Capitalism

 

Capitalism:

some folk have more than they need,

most don't have enough.

Ken Rookes 2024

An abundant harvest

Haiku for a capitalist world

Jesus, we are told,

refused to act as a judge

between two brothers.

He told a story

to warn against greed and wealth.

Take care! he told them.

The love of money,

a later follower wrote,

gives rise to evil.

Ignoring others

when your needs are paramount

leaves no place for love.

Building bigger barns

in which to store one’s riches.

Keep them for yourself.

Wealth and more money,

cannot satisfy the rich;

there’s never enough.

How empty the hearts

of the wealthy; emptiness

that is never filled.

Best give it away,

create some empty spaces

for God to dwell in.

© Ken Rookes 2019

Wealth is not a blessing

"Wealth is not blessing.  I feel like I need to repeat that.  Wealth is not blessing.  If it is, then Jesus (just to cite the obvious example) must be regarded as one of the most un-blessed people ever to walk the earth; he lived and died dirt poor.  But if there's one false teaching that haunts the American church most, this is it.  That money is an unambiguous sign of God's approval.  Hence, prosperity theology.  Hence, our willingness to turn a blind eye to sin in our politicians, our economic policy makers, our religious leaders, and our cultural icons when their sins come packaged in enormous wealth.  Too often, money creates a moral vaccuum.  Solomon remained wealthy while he sacrificed babies to Molech.  Wealth is not blessing."
https://www.journeywithjesus.net/essays/1880-the-beginning-of-wisdom

choosing l to live in faith not fear.

As I read the gospel for this Sunday and reflected on our world, it would have been tempting just to preach about consumerism and greed, but as I looked closer I realised that this reading is about happiness. It is about what truly makes us truly, deeply and lastingly happy and what does not. Jesus is telling us that no matter how financially secure we are, no matter how many barns we have built, no matter how good our life insurance, our superannuation package, our house or car, they will not make us happy. And if we put our store in them, if we count on these things to satisfy us then we are fools!

I think there is also an underlying message here as well. It is about fear. We live in a world riddled with fear at the moment. Fear of Isis, fear of violence and terror, and more subtly; fear of not having enough, of having our wealth somehow taken away from us. Our fear of terrorism is fed by the media every day and no amount of military might or border security or walls, will take away that fear. It is a spiritual disease. This is just like the rich fool. How often is our own greed based in our anxiety that next year we may not have enough? We have extra this year so we build bigger barns so that we can fight off our insecurity and somehow be secure into next year or beyond. We forget Jesus words; “do not be anxious about tomorrow,… consider the lilies of the field.”

Rather than live out of fear and anxiety, Jesus invites us in this parable to trust in God and to live a life where God and love are our foundations. We are invited not to base our trust in earthly things but ion the divine. In and through such love we are “rich toward God” (Lk. 12:21). When we do this we are promised true meaning and true happiness.

This message is extremely counter-cultural. All of our culture invites us to have confidence in ‘things’. Get more and shinier things and you will be happy. It is a market for false happiness. The Happiness Market it turns out, sells no such thing. But the texts this week, in proclaiming “virulent opposition to our world”–its vanity, its greed–point to where ultimate happiness is found.

Rev Gordon Bannon

The land of a rich man

Some haiku

Here is foolishness;

gathering goods into barns

constructed from fear.

Have you not enough

to live with grace, dignity

gratitude and love?

The foolish rich man;

these things will be swept away.

All is vanity.

We separate them,

these two words, foolish and rich;

should be joined as one.

The poor, he once said,

will be with you forever.

The rich too, I fear.

Yes, it's a cliché:

you cannot take it with you.

Still, it is the truth.

Storing up treasures

is futile, gains you nothing;

be rich towards God.

© Ken Rookes 2016

How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God.

The wealthy,

while offering ‘in principle’ support

for the concept of kingdom of God,

find the idea that God might want to direct

the ways that money is used

or disposed of,

somewhat disturbing.

Riches are from God, they assert;

our prosperity is proof enough

that we are virtuous and good.

The Lord would not have so blessed us

if it were otherwise.

With wealth comes responsibility;

we understand that,

and we take our obligations seriously.

Assistance must be provided

for widows and orphans;

the scriptures are strong on that point.

But the poor, as a category,

includes a range of people:

wastrels, profligates, intemperates and such,

not all of them deserving of our largesse.

When it comes to generosity,

it's best to err on caution’s side.

A charitable trust, perhaps;

with appropriate tax benefits.

© Ken Rookes 2015

Two masters

Surely Jesus was wrong
with his misconceived diatribes
against wealth and possessions.
He was making some heavy-handed points,
and we all understand
that in the heat of vigorous debate,
one is prone to exaggeration and hyperbole.
It’s not that possessions are wrong, per se;
it’s more that in the wrong hands,
(the self-centred and unenlightened),
the preoccupation with money and wealth
can be something of a distraction.
It doesn’t really apply to us;
we know how to deal with it.
I’m sure that if Jesus was here today
he would recognise the sheer necessity
of wise investments, a solid superannuation plan,
and a dwelling that adequately reflects
the needs of modern living. You and I
would never let such matters determine our priorities,
or intrude into our spiritual lives, would we?
No, I’m sure that Jesus wasn’t referring to us,
and that he was simply, at times,
guilty of a little overstatement.
A lot of times, actually.

© Ken Rookes

dealing with wealth creatively

We should probably begin this passage with the preceding verse, which speaks of seeking the kingdom and receiving what one had been anxious about. Certainly the opening verse sets the framework for what follows. God wants to give us the kingdom! That needs unpacking. It means God wants us to benefit from what will happen when God’s will finally triumphs. To long for the kingdom is to long for something which is promised and promising. Our ultimate hope then rests in God’s own being as one who wants to give. This is trust which sets us free.
It sets us free to deal with wealth creatively. 12:33 speaks of selling property and using the proceeds for others. Today this is complex, but the principle is simple. The complexity of our situation can be our camouflage for inaction. The reality is that we need to address the underlying possessive anxieties which our world has a way of escalating. When we do so, then we can be free to let our wealth go and use it (as wisely as our best caring strategies determine). This is both something which grace generates and something where the sequence is not automatic. Grace needs a shove because the sophisticated rationalisations for selfishness create heavy drag.
http://wwwstaff.murdoch.edu.au/~loader/LkPentecost12.htm

The land trembles


The land still trembles
under terrible and insatiable burdens:
desperate urges to acquire and to accumulate
the wealth that we worship
and in which we have placed our trust.
The poor are still bought for a few pieces of silver
and the needy for a pair of sandals.
Today it happens in an overseas factory
or sweatshop for designer jeans or sports shoes;
whilst we anxiously flock to the purveyors
of all things shiny and new, lest we miss out.
Nothing ever changes
as the words of Amos the prophet
are either sanitized or avoided.
For the sake of economic and political expediency
we close our eyes and stop our ears.
We pretend that all is well with God’s world,
as we gather to ourselves
leaders with words that caress and reassure,
declaring that, in his/her benevolence,
God wants for God’s pious and faithful flock
the benefits and security of comfortable wealth,
along with all its trappings.
So it is that we self-righteously demand
cuts to our taxation, limits to our welfare
and strength to our borders;
lest the wretched, the unworthy
and the undeserving should receive anything
to which they are patently not entitled.

Ken Rookes