Excerpt from a message given at Durham Friends Meeting, December 15, 2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here’s one way of looking at it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Take the four gospels. Each tells a story of a life. For the moment, put the Christmas story, the birth, to one side. And also put to one side the stuff at the end about the end of Jesus\u2019s life: about Jesus coming to Jerusalem where he\u2019s arrested, crucified and resurrected. Now without that beginning and that end, we have the story of a preacher and healer who wanders the countryside doing and saying attention-getting things. Fresh things. World turned upside down things. Be humble. Be so generous as to give away your only coat. Love your enemy no matter what. In that big middle story, Jesus gets crosswise with the religious leaders of his time. He heals on the sabbath, for example. But Jesus really doesn\u2019t encounter a soldier or a policeman. He\u2019s never really in danger. He never gets a ticket or a fine. He never spends a day in jail. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the middle of the story there\u2019s\nno mention of the Emperor or the Romans. And they\u2019re in control, we need to\nremember. The Romans have conquered\nIsrael and Judah and subjugated them. \nTheir Empire is the greatest, the mightiest ever known. At the end of story, when Jesus comes to\nJerusalem, Jesus does get in trouble with the authorities. Crucifixion is a Roman penalty for the most\nserious crimes \u2013 for challenging the authority of the Emperor. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
If we remember how it ends,\nthat puts the Christmas story in a new light. \nThe Christmas story announces the birth of a king: not just a mighty\nking, but the mightiest of all. It\nannounces the birth of a king who will sweep away all worldly kings, even the\nRoman emperor. Born in a stable, laid in\na manger. But here is a baby to whom the\nwisest of kings bow down. Here is a baby\nattended by angels. Here is baby who is\nhunted by a wicked king, but a baby who escapes and triumphs. And here triumphant is a new kind of king who\ntriumphs through love not through the sword. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis is the Anti-Empire,\u201d we might call this story. This is the empire out-empired. The story at the end is the same story told at the beginning. Christmas and Resurrection are versions of the same story. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
[The full message can be found at River View Friend<\/a>.]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Excerpt from a message given at Durham Friends Meeting, December 15, 2019 Here’s one way of looking at it. Take the four gospels. Each tells a story of a life. For the moment, put the Christmas story, the birth, to … Continue reading