What Would Jesus Buy?

Our sermon last Sunday was a little unusual.  At least it was for me.  Money and economics seem to be among those subjects that don’t often get mentioned in the same breath as the practice of our faith.  And yet I can’t imagine a more important element in the lives of the people God created and loves!  So we’re going to keep going for a while in this same vein and continue the discussion for a little longer.

On Sunday, we talked about the stuff we buy.  We covered three main points:  1) We buy a lot; 2) Our purchases have consequences; and 3) it is often difficult to know those exact consequences when it comes to any given purchase; as a result, it is difficult to know the right choice to make. So the question “What Would Jesus Buy?” is sometimes (though not always) a hard one to answer.

But a better question might be “What DID Jesus buy?”  Not much, it would seem, if you look to the biblical text for specific purchases that Jesus made or lists of things that he owned.  The few times the Bible speaks of Jesus acquiring food or drink, he created it out of thin air – as in the feeding of the 5,000; or he transformed something else – as in the water turned to wine at the wedding in Cana.  Interestingly, though he might have helped to consume these things, both of these stories are about Jesus making things for other people. 

In all of Jesus’ travels, I can’t think of a single purchase he made that was recorded, or any reference to any possession he might have had.  While Jesus didn’t appear to be anti-commerce, even he got angry enough to turn over tables when the buying and selling diminished the purpose of the temple, and by extension, the purposes of God.  That doesn’t completely answer the question of what we should and shouldn’t buy, but I think it does hint that less is more.  It should certainly make us question very deeply the necessity of our acquisitions, as well as their far reaching effects.
Also, while we can’t always know all that has gone into the production of some of the goods that we buy, it is important to know as much as we can.  Here are a couple of resources that can help you learn more about some of the issues involved.  The Story of Stuff (www.storyofstuff.org) is a set of videos that can be watched online and the website includes lots of additional resources and information, some of which I used in my sermon on Sunday. 

 Interestingly, Sunday night’s broadcast of This American Life (www.thisamericanlife.org) touched on this topic as well.  It included a radio adaptation by Mike Daisey of his one-man show “The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs.”  Daisey visited factories in China where electronics were being produced for western countries.  His delivery of the story is entertaining though some of his findings were sobering.  It’s worth a listen.
Living the Christian Life was never meant to be easy.  It is especially complicated in our multi-faceted, modern world.  We are called, however, to stay true to our calling no matter what; to honor God in every aspect of our lives.  This means that we think deeply about our actions that have far-reaching repercussions, and we take the time to know as much as we can about the things we do and the things we buy.   I realize this might be new territory for a lot of us, but I’m willing to try.  Are you?
See you Sunday! 

Blessings,

Rev. Nancy