The Pharisees and Sadducees, Chief Priests and Scribes within the temporal and geographical context of the writing of Jesus' life and teachings, were threatened by the Good News that Jesus brought.
The message of Agape Love, a central Kingdom of God value in the face of empire, threatened their collusion with empire (Rome) in their pursuit of wealth, power and status. Selflessness and even self-sacrifice does not fit in with those agendas of empire.
They tried to prove Jesus wrong, shout Jesus down, debate Jesus away and eventually they simply had the messenger eliminated, like had been done to so many prophets of God before them.
James Cone died this week. For me, his legacy is one of pointing out that this empire with its value for the wealth, power and status but only of the few, the elite and the white was occupying and oppressing God's children here and now. He pointed out the collusion of the political and religious leaders in that system of empire that lifted up the powerful and wealthy (predominantly white) on the backs of the poor (predominantly black and brown). He called for equal rights, equal justice, equal treatment and opportunity, and he did it forcefully. I get accused of being verbally pugilistic at times, but I must say that I learned it from some of the best. He was one of them.
Some things never change. When Barak Obama got elected, it was a sign of hope for many that there was some healing in the divisions over race in America. The vehement and vitriolic attacks on him, blatant obstructionism of many in Congress (purely to not allow him to succeed in governing and in the economic recovery, even at the cost of the nation) and polarization that followed exposed just how deep the divides are over race. It was not a time of healing, but rather a time of revelation concerning just how much we must heal, not just along racial lines but also along those of class.
The 2016 election was the ultimate expression of reaction by those who are the majority (of power and wealth) having their position (or aspirations) threatened by those not like them - those who they have actively oppressed for generations.
Recent reports indicate that it was not about religious fervor or economic struggles that people voted for the current occupier of the oval office, but rather simply over race and class, and the feeling that the status quo of empire hierarchical power and wealth was being threatened.
The irony is, of course, that many of those who voted for the empire status quo had little power or wealth, but they voted to double down on the very system that has also held them down, back and out from economic well-being. They colluded with those who had the power and wealth because they aspired to BE THEM someday. They believed they could be because they had one thing in common with them - they were white. The 1% are not by any means "color blind." They are very indiscriminate in who they will oppress for the sake of their own gain, but their exclusive club is very largely exclusive by race. Even those among the 1% who are black or brown in America are not seen as being equal to those who are white among the ruthless 1%.
The elites of empire got their wealth, power and status by being ruthless on everyone else. They got what they got at the expense of and off the backs of others. They have since the first empire. In order to keep their wealth, power and status they have to do a few things:
1. They must convince everyone else that this is the only or best system going.
2. They must make some of those oppressed believe that they can reach their level.
3. They must divide the masses under them, using #2, so that most people do not turn on them.
They are masters at this. They have been doing this since the first empire. They have perfected it over generations.
So, individuals believe it is about "taking care of your own", "looking out for number one", "getting yours", "climbing to the top", "having it all" and "making it." Rather than be about changing an unjust and inequitable system that goes against the Gospel teachings of Jesus in Kingdom values, they aspire to be the ones on top WITHIN the unjust, inequitable and ungodly system. Religious leaders have colluded with empire by feeding this ideology through prosperity theology and focus on individual salvation and being "blessed and highly favored." Jesus taught that we are connected through His Commanded Agape Love, and compelled to lift up "the least of these." Empire teaches us to worry about ourselves and emulate the ruthlessness that has rewarded those with wealth, power and status. Politicians use our "self interests" as manipulative leverage at election time and then they ignore the promises they made and serve themselves and those just like them. Jesus taught and Paul re-iterated that we must "look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others." We are to have the same mind in us that was in Christ Jesus - who sacrificed Himself, called for self-denial by those who would follow Him and commanded that we care for the most vulnerable, even making our salvation contingent upon it (Matthew 25:31-46).
The behaviors since the 2016 election expose the truth about a base of voters who believe that they were supposed to be entitled to more than "those people". They reveal a group who believe they should by now be benefitting from the promises of empire - a system that they have supported for generations. Rather than being included in the club that they aspired to be a part of, they have been used as fodder for the gain of more wealth, power and status by the elites AGAIN, STILL. Being well-conditioned to do so for generations, they are now turning on those who, like themselves, have been oppressed and exploited for generations. But they are also acting on their bigotry, believing that being white should mean that they naturally get more than those who are not. They are reacting to years of fear that had its origins in guilt over the shameful treatment of generations of human beings by this nation that has benefitted them systemically for their generations. They are reacting in hatred born of that fear and guilt, desperately trying to hold onto the notion that they are somehow, any way superior to others, ANYONE else. But the false teachings of empire have left them frustrated in that belief, so they hate and blame and hurt - not those who have devised this system that holds them down, back and out - but those who are easily scapegoated because they are different by race, ethnicity, sexuality, religion or anything else.
It is an old song and dance. The piper keeps playin' this tune and somehow folk believe they must still dance to it. They believe that by dancing the same dance to the same tune, only more, they will finally get what this dance can never and will never give them - Shalom. Shalom can only come when we love one another humbly and make sure that everyone has their needs met in all aspects of life. Until then, some will have more than they could ever need while others go without what they need. Until then, some will pit others against each other who believe they can get Shalom by pushing someone else down, not realizing that they will necessarily stay down with them. And thus "but at least I/we..." is the best they can hope for in life. And the cost is their soul, and perhaps the soul of their nation with it.
James Cone (along with Gustavo Gutierrez, Segundo, Sobrino, Sider, Freire, McAfee Brown, Wright, Wallis, Dyson, West and others) has been a modern prophetic voice of the God who is on the side of the oppressed. He has been ignored, debated and shouted down like the rest and is in good company. I will miss James Cone. I will not forget him.
I will take what I have learned and RESIST empire and its inequities of wealth, power and status. I will speak and write and demonstrate against that which is against the Good News of Jesus in Agape Love and Grace. I will strive toward Shalom - the completeness, wholeness and well-being of ALL people, together.
Pastor Jamie
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