is in Leviticus 25. The text represents God’s instructions, via Moses, concerning covenant strictures for the newly-freed Hebrew slaves upon entry to the “promised land” of liberty and freedom. Every seventh year was to be “a sabbath to the Lord” (v. 2). The initial character of this sabbath: the land was to rest—sowing and pruning were forbidden. Then, every “seven weeks of years” a grand sabbath was to be called. During this fiftieth year not only was there to be a halt to agricultural labor, but also: all lands revert to original owners, debts are canceled, slaves are freed, and the poor have equal rights to harvest at will (regardless of land ownership).

      Other Hebrew Scripture traditions feeding into this jubilee vision include earlier sabbath observance teachings from the “Covenant Code” of Exodus (particularly chapters 21-23) and Deuteronomy (especially chapter 15); and from royal proclamations of “release” found in Jeremiah 34, and Ezekiel 46, all of which invoke commands to free slaves (or indentured servants), particularly when that condition is related to indebtedness. {1}

      The jubilee theme is also heralded by the more well-known statement from Isaiah 61—and then quoted almost verbatim by Jesus (Luke 4:18-19) in his inaugural sermon at the temple in Nazareth: “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good tidings to the afflicted; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. . . “ (Isaiah 61:1-2a). The latter phrase from both Isaiah and Jesus are explicit references to the covenant terms from Mt. Sinai regarding jubilee observance. {2}

      The agenda of this mandate involves a radical reordering of social life, utilizing structural antidotes to the extremes of both wealth and poverty. Taken together, the jubilee instructions embodied in carefully worded Levitical legislation represent a profound renewal and revitalizing of life: of the land itself, of material relations within the human community, and of the community’s relationship with God.

Why isn’t this material taught in our congregations?

      You would think that any biblical theme prominent enough to stretch across this much history—from early covenant history between Yahweh and the people of Israel, to the later prophetic outbursts critiquing Israel’s apostasy, all the way to Jesus’ own self-defining statement of mission—would merit consistent and thorough attention in the preaching and teaching ministries of the church. But it’s not. A number of plausible explanations come to mind.

      First, the fact that the core jubilee teachings are found in Leviticus explains a lot. Leviticus contains the core “Holiness Code” regulations of ritual purity, a collection of minute and detailed rules and regulations, the “jots and tittles” of the Mosaic law. Their reading often sounds as obscure, puzzling and plain nonsensical as a book of Internal Revenue Service tax regulations. Theologically, the church has generally viewed this material as rendered obsolete, eclipsed by New Testament norms. {3}

      Second, the jubilee instructions fly in the face of modern economic theory and practice of free-market capitalism. Forgiving debt and returning land to original owners would undermine our economy, contradict our fundamental notions of the right to private property {4}, remove the economic incentive to hard work {5}, disrupt food security {6}, threaten basic liberties {7}, even compromise our national defense {8}. Surely we need not adhere to biblical teachings which call into question such cherished ways of life?!

      There is a third reason why our congregations are so unfamiliar with Scripture’s jubilee theme. But before turning to that, let’s examine some additional biblical material.

God’s bias toward the poor

      Shalom is the Hebrew word we usually translate as “peace.” But the notion is much bigger than its English rendering. In common English usage, “peace” means the avoidance or absence of conflict. It indicates the lack of something: war or lesser forms of overt violence.

      In Scripture, on the other hand, shalom indicates the active presence of multiple dynamics: well-being, harmony, honest relations, forgiveness. It is a relational concept indicating health and balance.

      The foundation of peace, biblically speaking, is justice—the quality of right-relatedness that used to govern (at creation) and will someday reign again (in the promised “new heaven and new earth”). Currently, the “principalities and powers” are aligned against God’s shalom as indicated by the pervasive presence of injustice and oppression which eventually erupts as open violence. This pattern of broken relations seems to saturate every area of life: within families and communities, between different racial/ethnic groups and social classes and nation-states, within the pollution-choked created order. Not to mention with God.

      •”Sow for yourselves righteousness [justice], reap the fruit of steadfast love [shalom],” says Hosea 10:12.

      •”And the effects of righteousness [justice] will be peace, and the result of righteousness [justice], quietness and security [qualities of right-relatedness] for ever,” says Isaiah 32:17.

      Justice is basic to the One depicted in Scripture as creator, redeemer and sustainer. Not as an “extra” item on the agenda, but as basic to divine nature. Not tit-for-tat justice; and certainly not the vengeance-based norms of justice which increasingly govern our criminal justice system {9}. The distinctiveness of God’s justice is the fact that it is based on need rather than merit. God’s vision—and the church’s, whenever we are faithful—is that of a redeemed, restored, renewed creation. In order to get from here to there, special attention must be given to those who have been left out of the earth’s bounty, who have been excluded from community—those for whom the world’s social, economic and political systems and institutions have no use.

      As Old Testament scholar Walter Brueggemann says so succinctly, justice means sorting out what belongs to whom and giving it back.

