Episode Four: Zacchaeus the Tax Collector
Jane Kelly in conversation with Uncle Pastor Dr Ray Minniecon, discussing Jesus' encounter with Zacchaeus the tax collector.
Reimagining Power in a World of Plenty
For the past few decades I've been haunted by a question.
How, in a world of such abundance, can such poverty and injustice exist?
A younger me, after dabbling in some theological study, travelled with my church on an exposure trip to communities experiencing extreme poverty in sub-Saharan Africa.
I had read about inequality, I was studying global economics and was freshly aware of the centrality of addressing poverty and injustice to my faith. But nothing prepared me for being with families, women, children and men, living in the shadow of extreme poverty. Their dignity and resilience was remarkable. But the poverty itself was heartwrenching. Their stories were shaped by land dispossession, exploitative market systems, unmanageable debt, horrific abuse, and a lack of infrastructure and the basics needed to simply live. Stories I now recognise as being repeated the world over, and told by many Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander communities here in Australia.
In a world with so much, how was this possible?
The problem is not scarcity. The world produces more than enough of what we need. Global wealth has never been higher. Our technological capacity to solve such problems is extraordinary and continues to grow.
The problem is power. Who holds it, how it is concentrated, and whether it is used in the interest of a few, or for the flourishing of all.
In recent weeks, this reality has been unavoidably exposed through the revelations surrounding Jeffrey Epstein. Beyond the awful and sickening exploitation - the abuse and trafficking of women and girls - the files also illuminate something structural about elite networks and how they operate. They reveal how influence concentrates, and how those with wealth and access can coordinate, shape narratives, and defend policies that protect their economic advantage. One example that intersects with our domestic politics is correspondence showing well-connected figures discussing efforts to shape tax policy, including Australia’s proposed mining super profits tax during the Rudd government.
Tax can sound like a dry technicality. But in reality, tax policy is one of the primary mechanisms through which societies decide whether abundance will be shared or hoarded. Helping the rich minimise tax was the biggest part of Epstein’s profession, and a key part of how he grew his network. When extraordinarily wealthy actors work together in minimising or reshaping tax obligations, it is not about financial efficiency; it is about retaining power.
Which brings us back to that question.
How can such poverty exist in a world of abundance?
Because power, when concentrated in human hands, is far too often wielded selfishly and destructively rather than for the purposes of God. It bends inward, protects advantage, resists redistribution, exploits and extracts. In short, it's abused and it abuses.
The Apostle Paul in Ephesians 6:12 reminds us that “our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against powers and principalities.” He is not absolving individuals of responsibility; he is naming that much of the evil we wrestle is embedded into our structures and systems which have become shaped by darkness or sin, often expressed through greed, fear and domination.
The injustices we see are not just unfortunate by-products of what is otherwise a good system. They are the fruit of human sin expressed in our structures, too often reinforced by our culture and maintained by the stories we tell ourselves about the economy or our nation. We come to accept greed and fear as intrinsic and necessary parts of our economic system and the way we shape policy.
Walter Brueggemann refers to a “royal consciousness,” a settled imagination that assumes the present order is fixed and legitimate. The prophetic vocation of God’s people, according to Brueggemann, is to expose this as an illusion and imagine something different. Imagine a world not rooted in scarcity, anxiety or dominance, but in justice and shared flourishing.
There is power in this vocation. Power that can be expressed in our voice, our relationships, our economic choices and our ability to organise and advocate.
And in a democracy like Australia, that is particularly true. We may, in fact, be among the most politically empowered ordinary citizens who have ever lived. We vote. We gather. We speak publicly. We influence policy through collective action. These are not small things.
Common Grace exists because we believe that when ordinary people of faith act together; praying, advocating, building coalitions, pressing for policies that protect the vulnerable and steward creation, power can be redirected toward justice.
We believe this because we have seen it in action, and we know this is the direction that God is working, and the work he calls us to participate in. The biblical story does not end with the powers of kings and the ultra rich left unchecked. It ends with every knee bowing, and every tongue confessing, it ends with the restoration of creation, the lifting of the lowly, and justice rolling down like waters.
The question that confronted me years ago in sub-Saharan Africa remains one of the most profound questions we face.
How, in a world of such abundance, can such injustice endure?
It endures not because God has failed to provide, but because we so often fail to align our power with His purposes.
May we be people who use our power for good, people who advocate and act, who choose generosity over greed, shared flourishing over self-interest and faith over fear.
If you long to see power redirected toward justice and flourishing, I invite you to consider becoming a regular donor to Common Grace. Your ongoing support enables sustained advocacy, courageous public witness, and the patient movement-building required to see real change. Until 30th March, a generous donor has offered to match the first 12 months of your regular gift, doubling your impact.
Together, I know we can steward the power we have for the renewal God desires.
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February 2026 Updates
The latest Closing the Gap report is hard to read, with most targets still off track and incarceration continuing to impact children and families. And yet, we choose to hold onto a defiant hope - seen in growing early childhood education enrolment amongst Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, and in new national commitments like the First Nations Children’s Commissioner enshrined in legislation, and the first Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Domestic and Family Violence Plan, announced this month. We invite you to read the full Closing the Gap report and walk with us as we seek justice, healing and change together.
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Common Grace's commitment to justice for people seeking asylum is shaped by the belief that no one’s humanity is diminished by borders, and no one’s suffering should be rendered invisible. Across Australia and around the world, social cohesion feels increasingly fragile. Public debate is more polarised, communities are more divided, and the language of unity is often used as a call for others to stay quiet. At Common Grace, we believe this moment calls not for silence, but for deeper truth and courage. In this blog, our friend John Na’em Snobar, Director of Advocacy at Palestinian Christians in Australia, draws on Scripture, lived experience, and years in diplomacy to reflect on Australia’s cohesion debate. We are grateful for John's voice in this space and his invitation to imagine social cohesion that is shaped not by silence, but by justice, lament and shared humanity. You can read the blog here.
Common Grace is a proud partner of Renew Australia for All - a movement backed by social services, unions, environment organisations, faith groups, community groups and industry working together to address the climate and cost of living crisis and ensure our communities are safe and thriving even as we face extreme weather. Supporters of the Common Grace movement have been meeting with Parliamentarians to present Renew Australia for All’s Climate Safety Plan - to find out more visit the Renew Australia for All website, or get in touch with us to express your interest in attending a meeting.
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On March 8 we mark International Women’s Day, remembering that women worldwide face discrimination, inequality, and oppression because of their gender. Next week we’ll share a reflection by Ellaina Welsman, our Domestic and Family Justice Coordinator, on the stories we tell about gender and their impact on equality and preventing gender-based violence. We would love you to join us in praying for an end to domestic and family violence and for churches to be places of safety, respect, and dignity for all.
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Thank you for journeying with us as we seek to follow Jesus in ways that reflect justice, grace, and goodness. This movement is shaped by people like you - people willing to listen, to hope, and to act. We are deeply grateful to be part of this journey of justice with you.
Blessings,
Gershon Nimbalker
Common Grace National Director
This is Common Grace's February 2026 eNews update.
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