Repentance, Restitution and Justice

Repent! The kingdom of God is near, here. Repent, repair and do justice. Biblical repentance requires restitution.

Repent America! If you don't change your ways, you cannot enter God's kingdom of justice.

Repent America! Though America likes to think of itself as a Christian nation, with unrepented of genocide, slavery and segregation, America does not meet the biblical standards for entrance into the kingdom of God.

Repent America! Do justice or face judgment. Love and justice are action words, not just theological concepts.

Worship without justice is dead (Amos 5:21-24).

Faith without works of love and justice is dead (James 2:14-26).

Grace without works of love and justice is dead (Ephesians 2:8-10).

Love without works of justice is dead (I John 3:1-10).

Spirituality with works of justice is dead (Isaiah 58---The Message, and the Sermon on the Mount).

From the Poverty and Justice Bible (CEV), Insert, page 21, "Sabbath"

"Leviticus is often viewed as a book full of obscure rules and ritual, yet it contains one of the most astonshing pieces of social legislation in history: the Sabbath years and the Jubilee. Every seven years, the land had a Sabbath, 'time off', allowing it to recover. During this year slaves were to be freed (Exodus 21:2) and debts were to be cancelled (Deut. 15:1-11)."

"And every fiftieth year there was a Jubilee, . . . where the entire social structure of Israel was to be reset. Every Israelite became, once again, a free citizen. Everyone could wipe the slate clean and start again, and, significantly, the year began on the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 25:9)---the day of national repentance and reconciliation. So, fresh starts spiritually and physically [socially]---a whole life view."

The New Testament kingdom of God should model the Old Testament Sabbath Year and Jubilee principles---justice for the poor. Matthew 6:33: "Give your highest priority to God's kingdom and his justice, but first you must repent of your evil ethnocentric and oppressive ways.

Can We End Extreme Poverty/Extreme Oppression?

Can we end extreme poverty for a billion people in 15 years? Only if we engage in extreme biblical justice. The World Bank (see hashtag #faith2endpoverty) and 30 faith-based organizations say YES, we can. The World Bank's, an bank of reconstruction and development, official goal is to reduce poverty, but in the past its leaders have blundered as often as they have succeeded. Now for the first time, World Bank has a leader who has had extensive experience in delivering medical services to people in extreme poverty; one of those countries is Haiti. Dr. Kim has a medical degree from Harvard and a doctorate in anthropology. So both from experience and education, Kim is exceptionally qualified. He is also a close friend and colleague of Dr. Paul Farmer who has given his life to the Haitian poor. Read Mountains Beyond Mountains for Farmer's remarkable life story.

"Kim has led the World Bank to establish two goals: 1) ending extreme poverty by 2030, and 2) boosting shared prosperity for the bottom 40 percent of the population in developing countries." So states Bread for the World, one of the faith-based organizations.

Situations of extreme poverty/extreme oppression are literally life and death situations, social catastrophes; both natural and social catastrophes demand a crisis response---an all hands on deck approach. After hurricane Katrina, the Mississippi church and the national church responded beautifully, but these same churches largely ignored the ongoing social catastrophe in the nearby Delta characterized by extreme poverty/oppression.

The Bible can help us understand extreme poverty/oppression and give the church direction on what to do. In New Testament times, the people of Palestine suffered from internal oppression/poverty at the hands of a corrupt Jewish elite; they also suffered from external oppression/poverty by a Roman elite. So Jesus, in anger, cried out "Woe to the rich" and "release the oppressed." And Jesus urged this crisis response: "Repent, for the kingdom of God is near." "With urgency, give incarnating the kingdom of God as justice, your highest priority." (Noble paraphrase of Mt. 6:33)

How bad was extreme oppression/poverty in New Testament times? Karl Allen Kuhn, in his 2015 book, The Kingdom according to Luke and Acts, documents who the oppressors were and how bad the poverty was. Kuhn quotes Richard Rohrbaugh:

"obviously disease and high death rates . . . fell disproportionately upon the lower classes of both city and village. For most lower-class people who did make it to adulthood, their health would have been atrocious." Kuhn adds: "As a result, the life expectancy of the urban peasantry was in the low twenties, and the rural peasantry in the low thirties. Infant mortality rates were about 30 percent. . . . In short, many of the underclass were struggling to survive, their days filled with worry about the next harvest, the next tax, tribute, rent, or loan payment, and often the next meal."

The economic system was rigged for failure---high interest, high debt, predatory lending, land foreclosure---by the rich and powerful. ". . . the priestly aristocracy had acquired much of the arable land through onerous lending policies and peasant foreclosure." The internal oppression was already in place when the external Roman oppression added to the misery of the Palestinian poor. Jesus focused primarily on the internal oppression/poverty, not the external Roman oppression. " . . . vast majority of the population (82-90 percent) live slightly above, at, or below the precarious edge of subsistence." So the majority of the population were poor or extremely poor.

