Reparations as Salvation

 Reparations as Salvation

It is interesting that I am writing this post at the beginning of Black History Month 2023. This month, we might hear of a word that the ruling group in society has turned into a cussword. Reparations. It's a word that is on the lips of those who have been fleeced by unjust systems that target and debase them. As hateful as the word might be to some - even some who say they love Jesus, the idea of reparations was God's. 

In Luke 19:1-10 we see how a true encounter with Jesus drives a bully to confront his sin and seek to mend his ways through a practical, actionable response known as reparations. Now, to be clear, whether we leave excited, disappointed, or pissed, whenever we truly encounter Jesus, we are changed. This is what happened to Zacchaeus.

 So, who was Zacchaeus and what does he have to do with reparations? 

Well, Zacchaeus was a sodomite. 

Now, before you get too excited about the direction you think this is going in, let me help untangle your drawers. Sodomy, as described by the Bible (Ezekiel 16) is the practice of greed, arrogance, apathy towards the poor, and such non-wonderful things. So, even though Zacchaeus was Jewish, his job as a tax collector for the ruling Roman empire, and his methods of collecting those taxes; the fact that he was a bully, a beneficiary of injustice, and a thief (overcharging the people to enrich himself) all made him a sodomite. What we know about Publicans and Tax Collectors from the Scriptures, with him being a 'Chief Tax Collector' Zacchaeus was certainly a sodomite and a comfortable one at that.

As the story is told, one day, Jesus is in town (Jericho) and Zach's curiosity about the person whose name was spoken of in every household got a hold of him. He went out to the gathering and when he finally got to see Jesus after much drama (tree-climbing, etc.) he became a changed man. It is this change that I will call his conviction and conversion which would launch Zachy on his discipleship path. Did I say 'discipleship'? I did. Reparations is an act of salvation, and discipleship. 

Zacchaeus begins to restore to the people what he crooked them out of - not only the principal, but four times the amount as he would have learned in Torah (Exodus 22). This would pay not only the original people robbed, but their posterity who would suffer because of their ancestors' inability to pass on generational wealth due to the actions of the Chief Tax Collector. 

So, this act of giving back to the people what was systematically stolen from them is also an act of salvation for Zacchaeus, and for the people. Their lives were transformed for the better. Reparations allowed them to begin to imagine and create a future filled with hope, instead of the hopeless, lifeless, circumstances they had historically known.

Well, good for Zach. Good for them. What does that have to do with now? The U.S., England, Spain, and others are beneficiaries of systems of subjugation that they have created to enrich themselves at the expense of the poor, and especially people of Color. Here in the U.S., the way the GI bill was administered has prevented people of Color from owning property and creating wealth as inheritance. Red-lining and predatorial lending are all sides of the same sodomite coin of keep the poor, poor. 

Sadly, this practice of systemic oppression is not limited to the secular world. The church has not been so diligent in hearing the Gospel and repenting of its own sodomy. The appointment system in The United Methodist Church is an indication of how much the two worlds are dovetailed. Most often than it is not, clergy of Color are appointed to congregations with a long history of financial weariness, which affects our pensions and quality of life compared to clergy who are not of Color. 

Reparations. It is beyond time for church and state to look more closely to the Biblical example and pay back what has been stolen. I feel a part two coming on, because...😏