Proclaiming Jubilee in the Midst of Foreclosures

by Mark Van Steenwyk 09-28-2009

My 1.5 year old son Jonas broke his first law last month. He and I were both guilty of trespassing, but a passerby would have seen a father and son playing in a backyard of a typical south Minneapolis home. As Jonas and I played in the yard with some friends from our faith community, a handful of activists and concerned neighbors were gathered inside lending their support to Rosemary Williams, a woman who had owned the property for over 20 years and lived on the block for 55 years. Like almost 2 million other Americans this year, Rosemary was facing foreclosure. After numerous failed attempts at renegotiating a mortgage with GMAC, Rosemary and friends decided to occupy her home until police decided to enforce the foreclosure.

On September 11, as Rosemary was preparing for her grandson’s birthday party, police came and forced everyone out of the home, arresting seven who refused to leave. To secure the home, GMAC placed 24-hour security at the home and secured doors and windows with steel plates.

To many, what happened on September 11 was justice. Rosemary was a woman who, lamentably, couldn’t pay her mortgage. And because of this, the bank had to take her home back.

But Jesus reveals a different vision of economic justice. We serve a Jesus who encouraged us to “forgive us our debts as we have forgiven our debtors.” Debt was one of the core social evils of Jesus’ day, and it is no less an issue today. We serve a Jesus who came with a gospel inspired by Old Testament Jubilee — an economic system that condemned usury, struck the root of generational poverty, and condemned acts of exploitation.

But in our society, exploitation and usury are part of the system. So, then, do we find “justice” when that system is ultimately upheld (through the eviction of a woman like Rosemary Williams), or when it is challenged?

At current rates, 9 million homes will be foreclosed on by 2012. We the church have an opportunity to be like Christ — to proclaim the Jubilee, to call for debt forgiveness, to call the wealthy to repentance, and proclaim liberation to the poor.

We have the opportunity to get in the way of evictions, helping people to occupy their homes as they seek new terms with predatory lenders. We have an opportunity to expose the nature of our usurious society and call people to jubilee. We have an opportunity for us to practice hospitality to the growing number of recently-evicted. May we, the followers of Jesus, proclaim jubilee to those awaiting salvation.

Mark Van Steenwyk is the founder of Missio Dei, a Mennonite intentional community anchored on the West Bank of Minneapolis. He’s a writer, speaker, and grassroots educator. He is the general editor of The Jesus Manifesto, a webzine that explores the way of Jesus in the shadow of the empire. Though anchored in Minneapolis, he also spends some time each month traveling to network with radical Christian communities.

Categories: Activism, Economics, Poverty

jurisnaturalist

Sir,
My life is an open book. I sign often with my real name, Nathanael Snow. I regularly open my home to those in need. I have said before that the right solution is to sacrifice personally.
Please forgive the impersonal tone of my earlier comment. If it is you who are in need, please let me know, and I will see what I can do for you.
ndsnow@gmail.com
Or my publicly published email at George Mason University where I am a student:
nsnow1@gmu.edu
To be clear, you are right: it is unjust for the banks to have their debts forgiven.
You are also right: my ego gets easily overblown.
You are right again: it is sometimes hard to meet our mortgage, and we have relied on the help of others.
And again: I have the vestiges of racism on me, though I confess they are sinful and in need of redemption.
Again: I struggle to love. I want to desperately, and submit to the love of Christ moving through me in my better moments.
Finally: Let me entreat rather than condescend.
Nathanael Snow

Orrin S. Pratt

yeah because loving our neighbor as ourself definitely means jerking around fags.
Wow, maybe i should stop reading the comments posted here. I am becoming as rude and judgmental as other commenters.
Leave gays alone. Please start focusing on something other that sex you pervert.
This was supposed to be about Rosemary and Justice and you had to bring up your fixation on gay sex.
And then you split this fixation off/out of yourself so that you could beat it up. Claim it should be punished. But not you punished just the gays.
this is sick.

Orrin S. Pratt

This will sound mean because it is. You are right, it is not an injustice that Rosemary was evicted. Or that Banks had their debts forgiven and then didn't forgive others debts.
What is an injustice is that you jurisnaturalist, seem to wholeheartedly love your own ego more than truth.
And that this comment know matter how correct or true is neither helpful, or damaging to your sinister and beautiful evil.
I hope that you would have the conviction to continue to suggest that were I to forcefully remove and/or evict you and whatever (obviously forgiving) family you have from your and their homes that it would also not be an injustice.
Do not make arguments stating that it would be different because you or your family pays your mortgages, because if you do, you will simply be expressing you own ethnocentric racist and and weak minded inability to love.
You condescending son of a...

markvans

Tony...are you really going to link to cheap foreclosure homes in light of this article? For real?

