Sunday's Gospel Reading is about choices. More importantly, it is about choosing God’s Kingdom over the Kingdom of Rome. It is--at its most fundamental--about taking sides with those whose only hope is God and rejecting Pax Romana, its paterfamilias, its peace based on war, its systems of patronage.
Foxes having holes and birds having nests allude to the imperial family and its domain-- the basic hierarchical unit of society--that provided food, clothing, shelter, safety, security, and honor. Those who follow the "Homeless Jesus" are members of a different household: God’s oikos where widows, orphans, and refugees are the most privileged and where even the most unwelcome is always welcome. Yes, even beggars.
Burial rites are again part of the rituals and obligations of the imperial family. Going and proclaiming good news to the poor, release to the captives, recovery of sight to the blind; letting the oppressed go free, and proclaiming the year of the Lord’s favor--God's jubilee of justice--takes priority.
Anyone who has put a hand to the plow knows that looking back is unacceptable. The one who has decided to become a farmer in the Kingdom of God but yearns to go back to farming for the Kingdom of Rome, the complete opposite direction, is not fit to follow Jesus.
The challenge of the song we learned in Sunday School is true. "I have decided to follow Jesus... No turning back!"
Donald Trump and those who believe that following Jesus of Nazareth is easy, rewarding, and will bring us closer to heaven are following the wrong Jesus.
*art, "Homeless Jesus," sculpture by Timothy Schamlz (at King's University College, Ontario), image from vanderbilt divinity library digital archives.
No comments:
Post a Comment