How the employees howled! At least the ones who had worked all day. Because those slackers who had only worked for an hour received the same daily wage as the ones who had been there since early in the day, and they had worked through the noonday heat! 

 

The employees would howl today too. Imagine if you worked all day, every day, and someone else working at the same job for only one hour per day received the same salary.  But in Jesus’ day, workers needed their daily wage in order to survive. Several biblical teachings reprimanded those employers who failed to pay the daily wage at the end of the day. (See Lev. 19:13, Deut. 24:14-15, James 5:4.)

 

In Jesus’ economics, the one represented here by the generous landowner, all workers received the pay they needed in order to survive, even if it seemed unfair to those who had worked all day.  Sabbath economics is Jesus economics. As Ched Myers notes, Sabbath economics is about the grace of receiving what the Creator (employer) gives and the responsibility not to take more than is needed. Wide gaps between rich and poor are not part of God’s plan, and God’s

people are called to be part of God’s generosity so that all have enough on which to live. 

 

What might this mean for us? The practice of Sabbath economics means at least these things:

 

First, it means thinking theologically. We must take seriously the manna story in Exodus, which said that the people should take just enough of the gift for the day, that hoarding stuff would make it all rot. We must also take seriously the Jubilee story of Leviticus, that wealth gaps should be regularly and intentionally undone by returning to the poor and the indebted what had been taken from them. And we must take seriously the central message of Jesus, that there is enough in

the beloved community (the kingdom) for all.  This vision of plenty is illustrated in the gospel stories of the multitudes who threw in their family portions to make a feast that fed thousands with loaves and fishes (the only miracle described by all four gospels; see Matt. 14:13-22; Mark 6:30-44; Luke 9:10-17; John 6:1-15). 

 

Second, it means looking at our own money and faith habits. The “Sabbath Economics Household Covenant” encourages us to review our habits around assets (surplus capital), debt (negative capital), giving, the environment, consumption patterns, solidarity with those who are marginalized, and, most radically of all, how we adhere to the commandment to honor the Sabbath, giving ourselves rest and reflection and renewal. 

 

Third, it means looking at congregational and denominational resources. Does your congregation have a savings account, some money held in reserve? Might those assets be held in an institution which works with those for whom it is difficult to get help from major financial institutions? (The Self-Help Credit Union in Durham is nationally known for helping people of modest means to buy homes and start businesses.) Or might your congregational or denominational funds be better invested in something like Oikocredit, which supports poor entrepreneurs in the global South, who need small amounts of credit in order to become self-supporting rather than dependent on foreign aid?

 

When I heard of these venues for “moving money for social change,” I switched my accounts to Self-Help and Oikocredit. What a blessing to know that our average financial assets might be directed toward our values and ministry, in ways that might yield results greater than all our charitable donations and activist efforts combined!  Leaders of the Episcopal Church and the United Methodist Church in North Carolina are already engaged in this conversation about the transfer of assets for a gospel vision of the common good.

 

As Christians, many of us have for too long followed only the path of mercy and charity, while ignoring justice—the structural and systemic transfer of wealth and power so that none have too much, and all have enough. In doing so, we ignore

much of the jubilee vision that Jesus claimed as he stepped into public ministry: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of

sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord” (Luke 4:18-19).  Sabbath economics offers fresh ways to understand our relations with the Bible and our money. And it is expressed in the generosity

of the employer who pays the wage that people need to survive. May it infuse how we read the Bible, how we practice our faith, and how we invest our money.

 

BY BARBARA ZELTER, FORMER PROGRAM 

ASSOCIATE, NC COUNCIL OF CHURCHES