Abstract
The prophetic vision of jubilee is the ‘only plausible background to the practice of Jesus’ (p. 35).
That line from Ched Myers’ small book entitled The Biblical Vision of Sabbath Economics has left a deep mark on my heart. As an advocate of Integral Mission, I was provoked to push my reflections on the integrated ministry of Jesus beyond the attempt to fuse together ministries of words, works and wonders. For if indeed jubilee is deeply embedded in everything that Jesus has done, then the point cannot simply be ‘integration’ but having ‘justice’ as the strand that ties everything together. Myers’ reflections carry such a weight that I shall from now on resist mere token efforts with regards to justice work.
Myers helped me to understand that the pursuit of social justice has to be waged not primarily in the arena of politics, for it is ‘economics’ instead that is at the very core of how the Scriptures talk of justice. Moreover, he showed me how ‘economics is ultimately a theological issue’ (p. 37). He is convinced that right at the heart of Scriptures lies a radically different vision of economic and social practice that the church has to rediscover. He argues that anywhere in the world the appalling concentration of wealth and power in the hands of the few, including the cruel effects of social inequality that so often come with it, can be traced in the unquestioned assumptions of today’s prevailing economic system(s). Myers presses his readers to consider how thinking about biblical justice must also reach the point where one grapples seriously with the notions of private ownership, personal property and wealth accumulation. This is in light of believing in God’s ownership of everything in the world and reflecting on biblical injunctions towards living with ‘just enough’ and the wisdom behind ‘wealth circulation’.
Myers’ book puts forward the ‘theology of Sabbath economics’ and its accompanying ‘ethic of regular and systemic wealth and power redistribution’ (p. 6). Both of these, according to Myers, are clearly summed up and fully expressed in the ‘jubilee year’ – a legal provision laid down for the Israelites in Leviticus 25 and the key principle which Jesus used in announcing the inauguration of his mission on earth (Luke 4:18-19). In seven chapters, Myers shows how this vision of ‘jubilee justice’ echoes ‘everywhere in the rest of Scriptures’ and leaves ‘footprints’ (p. 22,28) that serve as a haunting theme in the background of critical passages in the prophetic writings, the gospel accounts and the pastoral letters of Paul. In doing so, Myers has made a cogent case against the often-made remark regarding jubilee – that it is an impotent utopian vision which was never put into actual practice. As a counter-example, Myers in Chapter 7 shows how the Apostle Paul worked out the logic of jubilee justice as a way life and how he re-contextualised the practice of redistribution of resources in the various communities of the early church.
In today’s world, which is increasingly being dominated by the values of the Market, ‘jubilee justice’ presents a diametrically opposed vision of economic life. But it is one that offers hope for the pressing troubles afflicting our globalising world. Recently I worked on a project that sought to contextualise the technical materials available on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations into a language and format that churchgoers in South East Asia can easily understand and use. I found it easy to identify a familiar biblical theme for the first 16 goals, but for Goal 17, i.e. securing global partnership in achieving the SDGs, it proved to be a challenge. While the UN has lofty ideals of how the rich and developed countries will go out of their way to assist the less developed and least developed regions in the world, stark realities quickly splash on a pail of cold water. With major developed countries refusing to be signatories to the worldwide agreement on addressing global concerns as serious as climate change, i.e. the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement, one wonders how realistic SDG 17 can get.
But drawing from the notion of jubilee as Myers argues it, I found the Scriptures providing a rich resource of hope. That different races of people can really be in solidarity with one another and display selfless compassion for those in need is a key component of the story of the early church. Driven by the new command given by Christ, to love one another as he has loved them, the Apostle Paul managed to mobilise a massive resource-sharing project among Greek churches in various cities of the Roman Empire to help out the economically disadvantaged Jewish believers in Jerusalem. If one maps the flow of resources that Paul channelled from several regions of ancient Asia Minor to the city of Jerusalem, jubilee justice will be seen in full swing right in the corridors of the Roman Empire. Myers puts it this way: Paul directly evokes the jubilee tradition: ‘The one who had much did not have too much, and the one who had little did not have too little’ (II Corinthians 8:15). This is, of course, the central ‘instruction’ of the wilderness manna story (Exodus 16:18), the foundation text of Sabbath economics. (p. 58)
Then Myers adds: In a carefully crafted doublet, the apostle articulates the ‘golden rule’ of jubilee: ‘Not that others should be relieved and you afflicted; rather, it is a matter of equality. So in this time, your surplus should help their lack so that their surplus might help your lack – in order that there may be equality’ (II Corinthians 8:13f). (p. 58)
That the early church is a model of an international network in economic solidarity is a neglected story that the Christian community can highlight and offer as a glimpse of hope for our times. Such a vision of solidarity is especially relevant amidst a geopolitics marked by a fracturing of ‘solidarity structures’ in the world today. This disintegration in favour of a more inward-looking attitude is evidenced lately by episodes such as Brexit, America First and perhaps even the muscle-flexing initiatives of the Chinese government across the world. The serious repercussions of such a parochial outlook among the influential powers in the Northern Hemisphere surely will have an impact on the plight of the poorest countries in the Global South. This can readily be seen in issues relating to shifts in labour and immigration policies in the USA, and in China’s controversial financial aid to several African states. Forging genuine cooperation and compassion among nations is a global goal with a trajectory that is completely opposite to looking after one’s own gain and interest. Surely fresh sparks of ‘global imaginary’ are needed and they have to be resourced from the deep well of human history. I am convinced that the rich economic vision of ‘jubilee justice’ in Scriptures has something valuable to contribute in such a search for impulses that can refuel a sustained thrust towards an intensified global cooperation in combatting poverty, inequality and humanmade planetary damage.
For these realisations and aspirations, I am grateful for having immersed myself in the provocations Myers makes in his book on ‘jubilee justice’.