      Jesus blessed the “poor" {10}, in his sermon on the mount, saying “theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Similarly blessed are the “meek,” who are destined to inherit the earth. Few themes are as consistently emphasized throughout Scripture as God’s special concern for the poor {11}. God has a distinct bias toward the poor—in the same way as Jesus portrays the shepherd as being biased toward the one sheep gone astray (Matthew 18:12-14). The many are abandoned in favor of the one at risk.

      A frequent note of the Psalmist is the mobilizing effect which the cries of the poor have on God: “‘Because the poor are despoiled, because the needy groan, I will now arise,’ says the Lord; I will place them in the safety for which they long” (12:5). The initial naming of God in Scripture occurs in the context of God’s mobilizing in response to the cries of the poor (Exodus 3) {12}. The only time Jesus speaks explicitly about the entrance requirements for heaven, the list involves no doctrinal questions, no measurement of religious fervor, not a word about personal morality. All the criteria involve our response to the marginalized, the neglected, the forgotten, the traumatized (cf. Matthew 25). In fact, oppression—the act of hoarding life’s resources (whether personal or corporate, actively or passively) in the face of want is an indication of atheism (cf. Psalms 10:11), of idolatry (cf. Matthew 6:24), of attempts to deceive the Almighty (cf. 1 John 4:20). Knowledge of God and advocacy for the poor are virtually synonymous (Jeremiah 22:16). It is a theological issue, not simply a social concern.

      God is especially concerned over the welfare of lowlifes, yahoos. And any faithful reflection of that priority will be marked by those who (in the descriptive phrase originating in the Latin American church) exhibit a preferential option for the poor.

      All well and good, you say. We believe in charity, and we’re liberal-leaning Democrats (or at least moderate Republicans) in social politics.

      But there’s the rub. Our social commitments are shaped more by a combination of class interests and political ideology and are only tangentially connected to our faith, to our Bible reading, to our Christ-confessing. Many in the church are “reading” current realities through the social sciences (plus a few proof texts from the Bible); and some have become actively engaged, on genuine humanitarian grounds. But few are engaged in contemplating and responding to the pain of the world as a spiritual discipline—seeing the violence, injustice and oppression ravaging our personal and corporate lives as within the scope of spiritual discernment.

Spiritual formation and prophetic action

      Which brings me to the third and final response as to why the jubilee theme is so unfamiliar in our congregations. Whether “liberal” or “conservative”—as an organizer I find surprisingly little difference between them in this regard—our people generally fail to see what salvation (the big issue for believers) has to do with demanding justice and making peace. And thus our evangelism, where it’s carried on at all, is confused with religious marketing.

      Some years ago a friend contacted me and asked me to speak at a Baptist conference on peacemaking. In her letter, she said: “I want you to speak on ‘Why should we work for peace when folk just need to get saved?’” At first—realizing my friend has a great sense of humor—I thought it was a joke. Then I realized what a genius she was! Whether framed this straightforwardly or not, this is the core question with which the majority of our people are wrestling.

      In short, our congregations are marked by a warped spirituality. We have been formed spiritually in ways that bracket the realities of violence and poverty and oppression, ignoring them (at worst) or confining them (at best) to the margins of our attention. We have segregated “spiritual” matters from “physical” or “material” ones, emptying our preaching and teaching of its ability both top bless and to condemn. The “salvation” we offer is more like cotton candy—mostly air and empty of calories. Reigning notions of spiritual reality are vacuous, a judgment reflected in the Mother’s Day “Family Circus” cartoon of several years ago, where the young boy turns to his sister and says, “I’m going to give Mom a spiritual bouquet and save my money for a catcher’s mitt.” Or they have been utterly co-opted, as in the full-page newspaper ad headlined: “For a spiritual uplift on low monthly terms, contact your local BMW dealer.”

      Preaching and teaching more “social concerns” sermons and lessons won’t change this. We need to start at a more fundamental level, teaching our members how to read the Bible through the eyes of those who suffer—study done in conjunction with active mission involvements which bring our people into sustained contact with actual suffering people.

      We need to learn again how to pray, somehow in proximity with those now crushed but who recognize genuine good news in our Lord’s prayer: Thy kingdom come, on earth, as in heaven. And our worship needs reviving, in ways that put us in touch with the experience of (in the words of that old hymn) leaning on the everlasting arms. Not as escapist piety, but in the power of Spirit, facing the forces of animosity, hatred and destruction, as did those who gathered the evening of December 5, 1955, for the mass meeting in Montgomery, Alabama, at the end of the first day of that historic bus boycott. “What a Fellowship” was their opening hymn, and they sang about “leaning on Jesus” because they knew that the angry crowd forming outside and threatening to mob the sanctuary would not be restrained by the police.

      Bible study, prayer and worship {13} in this mode—at some point, to some degree, in some fashion—will get the church into trouble with “the world.” Ironically, though, being in trouble is the ideal environment for studying the Bible, prayer and worship.

