Last week, I posted that the rich needed to remember that every revolution began with the poor getting tired of being ripped off by the rich. Some questioned what those two words meant, and that’s a really good question – and impossible to answer. Which makes this struggle all the more difficult and important. With the exception of Elon Musk, everyone has someone who has more than they do. And even in homeless encampments, I have been told by folks who live in them, there are some who are considered to be worse off than others. This gradation allows us to point at others and say, see? I’m not rich! As a child, we were poor, and I heard my parents occasionally talk about losing our house. We never did. We had enough to eat, and we had clothes on our backs. We were poor, but we weren’t the poorest.
On the other hand, Jesus didn’t hold back when he ridiculed the rich. “How hard it is for a rich person to get into heaven!” He proclaimed. “Woe to the rich, for you already have your reward!” The story of Lazarus in heaven while the rich man suffered in hell was probably the most extreme story about economics. The rich man was punished because he saw Lazarus in his poverty and did nothing to help him. It is sufficient to say that Jesus got angry about economic inequality and believed in the Equity part of DEI. And yet, He had followers who were rich. At the core of His message, I think, was that there is a justice aspect to money. It is not evil, but loving it is. Money is a tool, not a god. How we make it and how we use it matters. There’s nothing wrong with making money, as long as you are fair to those who make that money for you. Not paying a living wage, however, while you live in luxury, goes against Jesus’ ethic of economics.
There are a lot of children in America who are at risk of losing their free lunches at school. Meanwhile, people like Musk get rich off our backs, manipulating the government and slashing programs that sustain life. There are too few Taylor Swifts sharing the bounty of their success; she is a great example of doing good and doing well. Making shareholders happy is fine, but when it comes at the cost of jobs, homes, and retirement, it becomes a tool of oppression. Generosity is between each one of us and whatever we call God, but we all need to be reminded that while we might fool others, we can’t fool God. Living well and doing good are fine; living well while hurting those who make that life possible is not.
Prayer – Holy God, we work hard and deserve our reward, but so do others. May we all work to make sure justice is served. Amen.
Today’s art is “Compression” by Marian Kamensky.