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Dear Friends
It has
been so many years now since I did economics for ‘A’ level. I found it
a baffling subject and could never quite understand exactly how an
economy was meant to work. Many years later I still don’t, only now I
realise that I’m not alone. Those with responsibility for government
and the economic life of the world seem as confused as I am. Every
morning I waken to an expert offering a different reason for our current
difficulties.
One consequence of the present crisis, however, has been that I’ve found
myself looking at the bible through an economic lens. How prudent
Joseph was to anticipate boom and bust and to see that seven years of
prosperity would be followed by a down turn in the economic life of
Egypt. As a result he set capital aside and Egypt was able to weather
the storm and offer help to her neighbours.
Then there is Jesus’ parable of the servant who amassed an enormous debt
which was generously written off by his master. His first instinct,
however, was not to pass on this generosity to those with lesser debts.
Instead they were immediately ‘called in’, resulting in hardship and
ruin for many. As a description of the bailing out of banks and the
failure to pass on the benefits it seems all too close to the truth.
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So, we might go on, dishonest stewards, dismissed for their incompetence
or wrongdoing, ensure that their last days in employment are spent
providing for their future with the first century equivalent of a golden
handshake.
For all that the Bible is not an economics manual, just as its neither a
science book, nor even a history book in the accepted sense. Jesus
might have been as confused about the economy as we are. Yet he seemed
to understand certain key concepts that lie at the heart of the present
predicament. He spoke of confidence, he warned against greed of all
kinds, he talked about living within our means – the word he used was
‘contentment’. Above all he appreciated that our lives, economic and
otherwise, are bound up with other people’s lives and well being and our
prosperity depends upon making sure that they too are sharing in it.
The spiritual dimension to life that Jesus constantly called people’s
attention to, God’s economy, works itself out in very practical ways.
It was CS Lewis who always challenged the statement that people who were
‘too heavenly minded, were of no earthly use’. He said it was only when
we took mind of the immediate and the short term, the purely selfish,
that we could make decisions for the long term good of all.
The passage that I find myself dwelling on most these days is that from
the sermon on the mount which begins, ‘no man can serve two masters’ and
goes on to talk about considering the lilies of the field. It’s a
passage that recognises our legitimate concerns for ourselves and our
families, but at the same time asks us to have confidence in a God who
cares, and to appreciate those things which have true and lasting value,
which are beauty and love and relationships. May we continue to invest
in those things and to make out trust in God a more radical part of our
lives.
With very best wishes,
Ronnie
Nesbitt
Rector of Bangor Abbey |
