Empire is all about self.
Empire is about gaining more power, wealth and status for self.
Those who collude with Empire, who adopt the values of empire do the same thing in their own lives. They mirror the empire values of self first, self last and self only. They will promote self at the expense of anyone else, if that means self benefits. They will openly live hypocrisy and defiantly discriminate, justify their entitlement to privilege and lash out at anyone who does not represent the same values. They will take from others in order to benefit themselves, regardless of the cost to those others around them. Empire is evil, according to Kingdom of God values.
Jesus' teachings, commands and actions fly in the face of Empire. Jesus regularly broke the Sabbath laws that had been twisted by the Temple Cult leaders who were in collusion with Rome. Jesus made His message and ministry about Agape Love, the antithesis of Empire values. Jesus taught and lived Grace, which has no place in Empire. Jesus resisted Empire by simply refusing to play along and live empire values. And his disciples, Jesus' followers had many lessons to learn in not trying to live with one foot in the Kingdom and one in Empire.
John the Baptist had just paid the ultimate price for not colluding with Empire, in fact for speaking out against the hypocrisy of people who did. John flew in the face and got it in the neck. Jesus was not in the least bit deterred from doing the same.
Empire notices when large groups of people gather. Rome had experienced insurrections at the hands of Israelites before, and they certainly noticed when people were gathering around a religious leader. Jesus knew that. John had just been killed for speaking out against the King of Israel, who was in collusion with Rome, so Jesus kept teaching Kingdom of God values which flew in the face of Rome (Empire), and a large crowd gathered to hear this very different message from what they were hearing from the false teachers and prophets who were in collusion with Greed, lust for power and self-promotion.
5,000 men was specified, along with women and children. The cohort of Roman soldiers in Israel at the time was about 3300. At full strength during Passover and other potentially politically charged times, they were at a full 5500. Jesus raised an army in a day. That would NOT go unnoticed by the Romans. Jesus raised 5,000 plus who wanted to hear more about true Kingdom of God values, and that would not go unnoticed by the Sanhedrin. Jesus was a greater threat than John. He threatened Rome, not with military might, but with resistance to the established norm of Empire values. He threatened Israel's political leaders because they were in collusion with Rome in order to gain some power for themselves. He threatened the Temple Cult leaders because they used their influence for personal gain in wealth, power and status, at the expense of God's people, by twisting the Word of God to suit themselves in their pursuit of more for themselves.
What did Jesus do?
He fed the multitude. He did an intimate act of compassion and caring with 5,000 plus people he did not know. He selflessly gave to a crowd, which was NOT according to Empire values. They had nothing to give Him in return. He could not benefit in status under the Roman occupation by such an act. He was not playing along with the values of empire that demand that any interaction bring about personal gain in some way. He gave to a crowd of people, regardless of their status, merit, goodness or deserving. He was gracious and loving. It was not normal in that culture.
He had to teach His disciples, who were ready to live by Empire values and send hungry people away empty, though they claimed to be faithful to His message. He had to teach His followers, who had been benefitting from His Grace and Love all along and who no doubt figured they deserved it because they were there with Him, worshiping and praising Him, that Grace and Agape are not about people's sworn oaths or earned merits, deserving or what they can bring one in wealth, power or status, but rather about the need of people and the need of a person who lives Kingdom of God values to care for those who have needs. He had to teach them that Kingdom of God values do not allow for "insiders" and "outsiders" of prestige, position and status. Grace and Agape Love, by definition to not work that way. He had to teach them to love enough to "be bothered" to serve others.
This is how the Kingdom of God works, at least according to Jesus. It flies in the face of the prevailing norms that are not Gracious or Loving. It embodies humility and self-giving for the sake of other, even stranger and even enemy. It does not seek personal gain at the expense of others. It does not accept as right the creation of "insiders" and "outsiders" so that some can feel elevated above others. It does not legitimize the exploitation or destruction of some so that a few others can gain more. It does not turn away those in need, even under claims of not having enough for self.
The miracle here is often taught and preached as the supernatural multiplication of bread and fish. I believe that the miracle here - the way the Kingdom of God works - is in the gathering of diverse people who want to know the truth of Grace and Love, the willingness of those who follow Jesus to differ to Kingdom of God values rather than Empire values and the sharing of people in need with one another.
The message here is that God can raise an army to face Empire, and that when God does God will lead that army to destroy, not the people who exhibit empire values, but the values themselves, eroding them away in the face of the truth of the Kingdom of God in the living of Agape Love and Grace. Kingdom of God values are different from worldly values. We cannot change those values in the world by mimicking them in our words and actions.
So, when empire would lift up greed, lust for power and self-promotion as the norm, we who claim to follow Jesus must necessarily lift up generosity, re-defining power (exercising self-control and recognizing shared power as being better than power over someone else) and humble self-giving as the norm to be lived, according to Kingdom of God values. And we must do that in our words and actions, in every encounter. If we are to follow Jesus, it is what we must do - follow Jesus. When others are in need, even others who are different from us, we must come together to meet their need,, rather than find a way to get more for ourselves at their expense. When others would claim to follow Jesus but walk the path of greed, war, false superiority, self-centeredness and bigotry, we must all the more stand up and speak out what is Good News in Grace and Agape Love. When others would twist God's Word to justify their bigotries, we must counter that with the truth of the Good News of Jesus, even when we do not understand those being judged. When others would live the hypocrisy of literalisms that make themselves look better by comparison to someone else because of some lifted-out-of-context piece of scripture, we must share about Grace and Love being the commands of Jesus, fulfiller of the Law and prophets, Lord and Savior. And when the whole nation, falsely claiming some self-righteousness, "exceptionalism" or false superiority uses its wealth, power and status to hurt others within the nation or outside of it, we must live values - Kingdom of God values - that fly in its face, and put them in its face.
We are living WITHIN Empire. We have been for some time, but lately we have been seeing EMPIRE flourish and become the new norm with its values of greed, lust for power, self-promotion and the exploitation, destruction and intolerance of any who are not among those with wealth, power and status.
This is not a dress rehearsal. We are IN IT.
You can claim to be a follower of Jesus, but if you do, are you following Jesus?
It is all too easy to try to live claiming the name of Jesus as Savior but ignoring Him as Lord of our lives in order to benefit from living empire values and thereby gain in wealth, power and status. It is harder to incur the wrath of those who have adopted empire values as their norms because we refuse to live them.
The Agape Love and Grace that Jesus taught, commanded and modeled for us are at the center of Kingdom values. We receive Grace and Agape from God. We are taught and commanded to live them with others, even strangers and enemies. THAT will change the ugly, dangerous, hateful, greedy, power hungry and status-driven corruptions of life in this empire. That alone can do it.
Pastor Jamie
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