To listen to this sermon, click here.
The Second Hebrew Scripture Reading—Exodus 16: 9-16
Recently, in the all-natural section at Fred Meyers they have introduced a new bread from one of my favorite bread makers. Some of you might be familiar with Dave’s Killer Bread, a local bread company run by a former drug addict who served 15 years in prison. His breads have unique names, and I am particularly fond of “Sin Dawg.” It is full of cinnamon-sugar goo as well as lots of seeds and raisins. However, lately, my eye has been caught by another bread called “The Peace Bomb.” It’s caked with five different types of seeds. The description on the company’s website reads:
“WARNING: May cause overwhelming sense of peace, love, and happiness. Use of peace bomb around strangers may cause spontaneous friendliness, leading to good vibes and lifelong pals. Do not use if allergic to serenity, relaxation, and peace of mind.”
As a result of having become exposed to this Portland throwback to hippie love, I can no longer read today’s scripture without imagining Peace Bombs falling from the sky. I’ll make this loaf available downstairs after worship for anyone who would like to try it. We were going to have it for communion but the local stores were all sold out.
To really appreciate our scripture in today’s world, however, we have to not only imagine Peace Bombs raining from heaven, we have to think about the kind of situation the Israelites faced. We have to think about how they were facing not only a food crisis but a faith crisis. Ultimately, the central question that the scripture raises is this: when hard times hit, do we cast aside our core beliefs and values—our faith—or do we hang on? Do we refuse to give up and give in? To state it another way, do we head back to Egypt and forget about the God who set us free or do we stay the course hoping and believing that we will one day reach the promised land?
Our state is currently faced with a wilderness situation. We’re facing hard times. Last year, 1.2 million persons in Washington at some point found themselves lacking for food and receiving food assistance from the state. In the midst of this, as our state struggles to achieve a balanced budget, it’s been proposed that we put the State Food Assistance program on the chopping block. It’s been proposed as well that faith communities and non-profits fill the gap. Can you imagine churches suddenly coming up with $50 million extra dollars to run a social service program? Obviously, whoever thought of this idea has never run a capital campaign in a church.
Our state is facing a food crisis. Now this food crisis is also a moral and spiritual crisis. In this wilderness situation, we are faced with a dilemma. On the one hand, we can hold on to our values and our beliefs. We can continue to provide assistance to those in need. In an economy with mass unemployment the idea of self-help without basic support a cruel joke for many, so we can decide to make every effort to stay the course. Or, we can let go of all those hard fought victories from previous years that have allowed us to feed the hungry, to provide health care for our children, to offer quality education, and so on.
Now, I admit that a few months ago I was dreading what would happen during this legislative session. In a sermon, I lamented—perhaps complained—about our state’s shrinking revenue pie, a pie from which we all benefit. I’ll confess that I didn’t have a lot of hope, but this past week I sat down to educate myself about the current issues facing our state legislature, and I was delighted to find Peace Bombs falling from the sky. This morning I want to share with you briefly about three of these Peace Bombs. Unfortunately, I only have time to give you a taste of these Peace Bombs. If you want more, further information is available in the Narthex.
The first Peace Bomb is that our state has a lot of untapped money and lawmakers are starting to go after it. The Seattle Times and a couple of think tanks have been coming out with a series of articles and reports on how our state has given a number of corporate and professional tax breaks that go unexamined for years and years without sunset clauses. In some cases, these tax breaks date back to the 1930s. Unlike programs that assist low-income individuals, there are no tests conducted as to whether or not these corporations or professions need tax breaks. If this doesn’t sound significant and disconcerting, consider these facts:
1) Tax exemptions for cosmetic surgeries—facelifts and the like—cost our state nearly $14 million a year.[i]
2) The Joint Legislative Audit Review Committee has recommended ending two tax exemptions for the transportation of certain goods out of state. These exemptions were enacted in 1937 and are worth nearly $50 million a year.[ii]
3) In 1994, the state began to defer sales taxes for investments in research and development. In 2009, Microsoft alone deferred $34 million in taxes. The catch is that they never have to pay these taxes so long as the investments continue to be used. As Brier Dudley of The Seattle Times points out, this effectively makes a tax deferral a tax exemption.[iii]
4) In the five legislative sessions between 2003 and 2007, 77 corporate tax breaks were passed. Between 2007 and 2009 these tax breaks amounted to $600 million.[iv]
Contrary to common stereotypes and myths, the real crime of our government isn’t that it assists low-income individuals. It’s that it gives huge handouts to the rich and powerful. A bill currently being considered would start to counter this system of inequality. It would financially support the subsidized health insurance our state offers low-wage workers “by cutting tax exemptions on plastic surgery, banks, private planes,” and the coal plant in Centralia.[v]
The other Peace Bombs I found relate to two bills that the Children’s Alliance currently supports. The bill that perhaps excites me the most deals with a problem that never would have occurred to me. Does anyone here know what is the number one reason kids miss school? It’s untreated dental problems. Lack of access to dentists is actually a huge problem in this state. Thirty-five of 39 counties in Washington do not have enough dental care providers. This has a big impact on kids. Keep in mind a report from 2005 that says 60% of all the third graders in our state have cavities. Children from low-income families and children of color tend to suffer from untreated cavities and decay even more than their peers.
