Month: December 2019

A Strange Way to Save the World

‘The people who walk in darkness will see a great light…for a child is born to us, a son is given to us’ – (Isaiah 9:2;6)

One small child.  Born into poverty.  Laid in a manger.  God’s plan to save the world.

Ridiculous. 

I mean, just look at the scope of the problem: a world fallen from its original purpose, trapped under the power of sin and death.  A power capable of separating people from one another and from God.  God had a plan to defeat it though, the prophets said.  A plan that would save the people from sin and death, turn swords into plowshares, guide humanity in the way of peace, replace hearts of stone with hearts of flesh, make all things new, and carry humanity back to God. 

Surely it would be a grand plan.  God would give us something mighty and powerful.  Something to set the hair of the world on end. 

Instead, he gave a baby. 

Worse still, he sent the baby into enemy occupied territory.  Israel was a mere a province in the vast Roman Empire, an empire that never hesitated to make an example of anyone deemed to pose a threat.  The ruler of Judea, King Herod, governed with the consent of this empire, and was just as bad.  Indeed, Matthew tells us that in the wake of Jesus’ birth, Herod did everything he could to kill him.  A bit later, Luke tells us, an old man named Simeon pronounced that the child will be opposed. 

And he would be.  The road that lay ahead of that small child born and laid in a manger was fraught with opposition.  He would wield no political or military power, yet somehow be called upon to navigate through a maze of religious, political, and demonic power to fulfill his mission.  Which was – and this is truly ridiculous – to reveal God’s love to the world by dying on a cross. 

This was God’s plan to save the world from the dungeon of darkness. 

Like I keep saying, it was ridiculous.  If we had stood by Jesus’ manger that first Christmas night, I wonder what odds we would have given that he would succeed?  A baby against an empire?  A baby against the power of religion?  A baby against the forces of hell?  What were the odds of success?

Zip.  Zero.  Nada.  Goose eggs. 

Someone out there may recognize the way I just said that.  That sequence of words comes from one of my favorite children’s books: Kate DiCamillo’s The Tale of Despereaux.  It tells the story of a mouse, Despereaux Tilling, who was born into his own version of a dangerous world.  He was so small that no one expected him to live.  But somehow, he did.  He was different from other mice in that he had very large ears and was born with his eyes open.  Thus, from the very beginning, Despereaux Tilling was able to see and hear more than others.  He was also unlike other mice in that while other mice were afraid of their own shadows, Despereaux dreamed of valor, honor, and most of all, courage.   

Despereaux and his fellow mice lived in the King’s Castle in the Kingdom of Dor, and while the other mice avoided contact with the people of the castle, Despereaux actively sought them out.  One day, while wandering around the castle, he met the Princess Pea.  And that’s when something grand happened: she smiled at him, and he smiled back.  And then, if you can believe it, he fell in love.  DiCamillo notes in her book right away that it is of course ridiculous for a mouse to fall in love with a princess.  But then again, as she puts it, ‘love is ridiculous.  But, love is also wonderful.  And powerful.  And Despereaux’s love for Pea would prove, in time, to be all of these things: powerful, wonderful and ridiculous.’

At about the time that Despereaux was ridiculously falling in love with a human princess, a series of events were unfolding that brought disaster to the Kingdom of Dor.  I don’t want to ruin the story for you – I would encourage you all to read it for yourselves – but the long and the short of it is that Pea is kidnapped and taken to the deepest part of the dungeon beneath the castle.  Guess to whom it falls to rescue her? 

That’s right, Despereaux Tilling.  Armed with nothing more than a spool of red thread and a needle, he descends into the dungeon to find the princess. 

Which takes me to the point of this post.  DiCamillo writes:

‘That night, Despereaux rolled the thread from the threadmaster’s lair, along innumerable hallways and down three flights of stairs.  Reader, allow me to put this in perspective for you: your average mouse (or castle mouse, if you will) weighs somewhere in the neighborhood of four ounces.  Despereaux, as you well know, was in no way average.  In fact, he was so incredibly small that he weighed about half of what the average mouse weighs: two ounces.  That is all.  Think about it: He was nothing but two ounces of mouse pushing a spool of thread that weighed almost as much as he did.  Honestly, what do you think the chances are of such a small mouse succeeding in his quest?  Zip.  Zero.  Nada.  Goose eggs.’ 

