| Yesterday's reading ended with a reference to "meta History" - here is what it means. That is, there is more and other going on in the world of public politics than the empire was able to imagine. It is the "more" and "other" that preoccupied the prophets and that rendered the empire, against its own self-perception, as decidedly secondary in the life of the world.
This is really quite an important point. Even in the 20th century we heard bits and pieces of this kind of a split reality. I was always drawn to the protests in South Africa. There we saw a brutal regime that was oppressing a majority of indigenous people - the Africans. In that atmosphere, many Christian hymns of protest would make sure that the message of the day was that the regime 'had no power.' Even though the regime had all the weapons it needed and the support of multinational corporation and even governments like ours, those people would sing of another story line - God is our power - you cannot defeat us. The white South Africans looked on like the Africans were foolish. Well, they were foolish. They were foolish to trust that their God would not abandon them and that the empire was only another power that could not and would not last. Prophets, old and new, help us see another reality.
Connection: It is important for all of us who claim to live according to the rule of God's gracious reign, that we keep telling stories of the life our God brings to us even when the empire does not pay attention to our life stories. O God, help us to see the something more beyond the story lines of our world powers. Help us to walk in the stories of your love. Amen. |
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