Emmanuel United Methodist Church

Sermon Thoughts on the Occupy Movement

November 20^th, 2011

Rev. Stephanie Vader

Here are some of the things being said about the occupy wall street movement.

“In some ways, they’re not that different from some of the protests that we saw coming from the Tea Party. Both on the left and the right, I think people feel separated from their government. They feel that their institutions aren’t looking out for them.” —President Barack Obama

“If you don’t have a job, and you’re not rich, blame yourself.” —Herman Cain, former C.E.O. of Godfather’s Pizza

“I think Mr. Cain has blamed the victims. There’s a lot of people that are victims of this business cycle. We can’t blame the victims.” —Ron Paul, a congressman for Texas

“I regard the Wall Street protests as a natural outcome of a bad education system teaching them really dumb ideas.” —Newt Gingrich, a former Speaker of the House

“Being in the streets and calling attention to issues is sometimes the only recourse you have.” —Richard Trumka, president of the A.F.L.-C.I.O.

“I think it’s dangerous, this class warfare.” —Mitt Romney, former governor of Massachusetts

“At some level, I can’t blame them.” —Ben Bernanke, Chairman of the Federal Reserve

“I think that if the Occupy Wall Street wants to be upset about something they should go in front of the White House.” —Michele Bachmann, a congresswoman for Minnesota

 “If this is going to be a Christian nation that doesn’t help the poor, either we have to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish as we are, or we’ve got to acknowledge that He commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition and then admit that we just don’t want to do it.” ? Stephen Colbert of the TV Show The Colbert Report

It started on September 17^th with a ragtag group of people who called themselves "Occupy Wall Street" planting themselves at Liberty Square Plaza in New York City, under the shadows of skyscrapers.

They gathered together to call attention to the disproportionate influence that the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans have over our political and economic system. Using the phrase "We are the 99 percent.”  There is some truth to this.

According to the Congressional Budget Office, between 1979 and 2007, earnings of the top 1% of Americans have grown by an average of 275%. This top 1% controls about 40% of the country’s wealth.

The Nobel Prize winning economist Paul Krugman says, that while protesters are correct in highlighting the disproportionate wealth of the top 1%, they are actually setting their cutoff point too low. He points to an earlier budget office report that shows: Of the wealth acquired by the top 1%, two-thirds went to the top 0.1%. So while the incomes of the top hundredth of Americans almost tripled in the past three decades, for the top thousandths, between 1979 and 2005, incomes more than quadrupled.

Krugman says, this extreme concentration of income is incompatible with real democracy. He asks, “Can anyone seriously deny that our political system is being warped by the influence of big money, and that the warping is getting worse as the wealth of a few grows ever larger?” (New York Times, Nov. 3, 2011)

The Biblical witness agrees with their analysis. Numerous Biblical texts point out that poverty is not any individual's fate, but rather exists in a web of causes and conditions. The Bible also notes that the way to build a peaceful society is to ensure equitable distribution of resources.  Christian scriptures are clear that resources are to be enjoyed by all, not hoarded by a few.  Debts are to be forgiven.  Extra coats are to be given away.  Food is to be shared.  Bodies are to be cared for.  People are themselves to live in houses they build with their own hands.

The world’s major religious traditions agree with this analysis. Buddhist monk and Noble Prize nominee Thich Nhat Hanh offers this precept: "Do not accumulate wealth whilst millions are hungry. Do not take as the aim of your life, fame, profit, wealth or sensual pleasure. Live simply and share time, energy and material resources with those who are in need."

So how do you interpret the Occupy Movement? What do think it says about American society? How should we as Christians think about this movement? Here are a few important questions the Occupy Movement is raising for all of us?

Many Americans have been persuaded that we could pursue our selfish interests without thoughts to the consequences, because the “invisible hand” of the market would work it all out in the end. We were led to believe we didn’t need to work to become wealthy, if only we put our money in the hands of the right stock broker or in the right mutual fund. We were told that changes in financial regulation would have no effect on our pension funds and life savings. We were told that the wealth of the richest would trickle down, and that the whole country would prosper. In hindsight, we can see that we were mistaken.

But rather than simply being angry, and wondering when this crisis will be over, when employment figures will improve, when economic growth will resume, we should be asking different questions. We should be asking: How will this crisis change us? How will it change the way we think and act? How will it change our priorities and values.

We are in the midst of a structural crisis that calls for new social and financial regulation. But we are also in the midst of a spiritual crisis that calls for new self-regulation. We are in desperate need to re-discover the values of humility, and balance, and priorities, and limits.

As a religious community, we play an important role in shaping the moral debate of our community and our country. As a religious community, we have an obligation to hone our moral vision, and to show clearly how sound principles can inform our politics, and morality can inform our commerce.

This is not merely a matter of holding our political leaders accountable and demanding change - though that is part of it. Any efforts to address the moral wrongs of our society, need to begin with the moral dimensions of our own lives - our relationships with those closest to us, and members of our community; in our decisions how we earn and spend our money; the ways we are able to serve a greater good - whether individually, or in shared efforts.

Here are some questions we need to be talking about as Christians in response to the Occupy movement?

1. How much is enough?

We've all read the news so we know the routine. Liberals want a redistribution of wealth that takes money from the extremely rich and gives it to the poor with the government heavily involved. Conservatives argue that the wealthy already pay the majority of taxes and the government should stay out of things since it is bloated and inefficient and should just let the market fix things. Both sides have some valid arguments and concerns.

What doesn't seem to be on the table is "how much is enough?" What does "enough" look like? Is there a point where "more than enough" cripples us, truly cripples us as human beings made in the image of God? Sure, Ebenezer Scrooge worked tirelessly to amass his wealth. But what point did his greed chain him at the expense of his neighbor?

2. Generosity?

Do we or do we not, as individuals and as a community, have the capacity for generosity? Deep generosity. Not just "fairness." Not bean-counting. Generosity.

3. Where's the accountability?

There can be no convincing justice without rigorous systems of accountability. #OWS has made it obvious that Americans of every age, race, and political affiliation understand that our mechanisms of accountability have failed abysmally, all the way around. People are "cheating the system" in various ways and sometimes being generously rewarded for doing so. Jesus was all about love, which includes accountability. 

5. Dialogue about the common good.

Whatever the final outcome of #OWS, it's encouraging to find ourselves in dialogue about the common good once again. We are crossing the lines of age, race, gender, and political party. Our neighbors are starting to have faces, and that's crucial. We can't love in the abstract, at least not well.

We are in the habit of caricature. If someone disagrees with us, we tend not to listen deeply, respectfully, and humbly; rather we immediately think, if not say, "Of course you think that, you are a _______ (fill in the blank: liberal, conservative, whatever). We assume the other person is not as smart, perceptive, informed, objective, ethical or faithful as we are. They are deluded because they get their news from such and such a source. We will do anything in our power to avoid listening and taking each other's points seriously. As Jesus knew, we will crucify faster than we will listen or stand corrected in any way. Until we treat one another as friends, as those who have faces, we will stand polarized and unable, unwilling to compromise and devise solutions, preferring to blame and complain instead.

We have a rare opportunity at this time in this place to build something worthwhile and true, just and rich, that comes from our very best selves, our humble, generous, other-oriented, daringly hopeful selves.  That is, our godly selves.