In other words, the same as the odds of one small child succeeding in his quest to save the world. 

But then, DiCamillo adds these beautiful words:

‘But you must, when you are calculating the odds of the mouse’s success, factor in his love for the princess.  Love, as we have already discussed, is a powerful, wonderful, ridiculous thing, capable of moving mountains.  And spools of thread.’ 

Love people.   Do you get it?  God’s strange way to save the world, through the birth of one small child, is surely as ridiculous as the notion of a mouse going off to save a princess.  And the odds of success in each case would seem to be about the same.  Zip.  Zero.  Nada.  Goose eggs.  But, just as it was in The Tale of Despereaux, you must, when calculating the odds of a small child’s success, factor in love.  For love, as we have said, is ridiculous, but it is also a powerful and wonderful thing, capable of moving mountains. And saving the world. 

This Christmas, know that it was God’s love that came down at Christmas time.  God’s love that led to the birth of that one small child.  God’s love that led that child to fulfill his mission and rescue us from our dungeons of sin and death.  This Christmas, I hope you will be a little ridiculous yourself – and love him back with all of your heart and soul – that you might experience just how ridiculous, powerful and wonderful God’s love truly is.  

Under Christ’s Mercy,

Brent

The World Outside Your Window

‘There’s a world outside your window, and it’s a world of dread and fear’ – Band Aid

‘Christmas is a time for positive thoughts.  So be positive in all you say and do this season.’  So said the article written by a prominent Evangelical Christian.  Out of context it sounds like good advice, a ‘count your blessings’ and ‘focus on the joys of the season’ sort of thing. I suppose he has a point.  There is so much to celebrate at Christmastime.  It would be a shame to miss out by thinking gloomy thoughts.  But the writer had an agenda.  His tone and tenor suggested that his real purpose was to silence anyone from speaking out against the cruelty and corruption of the Trump Administration.  It was basically a partisan piece designed to keep resisters quiet.  You know, stop pointing out that things are wrong and that people are getting hurt.  It’s ruining everyone’s good time, harshing the holiday buzz.  Just back off and allow everyone to bask in the hope, joy, love, and peace that is available during the season of Advent. 

That’s the kind of thing only a privileged, comfortable person could say these days.  For in fact, not everyone feels hope, joy, love, and peace this year.  Many are struggling to find hope, experiencing deep sorrow, battling hate, and living with a deep sense of unease.  The 1984 classic ‘Do they know it’s Christmas?’ written by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to enlighten a languid western world to the reality of famine in Africa (a far worse situation than what we currently face to be sure), speaks well to many in America today:

In our world of plenty, you can spread a smile of joy

Throw your arms around the world at Christmastime.

But say a prayer – pray for the other ones –

At Christmastime, it’s hard, but while you’re having fun,

There’s a world outside your window, and it’s a world of dread and fear.

Where the only water flowing is the bitter sting of tears.

And the Christmas bells that ring there, are the clanging chimes of doom.

Well tonight, thank God it’s them, instead of you.

I was reminded of this world outside our windows while watching the NETFLIX series, Living Undocumented.  It tells stories of families victimized by Trump’s ‘zero tolerance’ immigration policy.  The first episode includes the story of a man separated from his wife, about to be separated from his son, as our government works to deport them both.  The closing scene shows the father praying with his immigration attorney, hoping against all hope for a miracle.  How can I ‘just think positive thoughts’ knowing that my brother in Christ – and he is but one of thousands – weeps and prays for a miracle to save his family from a policy that a majority of white Christians in America either support or simply choose not to think about? 

Then I think of the refugees, people who have fled war, terror, and starvation, seeking asylum in the United States, the land that once welcomed the ‘tired, the poor, the huddled masses yearning to breathe free.’ A couple of months ago, America recorded the first month in ages in which it resettled a total of zero refugees.  I imagine these people living in tents, waiting for a miracle, realizing that there will not be one in time for Christmas.  Or maybe ever.

