Again from "Out of Babylon" by Walter Brueggemann.
Within the Old Testament, Babylon occupies a central position in what it means to be Jewish. In the Old Testament, the imagining of Babylon is inescapably from the perspective of Jewishness. To start with, Jews perceive Babylon as threat, but then Babylon is also recognized as a viable venue for faithfulness over a long period of time:
"Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. (Jeremiah 29:5-6)
And for some Jews not of the tenacious variety, Babylon became a homeland in which Jewish identity could be practiced, albeit with all sorts of inevitable compromises.
Even among the faithful, the empire is a part of the shaping that goes on among those who long to live in the ways of God. How do we live a contrary ethic and life if we are in the midst of strange ways that are quite at odds with the very way we see ourselves as God's beloved? Some have made the decision to be obviously apart from the daily world of the empire - where they live - their physical appearance - resistance against cultural events. Some blend into the world of empire and speak up as a contrary voice that will not be overwhelmed by the powers of the day - even when it is costly. Still others attempt to turn empire into a part of the faith.
Connection: How do we live within the middle of the empire of today? The U.S. is an empire that controls much of the way of life for many within and beyond our borders. When the actions of the empire are contrary to the way we see ourselves rooted in the way of Jesus, how do we faithfully express ourselves - how do we stay in conversation with the way of Jesus when we are pulled in many ways to follow other powers?
O God, sustain us and feed us with the life of your Reign. Amen.
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