We the People of the United States, in Order
to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure
domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote
the general Welfare, and secure the
Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our
Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the
United States of America.
We, therefore, the Representatives of the
united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing
to the Supreme Judge of the world
for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name,
and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies,
solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are,
and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that
they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown,
and that all political connection between them and the State
of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved. . .
. And for the support of this Declaration, with
a firm reliance on the Protection of Divine Providence,
we mutually pledge to each other our
Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.
|
"Blessing" means two things:
- It means God is gracious (even though He is also "the Supreme
Judge")
- It means God is in control
-- "Providence" -- and brings all things to pass in a way
that benefits His People.
Jesus said the meek would be "blessed" and would
"inherit the earth" (Matthew 5:5; Psalm 37:11; Numbers 12:3).
The New Testament says that "the Gospel" is the "good
news" that God has promised world-wide "blessing"
(Galatians 3:8).
What does it mean to be "blessed"?
There are two heretical answers to this question. Both of these views
are in conflict with the vision of Vine
& Fig Tree.
| The first
advises us to "Name it and Claim it." As Christians we
are entitled to pink Cadillacs and green golf courses. If we have
faith, we will have wealth. |
Vine
& Fig Tree is a vision of conflict with "the
powers that be," a conflict which Jesus says will lead to
the Cross (that is, execution). It is a vision of solidarity with
the "driven
out" and "afflicted";
with the crippled
and the cast
off (Micah 4:6-7); with "the
least of these" (Matthew 25:35). It is a willingness
voluntarily to endure poverty in order to reach the City
of God.. |
| The second
heresy is "pietism," or "neo-platonism." It
says that the material world is inferior to the
"spiritual" (non-material) world. It tells us to flee
beauty and embrace poverty. |
- But Vine & Fig Tree
is also a vision of
- the world-wide
restoration
- Material abundance unimagined by the televangelists and pink
cadillac set.
|
A popular bumper-sticker among the Berkeley crowd advises us to
"Live Simply that others may Simply Live." The idea is that my
wealth is stolen from others. The idea of "simple living"
sometimes gets in the way of Biblical beauty.
Even those who have "simple living" bumper stickers on
theirs car do not live simply, and every person who signed the
Declaration of Independence (1776) would consider such
"simple" folk to be living in the lap of luxury in a
highly-complex industrialized society. Every time they flush a toilet or
turn on the heat (whether electricity or natural gas), they take
advantage of huge and complex industries that provide a wealthy standard
of living that human beings 200 years ago could not have have imagined.
The Bible is really really clear: When God created the material
world, He said it was "very good."
Wild wealth and beauty are promises to the righteous. Abraham had them,
Solomon had them, Jesus promises them. They are promises of
"blessing."
Whole chapters of the Bible are dedicated to describing promises of
extravagant blessings to the
faithful. Here's one from Leviticus:
{26:3} If you walk in My statutes and
keep My commandments, and perform them,
{4} then I will give you rain in its
season, the land shall yield its produce, and the trees of the field
shall yield their fruit.
{5} Your threshing shall
last till the time of vintage, and the vintage shall last till the
time of sowing; you shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in
your land safely.
{6} I will give peace in
the land, and you shall lie down, and none will make you
afraid; I will rid the land of evil beasts, and the sword will not go
through your land.
{7} You will chase your
enemies, and they shall fall by the sword before you.
{8} Five of you shall
chase a hundred, and a hundred of you shall put ten thousand to
flight; your enemies shall fall by the sword before you.
{9} 'For I will look on
you favorably and make you fruitful, multiply you and confirm My
covenant with you.
{10} You shall eat the
old harvest, and clear out the old because of the new.
{11} I will set My
tabernacle among you, and My soul shall not abhor you.
{12} I will walk among
you and be your God, and you shall be My people.
{13} I am the
LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that you
should not be their slaves; I have broken the bands of your yoke and
made you walk upright.
And more from Deuteronomy:
{28:1} "Now it shall come to
pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the LORD your God, to
observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that
the LORD your God will set you high above all nations of the earth.
{2} "And all these
blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the
voice of the LORD your God:
{3} "Blessed shall
you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in
the country.
{4} "Blessed shall
be the fruit of your body, the produce of your ground and the
increase of your herds, the increase of your cattle and the offspring
of your flocks.
{5} "Blessed shall
be your basket and your kneading bowl.
{6} "Blessed shall
you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be
when you go out.
