Roger Ray, pastor
April 15, 2012 Easter 2
Acts 4:32-35
The Believers Share Their Possessions
32 Now the whole group of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common. 33With great power the apostles gave their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. 34There was not a needy person among them, for as many as owned lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold. 35They laid it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need.
As much as we are talking about religion in this year's presidential election, I want to go on the record and say that even if Jesus of Nazareth were running for office this year, I would not endorse him. While I would certainly be glad to have a president who would not send our armies into occupy foreign nations on trumped up charges and exaggerated threats, I would still want a president who would be willing to defend our borders if attacked.
While I think that our current policies that end up imprisoning a huge portion of our population is wrong headed and frequently immoral, I'm pretty sure that if Jesus was president that he would just unlock all of the prison doors and forgive everyone with a "go and sin no more" admonishment that just might not work in every case.
Moses and Muhammad were not just religious leaders; they were also heads of state. Confucius was a government official. Even the Buddha had to give leadership to a monastic community. Jesus was more like a speaker at an occupy movement event. He had complaints about injustice and very high values for social ethics but he did not offer a workable program.
Telling people to sell all they own and give it to the poor is an admirable idea. Just imagine how, if Bill Gates or Warren Buffet actually did just that, the world would be different, really different, for a week or two. If we all did it, the world's economy would collapse and there would be no more agriculture, manufacturing, construction or health care.
My high school history teacher, Mr. Brown, liked to say, "Socialism is based on idealism. Capitalism is based on realism." As a follower of the teachings of Jesus, I am convinced that it is wrong that some people live in mansions and some people live under bridges. I am outraged that some can dine as if they were monarchs while others are rooting through the garbage in dumpsters looking for something to eat. I think that it is really wrong that some face old age and illness with the confidence of knowing that they will be cared for with the best that science and technology can bring to the table while most people face their golden years with fear and dread.
If Republicans and Democrats were actually virtuous their sole concern would be in discerning a path towards providing the greatest good for the largest number of people. The disgusting thing about partisan politics is that it so often appears that neither party is concerned with anything more than gaining or retaining power. Capitalist countries in the west need to be infused with some of the idealism of socialism just as socialist countries in the east are embracing a great deal of the pragmatism of the western economies.
What we, who are inspired by the idealism of Jesus and Moses and Mohammed and Buddha and Confucius hope for is that capitalists and socialists will figure out a way to decrease human suffering, to give housing to everyone, and make health care both effective and available to everyone, and to give people as much freedom as we can give them without exposing them to too much risk of violence.
Jesus didn't have a workable plan but he sure has a great goal. In our reading from Acts today we see Luke's account of a little experiment in community ownership of property. The Easter event, according to Luke, had such a huge impact on the early church that at least for a short time there was a near total collapse of ego boundaries. The early faith community was so united that they no longer considered their property or their money to be exclusively their own but they freely shared with anyone who was in need.
A discerning Biblical historian might note that a few years later Paul was traveling around the churches of the Greek world asking for donations to help out the poor of Jerusalem where the people were totally impoverished. I'm not sure that it is fair to draw a straight line from Luke's account of collectivism to Paul's charity work but in terms of real economy, what those of us who are inspired by Jesus really want is not for everyone to sell everything they own but for those of us who have jobs and homes and health insurance to work together to make sure that everyone has a chance to have a job, a home and health care.
I believe that on anyone's short list of the greatest threats to western civilization in 2012 is the income disparity between the rich and the growing numbers of poor people in our nation. That is why, last fall, I put on a Guy Fawkes costume and stood with others in Occupy demonstrations but even at our first big event in Springfield, there was a guy with a megaphone participating in the demonstration who was spouting Glenn Beck style condemnations of the federal government and suggesting that we refuse to use currency and trade only in gold.
I have tried to talk to this guy at subsequent meetings and I will employ the full force of my pastoral counseling training to conclude that he is completely nuts. Occupy encampments around the country often include elements of a Woodstock type gathering with open use of illegal drugs, lots of sex and irresponsible conduct.... So much so they look almost like a Secret Serve detail on duty in South America.... But I digress.
We will focus on things like the litter left behind when an occupy protest is dispersed, or even on a moral midget in a police uniform pepper spraying peaceful protesters at point blank range but as furious as we may be about these things we must not fall into ad homonym and lose sight of the real issue.
The issue is the income disparity that is choking the future out of this generation through unbridled greed and irresponsible economic policies. And while I, like Jesus, am neither an economist nor a political scientist, I emphatically agree with Gandhi who said that there is more than enough for the world's needs but not enough for the world's greed.
Where the idealism of socialism and the pragmatism of capitalism intersect, where the values of spiritual leaders and the authority of politicians must over lap is that we cannot tolerate any circumstance where gluttony and hunger are expected to peacefully co-exist side by side. As President John Kennedy once said, "Those who oppose peaceful social transformation will make violent social change necessary."
Americans can be very pig headed. Most nations of the world figured out how to bring slavery to an end without a civil war, but not us.
Western European countries have managed to blend their economic systems to make health care and housing available to everyone and even China is blending their economic systems to raise the standard of living of their population.
At a recent economic conference one Chinese official was asked by a reporter if China was not abandoning their commitment to communism in this global market. The official thought for a moment and replied, "China will do what we must to grow our economy and whatever we do, we will call it socialism."
That may seem a bit hypocritical but I like the idea. We who are motivated by the compassion of a spiritual life desire to see the greatest amount of good for the largest number of people and you can call it whatever you want.
I will never endorse a candidate or a political party but I will say this, anyone who does not have a plan to elevate the living circumstances of the poor, provide health care to those presently excluded from proper health care.... Anyone who doesn't have a vision for how to eradicate hunger, homelessness and unemployment, anyone who is not driven with a passion to protect vulnerable children and the elderly, that person doesn't have the moral character to hold public office.....and neither the threat of crucifixion nor any amount of pepper spray will make the people of faith give up their hope for justice.
