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Business and the Common Good

Ordinary Time (Second Section)Taxation, Public Revenue and the Common GoodWeek 36 · Day 5

Scripture References

Read First

Old Testament

Amos 8:4-7

4 Hear this, you who desire to swallow up the needy, and cause the poor of the land to fail,

5 saying, ‘When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell grain? And the Sabbath, that we may market wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel large, and dealing falsely with balances of deceit;

6 that we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals, and sell the sweepings with the wheat?’”

7 The LORD has sworn by the pride of Jacob, “Surely I will never forget any of their works.

New Testament

Colossians 3:23-24

23 And whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men,

24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ.

Thought for the Day

Amos listens to a kind of impatience: “When will the new moon be over that we may sell grain?” Worship is endured only until trade can resume. Then come the tricks: shrinking the measure, inflating the price, fixing the scales. The poor are treated as a market to be exploited rather than neighbours to be honoured. God says, simply, that he will not forget.

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Colossians, written into a world where many laboured without freedom, calls believers to work “from the soul”, as for the Lord and not for human masters. It does not bless injustice; it refuses to let injustice have the last word over the worker’s heart. Christ remains Lord, even in compromised economies.

Business and public revenue meet every day: wages declared, invoices paid, profits taxed, services funded. Scripture presses us to ask whether commerce is becoming a means of extraction, or a form of provision that makes room for human life.

Lord, cleanse our economic imagination. Make us truthful in our dealing and patient in our labour. Give employers and traders a fear of the Lord that becomes fairness. Give those who regulate markets and collect revenue courage to restrain exploitation. And teach us to see, in every transaction, a neighbour whose dignity matters to you.

Prayer Points

Respond
  • Confront exploitation in business and labour; defend those who are underpaid, coerced, or cheated.
  • Give integrity to employers, traders, and professionals; make honesty more natural than advantage.
  • Strengthen regulators and tax authorities to restrain fraud and protect the vulnerable without cruelty.
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  • Provide good work and fair wages; let labour be dignified, not dehumanising.
  • Purify our hearts from greed; teach us to work and spend as those who belong to Christ.
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