A Spiritual Reflection on "Occupy Wall Street"

Recently, I chose to join more than five hundred people who gathered in Dallas for "Occupy Dallas." This is the local incarnation of the "Occupy Wall Street" movement that has been much in the news the past few weeks. More than 500 people gathered in Pioneer Park, and marched through downtown.

I want to say from the start that I understand how some do not like this movement. Others find it counterproductive. Such a movement, being from the "ground up," is also likely to be messy. I understand that.

Inside the movement, there are likely to be folks I don't much agree with-in terms of values, tactics, goals, and faith. I understand that.

And what I would say is: we should not just understand these things. We should expect them.

But since I chose to stand and be counted in this march, I felt I owed my congregation, and perhaps the greater community, some reasons as to why I chose to go.

Two media sources have been extremely helpful to me in "naming" why I chose to get involved. One is a column by Frida Ghitis, who writes for the Miami Herald. The other is from the radio program, "This American Life."

Frida Ghitis' column titled, "From Steve Jobs to Wall Street," points out that while the "Occupy Wall Street" protests appear to be angry at the wealthy, they are clearly not angry at all wealthy people. She says:

"You never hear anyone complain that Steve Jobs became a multi-billionaire. That tells us something important about what motivates the protests growing on Wall Street...The anger of demonstrators is not the result of envy or of politically-motivated hostility against the rich. Instead, it is the understandable expression of frustration with a system that has richly rewarded people who, quite simply, do not deserve it."

"Incredibly, in 2008, despite hundreds of billions in taxpayers' bailouts and trillions in losses for investors...Wall Street firms paid $18 billion in bonuses...The average bonus in the largest firms topped $265,000. In 2010, the average bonus for all firms was $128,000. That's on top of salary, options, and other perks."

This, friends, gets coupled with an attitude about those bonuses, an attitude from Wall Street itself that seems to say to all of us: "just be quiet and let us run things....let us give the bonuses we want to give...we know what we're doing...and we deserve it."

Which brings me to the second media source that inspired me to get involved with "Occupy Wall Street." It was a podcast from the radio show "This American Life" last year, and it was about Wall Street's reaction to the economic bailout. The podcast was entitled "Crybabies." As the name suggests, the piece notes that Wall Street-types seem particularly "sensitive" these days. The piece tells the story of Stephen Schwarzman, a Wall Street tycoon who famously said that raising the tax rate on corporations would be "like Hitler invading Poland."

Adam Davidson, a correspondent for Planet Money says that, far from being unique, Schwarzman's view seems to be the norm among both top Wall Street financiers and mid-level folks too:

"Pretty much every big bank that you can name-with the possible exception of maybe JPMorgan Chase-- would not exist today. It would have failed, if it wasn't for the government... [I]t still seems to me that it would be appropriate for folks on Wall Street to say publicly, and to really have inside of their souls, the fact that their businesses failed....And instead, I cannot think of a single thing I've heard in the media, or that I have directly heard, that expresses any gratitude..."

Our era is feeling more and more like the early 1900s, when the disparity between rich and poor was also quite great and when people also felt helpless. The wealthy in our country continue to get wealthier. The middle class is shrinking quickly. The ranks of the poor are exploding. Many people, including some reading this, are still looking for work or are very worried about their financial future. It's a very, very challenging time out there. And, interestingly, in the early 1900s, too, there were protests, and anger, against Wall Street.

So, what does our faith say about these things? Why would a person of faith like me support "Occupy Wall Street?"

After all, the most important thing you can hear from me is not a political diatribe, or even an economic one, but spiritual counsel and a challenge to live according to the morality that Jesus sets forth.

Speaking of that moral message, it's always fascinating how many things people think are in the Bible that aren't really in the Bible.

A few years back, someone at the courthouse came in to see [Judge] Dennise [Garcia, my wife] to ask her about a Bible passage. Bless their hearts, people just assume that because she's married to a minister she'll be able to know, and interpret, everything in the Bible. As if somebody could come to me and ask me to recite the Texas Family Code.

This person asked Dennise, "Hey, Judge, where is that passage in the Bible that says 'Give a man to fish, feed him today. Teach a man to fish, feed him for a lifetime?"

Dennise paused for a moment. "Um, that's not in the Bible..."

But this person was absolutely unconvinced. She looked at Dennise with eyes full of pity, a look that seemed to say, "Oh, you poor dear...you don't even know the Bible..." "Can you call Eric and ask him?"

I'm pretty sure this person spent the rest of the day on Google, trying to find where this phrase is in the Bible.

What is in the Bible? The feeding of the five thousand.

Jesus and his disciples are surrounded by five thousand hungry people. They only have two fish and few loaves of bread. But some of Jesus' disciples are actual fishermen.

So this would be the perfect time for Jesus to pull out a fishing lesson. It would be the perfect time for:  "Teach these folks to fish so that they may be fed for a lifetime..." Instead, when the disciples say: "Should we send them home?"

Jesus says: "No, you give them something to eat."

So, to Wall Street, and to all of us, I would say that this is what Jesus has to teach us:

The world will always say: "Don't get involved, hoard what you have."

Jesus will always say, "Give of what you have. It doesn't belong to you anyway. It belongs to God."

That's at the heart of what's missing in society today: an acknowledgment that all we have is a gift from God. We work hard not so we can get some financial reward, but because hard work itself is a reward. I often hear the word "entitlement" used to describe government programs. But I would suggest to you that the greatest sense of "entitlement" we see today is among the Wall Street wealthy, ("called the "One Percent" by the "Occupy Wall Street" crowd). They seem to feel the most "entitled" to take from our society and to not give back.

You can argue scripture. You can argue taxes and government programs. But one thing you cannot argue is my all-time favorite scripture for talking with a wealthy person:

"To whom much is given, much is required..."

That is in the Bible.

I like the New International Version translation even better:

"From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked."

Much will be DEMANDED.

You see, this is the spiritual truth of God. God would say to us, "by all means, go about making money. By all means, go about creating jobs. But understand that God's sense of justice and fairness says that if you accumulate more than your neighbor, then more will be required of you. Giving back will be required of you."

Which leads me to the parable of the wedding feast. A King, clearly among the top one percent in his society, has a son who is getting married. So, he decides to throw a great feast. He sends his slaves as messengers, out all across the land to invite the other wealthy one percent folks to join him for a great party.

Surprisingly, they don't come. Some make jokes about it. Some go back to their farms to work. Others even mistreat the slave-messengers and kill them.

The King becomes enraged. Eventually, he decides that he will no longer mess with these wealthy friends of his, but instead, he will fill his wedding party with other people instead. He asks his remaining slaves to go out to the main street. Just wander down the street, he tells them, and see who is there.

And along the way, they round up anybody who just happens to be standing around. The text says "both good and bad" people. Just anybody. And when it is time for the feast, the hall is filled with guests.

The Gospel of Luke tells this same story, only the King is more specific about who he wants to be invited. The King tells his slaves to: 'Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.'

If you want to understand what's fueling the "Occupy Wall Street" movement, then you've got to understand that average people in our society feel as if the wealthy are getting more than their fair share, not giving back, and are ungrateful for how we have all helped them.

From a perspective of faith, reading the Gospel of Christ, I absolutely agree with this. This movement, whatever comes of it, seeks to call them to account.

And whether we join it or just watch it, whether we are among the wealthy, or those still yearning for a job, it's important to remember that Jesus believes in a world where those who have been given much are required to give much. That is Jesus' sense of fairness.

And all would do well to remember that Jesus believes in a world where, if wedding guests are ungrateful for what they have been given, Jesus will simply invite the poor, the cripple and the lame to join him instead.