The Original Occupy Movement

First, I want to say that there is no sponsor for this day's 24 hour prayer.

In Luke Chapter 19 Jesus tells a story about a nobleman who is leaving for awhile and he gives money to his servants and tells them to, "Occupy until I come." Those servants went out and got mixed results. Some made profits of varying sizes, while one hid his money in a piece of cloth and brought it back, making no profit. The nobleman comes back to reward each according to what he has done. The person who made the most gets more, the person who made no profit has his money taken away and given to the one who made the most.

This is a story that Jesus is telling about himself. His disciples thought the Kingdom of God was going to be restored at that time, and Jesus wanted them to keep their eye on the ball and realize that they had work to do, and that He would not be returning for a long time.

Today's Occupy movement is about taking up space, holding up progress, and making a statement against greed. And it takes place in the vacuum left by the church, which takes up space and has little to say about greed. Well, OK, some churches actually promote greed and materialism.

The church needs to reclaim the original occupy movement by entering the greed discussion from a Biblical point of view instead of what the modern occupiers are doing: opposing it with envy and anger. All of our political problems are merely manifestations of sin and spiritual death. They cannot be defeated by rules and regulations and ignorance-exploiting politicians. Only revival of the church and a Great Awakening in America will really give us Hope and Change.