      Justice is at the heart of the jubilee agenda, an agenda enveloped in a spiritual vision. Practicing jubilee does not entail a mimicking of Levitical social, political and economic policies. Scholars themselves acknowledge that the details of jubilee legislation shifted and changed as circumstances were altered. Rather, jubilee must be enacted with creativity and imagination, as well as courage. In the end, though, it is not our courage, our will-power, that saves us. This is the message of sabbath-keeping: that hard work is not self-generated but is nourished in rest, in confidence that there is a buoyancy in the universe which we can trust, a power to which we can connect but do not sustain or manage.

      This confidence, this hope, is the ace up every believer’s sleeve. Ironically, its powers are not available to those who seek to secure their own safety and security and sufficiency. Only by relinquishing such claims, only by “losing” our lives—for Jesus’ sake, which means for the sake of his “little ones”—do we find true life. Only then are we in a position to inherit the earth.

      The meek, as they say, are getting ready. Blessed are you yahoos—along with all who recognize God’s jubilee intentions and step forward to affirm the acceptable year of the Lord.

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Endnotes

1. I am dependent on Sharon Ringe’s Jesus, Liberation, and the Biblical Jubilee (Fortress Press, 1985) for this background information. Her study is clearly the most careful tracing of the jubilee theme throughout Scripture. The best popular survey of the biblical theme of jubilee is Proclaim Jubilee: A Spirituality for the Twenty-First Century by Maria Harris (Westminster John Knox Press, 1996).

2. Scholars debate the extent to which other New Testament texts are self-consciously rooted in the jubilee announcement. Textual and literary evidence clearly demonstrate this to be true in a number of places. Other texts, while underscoring the same or similar themes, cannot be explicitly traced to jubilee references. See Ringe, p. 33ff, for a discussion of this question.

3. The exception, of course, is the Levitical proscription forbidding a man to lie with another man “as with a woman” (18:22 and 20:13). Lots of church folk know those references, which judge such behavior as an “abomination.” Yet other abominations in the list include eating pork, misusing incense, intercourse during menstruation, wearing garments made of two different materials, sowing a field with two kinds of seed, etc.

4. At this point we’re generally inclined to discount New Testament evidence as well, particularly the “community of goods” accounting of life in the first Christian community in Jerusalem.

5. The Apostle Paul, in admonishing the thief to stop stealing and do honest work with his hands, was not arguing from a Protestant work ethic. Rather, it was out of concern for the poor, “so that he [the thief] may give to those in need” (Ephesians 4:28).

6. In this regard, note the irony in this statement entitled “An Adaptive Program for Agriculture,” written in 1962 by the Committee for Economic Development, a group of 200 leading business people and educators: “Where there are religious obstacles to modern economic progress, the religion may have to be taken less seriously or its character altered.” Quoted in PeaceWork, Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America, September/October 1987, p. 12.

7. Note that the famous Liberty Bell inscription—”Proclaim liberty throughout the land”—is a direct excerpt from the jubilee teachings of Leviticus 25:10. Many have commented on the fact that the jubilee teachings exempted “foreign” slaves from the mandate of release: only Hebrew slaves qualified for this provision. In this regard, U.S. law generally conformed to jubilee requirements: slavery was sanctioned only for the Native population (at first) and then for African imports—far and away the most massive instance of human slavery in recorded history.

8. During the Carter Administration, the Central Intelligence Agency undertook an intensive study of the Roman Catholic Church in Latin America, specifically in those circles where liberation theology was influential. This investigation was initially disclosed by Mexico City’s influential Excelsior news paper; the paper’s Washington bureau chief reported that members of the Senate Foreign Relations committee, noting earlier U.S. “unpreparedness” in understanding religious currents in Iran, feared “another Iran” might break out in Latin America. Reported in Cry of the People: The Struggle for Human Rights in Latin America—The Catholic Church in Conflict with U.S. Policy, by Penny Lernoux, Penguin Books, 1990, pp. 444-445.

9. The U.S. has by far the largest rate per-capita of incarceration. Prison construction is among the largest growth industries at present. Two states (Florida and California) already spend more money on prisons that on their colleges and universities.

10. The difference between Luke’s “poor” and Matthew’s “poor in spirit” are in tone and inflection only, not in substance. The Aramaic word’s root meaning refers to rural peasants of humble (meager) means having no access to mechanisms of social, economic or political power.

11. The “poor” are not defined solely in economic terms. The word is more fluid and covers a wide range of other conditions—any who have no place at the table, including the weak, the powerless, the excluded, the unclean, the disreputable, the lame. Jesus recognized Zacchaeus as among this number. Though relatively wealthy, he lived as an outcast, a collaborator, given his work as a tax collector for the occupying Roman administration.

12. A Bible study exercise I regularly recommend is this: Look up the word “poor” in a Bible concordance. You’ll find a listing of every place the word is used throughout the Bible. Read each of those texts, preferably all in one sitting. (Plan to spend a bit of time—there are some 300 citations.)

13. We will, of course, also need training in practical matters—learning how to intelligently “read” our situation and practice in developing strategic responses.

©ken sehested @ prayerandpolitiks.org