Always this time of year it is responded to with ‘I can’t believe it is Christmas in a couple of days’. Gayle and I will look for some chicken… or maybe ostrich(?)… and a little prosecco (we are in Italy after all) today or tomorrow to celebrate. But what a deep season – God incarnate, coming into the world the same way we did, so that there might be those who go through the world the same way he did, so that there might be those who come through resurrection into the new creation. What a story.
I had a dream last night that might be more for me than anyone else. I was seated with a group of people who were focused on transforming the world. Present were numerous different ideologies / theologies and I was asked what I saw for the coming year. I began with ‘in these next two years’ but then stopped as it would at one level be rehearsing all that I ‘know’ (dangerous to assume what we know). I stopped and said ‘we will need to give up our view of the kingdom of God at each step as fresh understanding replaces what we already know’.
I then thought (in the dream and subsequent) – ok so that is also present within Scripture. Abraham is blessed and his slaves increase. We can see he is blessed – just count what (and who) he owns. Solomon impresses the Queen of Sheba. The ‘kingdom’ exceeds that of Egypt or anywhere else.
I say to Gayle ‘if we only had the Quran or simply the Hebrew Scriptures I wonder how we would interpret what it meant to follow God’. If we took the Hebrew Scriptures and followed the example of one who was dedicated to them and declared himself (even with hindsight) righteous we should express our zealousness with opposition to all who fall short of our understanding – persecution and even killing. But we have Jesus to whom the Scriptures bear faithful witness.
Matt. 20:26-27, Mk. 9:35, 10:43-44 all make it plain. The one who is / desires to be great becomes the servant of all, and if pushed to the extreme, the one who is to be first then becomes a slave (doulos).
You know that the rulers of the gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them It will not be so among you, but whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be your slave, just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many (Matt. 20:25-28).
Abraham’s greatness and sign of blessing was he had many slaves. Jesus said the sign of greatness is to be the slave. One understanding has to give way to the next.
And back to the dream… some of the ideologies in the room would be happy with a (maybe modified) view of ‘if we want to see the world transformed then the evidence will be we are in a place of power and influence’. This is why there are so many examples drawn for transformation from the Hebrew Scriptures but (as I have written before) the One we follow who was in the form of God became a slave (doulos). He did not become a slave in spite of being in the form of God but being in the form of God he became a slave. Jesus is God-like… God is Jesus-like.
It is for this reason our understanding of the kingdom has to give way in an ongoing way.
And finally – why does God not stop all the evil? (And what follows is an inadequate response to ‘why does a loving God allow suffering?’)
Wrong question I think. We are asking it of God. I think God asks it of humanity – for the heavens are God’s dwelling place; the planet is ours. And one day that binary divide will find unity, until then the critical part resides with the followers of Jesus. And that raises the question – what Jesus do we follow?
The lion might be a biblical image, but we have to see the Lamb and to be ready to follow where he goes.
Christmas is here again. We remember. Can Christmas come on a regular basis day by day beyond December 25th? And God was incarnate… Past tense or ongoing present.
I had a bit of a narrative shift last night when I was sleepless. And it fits with your post here.
For some time now, one of the dominant narratives globally has been the rise of the right, alt right, and authoritarianism. Fair enough as country after country seems enchanted with right wing populism no matter who it victimizes. Or victimization of the ‘others’ is the point. Humanity at its most vile.
But also interestingly, at the same time, there has been a rise of governments tossed out of office for corruption by young people. The protests center on unequal wealth, privilege, and opportunity as represented by corrupt government leaders.
The world recently went through a global pandemic. We were connected and informed about what was happening all over the planet during that time. At least in some countries, people were supported by their governments to stay home and keep others safe. Other countries offered less support or none at all. Many died. But many also lived who would have died. It was a massive disruption to everything in our lives from work to supply chains.
Historically, pandemics trigger social change. After the bubonic plague in the UK, labor was scarce due to the death rate and so working people gained more rights. They were able to leave feudal holdings and migrate to cities to earn more.
I think what we are watching and living right now is a tussle over how the post pandemic change will be defined. Will the opportunistic strong men and women take over, supported by the incredibly wealthy tech bros? Or will it be a general uprising from those who see themselves as having their future stolen from them due to corruption, climate change, and an unaffordable life, all supervised and managed by AI technology?
Life. Death. A statis in between. Where will we go? What doors open and close? Which wounds get healed and which ones are left to fester and influence the future?
The future is incredibly open right now, not closed. But we don’t know how long that will be true. Certainly, the right wing is acting with urgency. So are many youth. What about the rest of us?