Where Is God In This Economic Tsunami?
April 5, 2009—Palm Sunday Mark 11:1-11

This sermon is intended to connect 3 tsunamis and connect the lessons from them to our spirituality. Most of us did not know the word tsunami until a few years ago when the shift of tectonic plates in the Pacific Ocean caused a huge wall of water to hit and destroy communities, human life and agriculture in Southeast Asia. The wall of destructive water was a tsunami.  I did not realize the incredible destruction caused until my across the hall neighbor showed me.

My neighbor, Jan, is in his late 70’s and still works. He is an architect hired by several development and construction companies in Singapore to design and build new residences, resorts and commercial properties in Phukette. The pictures he showed me revealed unbelievable devastation. A tsunami is what west-coast residents know probably will happen sometime.

The second tsunami is the devastation caused by the economic tsunami of financial meltdown that some call “recession-size” and others prognosticate that it may be the beginning of a “world-wide depression” because of the global inter-relatedness of finances.

The 3^rd tsunami was Jesus’ tumultuous entry into the capital city of Jerusalem. It’s estimated there were most likely 2.5 million pilgrims there for Passover, a high holy festival for the Jewish community. Why was that parade a tsunami?  Because of its impact on life for the Jews and the changes that were as significant as the under water shifting of tectonic plates.

All three tsunamis wiped out existing structures and systems. The water damage in south-east Asia wiped out homes, crops, schools, hospitals, businesses and resorts. Much of that damage was physical involved financial costs to rebuild the physical structures destroyed and to rebuild the infra-structure of communities. But where death occurred is not rebuilt by money.

The economic tsunami has wiped out financial security for many and the after-shocks of job losses, losing a place to live, losing retirement funds are the visible symptoms of a economic system that did not deliver the financial safety and security it promised. According to Dr. Paul Krugman, professor of Economics at Princeton University and the 2008 Nobel Prize winner in economics put it clearly saying “The economy is suffering from a crisis of faith.” He means there is a growing lack of trust in our economic institutions and the securities  that back much of our debt.

Along with the crisis of faith, and lack of trust in our financial institutions is a tsunami of anger:  anger that bailout money goes to give bonuses to leaders who made the decisions to create this mess. There’s anger focused on Bernie Madoff who is accused of defrauding investors of 50 billion dollars in a huge Ponzi scheme. 

Some of the anger is aimed at the Securities and Exchange Commission in the U.S. which very clearly did not do its job of supervision. Anger is also aimed at government and Wall Street leaders who successfully got policies adopted based on the value that market forces should decide.  Some pundits say that anger should be directed at Adam Smith and his book Wealth of Nations. The most quoted part of Adam Smith’s philosophy was his reference to the “invisible hand” of the economy, the unseen force where an individual’s labor contributes to the common good. But it’s useless to be angry at a guy who’s been dead for 200 years.  Of course, some benefiting most from the free-market forces were aided by a man in leadership of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Bernie Madoff. Not exactly a level playing field.

Some people’s anger is aimed at God.  How could a loving Creator allow such a terrible thing to happen?  These are the people who still have an outdated belief that God sits on a golden throne up in the cosmos and waves a magic wand to control tsunamis of water, or tsunamis of economic devastation, or to stop wars or ethnic conflict.

I don’t believe in magic wand theology. I believe the universe was set in motion in some pattern of miracle, mystery, science and creativity that we are only gradually discovering. I also believe God gives to the human family free will. We make our own choices, and unfortunately too many times we make poor choices. The good news is that God’s loving spirit is always offered and re-offered to us so we can turn our lives back to the bulls-eye.

It is NOT God who begins or stops war, nations do. It is NOT God who will stop child-hunger and poverty in Canada—that responsibility is ours. Blaming others, directing our anger at others is simply a surface level reaction covering up our deeper fears: fears of job loss, loss of retirement security, loss of the value of home ownership, loss of savings to send children to university, and all the other terrors of the night that keep us awake.

Where is God in this economic tsunami? What does the Bible say about the issues raised? What does our theology tell us about money and possessions, wealth and power, credit and responsible financial choices, economic values and family values, life-style and stewardship, generosity and justice, personal and social responsibility? What is the role of the market and its relationship to democracy, the role of government and the place of social regulation, the spiritual consequences of the disparities between rich and poor, and the moral and ethical  health of our economy and what are the criteria of the ‘common good?’

The origins of the current crisis involve 5 of the 7 deadly sins. An article in the financially struggling New York Times suggested that Bernie Madoff could do what he did because people were impressed by his persona and were willing to pay any price to be part of his followers. The article went on to say that Madoff has a “psychopathic personality”—he has no conscience and could be a chameleon changing his persona according to the person or persons in his presence. Underlying this behavior was his “sense of entitlement.” He felt he was entitled to do whatever he chose to do to get whatever he wanted to accumulate.

We’ve heard the cliché, “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.” People’s greed did not allow them to question the “unbelievable “rates of return Madoff’s companies produced. They trusted blindly a leader who was untrustworthy.  Did you know that the word “credit” is tied to the language of faith? “Credo” is the root and it means “I believe.” Many are discovering the eternal spiritual truth, “The realm of God is not tied to belief in the Dow Jones Industrial Average.” The credit crisis is a misplaced trust and rupture of the relationship between debtors and lenders. The danger of placing our ultimate faith, our belief in the god (small god) material possessions is that those possessions can possess us.

