Tag: power inequities

Christ Is Born (Luke 2:1-20)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
Nativity, by He Qi, 1998

In those days Caesar Augustus declared that everyone throughout the empire should be enrolled in the tax lists. This first enrollment occurred when Quirinius governed Syria. Everyone went to their own cities to be enrolled. Since Joseph belonged to David’s house and family line, he went up from the city of Nazareth in Galilee to David’s city, called Bethlehem, in Judea. He went to be enrolled together with Mary, who was promised to him in marriage and who was pregnant. While they were there, the time came for Mary to have her baby. She gave birth to her firstborn child, a son, wrapped him snugly, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the guestroom.

Nearby shepherds were living in the fields, guarding their sheep at night. The Lord’s angel stood before them, the Lord’s glory shone around them, and they were terrified.

The angel said, “Don’t be afraid! Look! I bring good news to you—wonderful, joyous news for all people. Your savior is born today in David’s city. He is Christ the Lord. This is a sign for you: you will find a newborn baby wrapped snugly and lying in a manger.” Suddenly a great assembly of the heavenly forces was with the angel praising God. They said, “Glory to God in heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors.”

When the angels returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let’s go right now to Bethlehem and see what’s happened. Let’s confirm what the Lord has revealed to us.” They went quickly and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in the manger. When they saw this, they reported what they had been told about this child. Everyone who heard it was amazed at what the shepherds told them. Mary committed these things to memory and considered them carefully. The shepherds returned home, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. Everything happened just as they had been told. (Common English Bible)

Nacimiento (Nativity), by Leoncio Saenz, 1983

It is of significance – and not by accident – that Jesus had a humble birth in a lowly setting. All around was the backdrop of a powerful Roman Empire. Whereas Christ could have been born as the mighty king that he actually is, he instead was born and then laid in a feeding trough for animals.

Caesar Augustus — whose name means revered or exalted one — ended a long period of war in the Roman Empire and was hailed as a prince of peace, the savior of the world. With his reign began the Pax Romana (Roman Peace). Under the rule of Augustus, the economy was booming; culture, religion, and infrastructure were developed and prospered. He was hailed by many with the title “Ceasar is Lord.”

Yet, as with many powerful rulers in history, Augustus ruthlessly suppressed his enemies and limited their human rights. It was peace by totalitarian rule – which is really no peace, at all.

It was in those days that Augustus proclaimed his decree for a census of the entire Roman world, so that taxes could be collected from all the conquered peoples of the empire. And so, despite being very pregnant, Mary and her fiancé Joseph made the arduous 90-mile trek from Nazareth in Galilee to Bethlehem, the city of David. That was the only way they could be properly registered, to return to the ancestral home.

It’s no surprise that Mary ended up giving birth to Jesus, far from their actual home, in less than ideal circumstances, for a delivery of a baby.

It appeared Ceasar Augustus was the absolute ruler, and much too powerful for anyone to challenge him. It also seemed that Jesus, a vulnerable little infant with even smaller resources, could do anything but just try and survive. But appearances can be, and are often, quite deceiving.

The Birth of Jesus Christ, by Woonbo Kim Ki-chang, 1952

In truth, Jesus is Lord, and Ceasar is not. Christ is the real Prince of Peace who brings God’s benevolent rule and reign to earth, as it is always done in heaven. And it will not be achieved through military power, but by the justice and mercy of God. Because, as it turns out, Love is a much greater force than any human authority or empire.

Considering God’s gracious kingdom – which turns all appearances on its head – it is quite appropriate that news of Christ’s royal birth comes first to a bunch of shepherds. They were among the lowliest of the emperor’s subjects.

Although we may tend to romanticize the shepherds keeping watch over their flocks by night, most people thought of shepherds as low class workers who nobody wanted to be around. They were poor, illiterate, and thought to be dishonorable drunks. Shepherds also had the reputation of being thieves because they grazed their flocks on other people’s property. In short, they were mostly the outcasts of society.

To this group of people the angel announces good news of great joy for all the people everywhere – and not just the powerful and the rich: To you is born this day in the city of David, a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. The shepherds go to Bethlehem to find this baby, and become the first to share the good news of the Savior’s birth.

Today, we still live in a world dominated by people who desire power and privilege over others. We still live in a world enamored with wealth and resources, power and authority, military might and social control. In this world, much like the ancient world, the lowly still get trampled and the least among us get little if any attention.

Masters of both small and large worlds will eventually be toppled, not to mention our own personal petty empires we seek to build. All of our planning and scheming will never bring true peace and security. Jesus has arrived! Christ is born! All other empires are now on borrowed time.

Nativity, by Joseph Mulamba-Mandangi, 2001

The Savior is born for all the world, for us, even though we are separated from Christ’s birth by two millennia. Jesus still comes to bring peace on earth and goodwill to all humanity through the power of Love. He still casts out fear and relieves anxious hearts. And his reign will last forever and ever.

