When the Russian Orthodox monks first came to Alaska, following the Russian Empire’s eastward march, they reported back to their monastery in Finland on the Alaskan native worldview, commenting that it was very similar to Orthodox Christianity. The Alaskans, they said, saw the world as being in harmonious balance, where each species, including humans, lived by taking what they needed from nature, making sure that there was always enough left to provide for others, especially future generations, and making sure to share with others, so that no one went without.
The monks noted that this was the same as their own worldview. In Traditional Christianity, God created the world as a garden of plenty, to be stewarded by mankind so that the balance was maintained. All of it was good, the product of God who does not make junk. This was a heritage from Old Testament Judaism, which saw all beings as praising God, dependent on him for their creation and sustenance.
In contrast, the American worldview tends to follow Western philosophy, which arrived here from several sources, but was strongly influenced by the Puritans. In the Puritan exegesis of the concept of “dominion” in Genesis (1:26- 30, 2:19-20), man was to subdue the earth, to conquer it. Because it was material, it was seen as a lesser value, even in opposition to the spiritual. This developed from the medieval Roman Catholic worldview which emphasized that creation was soulless, animals had no spirit within them and mankind needed to dominate material things and urges and suppress them. The Puritan evolution of this doctrine was that God would bless the righteous with material benefits, as a consequence of their “election.”
In turn, this has spawned the current Prosperity Gospel, with the same emphasis on a god who showers abundance on those he blesses, as well as the prominent status given in many modern churches to wealthy members, simply because their wealth is admired (and, just maybe, coveted).
There is also a converse side to this belief. If God shows his favor on the elect by showering material blessings, it would be reasonable that the unelect are identified by not having material blessings. If this is true, it would be against God’s plan to help the poor, because they deserve their poverty.
It is no doubt of comfort to the wealthy to think that their wealth is a sign that God admires them and wants them to be wealthy. The only problem is that Scripture overwhelmingly has the opposite viewpoint. The New Testament is categorically clear. While there are Old Testament passages recording God giving material blessings to his faithful, there are many more references to the righteous duty of caring for, and sharing with the poor.
In the time of All Saints, it is appropriate to begin with the All Saints reading from Revelation. John sees a great multitude, standing before the throne in heaven. Earthly divisions abolished, they are from “every nation, tribe, people and language.” They all wear white robes, covering not only their sin, but also the earthly symbols of status and dress. There is only one class: sinners who have “washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”
Notably, “these are they who have come out of the great tribulation.” In contrast to their earthly condition, “never again will they hunger, never again will they thirst,” and God will “spread his tent over them” for shelter and succor. Since they have come out of great tribulation, “God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” In their earthly condition they suffered from want, hunger and thirst, from lack of adequate shelter, from toil under relentless sun and from oppression in the tribulation. In heaven, their poverty and suffering is replaced by joy, deliverance and compassionate care. Their earthly humility and “low estate,” as Mary refers to it, has been replaced by an equality where none want. “He has brought down rulers from their thrones, but has lifted up the humble” (Luke 1:46-55).
But note also who is missing. Those who have not come through the great tribulation do not seem to appear. It brings home Jesus’ story of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31). Those who did not experience hunger, thirst, or oppression are not mentioned in John’s vision. Elsewhere in Revelation, John writes to the parish in Laodicea in his Diocese, “You say ‘I am rich. I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked”(Rev.3:17). The witness of Jesus is clear through many other statements, and admonitions. “You cannot serve both God and money” (Luke 16:13), the parables of the rich fool (Luke 12:16-21), and the sheep and the goats (Matthew 25:31-46).”Woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort. Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry” (Luke 6:24-25). The rich man who wants to inherit eternal life (Mark 10:17-31).
Jesus is also clear on what to do with affluence. Your role is to share with your neighbor, as in the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:30- 37), which teaches not only that receiving God’s love motivates believers to share, but also that everybody is your neighbor, no exceptions. In Matthew 25, Jesus equates helping those in need with helping Jesus himself, so we see the face of Jesus in the countenance and cry of the needy.
Not to belabor the point, but Jesus kind of does. It is extremely difficult for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, according to him (Mark 10:23-25).
In the United States, three families have more wealth than the 160 million Americans who are the lower half of the economic scale. Wealth inequality, already at record levels, continues to widen. In our land of billionaires and mega-consumption, millions of desperately poor people suffer want, several million cannot afford shelter. In our world, people are starving and homeless in the millions, while in contrast others need worry only about obesity. Yet there is enough food and shelter for all if it were more equitably distributed. In the United States, catholic Christians, including the Roman Church and conservative Christians have made it well known that abortion is usually a sin. Yet what about those who are born? In a nation which brags of its riches, where is the voice of conscience to remind us that our affluence is not ours to keep, but is meant to be shared. This applies even to the many of us who are not billionaires, yet live well? There is little in the Bible about abortion, but as demonstrated above, the sin of Mammon is greatly stressed, and the solutions suggested, especially by Jesus, are radical.
Is this a pitch to support the misnamed “Stewardship Sunday,” often held this time of year to raise money for the church’s budget? Indeed, you should be responsible in supporting your church, just as you are justified in trying to persuade others that abortion is often a sinful act. But the pitch goes much further, to challenge your lifestyle, politics, spending habits and the way you reflect the love of Jesus to others. It is not my pitch, but Jesus’.
The Russian monks found an America where there was balance, where the hunter shared with the widow and orphan. It was the way the monks lived, too, as servants of the Christian God, and soon these Alaskan Americans became that kind of Christian as well, without major lifestyle changes. Americans of today, corrupted by the Puritan heritage and the Prosperity Gospel, have quite a different challenge.
On All Saints Day, remember that the traditional Gospel is the Beatitudes, the Christian ethical guideline which begins with “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” The epistle shows a future in a heavenly equality, without want or distinction.
To live the Beatitudes, which is God’s loving plan for us, is to be charitable towards those in need, those who are obvious around us and those who are across the world from us. That charity extends to a responsibility to also shape the society around us, which has warped values, not Christian values, through the methods of persuasion and example available to us. This may include teaching Christians among us, whose values may have syncretized with a culture driven by money, greed, and violence.
“On the wounded faces of the poor, we see the suffering of the innocent and therefore the suffering of Jesus himself” (Dilexit Nos #9, encyclical of Pope Leo the American).