A Moral Document

In my email yesterday was a copy of an address given by Rev. John Thomas, the General Minister of the United Church of Christ, at the fall meeting of their Executive Council. There was quite a lot of prophetic plain-speaking to the principalities and powers, but I was struck by this quote:

"Yesterday I participated in a telephone press conference with Frank Griswold, Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, and Senator Harry Reid, Democratic leader in the Senate, in an effort to build support for opposing the current recommendations of the administration and the Republican congressional leadership that would cut as much as $50 billion from the 2006 Federal Budget, cuts affecting medicaid, student loans, food stamps, and countless other programs supplying the most minimal safety net for the poor, while either continuing or adding up to $70 billion in tax cuts for the wealthiest of our citizens. The press conference was part of an on-going effort by the leadership of five mainline denominations - Lutheran, Methodist, Episcopal, Presbyterian, and United Church of Christ - to lift up the federal budget as a moral document that in its present form fails miserably to meet the Biblical standards of fidelity" (emphasis mine).

In my own denomination, the Reformed Church in America, we speak often about a "Covenant of Care." It signifies a pledge of obedience to care for the least among us (Matthew 25), and has its roots in God's own concern for the poor and the helpless, expressed in the Torah. "Since there will never cease to be some in need on the earth, I therefore command you, 'Open your hand to the poor and needy neighbor in your land'" (Dt 15:11; cf. also Lev 25). When we care for one another, especially the most vulnerable, we live out the grace God has shown to us in our own deliverance.

Speaking to power would seem to require addressing how our taxes are spent, in light of our biblical heritage. The idea that the dry and complicated behemoth which is our multi-trillion dollar budget is a moral document, places the whole discussion in a new and compelling light. It is not merely about policy, but about individual lives which will be affected in profound ways. I have never been asked to pray for a federal budget, but I think it to be a very fine idea. May those who are in power over us, heed God's commandments in the midst of their dreams of hegemony and lucre.

For those interested in slogging through the actual budget for 2006, you can access it here.