{7} "The LORD will
cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before your
face; they shall come out against you one way and flee before you
seven ways.
{8} "The LORD will
command the blessing on you in your storehouses and in all to which
you set your hand, and He will bless you in the land which the LORD
your God is giving you.
{9} "The LORD will
establish you as a holy people to Himself, just as He has sworn to
you, if you keep the commandments of the LORD your God and walk in His
ways.
{10} "Then all
peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of the
LORD, and they shall be afraid of you.
{11} "And the LORD
will grant you plenty of goods, in the fruit of your body, in the
increase of your livestock, and in the produce of your ground, in the
land of which the LORD swore to your fathers to give you.
{12} "The LORD will
open to you His good treasure, the heavens, to give the rain to your
land in its season, and to bless all the work of your hand. You shall
lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow.
{13} "And the LORD
will make you the head and not the tail; you shall be above only, and
not be beneath, if you heed the commandments of the LORD your God,
which I command you today, and are careful to observe them.
{14} "So you shall
not turn aside from any of the words which I command you this day, to
the right or the left, to go after other gods to serve them.
Deuteronomy 28 is a long chapter. It is also an unfamiliar chapter to
most "christians," because they are infected with "neo-platonism,"
a pagan philosophy which holds that the material world is inferior to
the world of thought and ideas. But the Bible says that the material
world was created by God. Therefore whole-Bible Christians work to have
a healthy respect for the creation and its bounty.
Here's how I sum up the major blessings of
Deuteronomy 28:
1. "Set thee on high above all peoples of the earth."[1]
2. "Blessed in the city" (v. 3)
3. "Blessed in the fields" (v. 3)
4. "Blessed children" (v. 4)
5. "Blessed crops" (v. 4)
6. "Blessed livestock" (v. 4)
7. "Blessed graineries" (v. 5)
8. "Blessed bakeries" (v. 5)
9. Successful business (v. 6)
10. Peaceful International relations (v. 7)
11. Abundance in the barns (v. 8)
12. Success in every activity (v. 8)
13. Enemies at peace with us (v. 10)
14. Abundant goods (v. 11)
15. Abundant children (v. 11)
16. Abundant cattle (v. 11)
17. Lots to eat (v. 11)
18. "His good treasure" (v. 12)
19. Adequate rain (v. 12)
20. Business success (v. 12)
21. Debts paid (v. 12)
22. Investments (v. 12)
23. Respect (v. 13)
And of course, verses 15-68 give the opposite, and
we may deduce that "none of these" curses will come upon the
saved (Exodus 15:26).[2]
Since God spent so much time here and in similar places spelling out
in detail many material rewards and considerations which should motivate
us to become Godly, I don't think it's too heretical to dwell on them
just for a while.
Consider the economic implications of all that "abundance."
It means that steak is a dime a pound and pineapples are a nickel each.
God created human beings to engage in a quest for unlimited
material wealth, but to pursue that quest to the glory of God, and
mindful of the
needs of others.
Today, TV and junk email are filled with promises of $1,000,000
salaries and burgeoning bank accounts. One does not need a lot of money
(cash) if the earth has all the abundance God promises. At those prices,
food would be about 2% of our income. How much income would you have to
have to arrive at the place where your current food budget is 2% of your
income? If we had stable families and no State, we would have inherited
the Family Farm and wouldn't have to be paying rent. Wouldn't that be a
"blessing?"
But as wealth is promised in God's Covenant, any culture that
violates God's Covenant can expect poverty. And God's Covenant is
communitarian, not just individualistic. That means that a very Godly
person in a very unGodly culture might not be wealthy. In our day, a
money system which the Bible describes as "abominable"
complicates our understanding of wealth. It's difficult to imagine
living in a state of blessedness, because our economy is so unGodly. It
is also difficult to imagine becoming wealthy and blessed in the modern
economy because earning and spending money almost inescapably involves
committing acts which are called "abominable" by the
Scriptures. Because I try to avoid
using modern money, I don't anticipate great wealth in my lifetime.
I still believe, however, that wealth is a legitimate Biblical goal
(Genesis 13:2).
Much of what passes for "wealth" in our day is actually
poverty.
- A programmable VCR -- instead of a vivid imagination, a gift for
storytelling, and a room full of kids learning life-changing moral
lessons;
- An iPod -- instead of a home-schooled ability to play several
musical instruments and a circle of like friends playing together
for the benefit of others who are part of a community feast praising
God for His blessings
- A Stauffer's gourmet microwave meal -- instead of a home full of
domestic apprentices who have left the streets and are learning
valuable skills by preparing meals for that community banquet.
