Proper 22 B - Mark 7:9-13 - It Belongs to God - Robert Lupton
NOTE FROM SHAUN: I realize that Mk 7:9-13 is, unfortunately, cut out of the passage in this week's lection, but Lupton gives a great commentary for today's church on the context Jesus' words in this section...
corban: an ancient Hebrew practice of dedicating property to God, thus removing it from secular disposition, while still retaining onwership...
" It was an ingenious invention, really. Corban...a donor could make a contract with the church to dedicate certain of his holdings to the Lord but still use them for collateral in business dealings. Like most religious schemes, corban fell into abuse... It was on this point that Jesus offered come unwelcome words... (Mark 7:9-13)... to commit wealth in any form to God and then refuse to allow its use for those things God commands is sin. Shrewd sin. But sin nonetheless.
The practice of corban has resurfaced throughout church history... Corban indicates the extent to which religious people have taken control over the kingdom they call God's.
The church of which we are all a part has not escaped this tension. We too are pulled between the instinct for self-preservation and the yearning to spend our security on the intangibles of kingdom reality... It is hard to imagine how much of the assets of the kingdom are reserved in the endowments, dedicated funds, and certificates of deposit in the Western church. The Hebrews called it corban. We call it stewardship...
It is corban when we dam up the flow of our Lord's resources in restricted reservoirs against his kingdom's future needs, when those resources are required to provide employment and shelter for the very ones he affectionately calls "the least of these".
The Church is the only institution which, without irresponsibility, can expend all its resources on great and lavish bursts of compassion. It is ordained to give itself away, yet without loss. The Church, above all earthly symbols, bears the responsibility for declaring in the outpouring of resources, the utter dependability of God. To preserve its life is to lose it. "
Robert Lupton, There's is the Kingdom: Celebrating the Gospel in Urban America; Harper Collins; New York, NY; 1989; Pgs 90-91.
corban: an ancient Hebrew practice of dedicating property to God, thus removing it from secular disposition, while still retaining onwership...
" It was an ingenious invention, really. Corban...a donor could make a contract with the church to dedicate certain of his holdings to the Lord but still use them for collateral in business dealings. Like most religious schemes, corban fell into abuse... It was on this point that Jesus offered come unwelcome words... (Mark 7:9-13)... to commit wealth in any form to God and then refuse to allow its use for those things God commands is sin. Shrewd sin. But sin nonetheless.
The practice of corban has resurfaced throughout church history... Corban indicates the extent to which religious people have taken control over the kingdom they call God's.
The church of which we are all a part has not escaped this tension. We too are pulled between the instinct for self-preservation and the yearning to spend our security on the intangibles of kingdom reality... It is hard to imagine how much of the assets of the kingdom are reserved in the endowments, dedicated funds, and certificates of deposit in the Western church. The Hebrews called it corban. We call it stewardship...
It is corban when we dam up the flow of our Lord's resources in restricted reservoirs against his kingdom's future needs, when those resources are required to provide employment and shelter for the very ones he affectionately calls "the least of these".
The Church is the only institution which, without irresponsibility, can expend all its resources on great and lavish bursts of compassion. It is ordained to give itself away, yet without loss. The Church, above all earthly symbols, bears the responsibility for declaring in the outpouring of resources, the utter dependability of God. To preserve its life is to lose it. "
Robert Lupton, There's is the Kingdom: Celebrating the Gospel in Urban America; Harper Collins; New York, NY; 1989; Pgs 90-91.
posted by shaun | 1:07 PM
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