A bill modeled on a practice used in Alaska and more than 50 countries would go along way in fighting this problem. It would create a new mid-level dentistry position in our state for dental therapists. In places like Alaska, dental therapists are to dentists what nurse practitioners are to doctors. They are well-trained individuals who can go out into the field and treat people where they are, except when more advanced work is needed and a referral to a dentist is made. Dental therapists make a lot of sense in a time when a wave of dentists will soon be retiring and making our shortage even greater. In Alaska, they have found that dental therapists can be trained “in half the time” and at “half the cost” of dentists.[vi]
Briefly, one other Peace Bomb… There’s bill that would allow foster care kids to extend their time in foster care by one year, so that, if needed, they have additional time to secure the housing and the skills they need to survive on their own. This program would actually save our society money in the long run. A study by the University of Chicago found that those “who live in transitional youth housing programs are less likely to become homeless” or commit crimes. They are also “more likely to graduate from high school or get a GED and attend college.”[vii] With it being as hard as it is to find jobs these days, one can see how this program could make a big difference in the lives of those on the verge of aging out of the foster care system.
Each of these Peace Bombs points to ways that we can survive the wilderness and make it closer to the promised land. Whether you are going to Olympia with us or not on the 22nd, I recommend finding a Peace Bomb that you can focus on. Let a Peace Bomb bring happiness to your life. Let it be an explosion of good vibes. Let it be a source of hope. Let it be a sign of what can be accomplished when the people of God come together on a journey of faith. Amen.
[i] Economic Opportunity Institute, “$98 Million to Subsidize Cosmetic Surgery and Non-Organic Fertilizers—or Keep Medicaid Intact for 45,000 people?,” (January 26, 2011), <http://washingtonpolicywatch.org/2011/01/26/98-million-to-subsidize-cosmetic-surgery-and-non-organic-fertilizers-or-keep-medicaid-intact-for-45000-people>.
[ii] Economic Opportunity Institute, “$46 Million in Public Utility Tax Breaks for Corporate Transportation—or Food Assistance for Our Neighbors?,” (January 27, 2011), <http://washingtonpolicywatch.org/2011/01/27/46-million-in-public-utility-tax-breaks-for-corporate-transportation-or-food-assistance-for-our-neighbors>.
[iii] Brier Dudley, “Grumbling Grows over Corporate Tax Breaks,” The Seattle Times, (January 30, 2011), <http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2014078268_brier31.html>.
[iv] Marilyn P. Watkins, “Everybody Else Gets One: An Analysis of Tax Breaks in Washington State,” Economic Opportunity Institute, (April 2008).
[v] Curt Woodward, “House Dems Seek Tax Hikes to Sustain Basic Health,” The Olympian, (February 3, 2011), <http://www.theolympian.com/2011/02/03/1530766/house-dems-seek-tax-hikes-to-sustain.html>.
[vi] Children’s Alliance, “Dental Therapist Bill Will Improve Oral Health,” (January 24, 2011), <http://www.childrensalliance.org/no-kidding-blog/dental-therapist-bill-will-improve-oral-health>.
[vii] Children’s Alliance, “Putting Foster Kids on the Path to Self-Sufficiency,” (January 26, 2011), <http://www.childrensalliance.org/no-kidding-blog/putting-foster-kids-path-self-sufficiency>.