By the way, for those interested, I delve more into the Gospel rationale behind the above article here: http://www.jesusmanifesto.com/2009/10/greed-ame...

I'm planning on delving deeper into the implicications for Jubilee economics in the weeks to come.

foreclosure1

Aw man... such a bad situation to see in Rosemary's case. Imagine the scene, when you are preparing the birthday and police come and take you out of your home... damn :(

Regards,
Tony
http://www.foreclosurelistings.com/

markvans

Aw shucks. :)

People misunderstand me all the time because they automatically assume that I'm suggesting a policy shift or some sort of coercive system. Rather, my call is almost always for us to start voluntarily living into the Jubilee vision of Christ...starting where we can and going from there.

1Grace

" I was clear that we should NOT coerce people. What I am personally working for hear is voluntary redistribution and sharing."

Thanks Mark I did mis read what you were saying . I know in the Book of Acts much of what you say happened . The story of the Husband and wife holding out and falling dead , They were the modern day republicanns . ;0) Seriously though without Christ the system that supports Jubilee could be communistic or socialist also , without Christ at the head of the system , heart ache and lower living standards increases instead of decreases from a historical perspective . I think that is the problem with what i see placing those principles in a modern government system . How many people who receive aid from the government now feel thankfull or blessed by God , or feel the need to walk up to a taxpayer and say thanks for helping me out .
They may thank a political party , an idol actually from a Bibical perspective . Kind of idealogy on my part I guess. Anyway thanks for responding . You got a good heart .

markvans

I may be missing something, but I think you misunderstood me: I thought I was clear that we should NOT coerce people. What I am personally working for hear is voluntary redistribution and sharing.

And I'm not arguing that we obey Jubilee Laws. That would be impossible, unless we are all Jews redistributing the land back to our original allotment.

However, Jesus used Jubilee language to call his followers into a new socio-political reality. It is my contention that we simply soften Jesus' teachings because we are looking at them through the lens of late consumer capitalism. Re-reading the economic ideals of Yahweh and how they shaped Jesus' understanding of himself and his ministry and the Kingdom of God is essential.

So, it isn't about what the OT says, but what Jesus is saying.

When Jesus preached, he often employed Jubilee language to shape the imaginations of his readers. Almost every economic statement Jesus made (and there are MANY) fits into his assumption that the Jubilee was at hand...not a literal interpretation of Levitical laws, but a radicalized universalization that got to the root of economic justice.

1Grace

"The answer is: because Jesus not only affirmed the Jubilee, but actually deepened it into an ongoing practice, rather than a generational one"

Mark the Jubilee was never practiced in Israel from what I have learned . But that in neither here or there I guess. . It was in
the law Given by Moses , but like many of the Laws it was not carried out . I believe a Pope started the practice in Christian practices around the 1300's ?

Also to your point of coercing others to monetarily forgive debtors is not in my Bibical understanding . A big aspect of the Jubilee was not just for the debtors forgiven , but it was for those who are doing the forgiving . Its a two part spirtual concept with eternal rewards I agree , if we all agreed to it . I am not sure it is working unless we were all believers though , and then we would have to be all behaving like Christians .
Can you imagin forcing people to do this ? We can not stop abortions in this culture, prayers are not allowed in schools where we send our kids,
you be tarred and feathered as intolerant and hatefull.

My problem with coercing any law from the Torah is as Paul taught us . If we are obliged to the Law , we have to obey all the Law . The teaching was quite extensive on this because the Christians who were Jews were trying to make out like the non Jewish Christians were sinning for eating different foods and such .

Anyway look forward to this , if nothing so I can see where you coming from . I like the idea of second chances , but to coerce people into obeying Jewish laws given to Moses by God does take away from the Mercy and Grace In Christ from my Faith Understanding .