With Jesus Christ as Sovereign, outcasts are welcomed in; the hungry are fed; the poor are lifted up; captives are set free; enemies are reconciled. And wherever the good news is proclaimed, guilt and shame melts away, and lives are changed.

Today Christians all over the world celebrate the birth of Christ. And we also look forward to his coming again, when his reign of justice, mercy, and peace comes in all its fullness.

May God bless you this Christmas and always. May you be comforted by the Lord’s presence in your life, and always follow his guiding light. For Christ has come, the Immanuel, God with us. Amen.

On the Importance of Hospitality (3 John 9-12)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year ALeave a comment
A mosaic of the Apostle John, at the Monastery of St. John the Theologian, in Patmos, Greece

I have written something to the church, but Diotrephes, who likes to put himself first, does not welcome us. So if I come, I will call attention to what he is doing in spreading false charges against us. And not content with those charges, he refuses to welcome the brothers and sisters and even prevents those who want to do so and expels them from the church.

Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but imitate what is good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God. Everyone has testified favorably about Demetrius, and so has the truth itself. We also testify for him, and you know that our testimony is true. (New Revised Standard Version)

I believe in an egalitarian world. Ideally, humanity is meant to live in equity with one another. Humility, meekness, and gentleness are to be the inner dispositions of a person’s life.

These virtues work themselves out in being concerned for the common good of all, laboring toward just and righteous ways of living for everyone and sharing our lives, as well as our resources, with each other. Viewing one another as equals inevitably leads to gracious hospitality.

However, in a world of power disparities, and privileged inequities, are attitudes of seeking attention, a perceived need to always win and be first, and tight-fisted control of authority and money. The common good of all persons is scaled back to be the concern for the common good of some. There is a failure to regard the weak, poor, and vulnerable as legitimate members of the community.

The Apostle John wrote his short succinct letter in a concern that the church may be following a leader who was taking them down a bad path – a road leading to injustice where power and privilege remain with a few, and perhaps even one. John’s plainspoken exhortation was to judge rightly between what is good and bad, and then imitate the good while forsaking the bad.

Hospitality is the true litmus test between the good and the bad.

An openness to the stranger, the immigrant, the migrant, the alien, the foreigner, the newcomer, and the outsider characterizes authentic fellowship.

Being closed to such persons and having a xenophobic bent to others who are different is the mark of unwelcoming and inhospitable people.

Hospitality serves others, whereas being inhospitable cajoles others to serve our needs.

Jesus, the Lord of all, did not come to this earth for people to serve him. Christ came to serve others, and to give his life to save many people (Matthew 20:28; Mark 10:45; John 13:1-17). We are to imitate the loving service and radical hospitality of the Lord Jesus. He is our example. We are to imitate Christ.

We must have both orthodoxy (right belief) and orthopraxy (right practice). Both go together like a hand in a glove. Good actions are the result of good and proper beliefs. The following are some thoughts about this nexus between belief and practice:

  • Hospitality (literally “love of the stranger”) is a way of life fundamental to orthodox Christianity, based in the person and work of Jesus
  • God is hospitable and loves the outsider, welcoming them into the dance of the Trinity, and provides for them; our human hospitality is to reflect this divine welcome
  • Hospitality means extending to another a kindness typically reserved for family or friends
  • The teaching of the New Testament emphasizes the practice of hospitality (Luke 14:12-14; Matthew 25:31-46)
  • The consistent witness of church history is to lift up and hold Christian hospitality.

“Whatever person you meet who needs your aid, you have no reason to refuse to help them.”

John Calvin

This was no mere theoretical advice for Calvin, whose ministry center of Geneva, Switzerland swelled with French Huguenot refugees fleeing persecution. Calvin, always the theologian, grounded his understanding of hospitality in the divine:

“We should not regard what a person is and what they deserve but we should go higher – that it is God who has placed us in the world for such a purpose that we be united and joined together. God has impressed the divine image in us and has given us a common nature, which should incite us to provide one for the other.”

John Calvin
  • Hospitality is a practice which integrates both respect and care. St. John Chrysostom warned his congregation to show “excessive joy” when offering hospitality to avoid shaming the recipient of care.
  • Biblical hospitality does not need to know all the details of someone’s life before extending care. If Christ forgave and healed those who injured him, how could we neglect even a starving murderer? 
  • True hospitality involves a face-to-face relationship of encouragement and respect – not just a distant giving of alms. Hospitable persons pay attention to others and share life with them.
  • The great twin concerns of hospitality are universalizing the neighbor and personalizing the stranger. One reason why many of the rich have little sympathy for the poor is because they seldom visit them. Hospitality depends on us recognizing our commonalities with strangers rather than our differences.
  • This is how we evaluate our hospitality: Did we see Christ in them? Did they see Christ in me?

