Serving God or Mammon?

I recently spent some time on the east coast. In one place, I saw two flags on the front of a house, draped over the banister of a second floor deck. The Stars and Stripes displayed in appropriate vertical fashion didn’t surprise me. But right next to it (on the right when viewed from the street) at the same elevation, was the flag of Israel. Seeing those flags, I started thinking about having dual citizenship, and how one might be “loyal” to two countries.


The question is: Can one/Should one divide his/her loyalty? Or must he/she choose one and leave the other? This divided loyalty question brought to mind Jesus’ teaching, not about choosing between two countries, but that we can not serve two Gods.


In Matthew 6:24, Jesus says, “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money."


By the way, the Revised Standard Version says, “You cannot serve God and mammon.” Mammon: “god of wealth, regarded as evil or immoral.”(For more on this term, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mammon)


"You cannot serve both God and Money.” Pretty clear, isn’t it. You can only be loyal to one. We all probably know how to serve Mammon, and chances are we might be serving too well. Then how can we serve God? We can serve God by doing his commands. In Matthew 22:37, Jesus tells us to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” And similarly, according to Luke 10:28, he tells the lawyer, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, [emphasis mine] and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” See also Leviticus 19:18 (Contemporary English Version), “...I command you to love others as much as you love yourself.”


But can we Americans really serve – be loyal to -- God and not Mammon? Well, some of our citizens will tell you we’re a Christian nation. If that were true, you’d probably be right to expect that this nation would follow Jesus’ teaching and not serve wealth but serve God. We’d be loving and taking care of our neighbors. We’d be honoring our elders, and we would not be stealing, or killing, or coveting what others have.


However, other American citizens will remind you that we’re first a nation devoted to capitalism and free enterprise. Mammon. Elections are often won and lost based on how well the economy is doing, and not on how well our neighbors are faring. In fact, some would say that caring for the free market economy is much more important that caring for our neighbors; and that we can’t “afford” to be caring for our neighbors. That sounds to me suspiciously like serving Money.


Does serving God here in the USA truly mean loving God and our neighbors, and serving both though our national programs? Or are we serving money and wealth first? Do you/we divide your/our loyalty between God and wealth? Is it possible to serve both Gods? Are we trying?

Surrender

The fundamentalists and extremists of whatever tradition often seem to be saying, “I’m right, and anyone who disagrees with me is wrong.” These folks point to a particular passage(s) in their particular scripture(s) as evidence or justification for their perspective. Moreover, those folks accept that printed (or recited) word as authority to act.

These same folks might also point to another group’s scripture to show how “wrong” that group is. For example, some who call themselves Christian may point to a passage in the Holy Qur’an which (they say) calls for war. See, for example, Sura 8:40: “Make war on them [unbelievers] until idolatry shall cease and God’s religion shall reign supreme." (Dawood, N.J., translator, THE KORAN. London 1956, Penguin Books. P 129.) And the “faithful” Christians will use that passage to justify hating Islam, and to claim that Islam is not a religion of peace.

Psalm 137:8-9 also seems to support violent action: “Babylon [or name your favorite enemy here], you are doomed! I pray the Lord’s blessings on anyone who punishes you for what you did to us. May the Lord bless everyone who beats your children against the rocks!” (HOLY BIBLE, Contemporary English Version. New York: 1995, American Bible Society. P. 639) And the faithful may start a war to do the punishing on the Lord’s behalf.

Scriptures can be confusing or ambiguous. Perhaps their most frustrating characteristic is that they can be contradictory. Look again at Psalms, only this time, consider Psalm 46. Verse 9: “[The Lord] makes wars cease to the ends of the earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear, he burns the shields with fire.” (THE NEW STUDENT BIBLE, New International Version. Grand Rapids, 1986, Zondervan Publishing, P. 517) Here we have a text which reports what God does, not what God wants us to do. In this passage, God actually stops violent behaviors! In this passage, we are not urged to go out and take revenge, nor to begin a war.

In fact, in the very next verse, we’re told to relax, chill out. “Be still, and know that I am God.” The words “be still” come from the Hebrew word rapha which can be translated as “be weak” or “surrender.” (See http://www.hebrew4christians.com/Meditations/Be_Still/be_still.html. Also see http://www.christiancourier.com/articles/1245-be-still-and-know-that-i-am-god) I take this to mean that God is instructing us to do exactly the meaning of the Arabic word Islam: Surrender, or submit. We are to know that God is God, and we’re to remember that we’re not God!

You might think that we can’t always be passive, and just let things happen. Many of us raised in the Abrahamic traditions have been taught that we must act, to do God’s will and bring justice. Still, I think it’s good for us to acknowledge that there’s an alternative behavior: It’s always acceptable to act from the Golden Rule, doing unto others what we’d want them to do unto us. And usually that’s NOT starting a war, or doing the vengeful punishing. When we’ve surrendered and let God be God, it’s just easier to treat others well.

