God’s Command Blesses Community
Pentecost + 12 – September
1, 2019
“Sabbath for Community”
"Every seventh year you shall grant a remission of debts. 2 And this
is the manner of the remission: every creditor shall remit the claim that is
held against a neighbor, not exacting it of a neighbor who is a member of the
community, because the Lord’s remission has been proclaimed."
· Can you even imagine?
· This is what God commands
to the ancient Israelites as they are preparing to enter the promised land and
settle into life as a community of God’s chosen people
· A community in which every
7 years, debts are forgiven!
o Which is pretty awesome if
you are the one who owes a neighbor money
o Not so exciting perhaps,
if you are the one who has lent someone else some $, and they haven’t finished
paying you back and now all of a sudden, God expects you to just forgive that
debt, as if it never existed?!?
· And I can only imagine
that there were people like me among that group of people – who read, “every
creditor shall remit the claim that is held against a neighbor, not exacting it
of a neighbor who is a member of the community…” and wonder what that means for
people who aren’t members of the community.
o Like, what are the
loopholes here God? Because it’s not exactly fair for me to loan someone else
money and for them to not have to pay it back just because 7 years go by
§ (And the next few verses,
that we don’t include here, in fact say that foreigners aren’t part of this
deal – they still have to pay what they owe…)
Because this is how our
minds work, don’t they? Or most of us anyway
· Good at keeping score,
keeping track of who owes me what (money or favors or time or an apology or
whatever)
· And I mean, really God,
this isn’t exactly a good model for a thriving economy, is it? It’s not
practical or realistic to expect people to just forgive debt owed to them
· Can you imagine if we actually did this? What
kind of shambles and chaos might ensue?
o How many people would just
pay the bare minimum due over the course of the 1st 6 years, knowing
that come year 7, the slate would be wiped clean?
o No one would ever loan
anyone any $ - which the 2nd part of our reading addresses. God
understands how the human heart works – and so God warns against that kind of
thinking – “Do not be hard-hearted or tight-fisted toward your needy neighbor.
You should rather open your hand, willingly lending enough to meet the need,
whatever it may be.” (vs. 7-8)
· What a ridiculous
directive this seems to be, this idea of the sabbatical year (it’s a year that
is also one in which slaves are to be set free, and the land is to lie fallow),
the 7th year of sabbath rest, not just for individuals, but for the
whole community
· It’s a resetting of the
clock, a chance for people to be back on level ground financially, rather than
trying to dig out of a hole
And yet, as hard as it is
to imagine actually living this out, it’s also inspiring to envision
· Because God’s command for the
people of ancient days to forgive one another the debt that is owed turns out
to be a blessing for all
· It first of all relies on
a sense of trust in God – that there is enough for everyone, that there will be
enough for everyone, that God will take care of me and mine and so I don’t have
to go into battle over every little thing that is owed to me
· It’s an active faith that
empowers us to do this
· And seeing God’s
generosity leads to greater generosity
· We are stronger together
when we seek the community’s good over just our own individual circumstances
o This is perhaps the
“eternal kernel”, as my internship supervisor used to say – not that we are to
forgive debts every 7 years (though that might be an interesting experiment) –
but that we are to treat each other in ways that lead to greater freedom and
liberation, rather than captivity to what we owe
· I think about the news
about debt of all kinds in America, but esp. student loan debt; those #s are
pretty staggering –
o And I think about how
owing the kind of $ that many younger (and middle-aged) adults owe (myself
included, and we didn’t have that much student loan debt compared to many!) –
and how being in that kind of debt hampers and hinders so many other potential
choices in life
§ What people may choose to
do for a career or where they can afford to live or not live,
§ How it ties their hands so
that it is harder to be generous
· And it sparks my
imagination to think about what could possibly happen if debts were forgiven in
this biblical way
o What new things this kind
of open-handed generosity might unleash, what paying it forward might result
o How delightful to live in
a society where we helped our neighbors without an eye for when and what we
might be repaid in return
§ An open hand, rather than
a begrudging spirit!
· It’s a Wonderful Life
o The comparison between Mr.
Potter and George Bailey
o Mr. Potter – a warped,
frustrated old man who is concerned, not about the needs of the people in his
town, but about his own selfish gain, grasping for more and more
o Vs. George Bailey, who
never has an over-abundance of money, but just enough to support himself and
his family –
o But for all of his money
and prestige and power, Mr. Potter is never happy, never knows the joys of
connection and relationship
o And though it takes George
a dark night of the soul and the help of his guardian angel to see it, George
is the one who really had a wonderful life – because he was generous and loving
and kind to his friends and neighbors; helping everyone to have enough
§ And in the end, he is blessed
in return
§ That glorious scene at the
end, in the moment of George’s own desperation when he is about to be arrested
because of the missing $8000 dollars Uncle Billy lost at Potter’s bank
·
And
friends and neighbors come streaming in and literally pour their money out in
front of him to meet his need – not begrudgingly, but with open hands and open
hearts because of the relationship and love and care they have for one another
– and the joy they have in being able to return George’s generosity of spirit
· It give a small taste, I
think, of what God envisions with the sabbatical year of forgiveness of debts –
of a community that realizes what it owes to each other, a community wanting
what is best for each other, and realizing that they are stronger together when
everyone has enough
· This is the gift, the
blessing of a sabbath for community
· Imagine what God might do
in and through us if we were emboldened to be generous and lavish and prodigal
in the ways we treat one another and the world! What amazing things might we
see set free among us?
· Let’s look for ways to
live this out as we move into this week.
Amen
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