In a series of "Woe to the Pharisees" (chapter 11 in Luke), Jesus condemns the Pharisee for being lovers of money who neglected justice and the love of God, not lovers of their poor neighbors. They, the religious people, either were a part of the problem---ran the system of oppression, the temple, which Jesus called "a den of robbers," or they were silent and neglected justice.

Incarnating the kingdom of God as love and justice is the crisis response to extreme poverty/oppression. In The Message, Luke chapter 9:57-62, Jesus rejects excuses, even good ones:

"First things first. Your business is life, not death. And life is urgent [social catastrophe]. Announce God's kingdom. . . . No procrastination. No backward look. You can't put God's kingdom off till tomorrow. Seize the day."

More from Kuhn's book The Kingdom according to Luke and Acts:

"Luke also regards the hoarding of resources by the elite as central to perversion of the current [fallen] world order. Jesus problematizes wealth in a society where many struggle to survive." "Rather than the evangelist to the poor, Luke is an exceptionally keen critic of the rich and wants their conversion, which is possible only by way of radical renunciation (renunciation of half their possessions,) and unpleasant specific actions (risky loans, cancellation of debts, gifts." Walter Pilgrim summarizes: "the challenge of the Jerusalem church is that of a new kind of community, where there is neither rich nor poor, where economic needs are met by practical and costly action."

From the Poverty and Justice Contemporary English Version Bible on the "Sabbath." Just as systems of oppression such as genocide or slavery are sweeping, radical and negatively holistic, so must biblical justice be sweeping, radical, holistic or revolutionary and transformative.

"Leviticus is often viewed as a book full of obscure rules and ritual, yet it contains one of the most astonishing pieces of social legislation in history: the Sabbath years and the Jubilee. Every seven years, the land had a Sabbath, 'time off,' allowing it to recover. During this year slaves were to be freed (Exodus 21:2) and debts were to be cancelled (Deuteronomy 15:1-11)."

"And every fiftieth year there was a Jubilee, a kind of Sabbath of Sabbaths, where the entire social structure of Israel was to be reset. Every Israelite became, once again, a free citizen. Everyone could wipe the slate clean and start again, and significantly, the year began on the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 25:9)---the day of national repentance and reconciliation. So, fresh starts spiritually and physically [socially]---a whole life view."

The Jubilee Year included the return of any alienated land---the family farm---if it had been lost due to misfortune or oppression. In Hebrew society, land ownership was sacred; God really owned it; he only "leased" it to a family. In an agricultural society, a family farm was the key to self-sufficiency and a guard against oppression.

So the Sabbath Year and the Jubilee Year demanded release/justice in three key economic areas---land, labor and capital. Oppressors try to gain control of land and/or labor and/or capital. A God-designed economic system requires a fresh start every seven years; this avoids the social catastrophe of lifelong or even generational systems of oppression.

Does this mean society became a level playing field with neither rich nor poor? Proverbs 30:8 says, "Give me neither riches nor poverty." In the Jubilee, do all have equal access to land, labor and capital again? Is Acts 4:32-35, a reflection of this Jubilee principle?

Extreme oppression/poverty in society demands that the church become an agent of extreme justice---Sabbath year/Jubilee year justice, kingdom of God justice. For more see my blog [Lowell Noble's Writings], "Rejusticizing the Sermon on the Mount."

Did President Reagan Oppress Blacks More Than The Klan?

Many Americans think President Ronald Reagan was one of the best presidents in American history, that his face should be on Mt. Rushmore. There is no doubt that he was a patriotic American. I think that he was the high priest of American civil religion or the high priest of the American trinity.

Some inconvenient historical facts seem to tell a different story, that Reagan did much to reverse the Civil Rights Revolution.

First, the witness of Kevin Phillips, a one time bright, zealous conservative Republican, now a disillusioned one; here is how he tells the story of the 1980s---the Reagan era. From his book, The Politics of Rich and Poor, 1990:

"The basic messages of The Politics of Rich and Poor were essentially these: that the 1980s had been a decade of fabulous wealth accumulation by the richest Americans while many others stagnated or declined; that the 1980s were, in fact, the third such capitalist and conservative heyday over the last century or so; . . . ."

Phillips cites study after study which indicates that the rich got richer and concludes that "trickle down wasn't trickling." Historically, the masses, even many Republicans, resent the rich getting richer at the expense of the middle class and the poor. While Americans are materialistic, they do have some sense of fairness and thereby react against economic extremes.

Phillips begins his book with this hard-hitting paragraph:

"The 1980s were the triumph of upper America---an ostentatious celebration of wealth, the political ascendancy of the richest third of the population and a glorification of capitalism, free markets and finance. But while money, greed and luxury had become the stuff of popular culture, hardly anyone asked why such great wealth had concentrated at the top, and whether this was the result of public policy."

According to Phillips, "Since the American Revolution the distribution of American wealth has depended significantly on who controlled the federal government, for what policies, and in behalf of which constituencies." During the Reagan era, both billionaires and the homeless grew in numbers; and the U.S. had the greatest gap between the rich and poor of any nation.