Now if you want to help people every year instead of just the year of the Jubilee , now you got me where we both can agree . ;0)

jurisnaturalist

A lot of this issue depends on one's perspective of the current recession. Perhaps the housing bubble pop was necessary to correct a mis-allocation of resources into the housing sector. If so, then there may need to be a corrective period where assets change hands until resources are correctly priced. Much of what is happening now may serve to slow-down the corrective process!
Banks refusing to re negotiate mortgages because they are hoping to get bailed out again prevents this process, and so does resisting foreclosure.
What to do? Again, invite the evicted into your homes. Oppose interventionist policies. Let the market do its job. Wait.

jurisnaturalist

I, too would like to see more renegotiations rather than foreclosures. I'm afraid the same government money which the banks received might also give them the incentive to foreclose more often. The complications of arbitrarily allocated taxpayer funds are nearly impossible to entangle. Part of why I dislike them so much. There's no way to demonstrate how the secondary consequences were caused by the primary influences.

I think calling lenders "predatory" goes too far. It suggests fraud. Most borrowers voluntarily got in over their heads and should not be bailed out. The exceptions must not influence the decision of the rule.

I think "getting in the way of evictions" is an attempt to put pressure on politicians, perhaps to force banks to write off foreclosures?

Honestly, I have a hard time identifying how Rosemary was treated unjustly. She had a rough break, and many around her are having a rough time, too. But that is not an injustice.

letjusticerolldown

There was not even need for the Christian protesters to sacrificially pay off the home. They could have pooled their money, paid off the mortgage, and issued a new mortgage if they (and the mortgage holder) agreed that to be most just.

There are all kinds of ethical angles on this. The reality is--someone must pay the bill for Jubilee. In South Minneapolis there are probably 100,000 who have taken a severe hit financially through the crisis. And there are probably 100,000 (many Christians) who pocketed a whole lot of cash in the run-up of housing prices. Lenders handed out money--based on people signing over their incomes for 30 years. Everyone's in the game--everyone risks.

And now we don't like the rules.

I know I don't.

But it looks to me like the frontline, non-violent action is going to have to be sacrificial love.

I'd love to hold the mortgage company responsible (i.e. Countrywide) to work-out a solution with my friend in S Mpls facing foreclosure. But wait--they are already forced out of business--rescued by Citiibank.. Which may collapse.

And at this point how do we all act? We each choose the options which will play to our best benefit. We are still taking risk--based on the shifting rules of the game.

If we don't enforce the rules--to whom do you wish to grant the power to choose not to enforce?? On what basis? Who gets the power to draft new rules?? How long do they stay in effect?? Who pays the cost of redemption?

markvans

It will take a lot to unpack how the practice of Jubilee relates to our modern American economic system. I should have done a better job unpacking, but, in my defense, I had to keep it to about 400 words. :)

But basically (and I hope to get into this more later when I have time), the issue isn't "how does what God did with the Jubilee in the Old Testament apply to Rosemary Williams" but instead "what is the economic 'system' or 'reality' that Jesus (inspired by Sabbath economic laws) is calling us (the Church) into and how do we relate to Rosemary Williams in light of that calling?

There is a lot of difference between these two questions. In the end, it means creating "an equitable society where we don't have yucky imbalances of wealth"--that society is the Kingdom of God. And we are called to radically live into that society even as we dwell in the shadow of oppressive systems. How do we negotiate our presence in both this Kingdom and in these oppressive systems? To me, it means creating opportunities to live into the former while resisting and naming the evil of the latter.

jessegavin

I am having a hard time understanding the analogy of Jubilee in the case of Rosemary Williams. My understanding of the OT was that land was given out to tribes and families. Those land owners had the option of selling the land, knowing that in year "50", it would be returned. The bible said that if it was year 49 of the Jubillee cycle, then they buyer (which should almost be called "renter") should only pay 1/50th the price for the land.

Rosemary Williams wasn't the "owner" of this house in the OT sense that I described above. The lender is the "owner" in this scenario. I feel like you're redefining the term "Jubilee" in a way that I don't understand (perhaps I need to read some books which explain this redefinition).

In hearing some of the news reports on this case one thing stood out to me. There was a crowd chanting something to the effect of "Housing is a human right". That is a fine statement. But I am not sure that living in a house that one cannot afford is a human right.

All that being said, I am 100% in favor of using all our means as Jesus-folk to create an equitable society where we don't have yucky imbalances of wealth. I am just not sure that this particular situation makes a ton of sense.

I could be very wrong.

markvans

The Bible doesn't so much condemn credit as it does cast a vision for debt cancellation. Jubilee can't simply be translated into our context, but it didn't distinguish between those who had debt (or fell into slavery or lost their land, etc) because of bad choices and those who had debt because of exploitation. In either case, the people of faith were to return the land back to the original allotment and all debts were to be released. Period.

