This message is an edited version of a sermon given at Loving God Fellowship. Copyright © 2008 Loving God Fellowship, Inc. http://www.LovingGodFellowship.org . You are encouraged to share this message with those you know that are hungry for God’s Word.
What does the Christ Follower do in a Recession?
By Rev. Greg Johnson
Jeremiah 17:7-8
The new year of 2008 is off to a rocky start economically. There is beginning to be talk of the “R” word – Recession. Danny Schechter, director of the film In Debt We Trust, writes the following commentary in the December 2007 issue of Sojourners Magazine:
Mortgage Blues - Predatory credit hurts homeowners and the world economy.
"Today, 2 million families face foreclosure on their homes in the aftermath of what should be called the “subcrime”: Many credit-poor families were seduced into buying houses with so-called subprime loans (pricier than most ordinary loans) that the lender knew they could not afford. The mortgages had interest rates that were initially attractively low, but which quickly reset upwards. Families living on the edge soon found themselves in an unaffordable situation—especially as other costs, such as gas and food, went up. Many homeowners are now caught in a squeeze that could cause far more homelessness than Hurricane Katrina.
And they’re not the only ones in trouble. Financial markets are melting down. To keep them afloat, the Federal Reserve and its counterparts in other countries have had to inject hundreds of billions of dollars into the banking system. More than 140 companies have already imploded. Thousands in the housing industry are out of work. Economists fear a serious recession and are scaling back their projections for growth.
How was this allowed to happen? These days, instead of holding onto mortgages they make, most banks sell them to Wall Street. There, prominent firms make millions recycling mortgages into securities and other exotic financial instruments, often using them to provide financing for even bigger deals—and sanctioning the unrestrained greed and unregulated chicanery of the predatory lending industry.
It became a classic “the emperor has no clothes” story when it was revealed that many of those “asset-backed securities” had no real assets behind them. Suddenly, the paper proved worthless and the markets panicked. Soon there was a “crisis of liquidity” in financial circles, as it became clear that bad deals had been funded by bad debts. That’s where we are now: trying to figure out what’s real and what’s not, as the markets melt down and mortgage companies that engaged in predatory lending implode.
It’s a major crisis, impacting the people who can least afford it. In September, the Federal Reserve cut interest rates by half a percent—a move that will help bail out bankers, but not the people who are suffering under the burden of debt and foreclosures.
We need the media to put this crisis into a larger context, stop focusing on the woes of wealthy speculators, and show the economic pain of ordinary Americans. Only a few critics are telling the real story, as populist pundit Jim Hightower does: “At its core, this is a classically simple story of banker greed and outright sleaze. And the astonishing part is that nearly all of the rank injustice perpetrated by today’s moneychangers is considered legal and is practiced by supposedly reputable financial firms.”
In Europe and elsewhere, many religious leaders have been leading the fight for serious debt relief for Africa. Where are the voices calling for serious action to help those hurt by the mortgage crisis here in America?
We need to demand a moratorium on all foreclosures until we have a full investigation of the discriminatory and illegal targeting and deceptive marketing used by shady mortgage companies—and of the collusion by investment banks and hedge funds. Barack Obama has called for fines against these merchants of misery. But does that even go far enough? Should these firms be bailed out or jailed out? We need scandal, protest, and resistance. We need indictments. We need investments in housing, and massive paybacks by the financiers who enriched themselves at others’ expense.
Beyond that, we also need tougher regulation of the whole credit industry, including the predatory practices of credit card companies and payday lenders. These form part of the growing “financialization” of our society, which transfers more and more wealth from the people who have least to those at the top—a process that, in the case of the mortgage meltdown, has now put the entire global economy in jeopardy."
What does the Christ Follower do in a recession? What does the Christ follower do when things go south? What does the Christ follower do when things don’t look so good?
The Christ follower does the same thing in the bad times as they do in the good times – they bear good fruit. They continue the ministry of Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit. They minister at the point of need. They make a difference in their day.
Find encouragement today from God’s Word. (Jeremiah 17:7-8 NIV) ""But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him. {8} He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit."
The Christ follower lives by faith. Their trust is in Jesus, the One they follower. They realize that Jesus is the author of their faith and He is continually perfecting their faith as they follow Him from earth to glory. (Hebrews 12:2 NIV) "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."
The Christ follower is rooted and grounded in God’s Word. Just as a tree by a stream is rooted and grounded in a fashion to draw strength and refreshment from the stream, the Christ follower is rooted and grounded in God’s Word. They read it. They study it. They listen to it preached. They listen to it taught. They memorize it. They hide it in their heart. The Christ follower draws strength and refreshment from the water of the Word. When the heat intensifies, they don’t wilt and whither, because they are rooted and grounded in God’s Word.
The Christ follower does not live in worry or fear. They learn to release all of that to God in their place of prayer. They continue to trust in the One they follower. He is their Good Shepherd. (Psalms 23 NIV) "The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. {2} He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, {3} he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. {4} Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. {5} You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. {6} Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever."
The Christ follower bears good fruit. No matter what goes on around them, the Christ follower bears good fruit. In the good times and in the bad times, in the hot and in the cold, on the mountain top and in the valley, in the dessert and in the oasis, the Christ follower never fails to bear good fruit.
What does a Christ follower do in a recession? The same thing they always do. They bear good fruit. They can do this because they live by faith in Jesus, they stay in God’s Word and they refuse to live in worry and fear. And God blesses them with more of His amazing grace and shows the world around them that His grace is truly all sufficient.
Be blessed today as you trust in Jesus. Amen!
Know that you are loved,
Greg Johnson
www.GAJohnson.org
Founding Pastor
Loving God Fellowship
www.LovingGodFellowship.org
Loving God Fellowship is an interdenominational Christ following fellowship with a revolutionary new church plant in Salem, Oregon, and a worldwide Internet church community @ http://www.LGFinternetChurch.org .
