Opposition to Debt Forgiveness... from Christians??!

 

[Subtitle: Unclear on the Concept]

Jesus came into a world where the literal poor were literally oppressed, taken advantage of, pushed down, abused, held back. The poor, the sick, the imprisoned, the orphans, the women, the widows, the unclean, the "dirty sinners," the least of these. We know all these terms and recognize them (if we're biblically literate) because these concepts come up throughout all of Jesus' ministry and all of the Bible.

Jesus came into a world where the marginalized were largely kept marginalized. Once you were unclean and an outsider, it was unlikely you would ever be welcomed as NOT an unclean outsider.

Indeed, women, by the very nature of being women, were permanently on the Out, among the oppressed.

And if a man decided on a whim to divorce a woman, she had few options other than begging or perhaps returning home to her birth family (if they were alive and willing to take her in).

Jesus came into a world of oppression of the poor and marginalized. And of separation between the privileged and the poor. And Jesus came into a world where systems were designed that kept the poor on the outside and likely to remain poor. Even the temple of God was a place where the moneychangers took advantage of the poor.

And Jesus announced right at the start - almost as if it were part of a plan that simply extended the prophetic and Old Testament traditions and concerns...

I've come to preach Good News to the poor, the sick, the outsiders, the imprisoned (who, by the by, were often in prison because they were poor and couldn't pay their debts!).

He came to preach good news - what would literally be considered literal good news to the literally poor and marginalized. But was that Good News this...?

"One day, if you get saved and if God decided God even WANTS to save you - and God doesn't want to save most of you slugs! - then ONE day, by and by in the sky, you might get a piece of pie and lawdy lawdy, things will be good then. THEN. IF you're one of the lucky few who don't get tortured for an eternity."

Listen to that traditional conservative atonement "gospel." In what possible world does anyone think that might be taken as good news for people who were poor, marginalized, suffering and struggling today?

"Do you wanna bet on a lottery ticket that might (but most likely, won't) be paid out after you and your children have suffered a lifetime and then died horribly...?" That's NOT good news to the poor. Nope.

No, Jesus came to that real world context of the haves and the have nots, and Jesus sided with the Have Nots. He cast his lot among them. He welcomed them, specifically. He began forming a nurturing and welcoming community there. Then.

"Thy realm come, thy will be done ON EARTH, as it is in heaven."

I don't think Jesus had that much use for pie in the sky by and by. Not in the gospel that he taught in his own words.

And we must needs understand, this Good News to the poor was not Good News for all. For the rich who were interested in keeping their wealth and those unconcerned for the poor, this was not their Good News. Indeed, it was bad news.

"Jesus said to him, “There is still one thing lacking.
Sell all that you own and distribute the money to the poor,
and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.”

That rich man walked away sad. Bad news.

"Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom:
She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned;
they did not help the poor and needy...

Therefore,
God said,
I removed them when I saw it."

Literal bad news for the folks in Sodom who were wealthy and unconcerned for the poor.

But for the wealthy willing to embrace and welcome and side with the poor, it was Good News, so it truly was good news for all... except those who rejected this Good News specifically, literally for the poor and marginalized. Consider wealthy Zaccheus who Jesus called down from his tree where he was separated from Jesus and his followers (the poor and marginalized)...

"So he [Zaccheus] hurried down and was happy to welcome him. All who saw it began to grumble and said, “He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner.”

Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord,
“Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor;
and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much.”

Good News for the poor was Good News for Zaccheus, too. He got it. [And we shouldn't let this story pass without noticing that the poor were poor precisely, at least in part, because of the systems of oppression and defrauding that Zaccheus took part in, became wealthy through, and repented of. Welcoming the wealthy into Jesus Good News kingdom in such a way that affected change, that WAS literally good news for the poor and marginalized. Then. There. And it was also good news for the wealthy who recognized this system of oppression and repented.]

But for those who did not welcome, side with, share with, join with the poor and marginalized? They were called the goats and cast out from God and the saints.

"Depart from me, you evil doers!
For I was hungry and you didn't feed me!
I was sick and you didn't comfort me!
I was in prison and you didn't come visit me.
Depart from me to the pits of hell, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."

Bad news for those unconcerned for the poor and marginalized and unwilling to embrace or even recognize the Good News for the poor and marginalized.

Or recall how Jesus condemned those who would invite to dinner the rich or others who might later pay back the favor. Instead, he counseled,

“But when you give a banquet, invite
the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind”

And again, Jesus began his ministry with the declaration of bringing good news specifically to the poor and marginalized. He declared the day of God's good favor, which the Jewish people hearing would certainly recognize as a reference back to the Jubilee wealth redistribution laws that were part of what was required of a God-loving nation.

And if you're familiar with the Bible, you should know that I could go on and on with this consistent, Genesis to Revelation story of Good News for the poor and marginalized.

It really is there throughout the whole of the Bible, the Gospel of Enough, of Grace, of the Siding with the Poor.

How did Jesus tell John the Baptist that he could tell he was from God?

"Tell him how I preach the good news to the poor."

And good news for the poor IS being able to have enough to live and thrive and being welcomed, not excluded. Grace, grace, grace. Throughout the Bible and it regularly shows up as forgiveness of debt and the wealthy paying to the poor.

So, I hope conservatives - and especially conservative Christians - can understand how surprising their harsh rebukes of this Debt Forgiveness plan that Biden has promised.

Debt forgiveness is kind of our thing, if we're decent people and especially if we're followers of the One who came to preach good news to the poor and marginalized.