Psalm Meditation 862
Christmas Day
December 25, 2016

Psalm 12
1 Help, O LORD, for there is no longer anyone who is godly; the faithful have disappeared from humankind.
2 They utter lies to each other; with flattering lips and a double heart they speak.
3 May the LORD cut off all flattering lips, the tongue that makes great boasts,
4 those who say, “With our tongues we will prevail; our lips are our own—who is our master?”
5 “Because the poor are despoiled, because the needy groan, I will now rise up,” says the LORD; “I will place them in the safety for which they long.”
6 The promises of the LORD are promises that are pure, silver refined in a furnace on the ground, purified seven times.
7 You, O LORD, will protect us; you will guard us from this generation forever.
8 On every side the wicked prowl, as vileness is exalted among humankind.
(NRSV)

When the announcement is made that a skilled athlete is to become the highest paid player in the league, in the sport or in the world there is a hue and cry from folks that no one is worth that kind of money. When a CEO is given a salary package in the millions of dollars there is the same hue and cry about that. There are also rationalizations for that kind of money being paid in those arenas. The important part is that some person or group is willing to pay that amount for the skills and expertise of the recipient.

When it is discovered that there are folks who cannot get by on the money they are being paid there is a hue and cry about that from folks as well. There is also the rationalization that these folks have done something to deserve this kind of wage. We come up with the same kinds of reasons we use to explain the salaries of athletes and CEOs. It is the fault/responsibility of the poor person. These folks deserve to be poor for personal rather than systemic reasons.

The psalmist reminds us that God is one who complains about the wages of the poor, and about the systems that keep folks in poverty no matter what the reason. God looks on the plight of the poor and stands in judgment against those of us who do not think of the poor and the ways we can bring justice to the economic system in which we all live and work.

December 19, 2016
LCM