Hospitable God:

Give us eyes to see the deepest needs of people.

Give us hearts full of love for our neighbors as well as for the strangers we meet.

Help us understand what it means to love others as we love ourselves.

Teach us to care in a way that strengthens those who are sick.

Fill us with generosity so we feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and give drink to the thirsty.

Let us be a healing balm to those who are weak and lonely and weary by offering our kindness to them.

May we remember to listen, smile, and offer a helping hand each time the opportunity presents itself. And may we conspire to create opportunities to do so.

Give us hearts of courage to risk loving our enemy.

Inspire us to go out of our way to include outsiders.

Help us to be welcoming and include all whom you send our way.

Let us be God’s hospitality in the world. Amen.

Imitate the Right Use of Power (1 Corinthians 4:14-20)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year ALeave a comment

I am writing this not to shame you but to warn you as my dear children. Even if you had ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. Therefore I urge you to imitate me. For this reason I have sent to you Timothy, my son whom I love, who is faithful in the Lord. He will remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus, which agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church.

Some of you have become arrogant, as if I were not coming to you. But I will come to you very soon, if the Lord is willing, and then I will find out not only how these arrogant people are talking, but what power they have. For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power. (New International Version)

We need to talk about power.

And we need solid sacred examples of how to wield power rightly and justly.

Power is a lot like sex. Everyone wants it, but not everyone respects it and uses it well.

Humanity was created by God to exercise power. True human power has always been intended by our Creator as a means of giving love to others. Wherever you find love being extended by people in power to the powerless, there you will see that it works.

Yet, here’s the rub for many of us: This godly use of power may not (and likely will not) achieve instant results. That’s probably why we so often associate humanity’s possession of power with threats, bullying, and violence – because they usually work to get the immediate results of obtaining power and keeping others in subservience to that power.

The right use of power rarely gets rolled out smoothy without any wrinkles to it. Instead, wielding power through love makes its way by means of suffering. It comes from the humble servants like Mother Teresa, and from those who could throw their weight around, but instead choose to use their influence for self-giving love.

This sort of just and right authority is realized when we are aware of our own weaknesses and failures. Believing that “might=right” is merely a prescription for working out our own complexes on other people; it will only result in extending hate, not love, when others resist our authority.

The ones who hold true power are those who know they are unworthy of it, and incapable of using it without humility and divine help. Real power is like a shepherd looking after a flock of sheep – and not like pulling out a sword to kill the bad guys when they come to challenge authority.

Believers everywhere need awareness that the Christian message offers a profound reversal of what we think we know about power. All signs of real power lead us to the foot of the cross. National governments seems to think that power must be both achieved and sustained by the threat of violence. But the power of God’s kingdom is exercised through giving, serving, and loving.

And it is that sort of power which transforms the world in ways that probably won’t make headlines on the nightly news. The power of Christ is passed on throughout the generations of believers – learned by imitating people, like the Apostle Paul, who demonstrated humble service, instead of arrogant authority.

Faith is passed from person to person; and not just handed down from individuals reading their bibles in seclusion. Power and authority are given to those who are capable of handling it with justice and righteousness.

“You have heard me teach things that have been confirmed by many reliable witnesses. Now teach these truths to other trustworthy people who will be able to pass them on to others.”

The Apostle Paul to his protégé Timothy (2 Timothy 2:2, NLT)

Christians learn from leaders how the faith is lived out, and how power is used, by imitating what they see and hear. Therefore, an important question is this: Who do I imitate?

“Dear brothers and sisters, pattern your lives after mine, and learn from those who follow our example.”

The Apostle Paul to the Philippian Church (Philippians 3:17, NLT)

Our great desire is that you will keep on loving others as long as life lasts, in order to make certain that what you hope for will come true. Then you will not become spiritually dull and indifferent. Instead, you will follow the example of those who are going to inherit God’s promises because of their faith and endurance. (Hebrews 6:11-12, NLT)

Remember your leaders who taught you the word of God. Think of all the good that has come from their lives, and follow the example of their faith. (Hebrews 13:7, NLT)

Those who hold authority and power in the Christian Church must exemplify a proven character of persevering love in the face of pain and suffering. Such persons, having shown humility through it all, are worthy to imitate.

This does not necessarily mean that we emulate those who eruditely speak the Word of God, have superior gifts and abilities, and enjoy success in ministry. It does mean that we ought to imitate, and have as mentors, those persons who imitate Christ and are not self-promoting peacocks who go after being admired and praised.

A cocky Christian leader who has not focused on suffering love, and who has not experienced the purgative fiery trials of this life, may easily become seduced by their own importance. However, leaders who have seen their share of hard circumstances, pain, and suffering, and have come through it loving God and serving others out of grace and humility, are leaders worth imitating. 

