what do we owe?

"Listen, my people, and I will speak; I will testify against you, Israel: I am God, your God. 

I bring no charges against you concerning your sacrifices or concerning your burnt offerings, which are ever before me.

I have no need of a bull from your stall or of goats from your pens, 

for every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills. 

I know every bird in the mountains, and the insects in the fields are mine. 

If I were hungry I would not tell you, for the world is mine, and all that is in it. 

Psalms 50: 7-12

what if we believed this? what if we accepted that all of creation belongs to god?

what if no matter how hard we work, we understand that all we have is not ours, but god's?

the way of the world is to believe that what we've earned with our own hands belongs to us. the idea of private property is pretty sacrosanct in all parts of the world. i think most of us think that we are entitled to more because of ________ fill in the blank.

christians give their tithe as if they are giving god something. this psalms says that why should god need our bulls and goats. it all belongs to god. what we give to god belongs to god already.

like the workers in the parable of jesus, we believe that because we've done more than someone else that we should get more. but the farmer paid those who worked in the field an hour the same as those who had worked all day. how was that fair? 

jesus said it was. it was the farmer's money. it was the agreed upon price.

how does this psalm and new testament parable speak to me?

if we truly believe that every dime we have, like the cattle on a thousand hills (the sign of wealth in that time) belongs not to us, but to god, do we spend that money differently? do we spend god's money on a hundred dollar meal? do we spend it on a vacation home? do we spend it on a swimming pool?

perhaps... all of these things can be shared

if all our resources belong to god, how much do we spend past our basic needs? how much do we spend on the needs of others?

like the rich young man, we find that turning our riches over to god is a heavy price. jesus recognized that this young man believed his wealth was his own. jesus was reminding him that it belongs to god.

we congratulate ourselves for giving to the church or to charity. 

whatever we give already belongs to god. a tithe is not a gift to god, neither is zakat. god has no need, but we do. giving brings us closer to the kingdom of heaven. 

what does this mean for the earth? how do we treat god's creation if we truly believe it is not ours? do we rape mountains for coal? do we turn a desert into a well-watered casino?

what about the parable?

why is the pay equal for all, those who work an hour and those who work the whole day?

i would argue that it is because our gift from god is the same for all. our wage for the work that we do is creation and all the things that can be created by man from its riches. we have creation as our reward, not to exploit for our own needs; but to cherish as the gift given to all, a gift given to all.

these are hard words. most of us react as the rich young man.

is it possible to reflect on every dollar we spend? is it possible to never do anything that is harmful to the earth?

i don't really think so.

but maybe we can remind ourselves, "it is not mine."