Yesterday Brueggemann wrote of the 'indictment of empire' and today we move to another part of the word against Babylon (a longer excerpt)
...the sentence of empire, continues to reflect the luxury of Babylon (Rome) and the drastic end to that luxury:
With such violence Babylon the great city will be thrown down,
and will be found no more;
and the sound of harpists and minstrels and of flutists and trumpeters
will be heard in you no more;
and an artisan of any trade will be found in you no more;
and the sound of the millstone will be heard in you no more;
and the light of a lamp will shine in you no more;
and the voice of bridegroom and bride will be heard in you no more;
for your merchants were the magnates of the earth, and all nations were deceived by your sorcery. (Rev. 18:8, 21-23)
The repeated "no more" of the end draws a line against Rome's (Babylon's) imagined autonomy. The indictment (couched as sentence) marks the vast commercial commitments of Rome that stood at the center of the world economy. Thus the empire stands under judgment by the familiar practice of autonomy, arrogance, self-indulgence, and greed. The poetry takes some delight in providing a complete inventory of consumer goods that reflect extreme consumer temptation, and then more delight in imagining the abrupt loss and the ready reduction of the empire to a "haunt: for every hateful beast.
The way of the empire - the way that it loved - the way that made it appear to be something beyond any other power - the way it appeared to rule all things and make all things bow to the order of the day - is no more. In fact, it never was all that it appeared to be or wanted to be. Empires rise and they fall. The get a big sense of themselves and then what - they fade. Yes, they do leave behind great gifts to the societies that follow, but their power to rule and threaten and dominate are gone. It is quite important to take a look at what it is about being a part of an empire is vital to our life? Is it the illusion that we are safe if we are a part of the empire? Is it the expectation that we all will have the opportunity to celebrate and live within the wealth of the empire? Well, empires are never safe. To live within that illusion, look at what an empire must do. We must send our youngest people out to fight wars that have historically never been able to secure the empire. We ask what if...and then we go to war because we cannot see any other possibility than empire. On another note, we insist that everyone in the empire is able to reach into the wealth of the rule that is - and yet, more than enough people are forgotten - deleted - left out so that only a portion of the empire will prosper and work to keep the ways of empire intact.
Connection: I really love being a part of our country. We do so much good. But we must never be blind to the reality of empire that is so arrogant and self-centered that we will almost anything - against anyone - to keep what we have and make sure we bring in more and more without caring for more and more.
Again, through stories you call us into new life today, O God. Deliver us from ourselves when we become nothing more than people who work to sustain the way things are rather than step into the restorative power of the resurrection. Amen.
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