Bailout

This week the big news has been all about the bailout of the financial markets. It looks like every sector is in trouble. The sub-prime mortgage industry had a major meltdown, along with home equity growth, banks, insurance companies, and major financial institutions. Job losses are at an all-time high, industry is having a hard time securing the capital it needs to operate, gas prices are sky-high, and food prices are inching upward at alarming rates. Certainly, greed has fueled much of the problem, although there are already indications that corruption and fraud might have been much more widespread than anyone initially dreamed (the FBI has made 400 arrests); the Foreclosure Rescue Scammers are particularly odious. By the way… have you checked on your 401K recently? Many 401K investments are wrapped up in mortgage backed securities packages. Now, all those packages are good for is to bleed 401K investments to zero. I could go on and on, but you get the idea… the damage caused by this catastrophe (of our own making, BTW) continues to mount: homes in foreclosure, jobs being lost, and companies and lives in ruin.

Most of us, having made a bad financial decision, have to be accountable for our actions. We take the loss, or perhaps make restitution, or even go under and have to start again from scratch. Wall Street, however, and its financial institutions… after making incredibly bad financial decisions to the tune of $700 billion… has convinced our government [leaders] to bail them out of their bad debts. I don’t pretend to understand how the bailout will work, how money will flow, and to whom, and… neither (it appears) does the Fed. The details are to be worked out over the coming weeks and months. $700 billion passed by the Senate, forced through the House, and signed by the President, and they don’t know how it’s supposed to be implemented! Am I the only one who’s worried?

I’m reminded of the parable of the unmerciful servant that Jesus first related to Peter:

23"Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand
talents [a million trillion gazillion dollars] was brought to him. 25Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.

26"The servant fell on his knees before him. 'Be patient with me,' he begged, 'and I will pay back everything.' 27The servant's master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.

28"But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii [a few bucks]. He grabbed him and began to choke him. 'Pay back what you owe me!' he demanded.

29"His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, 'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.'

30"But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. 31When the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed and went and told their master everything that had happened.

32"Then the master called the servant in. 'You wicked servant,' he said, 'I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?' 34In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.

35"This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart."

- Matthew 18:23-35

As Christians we understand that we are all sinners. We owe a debt to God that we can never repay. A debt, next to which even $700 billion pales by comparison… yet a debt which has already been completely paid on our behalf by the blood of Jesus Christ, shed for us upon the cross. While we are sometimes reluctant to believe it, God does love us, God does forgive us, and THAT… is good news!

That good news brings with it a challenge, because God calls us to forgive one another with the same spirit of compassion and generosity that God in Christ has already shown to us. Theoretically most of us would agree that we should do exactly that, yet there is often a considerable disconnect between our heads and our hearts when it comes to our willingness to forgive those who have hurt us… or betrayed us… or provoked us to rage. But just understanding that we should forgive is rarely enough.

In his book, The Art of Forgiving, Lewis Smedes said:

“We probably won’t do much forgiving unless something inside of us makes us want to do it. I am certain that people never forgive because they believe they have an obligation to do it or because someone told them to do it. Forgiveness has to come from inside as a desire of the heart. We forgive when we feel a strong wish to be free from the pain that glues us to a bruised moment of the past. We forgive when we feel God’s Spirit nudging us with an impulse to pull ourselves out of the sludge of our disabling resentment.”

Understanding forgiveness is rarely enough and sometimes… most of the time… we REALLY need God’s Spirit to push us out of that disabling resentment, and into the freedom that forgiveness brings. As I said before, I don’t know how the bailout will work, but if it is… and if our nation is to heal, and learn, and grow from this… I believe we must start with forgiveness.

Your brother in Christ,

Dave Hoag