Some time later there was an incident involving a vineyard belonging to Naboth the Jezreelite. The vineyard was in Jezreel, close to the palace of Ahab king of Samaria. Ahab said to Naboth, “Let me have your vineyard to use for a vegetable garden, since it is close to my palace. In exchange I will give you a better vineyard or, if you prefer, I will pay you whatever it is worth.” 1 Kings 21:1-3
“The intention of mature materiality is to identify and enact more appropriate forms of habitation. Here are four markers for such responsible habitation:
Mature habitation of one’s right place is as an heir. The son in the Prodical Son parable was an heir, but he had forgotten that as an heir he not only owned the land but the land owned him. He belonged to the land. When he forgot his role as an heir, he could depart into a far country. When he returned to his father, however, he reentered his legacy and knew, from that moment, that he belonged to the land and it was his place of being and belonging.
In his narrative, Naboth is an example of a responsible heir (1 Kings 21). The royal power couple, Ahab and Jezebel, regard Naboth’s vineyard as a fungible piece of property for buying and selling. They think about every place through the lens of commodity. Naboth, however, knows better.
He knows that his vineyard property is not fungible. It cannot be “transacted” but, as he asserts, it is his “ancestral inheritance.” It has always been the home of his family. It is where he belongs. He must work and protect the vineyard because he belongs to it. This narrative is a stark example of two modes of habitation that clash.
Here, in this narrative as almost always, the force of commoditization seems to have the upper hand, a fact that makes habitation as inheritance difficult. The narrative attests, however, that the God who gives a livable place is fully on the side of such habitation that can so readily be overturned by usurpation…
Mature materiality requires a full commitment to such regard for one’s right place and equal regard for the right place of the neighbor, including the vulnerable neighbor. In our society it is the aggression of gentrification that most readily puts vulnerable inheritance at risk.”
Walter Brueggemann in Materiality As Resistance: Five Elements for Moral Action in the Real World (Louisville: WJKP, 2020), 71-72.
Notice how the person in power, Ahab, displaces the vulnerable person, Naboth, with corruption. We read this and claim that we have not committed such horrible atrocities. Sadly, have we. Each of us is guilty.
You can stop reading if you like, or even unsubscribe. God be with you. But an honest assessment of the global economy shows that the economic powers that be represent Ahab, and much of the world appears as Naboth.
Since I spend more time each year in the majority world, I tend to hear the cries of the displaced poor and needy people who have no land or place and come into view as victims of the global consumer economy.
This book has given structure to the distinctly Christian response to the global challenges I see linked to money, food, the body, time, and place more than any book I have read in recent history. Download it freely in PDF form here.
And think about what it means to inhabit a place as an heir. It means to live with roots and help others have roots. It means to respect the space and place of others and not try to have more than you need.
It means our footprint and impact aim to help people flourish around us rather than fold. We help people experience thriving rather than troubles. We love our neighbors as ourselves. God help us do this.
Keep praying for us in Colombia. The design lab continues to progress nicely to create a curriculum that will make Christ known and unleash accountability and generosity among the indigenous throughout the coffee region of Colombia.