I think of an African-American community, mourning the death of yet another son, a young man gunned down because the color of his skin was considered a threat to someone’s existence.  I imagine this community listening to the bitter rhetoric of a President aggressively seeking to maintain the dominance of whiteness in America, fueling minds that hate, proclaiming, essentially, that black lives do not matter.  I imagine families in that community fearfully wondering whether the next son gunned down will be their own. 

Geldof and Ure were right: there is indeed a world outside our windows, and it’s a world of dread and fear. 

I don’t mean to be depressing though.  Because I believe that even in the midst of such a world, there is hope – and joy and love and peace.  Why?  Because I believe in Christmas.  Christmas gives us reason to believe in all of those positive things even in the midst of negative realities.  Not by ignoring those realities, but by realizing that something has been and can be done about them.  But in order for hope to rise, we need to understand Christmas rightly.

Christmas isn’t the story of having fun and thinking positive thoughts while ignoring the painful realities of the world.  Christmas is the story of a God who looked outside the window of heaven, saw the pain and peril of His people, and did something.  The world at the time was brutal.  Caesar was King, and his legions terrorized the world.  Quite frankly, the actions of the Romans toward conquered peoples makes Trump seem like a lightweight.  The opening scenes of The Nativity Story (which I heartily recommend you watch this Christmas season) depict the way in which the Romans cruelly oppressed the Jewish people, taking away their livelihoods, kidnapping their daughters to work off their debts.  Resistance was not tolerated, and those who dared oppose Rome suffered the sword or the cross.  It was, indeed, a world of dread and fear. 

God saw all of this, and did two things.  First, he spoke.  The God who spoke creation into existence spoke what Michael Card calls, ‘one final, perfect word:’ Incarnation.  Second, he acted.  He acted on His word, entering into the suffering of His people.  God did not simply bask in the positive glow of heaven.  He spoke and acted concretely in the lives of the oppressed. 

You can see this clearly in the Christmas story.  God spoke to Zechariah, bringing hope to an old man and his wife by giving them a son.  And not just any son, but the son who was to prepare the way for God’s Messiah.  Not everyone understands this, but that was a revolutionary and subversive act, an overt challenge to the oppressive status quo.  God was sending his Anointed to set the world to rights, to ‘rescue His people from their enemies,’ as Zechariah put it (See, Luke 1:74).  God was not quiet in the face of oppression.  He spoke and acted against it. 

This is even clearer in the case of Mary.  Inspired by the Holy Spirit, she sang of the mystery and wonder that was happening to her by singing of scattering the proud and mighty, bringing down princes from their thrones, and sending the rich away empty as the poor and hungry were lifted up (See, Luke 1:46-55).  This is the language of revolution.  A warning shot across the bow of the powers that be.  An announcement that a new day was coming.  Neither God nor Mary were silent in the face of oppression.  They spoke and acted to make things right, even if their words made those in power feel uncomfortable. 

You can read the rest of the Christmas story on your own.  But the bottom line is that through it all, in the invitation to lowly shepherds, in the fulfillment of Simeon and Anna’s hopes, and most especially in the lowly birth of Jesus, we see God speaking and acting to challenge the status quo by acknowledging the suffering of his people, not ignoring it, but entering into and becoming a part of it.   

And therein lies the message for those who follow Jesus today.  In a world where outside our windows lie people who lack hope, love, joy, and peace, a world of dread and fear, where the only water flowing is the bitter sting of tears, where the Christmas bells that ring there are the clanging chimes of doom, the thing to do is NOT to simply bask in the warm glow of Christmas and thank God it’s them instead of you.  The thing to do is to speak.  The thing to do is to act.  The thing to do is to enter the suffering around you and become part of it. 

That’s what God did at Christmastime. 

It’s what he still does.

It would be a sin for those who follow him to do anything less. 

Under Christ’s Mercy,

Brent

2027

‘They have planted the wind and will harvest the whirlwind‘ – Hosea 8:7 NLT

Washington DC – The impeachment inquiry continues today on Capitol Hill as Republican members of the House of Representatives continue to present their case that Democratic President Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (PAOC) abused the power of her office for partisan political purposes.