One day a young boy in India found a large pearl which he thought to be priceless. Now he knew his worries were over. He would never have to work again. But, when the boy tried to sell the pearl, the buyers put him off. In the days ahead, the boy was attacked several times. He realized the pearl buyers were out to rob him and perhaps kill him. He had a choice to make—between the pearl and his life. With the pearl buyers looking on, the boy went down to the ocean beach, took the pearl, and threw it as far as he could into the sea. What hold do material possessions have on you?

The Spirit of God in this economic mess can speak to our underlying fears. We will do well to be cautious about today’s economic prophets who last year said boldly, “Do your investment planning knowing that the price of oil will stay at $140 a barrel from now on,” and then this year are saying, “Do your investment planning confident that the price of oil will stay at $40 a barrel for a long time.” 

Instead we need to get advice from a variety of sources, take responsibility for our  choices and keep in mind the Biblical wisdom of all this:

                “Do not fear, for I am with you, do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you.” (Isaiah 41:10)

                “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear.” (Psalm 46: 1-2

                “ Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink..But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 6:25,33)

I believe I can’t do much, if anything, to control world-wide economic forces. All I can control is how I choose to respond.  This may be a wake-up call  to re-root ourselves in a relationship with the Holy One.  How?

1. Let our faith be in the values that are eternal beginning  with gratitude and thanksgiving. We can each complain about what we don’t have, but the Christian spiritual path is to give thanks in all things, at all times, and for all situations. Begin your gratitude and thanksgiving with here and now. Give thanks for this moment, the breath you are taking, the sunshine coming in the windows and the promise of spring. Discipline yourself to give thanks every day, even better give thanks 3 times a day, morning, noon and night and prior to every time you eat.

GK. Chesterton a British author lived a long and useful life. In his last days he wrote his autobiography and gave himself the task of putting into 1 sentence the most important life lesson he had learned. Quite a task. Here’s what he wrote about his most important learning:  “It’s whether you take things for granted or whether you take things with gratitude.”

2. Often the momentum of gratitude tumbles us into generosity. If you have the resources look for ways to get gas cards and grocery cards for those in need. Or, how about an interest-free loan to someone who needs a hand up?  If your own resources are stretched don’t discount the wealth that is your time, your presence and your talents. Make a volunteer commitment to the food bank ministry or the Bissell Ministry, after the holiday volunteers  fade away.  Time may be our most expensive commodity. Make time to listen to the worries of others and pray with them and share your own worries and be prayed with. Use your talents to help others budget, teach how to cook with healthy, low-cost staples.

3. Find ways to simplify your life. Recommit yourself to the way of Christ. Find common cause with others working to protect the environment, deal with children’s hunger, get involved with responding to the issue of homelessness, give yourself to helping strengthen the efforts in high-needs city schools, like McAuley.

What about that 3^rd tsunami, Jesus entry into Jerusalem?  I call it a tsunami because it also changed the world dramatically. The crowds on Palm Sunday were looking for someone to solve their problems, and who they wanted was a Messiah in the form of a conquering warrior like King David. They wanted their enemies, especially the hated occupying army of Romans, to be defeated.

But the street party turned ugly. Around the edges were leaders plotting to kill this disturber of the status quo. Crowds and mobs can go ugly quickly. I was downtown in May of 1984 when the Oilers won the 1^st Stanley Cup—it was a spontaneous street party of goodwill, fun, laughter, singing dancing and exclaiming shouts of joy. In couple of years it turned ugly, destructive and dangerous. The Palm Sunday parade turned ugly 5 days later as the peoples’ misplaced expectations  turned into anger and blame directed at Jesus.

But their anger, bitterness and killing of an incredibly good and loving man was transformed by the Holy One into a tsunami of transforming love which still brings hope for the human condition. That spiritual tsunami gives us a vision of what life in all its fullness, all its goodness. Jesus humanity shows us how to deal with the toughest challenges.

The fullness of that story is revealed in the drama of this week, Holy Week, and by faith we have a sneak peak at the climax of his story. It’s a drama that still goes on today in our own lives.. Holy Week is a spiritual tsunami that has long-lasting positive consequences for each of us. And it’s not dependent upon the Dow Jones or the TSX.  It’s about the kind of woman or man, girl or boy, you choose to be in all the days and all the seasons of your life.

The most magical words in any language are “thank you.”  Two people were leaving the restaurant, having enjoyed a good meal and having paid the bill and left a generous tip. As they were leaving the one guest said to the server, “Thank you.”

The other guest asked, “Why did you you say ‘thank you.’ She’s paid to provide that service, and you also gave her a tip.  Isn’t that enough?”

The other guest replied, “I thanked her NOT because of the kind of person she is, but because of the kind of person I am and the kind of person I want to be..”

The Jesus’ tsunami is the kind that calls us to be our best, to be fully human and fully alive and to be rooted and grounded in our relationship with Creator God.

May this be a truly holy week for each of us as we embrace Jesus’ humanity and our own and invite the tsunami of the Holy Spirit blow through us, not in destruction, but in transformational ways.

Rev. Dr. John Henry Weinlick

McDougall United Church, Edmonton, AB