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Sunday
I have no idea how rightwing Christians like Speaker of the House Mike Johnson reconcile their faith with today’s Biblical readings, which all emphasize the dangers of wealth. On the other hand, for those like Nicaraguan poet-priest Ernesto Cardenal who have embraced liberation theology, these passages are foundational. In “Unrighteous Mammon” Cardenal even alludes to Luke 6:19.
The connecting thread between the readings is crystal clear. The first is from the prophet Amos (6:1a, 4-7):
Alas for those who are at ease in Zion,
and for those who feel secure on Mount Samaria.Alas for those who lie on beds of ivory,
and lounge on their couches,and eat lambs from the flock,
and calves from the stall;who sing idle songs to the sound of the harp,
and like David improvise on instruments of music;who drink wine from bowls,
and anoint themselves with the finest oils,
but are not grieved over the ruin of Joseph!Therefore they shall now be the first to go into exile,
and the revelry of the loungers shall pass away.
Paul picks up on the theme in his first letter to Timothy (6:6-10):
There is great gain in godliness combined with contentment; for we brought nothing into the world, so that we can take nothing out of it; but if we have food and clothing, we will be content with these. But those who want to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains.
Finally there’s Jesus’s story about the rich man and the poor man (Luke 6:19-31):
Jesus said, “There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who longed to satisfy his hunger with what fell from the rich man’s table; even the dogs would come and lick his sores. The poor man died and was carried away by the angels to be with Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried. In Hades, where he was being tormented, he looked up and saw Abraham far away with Lazarus by his side. He called out, `Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am in agony in these flames.’ But Abraham said, `Child, remember that during your lifetime you received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner evil things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in agony. Besides all this, between you and us a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who might want to pass from here to you cannot do so, and no one can cross from there to us.’ He said, `Then, father, I beg you to send him to my father’s house– for I have five brothers– that he may warn them, so that they will not also come into this place of torment.’ Abraham replied, `They have Moses and the prophets; they should listen to them.’ He said, `No, father Abraham; but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ He said to him, `If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.'”
Cardenal specifically alludes to this last passage in “Unrighteous Mammon”:
Unrighteous Mammon (Luke 16:9)
By Ernesto Cardenal
Trans. by Robert Pring-Mill
In respect of riches, then, just or unjust,
of goods be they ill-gotten or well-gotten:
All riches are unjust.
All goods,
ill-gotten.
If not by you, by others.
Your title deeds may be in order. But
did you buy your land from its true owner?
And he from its true owner? And the latter…?
Though your title go back to the grant of a king
was
the land ever the king’s?
Has no one ever deprived of it?
And the money you receive legitimately now
from client or Bank or National Funds
or from the U.S. Treasury,
was it ill-gotten at no point? Yet
do not think that in the Perfect Communist State
Christ’s parables will have lost relevance
Or Luke 16:9 have lost validity
and riches be no longer UNJUST
or that you will no longer have a duty to distribute riches.
Cardenal embraced the Sandinista revolution against dictator Anastasio Somoza and served for a while as minister of culture for the new regime (for which Pope John Paul II suspended him). While in office, he campaigned for “revolution without vengeance” and would eventually break with the government when it turned authoritarian. In 2019, a year before his death, he was rehabilitated by Pope Francis.
Whatever compromises Cardenal made with worldly authority, they don’t come anywhere near those of the MAGA Christians who supported Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill,” apparently no longer seeing it as their duty to distribute riches. They are not certainly not listening to Moses and the prophets, nor to Paul and Jesus. While I don’t expect them to embrace Cardenal’s Christian Marxism, they appear to be going out of their way to conform to lifestyles that these figures railed against.
Rev. Samuel Barbour, the North Carolina social activist, has accused MAGA Christianity of heresy. It appears that, for them, Christ’s parables have lost all relevance and all validity.