- A 30-year mortgage on an over-priced tract home in the
"right" neighborhood -- rather than land owned freely
without threat of government regulation or confiscation.
- Irradiated produce grown by underpaid pesticide-sprayed immigrants
trucked to a trendy grocery store marked "garden fresh" --
rather than garden fresh.
Irwin Schiff paints a wonderful picture of economic decline in his
delightful book, The Kingdom of Moltz. The typical 1950's
family is seen in their front yard, husband and wife reclining in
hammocks, neighbor kid mowing the lawn, another neighbor kid bringing
groceries from the store on his bike, a big car with fins (pricetag:
$1500), a nice house in good condition (price: $15,000). As the panels
unfold through the '60's, '70's and '80's, the husband leaves the
hammock to mow the lawn, kids no longer have after-school jobs, the wife
leaves the hammock to get a second income, and the house and car get
smaller as the pricetag gets larger. But because of the paper profits of
a few, we are told that the economy has never been better.
In the years I spent in a Catholic
Worker House of Hospitality, I noticed this schizophrenia: an
anti-materialism combined with a love of community and the poor. We
served abundant, home-cooked meals in our dining room. We used
tablecloths, flower centerpieces, china plates and cloth napkins. The
poor were not "clients," they were friends. Abraham rescued
hundreds of castaways from Humanism's empires and adopted them into his
household (Genesis 12:5; Psalm 68:6). And
Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold
(Genesis 13:2).
And yet the Catholic Worker has a decided bias against wealth.
I think it would be Godly to ask the Lord to bless a business so that
the "works of mercy" (Matthew 25:35) could be practiced; a
House of Hospitality could be established and funded; a home could be a
"community center" (as Gothard
calls it). Everyone should have this goal. Correct
me if I'm wrong.
I look at it this way: If I want to imitate Abraham and invite the
homeless to live with me and become patriarchs themselves, what do I
need? New beds, the old jalopy in the back yard fixed so people can go
out for job interviews, suit (for meetings with people who are
irrationally prejudiced against faded Levis), ability to help them wash
their clothes, and so on. Is it also heretical to appreciate
society-wide blessings which help the poor: clean air, health, etc.? And
what about the promises of abundance? Are we supposed to be repulsed by
them? The description of the temple and the "New Jerusalem"
— jewels,
precious stones, unimaginable beauty. Jesus has brought us to the
New Jerusalem (Hebrews 12:22); shouldn't we at least have the
"Hidden
Art
"
that Edith Schaeffer wrote about?
I have to think about it this way: I'm content with the status quo. I
have enough to eat. Things could be better, but they're OK. So why
shouldn't they stay that way? Isn't "living simply" good
enough? What could motivate me to want more than what I
"need"? Why should I be attracted to abundance?
Two possibilities: Greed. Covetousness. The desire to be as God.
"NEW AGE HUMANISM!!!" some will probably say.
Or: God's Will.
Go back to Deuteronomy 28: I have enough food. Why
should I be blessed with "abundant crops"? Why
should I be happy when God says I'm going to prosper in "everything
I put my hand to"? Why not just 50-50, enough to break even?
The answer just has to be, Because God wants
abundance. Look at the New Jerusalem in Revelation. Is this "only
what we need"? Is this "moderation in all things"?
"Plain and sensible is best"?[3]
I get the feeling that a state of "blessing" as the Bible
describes it would drive some people nuts -- they would hate it!
But my desire is to be a son of Abraham and a follower of Jesus. And
so, I am preparing to be executed by the State, I am inviting the poor
into my home, and I am cultivating a sense of WILD EXPECTATIONS.
NOTES
(1) When some "christians" hear that kind
of talk from "New Age" hucksters, they are shocked: "This
is Humanism!" they might say. We should not let anyone take God's
promises from us and allow our thinking (and lives!) to be diminished.
[return to text]
(2). including crop failure, livestock shortages,
infertility, slumping production, spoilation, vandalism, fungus,
disease, pests, sickness, drought, hemorrhoids, eczema, mental illness,
broken marriages, eminent domain, confiscation, military drafts,
centralized government, debt, (and at verse 45 I quit and say) etc.
[return to text]
(3). A line from Marilla, Anne of Green Gables'
adopted mom. [return to text]