An Epiphany...

Perhaps the light has come on for you of late.
Perhaps as one who has walked in darkness, you have seen the light.
Perhaps the light has not quite dawned on you yet, or perhaps it is still a dim flicker.
Perhaps you are so accustomed to the darkness that you have embraced it, rather than the light.

The light leads to Good News for ALL the nations and peoples, as God is the God of all nations and peoples.
The light shines in the darkness so that the darkness cannot overcome it.
The light is life with God in Christ Jesus - the truth that shines for ALL to see.
The light is our hope, that it will lead us out of the darkness and bring Good News to all nations.

The darkness seems deep and dire. 
It has grown like a shadow over our land and the world.
It threatens to bring all into darkness and keep us there for a long time, even to the end.
The darkness is empire, the values of empire, the lies of empire and the destruction that empire brings.
The darkness is the greed, hatred, lust for power and desire for status that drives those few who benefit from empire, to stay on top of the rest of the world.  That is the darkness.

And those who profess to follow the Christ of Light and Grace, Truth and Good News - those who have claimed the name of Jesus who taught, commanded and modeled Agape Love as HIS WAY for those who would follow Him to live - those who use the word "Christian" to describe themselves -
have bought into the darkness, grown accustomed to it and the small perks they get from it, while the rest of God's children languish.

Some benefit directly, like the Prosperity Preachers, who promise that with your last ten dollars in the plate God will bless you necessarily with monetary returns.  The politicians who claim the name long enough to get into office and then do everything counter to the teachings, commands and examples of Jesus in how they govern.  The business folk who call themselves "Christians" and sit their asses in the pews or theater seats, breath in the sanctuary air and offer worship, praise and tithes while devising ways to take away widow's houses so that they can get more wealth for themselves. They attempt to give lip service to Jesus while living empire values.  They are the darkness and feed the darkness, along with those who out of desperation, greed or hatred follow them and keep them in power and wealth.

And the rest of us.
Some of us stick our heads in the sand, practicing SPIRITUAL ESCAPISM so that we can ignore the unpleasant realities of those who have been exploited and victimized by empire around us.
Some of us pray for God's intervention while doing nothing and saying nothing about the causes of the circumstances and ideologies that have created suffering for God's children, thus embracing a SUPERNATURAL RESCUISM regarding the environment and political/economic injustice.
Some have become RADICAL CHRISTIANISTS, being more militant in their embrace of a fundamentalist belief system that is designed to divide and conquer - an ecclesiastic expression of empire, which they hope will benefit them, personally.  They are wannabes. 
Some have embraced SELF IDOLATRY based on achieving their own purity and/or holiness, holding tight to a belief in earned/merited self-righteousness, rather than in faith relying on Christ's Grace and in faith living the Agape Love that Jesus taught, commanded and modeled for us.
Many have bought in (hook, line and sinker) to American Civil Religion, with its roots in the Law of Discovery and Manifest Destiny of past errant generations and solidly centered in a belief of God's favor and blessings for some above others, our "exceptionalism" and inherent right to exploit, victimize or destroy whoever we want for our own benefit, with God's blessings.

To be clear - very clear - these are not followers of Jesus the Christ.
To follow Jesus the Christ means to go where Jesus the Christ went, to do as Jesus the Christ did, to teach and live what Jesus the Christ taught and lived.  It means that we live what Jesus taught, commanded and modeled as we have that in the Gospels - the Good News.
It is in the living of Agape Love and Grace that we live in the light and expel the darkness of empire.
It is in the living of Agape Love and Grace that we are faithful to the one who saved us, by being faithful to those who God loves.
It is in the living of Agape Love and Grace as Good News that we are a light to all the nations and a witness to the one who is Love.

In this darkness, we NEED an Epiphany.
In this darkness, we need to give ourselves to the Christ and dedicate ourselves to following what Jesus taught, commanded and modeled for us in Agape Love and Grace.
Jesus is the one with whom God is well pleased, the beloved son.
To please God, we who claim the name must follow the Christ - we must live what Jesus taught, commanded and modeled for us in Agape Love and Grace.

We need an Epiphany.  Here and Now.

Pastor Jamie