May the mumbling commence!
The “American Dream” has shown itself to be a nightmare for the vast majority of people. The gap between the rich and the poor is expanding exponentially, and the black hole that separates these two groups is swallowing the middle class whole. Some people are owned by the very things that they think they own. You know the thought, “I owe, I owe, so it’s off to work I go.” Some people are in a vicious cycle of debt that they will never be able to climb out of in their lifetime. What does that mean for the children? Some people habitually declare bankruptcy. Some people live hand-to-mouth. For most people, happiness is elusive.
And debt is not just a problem with individuals and families. Debt touches Corporate America. Need I remind you of the collapse on Wall Street and the government bailouts that ensued? Debt touches governments as well. You and I experience the fallout when we see vital programs cut – like education and patronage to the arts. You know the saying that “excretement flows down hill”. Local governing bodies get the short end of the stick, which means the vulnerable people in our communities suffer the most. Yes, that multi-trillion dollar national debt flows downhill to you and me… And eventually will flow downhill to our children and grandchildren. In this time, the national government continues to militarily and financially support other countries – even as our government receives loans from countries like China.
When we give ourselves time to think about it, this situation makes us sick. I see the symptoms every time I watch the news. Have you been following the massive demonstrations at the Wisconsin legislature? We do not need to watch international news to see unrest. Yes, I say these are symptoms only. Our problems run much deeper. But we are spending too much time haggling over how to alleviate these symptoms that we never dig to find the root cause.
What would happen if the global community took the biblical concept on Jubilee seriously (Lev 25)? What if our nation, our communities, our families would take the concept of Jubilee seriously? What if we would take it seriously? It would mean leaving behind the capitalism and the assumption of scarcity behind it. It would mean leaving behind the concept of private ownership. But, it will also mean leaving behind the problems that threaten to drown the vast majority of people on planet Earth.
Jubilee is built upon the foundation of Sabbath. (No wonder we have trouble with it!) When Israel settled into the Promised Land, they were to allow the land a Sabbath every seventh year. No planting or harvesting were to happen every seventh year. In Leviticus 25:20, the Lord anticipates the fear of Israel that they would not have enough to eat. God tells them that the harvest of the sixth year would be so great that they would have food to eat the seventh and eighth years. Remind you of anything? It reminds me of the manna that fell for Israel in the wilderness. Enough manna fell on the sixth day to provide for the seventh day. The concept is the same. It boils down to faith in God. As Israel depended on the Lord on a week-to-week basis, this yearlong Sabbath would be no different. As we walk with the Lord daily, we build up our spiritual muscles for seemingly bigger tests in the future.
Well, every seventh Sabbath year (do the math – that’s forty-nine years) would be a Jubilee to the Lord. That’s about once in a generation. All land would return to its original owner. Land was not to be sold permanently, because the land belonged to the Lord (25:23). We are only aliens in the land and tenants of God. Say farewell to ever-increasing debt. Say so long to passing on a mountain of debt to our children and grandchildren. Say goodbye to the gaping distance between the rich and the poor. Say hello to a healthy middleclass. Say hello to caring for the vulnerable people.
Interest on loans would be a thing of the past. Perpetual slavery would die. Some people may blanch at the thought of slavery. Isn’t slavery a skeleton in the closet, a ghost of our past? Why go back to it? I am here to tell you slavery is alive and well today. It hides from us in different forms. What about the sweat shops around the world that enables fat Americans to save a few bucks on the merchandise they buy? What about the working poor here in the States who live paycheck to paycheck and need to use the flourishing Pay Day Loan market to get by? What about the “illegal” immigrant who works hard for well below the minimum wage? Jubilee would help lift these people, our neighbors, up out of new age slavery. Just as the land belongs to God, so do all people belong to God (verse 42; 54). And Jubilee happens because we remember what God has done for us. (Jesus is our) Jubilee. (Look it up; it’s a wonderful song by Michael Card. “Jubilee, Jubilee; Jesus is our Jubilee; Debts forgiven; Slaves set free; Jesus is our Jubilee.”)
Enough mumbling for now…
Peace Out
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