Four weeks in post. Budget six months overdue. Financial markets in turmoil due to the coronavirus outbreak. Rishi Sunak's promotion to Chancellor of the Exchequer might seem something of a poisoned chalice. Whatever the proposals it contains Wednesday's budget statement will be a triumph over adversity.
Budget Day has a long tradition in Britain. Images of the Chancellor of the Exchequer leaving 11 Downing Street for the house of Commons with red box in hand are standard. The parliamentary event has traditions the origins of which are lost in the mists of time. All this to inform Parliament and nation of the plans the Government has to spend tax revenue in the year to come. Budgets are an exercise in public accountability.
Taxation is a hot issue. It was no different in the time of Jesus. Tax collectors were seen as greedy and dishonest. Working for the Roman authorities made them unpopular with their own community. They were treated with suspicion and contempt simply because of the work they did. Zacchaeus was shunned by the people of Jericho. In Capernaum, Pharisees took exception to Jesus eating at Matthew's house. In the eyes of the religious establishment tax collectors were sinners to be avoided at all costs. Jesus saw it differently, meeting them where they were and calling them friends.
Twenty-first century finance and fiscal policy is a complex business. Those who work with other people's money are often treated with same suspicion and contempt that first century tax collectors met with. Are we, as followers of Jesus, willing to meet them where they are and learn to call them friends?
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