(first published May 2011)

It’s May, the month of flowers which result from April Showers. It’s also the month in which Mother’s Day occurs in the US. I’m sitting in my mother’s home, thinking about how lucky I’ve been to have her for my mother. Now, I’m sure that about 99% of all my friends, and of those people I don’t know, feel the same about their mothers. Maybe more than 99%.

Mothers have been recognized by special celebrations since ancient times. Beginning with the ancient Greeks and Romans festivals were kept for Cybele, a mother of Greek gods; and for Juno on the Roman holiday Matronalia.

“One of the early calls to celebrate Mother's Day in the United States was the "Mother's Day Proclamation" by Julia Ward Howe. Written in 1870, it was a pacifist reaction to the carnage of the American Civil War and the Franco-Prussian War. The Proclamation was tied to Howe's feminist belief that women had a responsibility to shape their societies at the political level.” (https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Mother’s_Day)

Anna Marie Jarvis (May 1, 1864, Webster, West Virginia — November 24, 1948, West Chester, Pennsylvania) is the founder of the Mother's Day holiday in the United States. Mother’s Day became a national holiday in the United States in 1914, just a few years after being first celebrated officially in West Virginia, thanks to Jarvis’ efforts. As the US holiday was adopted by other countries and cultures, the date was changed to fit already existing celebrations honoring motherhood, like Mothering Sunday in the UK, or the Orthodox celebration of Jesus in the temple in Greece. In some countries it was changed to dates that were significant to the majority religion, like the Virgin Mary day in Catholic countries, or the birthday of the daughter of the Prophet Muhammad in Islamic countries.

How important is Mother in your life? From Islam comes this teaching: (http://www.articlesbase.com/ezines-and-newsletters-articles/muhammad-paradise-lies-at-the-feet-of-mothers-2836850.html)

A man came to the Prophet Muhammad and asked him, "Who amongst my near ones has the greatest right over me?" Muhammad replied, "Your mother".

The man then asked, "Who after that?" The Prophet replied again, "Your mother".

The man then asked, who is next, and the Prophet again replied, "Your mother".

The man then asked, who after that, and then the Prophet said, "Your father".

According to the website, this Hadith (teaching) illustrates that a mother deserves service, love, submission, obedience and gratitude from the children...a mother generally makes more sacrifices and endures greater hardships than a father while bringing up the children. She feeds them and takes care of them by sacrificing her comforts in the day and her sleep in the night without any greed or compulsion but only out of sheer love and affection...she renders three important services to her children which cannot be done by the father. The mother bears the burden of the child during pregnancy, stands the pains of delivery, and then feeds the child from her breasts. (http://www.articlesbase.com/ezines-and-newsletters-articles/muhammad-paradise-lies-at-the-feet-of-mothers-2836850.html)

May you celebrate your mother every day, not just on Mother’s Day, and be thankful for her.

Worship and Business

It’s Lent. I am reminded of an event from 2,000 years ago. You know the story. It was the season of Passover. It seems that merchants and bankers had set up shop in the courtyards adjacent to the Temple in Jerusalem. There, foreign travelers could exchange their coins for local currency and they could buy animals – cattle, sheep and doves – to offer as sacrifices in the temple. These sacrifices were needed so that the worshipers might properly express their obedience and thanks to their God. Read Leviticus, especially the first 8 chapters for more descriptions about what is to be done, and how. The Temple was the only place where sacrifices could be offered.

Jesus arrived at the Temple, and seeing the selling going on, chased the merchants out, together with their animals. And he overturned the tables of the money changers. Apparently he also overturned the accepted order of things.

I take the point of this story to be that we need to separate the place of worship from the place of commercial activities. But this can also mean separating the acts and times of worship for the acts and times of doing business. This separation would be in keeping with the commandment to keep the Sabbath holy. And almost certainly Jesus was acting on Isaiah's message in chapter 56:7, “...for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.” That’s the reference in the passage. (Mark 11:15-19; Matthew 21:12-17; Luke 19:45-48; and John 2:13-16)

According to Willis Barnstone, “Market merchants would have been outside the restricted Temple, in the adjacent courtyards where the sacrificial animals were taken to be sold in specific areas reserved for commerce and where non-Jews were permitted to buy and sell. Since commerce was restricted to courtyards, it casts doubt on the location of Jesus' house cleaning as within the Temple itself.” (See Barnstone, Willis, translator, THE RESTORED NEW TESTAMENT. New York, W.W. Norton & Co. 2009. P. 185) I assume the priests condoned the selling.

