I have had to spend time today with lawyers and various officials. Some of the converszations were about money. Then over morning tea…. I think I said this when discussing how we got this with… “You don’t take your money to the grave“. It is a tool. It is to be used for other purposes. Or it will own you.
19“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; 20but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
22“The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light; 23but if your eye is unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!
24“No one can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.
Great, but what does this mean? How does this work? Are we truly just? Well, in the agrarian communiie of Jewry, the law gave some guidance.
1The LORD spoke to Moses, saying:
2Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them: You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy. 3You shall each revere your mother and father, and you shall keep my sabbaths: I am the LORD your God. 4Do not turn to idols or make cast images for yourselves: I am the LORD your God.
5When you offer a sacrifice of well-being to the LORD, offer it in such a way that it is acceptable on your behalf. 6It shall be eaten on the same day you offer it, or on the next day; and anything left over until the third day shall be consumed in fire. 7If it is eaten at all on the third day, it is an abomination; it will not be acceptable. 8All who eat it shall be subject to punishment, because they have profaned what is holy to the LORD; and any such person shall be cut off from the people.
9When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very edges of your field, or gather the gleanings of your harvest. 10You shall not strip your vineyard bare, or gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and the alien: I am the LORD your God.
11You shall not steal; you shall not deal falsely; and you shall not lie to one another. 12And you shall not swear falsely by my name, profaning the name of your God: I am the LORD.
13You shall not defraud your neighbor; you shall not steal; and you shall not keep for yourself the wages of a laborer until morning. 14You shall not revile the deaf or put a stumbling block before the blind; you shall fear your God: I am the LORD.
15You shall not render an unjust judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great: with justice you shall judge your neighbor. 16You shall not go around as a slanderer among your people, and you shall not profit by the blood of your neighbor: I am the LORD.
17You shall not hate in your heart anyone of your kin; you shall reprove your neighbor, or you will incur guilt yourself. 18You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD.
These things are best said in the negative. The Kingdom of Gor is not about defrauding others, or eploiting others, or engineering institutional injustice (for whateevr reason — the law must be fair and equal).
And.. it is not about expecting the last but of costs. We are not to harvest to the edge, but leave a margin for those who are struggling. We should not be seeing to lower costs to the bleeding edge, but instead consider our workers — the current practice of permatemping, or shfiting things to other countries (exporting the polluiton and oppression of workers) is equally wrong.
We are instread to treat workers fairly. We are instrad to treat employers fairly.
For the key is at the end of this — we are not to hate our brother, or exploit our brother. This is a warning againts the powerful being oppressors — and the radicals stirring up class hatered. For as Isreal was accountable before God, so are we. God does not play ffavourties.
