{"id":7008,"date":"2021-07-27T10:10:22","date_gmt":"2021-07-27T17:10:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/?p=7008"},"modified":"2021-07-27T13:22:03","modified_gmt":"2021-07-27T20:22:03","slug":"as-yourself-love-your-neighbor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/?p=7008","title":{"rendered":"
As yourself, love your neighbor<\/div>"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Click here for a pdf version.<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

A sermon for the Tenth Sunday after Pentecost<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our basic Reformation theme in this Pentecost season is from John 8:36: \u201cIf the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.\u201d How does that work? How does the Christian life work?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today we will look at economics. For those who say: \u201cWell, all you do is take what the Bible says,\u201d let us take up Matthew 5:39-42 on the Sermon on the Mount:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDo not resist one who is evil. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also; and if anyone would sue you and take your coat, let him have your cloak as well; and if any one forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to him who begs from you, and do not refuse him who would borrow from you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The text does not mention interest on money loaned, or security; it doesn\u2019t allow for those things. For those who say they are going to live by what the Bible says, well, that\u2019s what it says plainly. Nor does it stop there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Matthew 19:16-22 has the famous account of the young man who came to Jesus and said: \u201cWhat good deed must I do to have eternal life?\u201d Jesus answers: Why do you ask me about what is good? One there is who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments.\u201d The young man asks: \u201cWhich ones?\u201d Jesus lists them, including love your neighbor as yourself. The young man says: \u201cI\u2019ve kept them all since my youth.\u201d Then comes the kicker: \u201cIf you would be perfect, go, sell what that you have and give it to the poor and come follow me.\u201d Well that didn\u2019t work for the young man because he had great wealth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Immediately following in Matt 5:23: \u201cJesus said to his disciples . . . It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Consider also 1 John 3:17-18: \u201cIf anyone has the world\u2019s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God\u2019s love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or speech but in deed and in truth.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And 1 Timothy 6:10: \u201cFor the love of money is the root of all evils (not \u201call kinds of evil,\u201d as some modern versions have it, which is interpretation rather than translation).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So I expect, because everyone in this room belongs at least in the upper 20% of the economy of the world, and there are 20% starving and in desperate straits in the world, to see many of us divesting ourselves of our possesions because the Bible says: \u201cIf there is anybody in need, help him.\u201d It doesn\u2019t say: As it works out, or as you feel like it, or even 10%. Nor does the New Testament stop there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second half of Luke\u2019s writings (the Gospel of Luke is the first half), that is, the Book of Acts, describes the life of the early church. It says they not only gathered together for worship and to celebrate communion, but also: \u201cThey had all things in common. They sold their possessions and distributed them to all as any had need\u201d (Acts 2:44-45).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It goes on in chapter 4:32: \u201c[N]o one said that any of the things which he possessed was his own but they had everything in common.\u201d Following this, in Acts 5 there is the story of Ananias and Sapphira who tried to cheat and died. It\u2019s very serious business. Then this whole idea disappears from the record, this early Christian communism. It could be said that maybe it continues in monasticism. Monasticism, of course, has a very checkered history of corruption and reform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What do we say to this? It\u2019s very simple, very plain. Starting with the Seventh Commandment: \u201cYou shall not steal.\u201d That is basic to understanding that there is that which is private property. Life works only if there is private property and that private property is respected. That\u2019s what the Seventh Commandment is about. It\u2019s a very practical commandment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course there have been those who have tried throughout history to get around this commandment. In modern times, that is, the last couple of hundred years, there have been those who have said we should really have everything in common. The slogan of this movement, which we generally call socialism, has been: \u201cFrom each according to his ability, to each according to his need.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We recall the cynical statement by people in the Soviet Union saying: \u201cWe pretend to work, and they pretend to pay us.\u201d It gets into trouble right away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

George Orwell wrote a famous book, Animal Farm. <\/em>As you recall the animals take over the farm. Before long the smartest animals, the pigs, take over. Their beginning slogan: \u201cAll animals are equal,\u201d is altered by the end of the story to say: \u201cAll animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What do we say about all this? When we talk about economics, sometimes people call it a science. It\u2019s not a science, but economics is also not an art. Economics is tied to the whole sweep of the human situation. It is about how individuals and society flourish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Economics can be understood in terms of polarities. On the one hand, in 1776 Adam Smith wrote the famous book, The Wealth of Nations<\/em>, which shows about how decisions made by self-interested sellers and buyers in the free market results in greater prosperity for all. This free-market view is usually contrasted with the modern thinker, Maynard Keynes, who in the last century advocated for the managed economy. Of course neither the free market nor the managed economy exists in pure form and that\u2019s a problem in terms of how do things work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Economics really cannot be separated from politics. Economics and politics go together because they are about what it means to be human and live together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the one hand, in 1651 Thomas Hobbes wrote The Leviathian, <\/em>which says that life outside of organized society is \u201csolitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.