The story is told in all four of the Gospels so it must be important in Christian history and theology. Various interpretations can be taken. In John's Gospel, the point seems to be to underscore Jesus' divinity. (When questioned by the Jewish leaders about his authority for doing what he did, he says he will rebuild the destroyed temple in three days, foreshadowing his resurrection.) In the three synoptic gospels, Jesus is challenged to tell by what authority he performs his miracles. Still, I think the Gospel writers shared the notion that business should not be done in the sacred space.

Many of us would frown on conducting business in any sanctuary. E.g., several online sources comment on Prophet Muhammad's position on selling things in the Mosque. According to tradition and Islamic law, the Prophet said that, when selling in a Mosque is confronted, one should say, “May Allah not make your business profitable.” So, conducting business there is disliked but a sale conducted there is still valid. (http://en.islamtoday.net/node/1659)

There could be here introduced a whole discussion of selling of indulgences by the Roman Catholic church, and related “money for salvation” activities in the Eastern Orthodox church. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indulgence) Recall that when Martin Luther wrote his 95 theses against the church, “....condemning what he saw as purchase and sale of salvation,” he set down the basis for the Protestant Revolution. However the topic is well beyond this column, and selling indulgences ceased in 1567, in the Roman church . (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/10/nyregion/10indulgence.html) Still, I would be suspicious of those who profit by selling things that are allegedly required to properly worship God.

What're your thoughts? Should churches sell things? What things? When is it OK? Where? When is it not?

Living Compassionate Lives

You probably know Karen Armstrong's name. She's the religious historian. She's recently published TWELVE STEPS TO A COMPASSIONATE LIFE. (New York. Alfred A. Knopf, 2011.) What is compassion? Why would we want to live a compassionate life?

According to one on-line dictionary, compassion is, “Deep awareness of the suffering of another coupled with the wish to relieve it.” (http://www.thefreedictionary.com/compassion , retrieved January 29, 2011) One way to relieve suffering is to reduce causes of suffering. Armstrong tells us that the central tenant of each of the world's major religions is what we know as the “golden rule.” She traces the emergence of the golden rule from Confucius's teaching, saying, “Compassion, therefore, was inseparable from humanity; instead of being motivated by self-interest, a truly humane person was consistently oriented toward others.” (Op. Cit., p. 10)

As restated by Muhammad: "No man is a true believer unless he desires for his brother that which he desires for himself.” http://www.freewebs.com/muslims_unite/sayingoftheprophetm.htm (Attributed to Muhammad). Retrieved Jan. 29, 2011

She asserts that what has made compassionate thinking (and living) possible was the development of the modern human brain. She says that we humans inherited our survival drives from our reptilian forbears, and those are centered in the hypothalamus, at the base of our brains. But we also evolved “new brains,” the neocortex, where we reason. And humans learned to look out for one another as we learned to live in groups or tribes.

As people began to live in cities, some had the leisure to think, and to understand how the species must go forward. It was during this time that the Israelites began to unify and codify their values and beliefs, and from these arose the modern monotheistic faith traditions. Following the Mosaic Law – honor your parents, don't kill and don't steal or covet – the prophets began to clarify and modernize. Hosea says God wants us to be merciful to others, rather than just following the rituals:

“For I desire mercy, not sacrifice...” Hosea 6:6

About mercy: Mohammed is said to have rebuked his followers for failing to show compassion. "But we do show compassion," they responded, "to our wives, children and relatives." The Prophet insisted, "It is not this to which I refer. I am speaking of universal mercy." http://www.all-creatures.org/murti/tsnhod-11.html. Retrieved January 29, 2011.

Amos decries the oppression of the poor and calls for justice: “You trample on the poor and force him to give you grain...and you deprive the poor of justice in the courts...” (Amos 5: 11-12)

Jesus teaches us to love our neighbors as ourselves, and this teaching restates the golden rule. And the Qur'an repeats this:

“Show kindness to parents and kindred, to orphans and to the helpless, to near and distant neighbors, to those that keep company with you, to the traveler in need, and to the slaves you own.” Qur'an 4:36 (Translated by N.J. Dawood. Penguin Books 1990)

Mercy, justice, love and kindness are conditions which all of us desire for ourselves. They each represent different faces of compassion. So: Why would we want to live compassionate lives? Because, by living with compassion, we act on our words. We are doing to others what we would want them to do to/for/with us.

Shaping World History

I recently read Edward Rothstein’s article, “Abraham’s Progeny, and Their Texts,”¹ about a New York Public Library show of sacred texts from the three Abrahamic faiths. In it, he wrote:

“And while the three [religions] share many traits — these are not primarily meditative or contemplative religions, after all, and they are indeed historical faiths, concerned with action, even with mission — their commonalities also lead to profound contrasts. . . . all three religions saw themselves as shaping world history [emphasis mine].”