Character shapes power, and never the other way around.

God of unchangeable and unending power: Look with mercy on your Church everywhere, and carry out your good and loving purposes through us your people. We trust that your power and love will have it’s way in this old fallen world – and that your plan of salvation shall be carried out, through Jesus Christ our Lord, in the strength of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Changing the System (Philemon 1-25)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year ALeave a comment
A mosaic of Philemon’s slave, Onesimus

Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother,

To Philemon our dear friend and fellow worker—also to Apphia our sister and Archippus our fellow soldier—and to the church that meets in your home:

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

I always thank my God as I remember you in my prayers, because I hear about your love for all his holy people and your faith in the Lord Jesus. I pray that your partnership with us in the faith may be effective in deepening your understanding of every good thing we share for the sake of Christ. Your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the Lord’s people.

Therefore, although in Christ I could be bold and order you to do what you ought to do, yet I prefer to appeal to you on the basis of love. It is as none other than Paul—an old man and now also a prisoner of Christ Jesus—that I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, who became my son while I was in chains. Formerly he was useless to you, but now he has become useful both to you and to me.

I am sending him—who is my very heart—back to you. I would have liked to keep him with me so that he could take your place in helping me while I am in chains for the gospel. But I did not want to do anything without your consent, so that any favor you do would not seem forced but would be voluntary. Perhaps the reason he was separated from you for a little while was that you might have him back forever—no longer as a slave, but better than a slave, as a dear brother. He is very dear to me but even dearer to you, both as a fellow man and as a brother in the Lord.

So if you consider me a partner, welcome him as you would welcome me. If he has done you any wrong or owes you anything, charge it to me. I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand. I will pay it back—not to mention that you owe me your very self. I do wish, brother, that I may have some benefit from you in the Lord; refresh my heart in Christ. Confident of your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I ask.

And one thing more: Prepare a guest room for me, because I hope to be restored to you in answer to your prayers.

Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends you greetings. And so do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas and Luke, my fellow workers.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. (New International Version)

Orthodox depiction of Saints Apphia, Philemon, and Archippus

Tucked away near the end of the 66 books of the Holy Bible is the little letter of Philemon. Many Christians have neither heard a sermon preached on it, nor ever discussed it. Yet, there it is, contained as part of the New Testament canon. So, it could use some attention from us.

The letter is an appeal to Philemon concerning his slave Onesimus – who fled from his master and subsequently ended up converting to Christianity through the Apostle Paul’s influence.

At the time, Paul was imprisoned and Onesimus attended to his needs. Although Paul desired to keep Onesimus with him, he sent the slave back to Philemon. The Apostle was wanting the master to receive the slave as a beloved brother in the Lord, and not just as a servant. Then, Paul hoped Philemon would send Onesimus back to him, thus smoothing out the master/slave relationship and having his own needs met, as well.

The bottom line of the letter is that Paul very much desired that Onesimus be freed from his servitude by Philemon. He didn’t want to pull rank and twist Philemon’s arm to do it. Even though we don’t precisely know what happened in response to Paul’s letter, it’s likely that Onesimus was freed, since the appeal was included in the New Testament.

Christianity, ideally, is meant to transform lives, to change social relationships, to establish a truly egalitarian society in which the status of humans owning other humans would be done away with. Men ought to become brothers with one another and not highly stratified and separated with gross power inequities between them.

Now, in Christ, it doesn’t matter if you are a Jew or a Greek, a slave or free, male or female. You are all the same in Christ Jesus.

Galatians 3:28, ERV

Sitting where we are now, a few millennia later, we might find it curious that Paul and other biblical writers didn’t simply call for the outright abolition of slavery altogether. And yet, slavery was such an ensconced part of the ancient world (some places in the Roman Empire had up to 70% of the population as slaves) that to do so immediately would have likely brought such shock to the system that more harm than good may result.

In Paul’s experience, he continually went about the business of agitating for change by proclaiming a gospel of grace for all people. And the places where he did so saw great societal transformation – which is why Paul got so much pushback from so many authorities who benefited from keeping others under their feet.

In the household of faith, all persons are sisters and brothers and useful servants of one another and of the Lord.

The healings by Jesus in the Gospels not only restored one’s physical health but also restored the individual back to the community. The leper’s social stigma was lifted; the woman’s isolation due to bleeding was done away with; and stereotypes of those born with disabilities were overturned.

No one is inferior in the kingdom of God. Everyone is inherently worthy and has a vital purpose in God’s new society. Since the cross of Christ has erased all barriers, Christian community is to be realized through respectful equality, mutual love, and caring fellowship.

That’s how the system is changed.

Almighty God, by your Holy Spirit you have made us one with your saints in heaven and on earth. May our earthly pilgrimage be always supported by this fellowship of love and prayer, and know ourselves surrounded by their witness to your power and mercy; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.