“Release: Living in God's Economy”
Rev. Emily Labrecque, Westmoreland UCC
Matthew 19:16-22
September 27, 2026

[Pray.]

You’ve heard of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, correct? The triangular chart that organizes human motivations into a five-level pyramid moving from basic survival needs at the bottom, such as air, food, water, and sleep, to self-actualization, the desire to become the most you can be, at the top. This model shaped psychology for years to come. However, did you know that it actually came from research Abraham Maslow did in an indigenous Blackfoot Nation community in Alberta, Canada in the 1930s? Not only that, but it’s a complete white washed, individualistic, and perverse version of what he discovered in the Blackfoot Nation.

The idea that Maslow touted was that the highest achievement we can gain is self-actualization. However, according to Blackfoot wisdom, the highest level you could reach is that of cultural perpetuity, that is, preserving the culture, language, and traditions for future generations. And at the bottom of that tipi, not simply a triangle, is survival needs which include your basic needs, yes, but also community survival and shared resources.

Think about that for a moment ... the most basic level of need includes sharing resources. Only from there can we develop collective security and interdependence, mutual support and belonging, the sharing of wisdom, and then at the top, cultural perpetuity. In this tribe, every level of survival, of personal needs derives from and leads back to community.

I was reminded of this wisdom when I examined our text for the week. In Matthew, we hear of the rich young ruler who approaches Jesus to ask what he needs to do to inherent eternal life. He swears he’s done everything. So he asks Jesus what else he needs to do. Jesus says, You need to keep these commandments: “You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness. Honor your father and mother. Also, love your neighbor as yourself.”

Did you notice what all of those commandments have in common? They pertain to people, to community. They are not individualistic commandments. In fact, they are the most outward facing commandments of the infamous 10 Commandments. The way to inherent eternal life, whatever that means for this man in the first century, is through doing right by his community. “Well, I’ve done all of that,” the young man says, “what else should I do?” Jesus responds, “Go and sell your possessions, give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven, then come follow me.”

Well, that feels like an entirely different ball game, doesn’t it? It’s one thing to take care of your community, to share resources with your friends, to do right by folks. It’s another to sell your possessions.

Just as the man asked “which commandments,” I’m surprised he didn’t ask, “Which possessions?” I certainly would have wanted to know if Jesus meant, like, alllll my possessions? Or just the frivolous ones? Do I need to get rid of my kids abundant stuffies and legos and trinkets? Because that I would have NO PROBLEM saying yes to. But if he’s talking about my bed, my house, my car ... that feels ... harder.

This text is ultimately about release ... releasing anything that keeps us from freedom and wholeness. In the schema of Our Money Story, we seek to release those narratives of guilt and shame that hold us back from living fully into God’s great story of love and abundance. However, releasing is a spiritual practice and a social ethic that we utilize to benefit the greater community. As Jesus reminds us in this text, doing right by our community brings us closer to God. But what does that mean in this context?

We heard last week that Jesus’ term for the “alternative economy was “kingdom of God” which is a social practice and set of social relationships that are congruent with the God of the covenantal Torah of ancient Israel.” (Brueggemann) This makes Jesus’ response makes sense, then that he would lift up the socially oriented commandments. He was ensuring the rich young man understood the role our relationships play in building up the Kin-dom of God.

When we place our human understandings of fairness and justice ahead of God’s, we fail to embrace God’s economy, because God’s economy releases all of those expectations and invites us to think about how to dismantle oppressive financial systems. These systems include, but are not limited to, the egregious medical debt people face in this country, low-income borrowers who face higher interest rates, being charged an overdraft fee when you are already overdrafting, and complex systems that penalize ordinary errors or lack of education. Add to that the consumerism that plagues this country and the need to “keep up with the Jones” just to feel a sense of belonging.

Author Jen Hatmaker writes, “What if a bunch of Christians wrote a new story, becoming consumers the earth is groaning for? … I’m betting our stuff would lose its grip and we’d discover riches contained in a simpler life, a communal responsibility. Money is the most frequent theme in scripture ... Maybe we don’t recognize satisfaction because it is disguised as radical generosity, a strange misnomer in a consumer culture.”

What if? What if we tried to rid ourselves of our excess, shared and loaned and borrowed more than we bought, relied on our neighborhood and church for support, and practiced radical generosity? What if we released these old practices so we could reimagine a new way forward?

Before we imagine together, let’s return to that Blackfoot Tipi, the one built from shared resources to shelter a family, the one that reminds us that survival was never a solo act. In Blackfoot wisdom, no one gets to the top by leaving people behind. You reach the highest level of being by ensuring everyone else in your community has enough.

That’s the economy Jesus was inviting the rich young man into. The kin-dom of God. A system built on releasing whatever doesn't serve you or your neighbor. A release back to the foundational truth that our liberation and wellbeing is tied up in our neighbors. The young man walked away sad, perhaps because he spent his life building up treasures on earth instead of in heaven.

So when we ask what we need to release, we need to be clear:

Is it releasing our shame about carrying a $70,000 deficit for multiple years?
Is it releasing the resentment that you give more than others and wish they would step up?
Is it releasing the idea that more young families would save us from decline?
Is it releasing some of our less active ministries to make room for new energizing ministries?

We’re not being asked to give something up and get nothing back. We’re being invited back into that foundational truth that our survival, our communal perpetuity, relies on shared resources, relies on God’s economy.

Let us release those traditional expectations of what should be so we can embrace what can be.

Amen.