We all have probably thought about how these religions have roles in “shaping world history.” I’m reminded how often we’re admonished to “be the change we want to see,” and where else are we taught how things “should be” than in our religious schools and services? Our contemporary American press often speaks negatively about what Madrassas might be teaching young Muslim children. But we’ve always had those sorts of teachers. What Christian child has not heard or sung, “Onward Christian Soldiers?”

Christian believers certainly have helped to “shape history.” Read about the Crusades, wherein Christians went to the Holy Land to liberate it from the Muslims. Or, read about how the European colonists brought Christianity to the Native peoples of North and South America through conquest and conversion. Read about the various inquisitions:

“. . . .1578 handbook for inquisitors spelled out the purpose of inquisitorial penalties: ... quoniam punitio non refertur primo & per se in correctionem & bonum eius qui punitur, sed in bonum publicum ut alij terreantur, & a malis committendis avocentur. Translation from the Latin: "... for punishment does not take place primarily and per se for the correction and good of the person punished, but for the public good in order that others may become terrified [emphasis mine] and weaned away from the evils they would commit.”²

We don’t know much about the Jewish people as evangelists, but, like the Christians, they too conquered, and inflicted all the terrors of war we can imagine. Read books of Judges, Kings and Samuel to understand the role these people played in shaping history. For example, read Judges 3:12-30. The story tells us that, because the Israelites “did evil in the eyes of the Lord,” the king of Moab, with the help of the Ammonites and the Amalekites, subdued Jericho, and ruled there for 18 years. But Ehud, one of the Israelites, assassinated the king; and then Ehud led the Israelites in killing 10,000 Moabites. “Not a man escaped.” (The New Student Bible, New International Version)

In the very next chapter of Judges, we read how Deborah had sent for Barak to lead an army against Sisera, the commander of the Canaanites’ army. Barak’s army defeated the oppressors: “At Barak’s advance, the Lord routed Sisera and all his chariots and army by the sword. . . Not a man was left.” There follows a graphic description of how a woman killed Sisera, after she’d agreed to hide him. In almost all of the examples of the Jews’ warlike actions found in the Old Testament, the terrors inflicted by those people were done with the help or leadership of the Lord.

These are but a few examples of how the Abrahamic faiths have played important roles in shaping world history. What other examples can you think of?

Helping the Poor

“It is not un-American to help the poor.”

That's what the bumper sticker said. I don't understand the thinking that led to this particular sticker. First, it's sort of a double negative, “not” and “un-,” and then it implies that someone might think it's not patriotic to help the poor. Huh?

Of course, we know that this particular statement is about current politics in the U.S. We're often told that this is a Christian country, or that the founding fathers wrote our constitution based on biblical principles. But it can be hard sometimes to reconcile Christian belief with American policy.

The Old Testament -- Deuteronomy 14:29 (Contemporary English Version) -- tells us to care for widows and orphans, and to be kind to strangers:

“...You must also give food to the poor who live in your town, including orphans, widows, and foreigners. If they have enough to eat, then the Lord your God will be pleased and make you successful in everything you do.”

And the Holy Qur'an -- (N.J. Dawood, Translator) -- admonishes the believer to be charitable:

“For him that gives in charity and guards himself against evil and believes in goodness, We shall smooth the path of salvation...” (Sura 92, “Night”)

and

“Have you thought of him that denies the Last Judgment? It is he who turns away the orphan and has no urge to feed the poor...Woe to those who...give no alms to the destitute.” (Sura 107, “Alms”)

The New Testament says we should shelter the homeless and feed the hungry. Perhaps the best story of charity is that of the good Samaritan. Recall that a Jew, a victim of a violent beating and robbery, was seen but ignored by a priest and a temple helper. It was the (religious and cultural “stranger”), a Samaritan, who treated his wounds, and saw to his continued care at a nearby inn. When Jesus told the story, he asked, “Which of the three was a real neighbor to the man who was beaten up by the robbers?” When answered, “the one who showed pity,” Jesus commanded, “Go and do the same.”

So: We have the strength of all the Abrahamic faiths behind the notion of helping those in need, AND those faiths are the major belief systems in the U.S. Of course, none of this helps to decide whether it is or is not Un-American to help the poor. It seems to me, however, that there can be only one sensible answer to this dilemma.

If we claim the label of Jew or Christian or Muslim, then we should act on what our faith teaches us. And since helping the poor is the right thing to do, as we’re taught in our churches and synagogues and mosques, then (to me) it makes good sense to support public policies that endorse what we’re taught (and say we believe), and assist us it doing it.