Chapter 15 From Economic Oppression to Economic Justice

From Economic Oppression to Economic Justice.  This is my third suggested chapter addition to the 12 chapters in the book God of Justice.

The NT kingdom of God as Jubilee justice for the poor and oppressed makes little sense unless one understand the OT Sabbath Year and Jubilee Year economics.  Slave were to be freed every seven years; debts cancelled every seven years and land restored to the original family owner every 50 years.  These divine rules and regulations would prevent systems of oppression from becoming deeply entrenched.

Nehemiah 5

To end systems of oppression, repentance and restitution are required.

Luke 3

To fulfill the demands of repentance, John the Baptist pointed to three economic sins.

Luke 4:18

When there are oppressed poor in a society, there are also rich oppressors.  In Luke, most of the rich oppressors came from the religious rich.  See Luke 1:53; 3:10-14; 8:14; 12:13-14; 6:24; 11:39-42; 16:13-14; 18:22-24; 19:8; 19:45-46.  When Jesus said "Woe to the rich" he had the religious rich in mind.  When Jesus called the temple "a den of robbers" he had religious robbers in mind.

Acts 4:32-35

With the above strong words about rich religious oppressors in mind, Acts 4:32-35 makes more sense.  Some of these religious rich repented and engaged in restitution by selling surplus houses and land so that the poor could have food to eat.  Most of the Palestine population was dirt poor, poor or working poor.

Luke 4:18-19

Back to Luke 4.  The Message says: "This is God's [Jubilee] year to act."  On behalf of the many oppressed poor, now is the time for the church to implement the Jubilee.  The kingdom is to be implemented now, not some time in the distant future.

Luke 4:18-19 is a bold call for a kingdom of God revolution.  Only a revolutionary kingdom of God message of Jubilee justice could "set the burdened and battered free."  When Jesus finished reading from the Isaiah 61 scroll, he explained, "You've just heard Scripture make history.  It came true just now in this place."

American church, now is the time for you to join the revolution.  Leave far behind your long established ethnocentrism and economic oppression, your endless neglect of justice.  Engage in justice, reconcile with your ethnic neighbors.  Your guide can be John M. Perkins, the black third grade dropout from Mississippi.

John Perkins was born dirt poor in segregated Mississippi in 1930.  A person John's age would have lived under severe segregation, only a few notches above slavery.  So he knew from bitter personal experience what ethnocentrism, oppression and poverty were all about.

At that time in Mississippi, most blacks and whites went to church every Sunday.  But Mississippi Christianity did little to end poverty and oppression.  Poverty, oppression and churchianity coexisted comfortably.  Perkins rejected both black and white Christianity as meaningless as a young person.

But around age 25, John Perkins was soundly converted.  By 1960, he was preaching the full biblical gospel with the zeal of an apostle Paul to his own people in Mendenhall, Mississippi.  Though limited in formal education, John was brilliant and energetic; he was soon doing three fulltime jobs--evangelist/pastor, community developer and civil rights leader.

He preached both John 3:16 and Luke 4:18-19.  He lived among and ministered to the poor for the next 50 years.  He reconciled black and white and he rebuilt poor communities.  In addition, he authored, co-authored or edited 15 books and received 12 honorary doctorates.  He understood and practiced the kingdom of God as Jubilee justice as few Americans have.  I recommend that you sit at his feet and become his disciple.  CCDA, an organization that he founded, could be of enormous assistance to you and your church.