Debt

As our country experiences the pain and brokenness of being in debt where are the “gifts” to soothe the pain and mend the brokenness? There was a time when we took the stairs into the basement to take few mason jars off the shelf or something carefully packed away in the freezer to add to the sale priced meat that adorned our plates. But the basement together with its dampness, mold and the sound of the de-humidifier represents not the diligence and forethought to provide for a lean day, but the darkness and noise of greedy spending and the noise of modernity attempting to drown it out.

Bi-partisan politics and all night meetings are not the scenes of an emergency but the scenes of a reality. They are the scenes of men and women in plenty worshiping the creation and the creature rather than the Creator. They are the scenes of an adulterous people who turn their ears away from the wise and good words of their husband to listen to that which tickles but goes away into emptiness. Where is the wise man and woman in these days of emergency and crisis? They are at both ends of the table and on both sides of the aisle crying with convincing words to apply band-aids of all shapes and sizes. Is there a cry for swallowing our pride in repentance and faith? No, the cries are, “Do something quick before I loose my house, 401k or retirement.” The scenes are temporal because the desires of our hearts and the passions of our flesh are satisfied and filled by the creation. They are the cries at George Bailey’s ole building and loan teller window, “I’ll take my $242, now my accounts closed!” And they are the cries that it is the George Bailey’s of the world that have gotten us into this mess.

It is in such times that the brokenness of living in a fallen world as fallen people screams the loudest. These are the time historians live for because when they tell the stories of civilizations and their imaginative religions they can point to such crises as those that made the peoples look heavenward or earthward, depending on your version of god and sexual preference. But what about the church, are these the times she lives for? She is the redeemed bride of Christ, the jewel bought at a great price, those living in the kingdom of the beloved Son, those broken by the fall yet graced with the gift of redemption and restoration, those who can tell the story clearly in the midst of the brokenness that will give hope to those who have not money to buy bread and wine. The church are those who know the healing balm of Gilead that has lead them to repent from worshiping the creation and the creature to find joy in the beauty of God’s glory revealed in Christ. The church is a debtor to mercy alone with nothing to repay, those who have been bought with a great price. The church knows the darkness of the pit of despair where their bones wasted away where there is groaning all day long, and yet have found the blessedness of being those against whom the Lord counts no iniquity. The church knows what it is to acknowledge sin and lay their souls before the gracious Creator and Redeemer and find him to be faithful and true to forgive. The church knows what it is to envy those who with ease, but who have been brought into the sanctuary where there is true understanding and where they have found the Lord to be their best portion forever unrivaled by anything in all creation. The church may not have all the answers to the financial crises and in fact may find herself right in the midst of it, but she can speak clearly in this scene of brokenness that the Lord delights in those who look not to man but whose eyes are upon Him who creates, sustains and redeems.