Today we will begin looking at the last chapter of Walter Brueggemann's book "Out of Babylon" - called "Doin' Time in Persia." A week or two more and we are finished (I just heard a sigh of relief) with Brueggemann. Here we are, slaves to this day - slaves in the land that you gave to our ancestors to enjoy its fruit and its good gifts. (Nehemiah 9:26) The promise of the great prophets came true! Babylon did disappear as a world power. Some of the Babylonian Jews did return to Jerusalem - enough to confirm the promises. The Babylonian environment that permitted Jews to contemplate homecoming was soon replaced by the long-lasting Persian Empire. The Persians did offer a more benign policy of permitting a Jewish homecoming. But in fact the reach of Persia was farther and longer-lasting than was that of Babylon. There would be no "going home" from Persia, for everywhere Jews went, including back to Jerusalem, it was still Persia! What do you do when you are in the middle of something and you really cannot leave - when you are stuck within a system that seems to be forever - when you are already home where you are to be and yet, not a home at all? At times I hear people say that they are thinking about leaving the US - leaving to escape our imperialism - leaving to escape from being overrun by corporations. But, I really love to be in this country. How do we remain in a place that is called home when home is being controlled by powers with whom we do not want to associate? The vision of God's Reign is not the vision of any empire - not even our own. And yet, this is my home. This is not a foreign land. Do I simple go along with the prevailing values of the status quo or do I resist? And if I resist, what does that mean - what shape will it be - what will be the consequences? For the Jews, the Persian empire was a time in which they made sure their identity would strengthened and they would come to a greater understanding of what it meant to be a Jew in their own land even when the land was occupied. No longer praying to 'go home' or 'be rescued' - it was now a plea to be shaped as a people who would take on a contrary nature to the powers that be. Connection: It is too - too easy for me to simply become another expression of the empire in which I live. I find that an undisciplined person like me must search out ways to be disciplined in regard to seeing and walking in God's vision of shalom. It does not always work. It is not a thing to do, it is a life that is to be lived. Blessed are you, O God, who gives us life that reflects your image. Remind us - even as we sit in comfort - that you continue to call us to be your people even when we must do so as an act of resistance. We do not do this well - it is you alone who will carry us along the way. Amen. |
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