Truth + Power


I called my blog "after his heart" when I started it several years ago because I really want to seek Jesus. With everything. I want his heart for this world and his perspective and his kingdom. It supercedes everything. Now is reality of my life reflective of that? No. I'm a freaking mess and I miss it all the time. But it's my aim. I try to live the best way I know how today. That 's what most of us do, isn't it? We are all doing the best we can with what we have been given. We all come from different backgrounds and perspectives but most humans want to do the right things and be a good person. Most Christians want to follow Jesus well. Recently I've been learning how important empathy is in this time in history. We need to hear other people's stories and try to put ourselves in their shoes, in their perspectives. When we chose to not listen to another person's experience, we chose to not honor their humanity. Their experience may be totally different than mine, but how is their experience in the world any less valid than mine? If you want to learn more about empathy, check out Brene Brown. She's awesome and needs to be our country's therapist right now.
But that's not what I wanted to talk about today.
I've been thinking about the holy tradition of resistance and speaking truth to corrupt power.Thinking a lot about Walter Brueggeman and how much his voice needs to be heard by the church right now.
Moses, Isaiah, Jesus, Martin Luther, William Wilberforce, MLK, Rosa Parks, Women's Suffrage, etc....all lived in times where power was corrupt. Where God's economy of justice and neighborliness was violated. God has always, always, always revealed that his heart is for the least of these. It didn't just come to the light when Jesus came. No. Read the whole story as if it's a whole story, not just a bunch of random verses and chapters. Read the entire narrative. What does God say in the whole narrative of scripture?
How does God say we are supposed to treat foreigners and immigrants (Leviticus 19:34; Deuteronomy 10:9, etc...there's a TON about his subject) How does God use foreigners to bring about his kingdom (Ruth, Woman at the Well)? How does God say were are to treat the poor (Leviticus 25:25; Matthew 25; Isaiah 58) What does God about treating people that cannot defend themselves? What does God say to rulers and powers and authorities who exploit and dehumanize any of those groups?( Isaiah 10 Amos 8). What does God say about why he destroyed Sodom and Gomorah? (Ezekiel 16:49-50). What does God say about a nation that pleases him (Isaiah 58)? What does the parable of the sheep and goats in Matthew 25 mean? What does it say? How are the godly to live (Psalm 82)?
I cannot shake the scriptures where time after time God raised up prophets to speak truth to the mighty who used their power to oppress and dehumanize others. All through scripture. All through history. Moses, Isaiah, Jesus, Martin Luther, William Wilberforce, MLK, Rosa Parks, Women's Suffrage, etc The godly do it in a submissive way. Without swords or guns or violence. Was MLK going against scripture (Romans 13:1) when he spoke truth to power in his time? Was he going against God's will? Should all African Americans in that time period been content with segregation and Jim Crow laws? Was that the scriptural mandate?
I can't get on board with the idea that every human that has ever been put into a position of authority is absolutely God's will. Romans 13:1 states that POSITIONS of authority are God ordained. The position of authority, not every person that has a position of authority. Because authority that is holy keeps things in order and ensures God's economy of justice, generosity, and neighborliness is carried out. But every person that comes to power is not an extension of God. I'll say it again: Not every ruler or king or president or czar that ever comes to power is an extension of God. Some rulers are disobedient to God. Some rulers abuse the power and when those rulers and authorities are unjust and ungodly, God raises up prophets. That's part of the story. Always has been part of the story. Moses, Isaiah, Jesus, Martin Luther, William Wilberforce, MLK, Rosa Parks, Women's Suffrage, etc...and the entirety of the prophetic texts in the Bible. Should Wilberforce have stopped speaking truth to power because the Bible says he's supposed to be submissive? When human beings made in the image of God were being bought and sold and beaten and every ounce of their humanity stripped from them? Because that was what the authorities of the time deemed law? NO. Absolutely not.
Was it God's will that Andrew Jackson be put in power so that the Trail of Tears would happen? Are Native Americans less the image of God than white Americans? I could go on, but just imagine a horrible ruler in history who dehumanizes and kills and oppresses tons of people that they deem less than human. Less Imago Dei. Just off the top of your head. WAS THAT GOD'S WILL? If so, then he's freaking bipolar. Because the tradition of scripture is that God creates positions of the authority, but humanity has free will, so sometimes evil rises to power. Sometimes democratic nations elect evil because they are afraid. That's why "good German folk" elected Hitler. And God raises up prophets (Deitrich Bonhoeffer) to speak truth to that power. Daniel the prophet in scripture didn't submit to Nebucadnezzer (evil king) when he was commanded to bow before an image of him. And Daniel was being obedient to God by DISOBEYING THE KING.
Sidenote: Hitler didn't start with gas chambers. He started by using incendiary language and appealed to the lackluster economy (want to inspire people? promise them more money/a better economy...all manner of evils are forgiven when you promise them $$$). He preyed on fears of the "other" to fan into flame the "us" vs "them" mentality. He convinced a nation that Jews were less human than non-Jews and he used "Christianity" to do it. In 1943 The US made an ad to combat this nonsense, here it is.
I don't really know how to wrap this up except to say that my heart is to follow Jesus and to live as faithfully to his way as I know how. And if you disagree with anything I've said here and are a Christian, I really believe that YOUR heart is to follow Jesus and live as faithfully to his way that you know how. I am learning that approaching people with a hypothesis of generosity is probably the best way to live in these times.
I'll end with Mary's Song. She was a Jewish girl (being female meant she didn't have the same rights as male) living in exile under Roman authority. Out of her homeland, as a foreigner in a nation that was the most powerful in the world at the time. The zealots were looking for a Messiah to forcibly take dominion over worldly and political power. But God had a better way, and used someone in a very low position. A person with no wealth, no riches, no political power, no military might; a humble position. God used HER to bring the King of Kings into the world. Did Jesus then seize political and worldly power and use a government to bring about his kingdom? John 18:36 Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place."
And Mary said:

"My soul glorifies the Lord
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior
for he has been mindful
of the humble state of his servant
From now on all generations will call me blessed,
for the Mighty One has done great things for me-
holy is his name.
His mercy extends to those who fear him
from generation to generation
He has performed mighty deeds with his arm
he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts
He has brought down rulers from their thrones
but has lifted up the humble
He has filled the hungry with good things
but has sent the rich away empty
He has helped his servant Israel
remembering to be merciful
to Abraham and his descendents forever

just as he promised our ancestors.

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