The story broke over the summer that individuals working at PAOC’s direction had made repeated overtures to the newly elected President of South Korea to announce an investigation into the business activities of Nikki Haley and her family. Haley, who served as Vice President in the Trump administration from 2021-2025, is widely considered to be the front runner for the 2028 Republican Presidential nomination.

Soon after the story broke, PAOC released a transcript of a ‘perfect’ call between herself and the South Korean President that seemed to confirm the allegations. House Republicans immediately launched the current investigation, which has produced both records and testimony from career diplomats and military officers that conclusively prove that PAOC ordered the withholding of military aid to South Korea until such time as an investigation was announced into Ms. Haley and her family. Further evidence indicates that PAOC created a shadow government led by her personal attorney to further pressure South Korea and otherwise dig up dirt on Haley. It should be noted that there is no evidence that either Ms. Haley or her family engaged in any unlawful activity.

Jim Jordan, Republican Chairman of the House Committee for Integrity and Consistency in Government, which is conducting the investigation, raged in his opening statement, ‘The President abused her power for her own personal gain. Never in my congressional tenure have I seen such an explicit abuse of power. If I had I would have done something about it! That woman has invited foreign powers to interfere with our democracy. If this isn’t an impeachable offense, nothing is!’

California Republican and fellow committee member Devin Nunes echoed Jordan’s sentiments. ‘The witnesses before this committee have included lifelong foreign service men and women and a purple heart recipient. These are the most honorable men and women in America. I have always listened to and respected such witnesses. They have laid out a case of bribery, pure and simple, a veritable shakedown against an important American ally, and all the Democrats have in defense are disproved conspiracy theories and lies. I tell you, if this stands, our nation will never be the same again!’

From the other side of the Capital building, Senate Minority Leader Lindsay Graham, channeling a 1998 version of himself, lambasted Democrats in both the House and Senate for refusing to watch the hearings or otherwise listen to the evidence. ‘Our democracy is under attack by foreign powers with the assistance of the Chief Executive, and the party in power is doing nothing! This is outrageous! My friend John McCain would be appalled!’

Donald Trump also weighed in on the scandal. Tweeting from his home in Moscow, where he now lives with his fourth wife, the former President and Russian Oligarch said, ‘AOC is a lightweight! Doesn’t even know how to have a scandal. Mine was way bigger than hers. Bigger than anybodys! Make Russia Great Again! Covefe!’

Trump’s intervention highlights the difficulty Republicans will face in attempting to impeach and remove PAOC from office. Undercutting their case at every turn is the fact that for eight years, the official position of the GOP was that the President had authority to engage in what they now accuse PAOC of doing.

PAOC has been under attack by Republicans ever since she managed to overcame all odds to win the 2024 Presidential election. Much to the consternation of Republicans, she managed to eke out an electoral college win while losing the popular vote by three million votes. The GOP has been furious ever since, and has not surprisingly used the current hearings to highlight what they now believe to be a host of unconstitutional maneuvers by the young President. These include emergency declarations that have transferred monies previously allocated by Congress for the military to, among other things, initiate a mandatory gun buy-back program, institute universal health coverage, provide federal funds to women seeking abortion, and purchase millions of large corks to be used in the President’s ongoing fight against bovine flatulence. She has also been accused of conspiring with the nations of the European Union to push false ads on social media in an attempt to persuade gullible Americans to vote against her rival, Donald Trump Jr., in the 2024 election.

PAOC has defended all of these actions by saying that Article II of the United States Constitution gives her the authority to do anything she darn well pleases, a position that was in fact ratified by the Supreme Court in 2021 shortly after President Trump appointed his third and fourth High Court Justices. She has stated that it is her intention to govern in this manner throughout the next 35 years of her tenure in office.

At press time, it was considered likely that the Republican controlled House would draft and pass articles of impeachment against the President. But in light of fairly recent historical precedent, it is widely assumed that Republicans in the equally divided Senate would not be able to muster sufficient Democratic defections to remove PAOC from office.

As newly elected Democratic Senator Joy Behar put it, ‘The rules for this sort of thing were settled by Republicans during the Trump years. Presidents are within their rights to invite foreign powers to interfere with our democratic processes. And to do anything else they want for that matter.’

‘What goes around comes around.’

Photo courtesy of Louis Velazquez on Unsplash