Epiphany 3
politics n. From
the Greek polis and polītēs having something to do with cities or communities or the citizens who
live in them. (www.mirriam-webster.com)
Someone once told me that Jesus had nothing to do with
politics. His earthly ministry was all
about spiritual and eternal things. According
to this person, when Jesus spoke about the poor, the captive or the oppressed,
he wasn’t referring to those who were poor, captive or oppressed in their
earthly life, but impoverished spiritually, captive to sin and oppressed by the
devil. I think he was wrong.
In my opinion, to spiritualize Jesus’ earthly ministry is to
deny his humanity. It is to make all Jesus’
healing miracles, his eating with tax collectors and sinners, his concern for
the neighbor into a sham. It is to turn
Christianity into an “opiate for the people,” as Marx erroneously claimed: nothing more than anesthesia against the harsh
realities of life in this world.
The minute Jesus proclaimed that that “Kingdom of God” was
at hand, he was involved in politics. Jesus
was not put to death because he comforted the “poor in spirit.” He was put to death because he claimed God
was more powerful than Caesar, and challenged the power and privilege of the
Judean leaders who collaborated with the Emperor. Leaders who claimed, in the Gospel of John, “we
have no King but the emperor!” (John
19:15). In today’s lesson, Jesus is
making a political statement.
But, Jesus’ politics are different, much different, than the
hate-filled, angry, divisive, character assignations that frequently define “politics”
today. Instead, Jesus’ politics were the
politics of love. Jesus’ political
program focused on reconciliation and restoration; healing, mercy, and compassion. Jesus ate with prostitutes and Pharisees. Jesus healed Jews and Gentiles. Jesus chastised
the Scribes and his own disciples.
We may eschew the “mixing” of politics and religion – but providing
food for the hungry, collecting clothing for the poor, or offering shelter for
the homeless are essentially political acts.
They say that the hungry, the poor and the homeless matter to us because
they matter to God. And, if they matter,
then shouldn’t we ask why they are hungry, poor and homeless in the first place? Otherwise, we risk caring just to make ourselves
feel better.
Christians can be found on the political left and the
political right. There are Christian
Republicans, Democrats and Independents.
Christians can hold a wide range of opinions on the whole range of “political”
issues that face our country and our world.
But, no matter what our political perspective, I hope and pray that we always
have Jesus’ love and concern for all God’s children front and center in all
that we say or do.
Peace,
Bishop
Mike.
This is gross misunderstanding of why the Jewish religious authorities wanted Jesus dead. The killing of Jesus wasn’t about political grievances (though the religious authorities and Roman government may have had those), economic hardships, or the "power and privilege" that the government and religious hierarchy had over the lower class Israelites. If these were, in fact, the religious or Roman government authorities’ motivation there is no evidence for it in the scriptures or serious primary source historical documents.
ReplyDeleteThe killing of Jesus was primarily about his claim to be God Almighty in human flesh who had come to die for the sins of the world on the cross and rise again. In the minds of the religious authorities, both his utter disregard for their man-made attempts to save themselves (and others) and his clear proclamations of blasphemy (e.g. claiming to be God in himself) were the reasons Jesus had to be put to death.
From the scriptures:
The Jews picked up stones again to stone him. Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you going to stone me?” The Jews answered him, “It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God.” (John 10:31-33)
This is the danger when we go with "our opinion" (i.e. speculations and desires) over the clear word of God.