What does that look like in light of Jesus' radicalization of the practice? It doesn't simply mean we can't have credit anymore or we are to enable people to make bad choices. But, I believe, it should mean we actively pursue an alternative economic vision (which you seem to be pursuing in your own practices) that affirm the realization that:

1) It is all God's stuff.
2) As brothers and sisters in Christ, we are part of the same family and should share out of our abundance to those with greater need (but not in a "charitable" way that reinforces inequalities). If any of us have means and see a brother or sister in need but do nothing, we are falling radical short (this is a clear teaching of Scripture).
3) The systems of this world are unjust and built largely upon many generations worth of injustice. We should prophetically challenge those systems as we call people into the Kingdom of God/Jubilee Economy.

markvans

The answer is: because Jesus not only affirmed the Jubilee, but actually deepened it into an ongoing practice, rather than a generational one.

Yes, people take out more than they can afford. But there is a reason why the foreclosure crisis is happening now. It isn't because people were greedy fools, but largely because the interest rate has spiked, costs of living has spiked, or jobs have been lost.

I believe that the powerful greedy are much more dangerous and contemptable than the powerless greedy.

Oh, and by the way, where are my blanket statements? Please respond to the article instead of knee jerking.

markvans

I'm not advocating a simple write-off of foreclosures. Rather, I'm hoping that banks would be more willing to renegotiate in light of the forgiveness they've received from government monies.

And I'm certainly advocating that we the church be willing to help one another out in a much deeper way than we've seen in our society. You are right that the sacrificial act of paying off loans is the better thing. The early church's appropriation of Jesus' revision of Jubilee (seen in the early chapters of Acts) is an example of sacrificial giving to meet needs.

I'm not seeking to manipulate the political mechanism...please show me where I've done that. Just because some activists do that (and have done that even in this case) doesn't mean I'm doing that. The truth is, wherever we see injustice, all those who want to challenge injustice will find themselves in the mix together.

TN_Horseman

I hold mortgages that serve two purposes. 1. I have loaned to people at preferred rates, who have less than stellar credit, but are Christians. This allows me to get a better than bank interest and save them thousands in closing costs and enjoy better interest rates than they could get from the credit market. 2. It allows me to have a higher retirement income, that allows me to give way over 10% to Christian work.

I can not afford to give this money away, it is money that will keep me off welfare in the future and be given to charity after my wife passes.

In my study of scripture, I'm not convinced that God was not telling us not to use credit. The concept of Jubilee may well have been victims of extreme circumstances, not persons who borrowed to much of made bad choices.

Minnesotan

It is great to see Sojourners applying Old Testament law to a contemporary situation. The Old Testament is not out of date! I look forward to seeing Sojourners applying Old Testament law to homosexual conduct. If the law on sexual relations is obsolete, then why is the law of jubilee not out of date, or Leviticus' command to love our neighbor as ourself?

Minnesotan

We should be cautious before assuming that the home owner is a wonderful person who has done no wrong, and the mortgage holder is evil. How does the law of jubilee operate in light of a greedy borrower who borrows more money than he can afford? The Bible also tells us to keep our promises. I don't think we can make blanket statements on who is in the right in these cases. It would be unjust if people could borrow money and then walk away from paying their debts, and then claiming that the lenders must forgive the loan. There is injustice in many of these situations, but not all.

jurisnaturalist

I agree that following precedes regeneration, though by following I usually think of a curious bystanding watching and listening rather than praxis. I think you would say that the way one comes to regeneration is by a re-forming of the imagination through imitation and practice. Close?
Do you really think banks should defraud their investors by writing off all foreclosures? I just don't see that as working out well. I also don't see this strategy of demonstrating sacrifice as nearly as compelling as the sacrificial act which either pays off the loan or invites the evicted to live with them.
It strikes me as an attempt to manipulate the political mechanism through popular opinion rather than an act of subversion.

markvans

Of course we expect jubilee from unbelievers. That isn't to say we should coerce them into it. But when Jesus walked around and proclaimed the Kingdom of God, he called all people to repent and follow. What we're doing with foreclosures and evictions is calling bankers and everyone else involved to repent and be a part of the Jubilee.

So of course we ask the world to embrace a kingdom ethic. But not one divorced from Christ. I am careful to keep this centered on Christ as much as possible. If they repent and start following in the way of Jesus, regeneration comes. Following precedes regeneration (of course, this is perhaps an Anabaptist way of seeing things).