Sorry for the late post - a bit more from Doin' Time in Persia it is my thought -- that the faithful church amid the U.S. empire now needs not a model of "exile and homecoming" because the U.S. empire is everywhere. Rather, it requires the agility of "accommodation and resistance" that places a premium on shrewd intentionality. After the Persians issued the decree of homecoming, there was still oppressive, enslaving imperial service that required an alternative strategy. Current accent in Old Testament studies, I suggest, points to resources that only now have come into our purview. These texts offer a model of faithful agility, a model that may enliven and empower our own faithful intentionality. The 'agility of accommodation and resistance' is a great way to put some words behind the experience of being faithful to our God and the life of God's Reign and life within the empire. This is not to bring to mind some kind of 'wishy-washy' ways. Rather it is to note how much energy must go into living in the way of our God as we see that revealed in Jesus. There is always that 'what would Jesus do' tied to how we can be a part of this Jesus life in the midst of our everyday lives. The day must have a plan to it - a way we will turn here and there in order to be standing with our lives actively engaged in the empire and the life of the empire. It must be a constant 'give and take' in which we can find rest and in which we will find ourselves engaged up to the point of death. Connection: I am not always very agile when it comes to such a life as this. I find that it can be so easy to lose our way as followers of Jesus when we are so tied to the ways of the empire - and yet, we must. Blessed are you, O God, who gives us life that reflects your image. Help us be that image in the world around us and to be so present with others that we never let our status before you come across as a 'better than thou' presence that alienates others rather than bring us all together. Amen. |
No comments:
Post a Comment