The presidents following Reagan---Bush, Clinton, Bush, Obama---did little to change the dominance of the rich; the Reagan legacy remains intact. So the wealth gap is not just a Democratic or Republican one; it is an American issue.

Next, the perspective of Michelle Alexander, author the the best-selling (over 400,000) The New Jim Crow. Alexander is just as critical of the Reagan era, but more from a racism perspective:

"President Ronald Reagan officially announced the current drug war in 1982, before crack became an issue in the media or a crisis in poor black neighborhoods. . . . The Reagan administration hired staff to publicize the emergence of crack cocaine in 1985 as part of a strategic effort to build public and legislative support for the war. The media campaign was an extraordinary success. Almost overnight, the media was saturated with images of black 'crack whores,' 'crack dealers,' and 'crack babies'---images that seemed to confirm the worst negative racial stereotypes about inner-city residents. . . . helped to catapult the War on Drugs from an ambitious federal policy to an actual war."

Again the presidents following Reagan---Bush, Clinton, Bush, Obama---have done little to reverse the War on Drugs, the mass incarceration of young black and Latino males; the Reagan legacy remains intact in 2015. See pages 47-53 for more information on how the Reagan administration reversed much of the Civil Right Movement. A master at the use of code words to avoid Klan type bigotry, Reagan was more dangerous than the Klan for his legacy continues today as an American legacy.

Now another black voice on the 1960s and what has happened since, that of Michael Eric Dyson; a Princeton Ph.D in Religion, a prolific author, an activist. His 2008 book on Martin Luther King is entitled April 4, 1968: Martin Luther King, Jr.s Death and how it changed America. This book is about death---physical, psychological and social death; it is also about leadership under these difficult circumstances---King, Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton.

Chapter Three, Facing Death, is about the damage---physical, psychological and social---centuries of oppression have done. Chapter Five, Black Family and Black Inequality, discusses the individual, family and cultural dysfunction that oppression has caused. Dyson has a fine grasp of both the social and historical factors.

Next, a few quotations from chapter three, Facing Death. While Dyson doesn't use the term post-traumatic stress disorder, he does describe the deep psychological damage systems of oppression have done to blacks:

"I am referring to the pernicious self-doubt, . . . race-doubt---that is the ontological residue of collective self-hate. . . . In then name of King's movement against all forms of oppression, we must be released. . . . And in the public realm, we hardly do better. We don't buy black, shop black, or even love black, because we think and have been taught, and often still believe, that our blackness is just not good or beautiful enough."

"Finally, one of the ugliest forms of black death is how the poor are subject to a symbolic social death.. . . . The suffer from social alienation: They lack standing, status, and protection. They are mercilessly flogged in the press, demonized by fellow citizens, made a football by politicians, viciously criticized by policy makers, and assaulted by scholars and intellectuals. The stigma the poor carry bans them from the presumption of political innocence, of being good citizens; they carry the weight of social pariah."

Dyson quotes King:

"But the problem is that the church has sanctioned every evil in the world. Whether it's racism, or whether it's the evils of monopoly-capitalism, or whether it's the evils of militarism." "we have remained silent behind the safe security of stained-glass windows."

"The system is rigged."

"The system is rigged." So says Elizabeth Warren.

"Woe to the rich." So says Jesus, the Christ.

Combining these two statements: "The financial, economic, political and sometimes part of the religious systems favor the rich; therefore, the rich are getting richer."

In NT times, Jesus said that the religious Pharisees were lovers of money; also neglecters of justice and the love of God. The operation of the temple was so corrupt, so oppressive, that Jesus called it a "den of robbers." Or a religiously legitimated system of oppression. God hates oppression; God requires justice.

Our founding fathers were a rich, white, male elite; not a government of, by and for the people; instead a government by the rich elite and for the rich elite.

According to Dean Starkman (The New Republic, June 30, 2014, "Closing the Racial Wealth Gap,") the current system is rigged; it creates a racial wealth gap of $236,500. Here are some key thoughts from the article:

1. The key economic inequality issue is the wealth gap, not the income gap.

2. Government policies and programs, primarily initiated under President Reagan, have benefitted the rich. None of the following presidents have made fundamental corrections.

3. Many government programs have become systems of oppression which benefit the rich.

4. "Centuries of discrimination against African Americans---a story of wealth stolen or denied."

5. "Income feeds your stomach but wealth is accumulated over generations."

6. "All the main structural factors that drive the wealth gap. . . . are traceable to [Reagan] policies put in place in the post-Civil Rights era."

7. "Wealth in America has continued to be quietly and overwhelmingly funneled to whites, principally because the asset-building policies now in place are aimed at people who already have assets."

8. "The racial nature of mortgage predations that led to the financial crisis . . . an African American . . . three times more likely to wind up with a subprime loan than a white person."

9. "1 trillion in minority housing wealth destroyed during the crash."

10. "Maybe the best way to move the nation toward racial wealth equality is simply start ending the abuses [federal laws and policies] that make the divided worse."

America needs to repent, then release the oppressed, then repair the damage oppression has done.