LIFE ON THE ‘D’ LIST: DEBT

Matthew 6: 25-34

In his book THE THEOLOGY OF THE HAMMER, Habitat for Humanity founder Millard Fuller tells about one of his driving beliefs: that everyone should have a decent place to live. Fuller had been a wealthy lawyer, who had sold much of what he had to start building houses for others. One of his stories makes me wince: “A rich man in Atlanta built for himself and his family a huge house on a large parcel of land. The amenities included an attached carriage house, a swimming pool, a lake, extensive flower garden, and many other wonderful features. People compared this awesome layout to the palace in Versailles, France. When asked why he built such an extravagant place he exclaimed: ‘Because I am a born-again Christian and I wanted to glorify God.’” Good grief! Here are words from the Bible that call into question the theology of that born-again Christian: “Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws, and his decrees that I am giving you this day. Otherwise when you eat and are satisfied, when you build houses and settle down, and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all  you have is multiplied, then your heart will become proud, and you will forget the Lord your God.” (Deuteronomy 8) And the words of Jesus have equal power when he said in Luke 12: “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”  Today the topic is debt, which cannot fully be addressed without talking about money.  Back in 2004 houses in my neighborhood were selling the same day that they went on the market. Upon further investigation I learned that houses with a similar floor plan as ours were selling for three times what they were selling for just five years earlier! It was a temptation to respond to the daily realtor requests to sell our house. But for us, conservative caution prevailed for that day: if we sold our house, wouldn’t we have to buy someone else’s overpriced house?  And wouldn’t we be giving up some advantages in our mortgage and taxes if we moved?  We decided to stay. Nevertheless I know that many in our country made thousands, and even millions of dollars, up until the bubble burst. So in spite of many people saying they rarely gamble at all, we gamble every day. We weigh the odds of keeping our money in a hiding place or putting it in a money market account, in a CD, in the stock market, or in property. Many people get ahead with moderate risk and they reap the rewards. Money is a commodity which we must use to live. And even congregations benefit from it: we use people’s gifts to fund college scholarships and camp scholarships; we use your tithe money and mine to fund mission and pay for programming; and it was the generous gifts of others that gave the property on which we are worshipping, that gave money for the steeple, that paid for this sanctuary and the new driveway. Money also supports people who find help and hope through our Presbyterian Counseling Center. But like a balancing scale, the outcome can often become like a bigger child on one end of a playground teeter totter: no fun at all. The bigger child of our day is the crushing debt load that some families, some individuals, and some businesses are carrying. Even churches are not immune to debt as the famous Crystal Cathedral went into bankruptcy protection last year. And our nation is making desperate cuts to important programs, cutting jobs to the bone because of the crushing national debt. What happens to people in debt?

First, crushing debt load can lead to another “d” word: disarray.  A normally ordered life gets jumbled. A bathtub where more water is going down the drain than is being poured soon ends up empty.  Just so, unpaid credit cards and other debts can make the family money supply go dry, leading to major changes in life style, values, and actions.  Some start playing the lottery or delve into other forms of gambling. Some hock valuables at a pawn shop, receiving between 20 and 30% less than what they will be sold for later. Some temporarily manage debt by putting more charges on credit cards than ever before, or they use the cards with the lower interest rates (which are still very high) to pay down the cards with the higher interest rates. Staying one step ahead of creditors starts out as a game and turns into a nightmare. The day when some cannot pay a water bill or a power bill is the day that lands them deeper into debt with late fees and reconnection fees. Soon living in a home with no water or lights becomes untenable and foreclosure sets in. Or, if a person has not been able to own a home, they cannot pay the rent for where they are, and even after an extra month of threats or grace by a landlord, they end up out of their apartment. Many still have some money for a cheap motel that they can rent by the week. But sometimes money for even the weekly rent gets hard to come by, so they have to pay the higher daily rate for a motel. Finally, they become part of an ever growing population in America: homeless. And it is most difficult to claw one’s way up from homelessness. When one is homeless, where do you shower or shave? How do you get clean enough not to smell so you can go on job interviews? Do you have enough money for a Laundromat or will your money go for the dollar specials at fast food restaurants instead? You could buy canned goods but there is often no means to heat them. You could buy fresh food but only enough for a meal since you no longer have a refrigerator. At some point dental care is an issue not to mention health care.

To all of these issues one finds the message Jesus gives in the Sermon on the Mount to be in stark contrast: “Do not be anxious about your life.” Is he kidding us?  Or was his audience different?  What is the counter mission that God launches in the Bible through prophets and Jesus Christ himself? One part is the compassion ministry mandated in the Old Testament and even from the lips of Jesus in the New Testament.” To a crowd of 5000 hungry people Jesus told his disciples “Give them something to eat.” (Matthew 14:16) In Deuteronomy we read: “If there is among you a poor man, one of your brethren, in any of your towns …, you shall not harden your heart or shut your hand.” (Deuteronomy15.) To people doing without: keeping their faith, making connections, networking, praying, and waiting for results can be a process that takes longer than ever imagined. And debt is the wolf at the door. The church, through the support we can offer from your gifts and mine, works through agencies and on a case by case basis to keep debt from throwing a family into the poorhouse, or helping them once they are there. That is what you and I do collectively to help others, people you might even know. Several years ago when our Confirmation Class went to Halifax Urban Ministries to feed hungry people on President’s Day, they were surprised to see some other their classmates in the food line. Debt can throw families into such church safety nets as that.

There is another way to look at debt: Jesus said “forgive us our debts” in his example of prayer when we might have wished he had said “trespasses” or “sins.” But he used debts deliberately because sin always costs somebody something. If you break a neighbor’s fence and livestock runs away, there is a cost; if you steal from your neighbor or from a business, there is a cost, not only in product cost, but also in your character in the eyes of others. And for those who break a marriage promise there is a cost. When we are indebted to someone else, the relationship changes; it becomes out of balance because of what is owed. Debt changes relationships, leading to another “d” word: the “destruction” of relationships: between spouses, between parents and a child; between friend and friend. Debt can cause insidious damage.

Finally, debt can also lead to yet another “d” word: despair. In despair people may turn to pills, alcohol, suicide, or drugs, things that bring on unraveling physical, emotional, and spiritual health. Debt can make people physically bankrupt, but some also fall into moral bankruptcy. Our country is in a time of extremely tight money. When we were making money hand over fist nobody complained! Then the well dried up and people had learned few lessons or coping mechanisms to help them through the bear markets. Perhaps one of the devils of our day has been the temptation to use easy credit. Through the darkness, however, there are those who try to help indebted ones own the words that Jesus once spoke on the edge of the Sea of Galilee: “Do not be anxious about your life.” Jesus never made poor people rich or even rich people poor. But he did give hungry people something to eat; he gave disabled people hope; he rich people something to think about; to those in power he gave them ideas for using their power differently. And to those who sinned and admitted it, he offered them forgiveness and grace. Jesus told us to pray saying: “Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.” Treat us, O God, in the same way we treat others. That is what we are praying each time we pray that prayer. Have you thought of that before? How can fully live today and still lay up treasure in heaven? May God guide you and show grace in your life ahead.

Jeffrey A. Sumner               May 29, 2011