On the day after the celebration of the Resurrection of our Lord, it is important to be reminded of the alternate life that Jesus lived among us - a life into which we are invited to live. This is a life contrary to the ways of empire that can be heard in Revelation.
First there is the indictment of empire:
"As she glorified herself and lived luxuriously, so give her a like measure of torment and grief.
Since in her heart she says, "I rule as a queen; I am no widow, and I will never see grief" (18:7)
The core indictment concerns unrestrained, unlimited luxury that produced an arrogance that echoed the arrogance of Babylon in Isaiah 47:7-10. In its imagined autonomy Rome (Babylon) engaged in enormous self-indulgence.
The resurrection is quite the opposite from the self-indulgence of the empire. In fact, the self-giving love in the stories of the past days (Maundy Thursday - Easter) marks us as a people who are at all times - aliens within the empires of our day. Unfortunately, it is so very easy to let ourselves be shaped by the self-indulgence that is so visibly accepted as the norm for everyday life. Somehow, we must be willing to nurture in one another the kind of love that empires never knows. Within the realm of empire, love is tied up with what we can get back, how we can fit in, or a mere sentimental expression - that the love that is raised up on Easter is cast aside as unproductive. And yet production is measured in what we are able to earn for ourselves and keep for ourselves. Within the realm of Christ's love, what is 'produced' is a community of loving kindness that creates peace and make sure the least and lowest have a place that is secure and safe.
Connection: The 'we' of empire can only see some of the people. It is thus a easy walk to develop systems in which only some of the people are consider worth saving. Only when profits for some become secure and enough will the least be served. But as we know, there is never enough to make the few feel secure. The result, the rich never really consider the welfare of all. There's no time and there is never enough to offer to the least among us.
Again, through stories you call us into new life today, O God. And yet we are pulled away from the love of your Reign by the life of luxury within the empire - a life that is an illusion and pulls us from you gift of community. Help us keep in mind all your beloved that our lives will be shaped by the Advocate who is the bridge to your reigning life. Amen.
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