\u201d That\u2019s one view of the human situation. An opposing view is represented by the Frenchman, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, who wrote about the noble savage and the pure state of nature, and how what we need to do is live by education because we can make things work if we just have the right knowledge and follow our instincts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Economics is sometimes described as a polarity between Machiavelli, the political philosopher, Luther\u2019s contemporary, who wrote about the way life really works (dog eat dog), and the English philosopher, John Locke, who wrote about how we\u2019re born as a blank slate on which anything can be written, and we just have to manage it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What do we say to all this? We are not trying to be experts in economics. Not the pastor individually or the church. But we have one decisive insight, which is that when we\u2019re dealing with human nature, we\u2019re dealing with sin, and that\u2019s the problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It can be seen in the modern problem of street beggars. What should one do about them? The worst thing you can do is give them money because it most likely goes to alcohol and drugs, and they need to be in some kind of care. They should not be there at all. That\u2019s one side of it. People who are in a situation of receiving become dependent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the seven deadly sins, and that\u2019s not a list from the Bible but from the sixth century, is the problem of sloth. We don\u2019t use that word, but we use the word laziness. Laziness is really talking about the Seventh Commandment on stealing.<\/strong> People who are lazy are stealing. On the one hand, they\u2019re stealing from others because they don\u2019t do what\u2019s needed, and what they should be doing. That\u2019s the one side, there\u2019s the basic problem of sin, sloth, and dependency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the other hand, as in the story of Le Miserables,<\/em> which tells the story of Jean Valjean, who stole bread because he was starving and was then hunted for decades by the ruthless policeman Javert, we say: \u201cThat stealing is not as serious as other stealing, but it is breaking the Seventh Commandment.\u201d We know there are those who are caught in dire circumstances, and we talk loosely about a safety net because they need to be helped.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What do we say to this as Christians? We come back to the matter of law and gospel, that is, the matter of God\u2019s two kingdoms: On matters of salvation, we do not use reason (God\u2019s right-hand kingdom), but in matters of the general life we live (God\u2019s left-hand kingdom), we\u2019re given reason to live by. Because sin infects everything, even reason is broken and limited. The ancient Greeks talked about nemesis (fate), but we know it\u2019s sin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is sin in every way human beings live. It can be illustrated in politics by that famous observation of Winston Churchill: \u201cDemocracy is the worst form of government, except compared to all the rest.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this country we have constitutional<\/em> democracy, or a republic, which is different. The same is true for economics. One of the smartest thinkers in the US, Thomas Sowell, wrote a book, The Vision of the Anointed <\/em>(1994).The book is about well-intentioned visionaries, who set up systems that control others for \u201cthe greater good,\u201d and say: \u201cWe\u2019re really doing this for your benefit. We can manage society for the good of all.\u201d As a result, they do great harm because they imagine they are smarter and wiser than others and can get around the problem of evil, human selfishness, and sin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because of the Lutheran insight into the nature of the human situation, we are called to see through all this, to be practical, to see what works, as Paul writes in Romans 13:10: \u201cYou shall love your neighbor as yourself. Love does no harm to the neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What we ask, as we look at all of this is: What minimizes harm? The idea that we\u2019re going to build a perfect system, that we\u2019re going to build the Kingdom of God on earth, is itself a sin. Then we\u2019re trying to be God. The cross is a big \u201cNo\u201d to that project. The cross turns us around, calls us back to earth to care for others using common reason, as the situation requires.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To come back to the New Testament and to the Apostle Paul. He writes: \u201cIn Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus\u201d (Gal 3:28). This text is not a social program, a grand vision for society; here the context is baptism. In no way does the New Testament say there are no more males or females. The New Testament has a very big investment in the family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, in no way does the New Testament try to oppose slavery. In fact, in later writings in the Pauline school in Colossians and Ephesians each has what is called a table of duties. In the world of the time everybody, not just Christians, had on the wall a list of the rules for life. In Colossians 3:2 and Ephesians 6:5 the table of duties include husbands be good to your wives, wives obey your husbands, and slaves obey your masters. Christians did not start a social revolution. They were not for chaos, but they were for asking how to make life work, how to lessen harm, how to restrain evil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How then do we live in our own day? Like them, we live by reason and forgiveness. This doesn\u2019t mean cheap grace. The cross was not cheap grace. The cross also means that we are not building the Kingdom of God on earth. Instead, we are called to use common reason to sort out life in this world. What is definitive is God\u2019s right-hand kingdom, where his grace and forgiveness are ours because we are in him. Amen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A sermon for the tenth Sunday after Pentecost. Select here<\/a> to read more or here <\/a>for a pdf document.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7008","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7008","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7008"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7008\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7023,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7008\/revisions\/7023"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7008"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7008"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7008"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}