Fifth Tuesday of Lent
Lectionary Texts:
OT: Isaiah 50:4-9
NT: Philippians 2:5-11
Psalm 31:9-16 (UMH)
Bible Study day. Please read Acts 17:1-9
Paul and Silas travel south from Philippi to Thessloniki, about a four day journey (or two hours on a bus, as I have done several times). I don't know who first started calling it Thessalonica, but the Greeks have always called it Thessaloniki, so I go with that name. It was a provincial capital in Paul's time and was birthplace of the philosopher Aristotle. Nowadays it's the second largest city in Greece, about 1.5 million. Nothing from Paul's time remains.
The narrative has gone to third person, indicating that Luke was no longer with Paul and Silas. Whether Timothy was still with them at this point is unclear. Paul and Silas stay for over a month, preaching in the synagogue and the agora, or town square. They make many converts of both Jews and gentiles. Luke notes that the converts include "not a few of the leading women." I have spoken before about the appeal of early Christianity to women. In the first century church women were equal to men. In any other religion in the Roman Empire they were either non-existent or given roles as vestal virgins or temple priestesses, never as simply regular members of a religion.
Paul and Silas's preaching eventually provokes opposition. Opposition turns into a mob. Jews incite gentiles with the accusation that Paul and Silas are preaching Jesus as King. The people's king is Caesar, at this time Claudius Caesar. Coins from the period have been recovered showing Julius Caesar as divine, as well as his successor Augustus. The Emperor Cult was always stronger in the eastern part of the Empire than in the west.
Unable to find the two apostles, the mob seizes a Christian named Jason, who apparently had been housing them. The mob's shout against the Christians is that "have been turning the world upside down." Indeed the whole Christian message was at odds many of the values of the Roman Empire. Civic values accepted by all other religions of the empire are challenged by the Christians. Male domination, militarism, to the death torture and violence for public entertainment, slavery of 60% of the population, abandonment of handicapped babies, sometimes mass execution by crucifixion, were all deeply ingrained parts of the Roman way. Christianity challenged it all.
The subversion of Roman values was one thing, but what truly tipped the legal scales against the Christians was their refusal to participate in any way in the Emperor Cult. The Romans were in many ways tolerant, especially when it came to tolerating all sorts of strange religions. But everyone had to sacrifice to the emperor, even if just once a year, even if not an animal but a small vial of blood, even if not even that but a small vial of olive oil. The Christians would not even do that. Such a people are a threat to all civil religion and national culture. Such a people, if allowed to go unchecked, can turn the world upside down.
God above all emperors, empires, dictators, kings, queens, presidents, prime ministers, sheiks, and warlords,
Help us to turn the world upside down.
In the name of the one who first did, Jesus our only Lord. Amen.
Faithfully,
Christian
1 comment:
I wonder if there is a modern equivalent to sacrificing to the Emperor. I've long felt that our capitalist system, where materialistic values are encouraged and a life that puts other priorities (such as helping others or living a more contemplative life) is frowned upon, is this country's way of sacrificing to the Emperor. People who give a great deal of time to non-money making endeavors, such as church or volunteer work, are often looked down upon. My friends from Yale always felt somewhat sorry for me that I became an organizer and made $22k while they were making six figure salaries as management consultants, lawyers or the first IT professionals in the Dot.com era. Of course the joke was on them when the Dot.bomb hit and I had made progressively more money as I rose to the highest levels of my profession - and got to change the world at the same time.
It's hard to serve two masters, and while I would like to have a job with health benefits, spending two years in Reading teaching kids who were well below the poverty level, plus getting deeper into my Zen practice, has helped me feel more comfortable with being a person who is not so materialistic. I am pleased to pay my taxes because they fund social programs, and I would like to live comfortably, but I think I will always choose a life that is more devoted to doing what I love and what helps others than to making money. Financial security can create a lack of anxiety and freedom, but in the end, how much money and fancy things does one need? Those who make a lot of money often become indebted to their possessions, running on a treadmill to keep paying for the expensive cars, boats, etc. I'd rather have my 2004 Subaru.
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