Leadingchurch.com

Victims Uber Alles

We are at a moment in time when there is no more moral or powerful claim to make than that you and yours have been victims of some horrible abuse of power. All of the political parties and factions attempt to rally their base by claiming that some all powerful opponent has done them wrong and now they must arise to settle the score and make the world right.

• Donald Trump is going to settle the score against political correctness and liberal victimhood weakness
• Ted Cruz is going to bring down the liberal elites who have ruined the country
• Bernie Sanders is going to bring down the monied interests of Wall Street and the wealthy
• Hillary Clinton has been fighting all her life against the Republican establishment for working men and women and by her ascension to power will break the glass ceiling.

Righteous indignation against some wrong done to you and whatever favored tribe you imagine in the moment is the sweetest, most self-justifying feeling a human being can have. While we may have moral qualms about the use of violence in anger in many circumstances only when we imagine ourselves righting a terrible wrong can we both feel powerful and moral at the same time. In moments like these we look around for a champion to win our battles for us and remake the world as we’ve always known it should be.

Jesus with the Home Crowd

In Luke 4 Jesus returns to Nazareth to preach in the synagogue and pulls out the prophet Isaiah. He announces the most audacious liberation.

Luke 4:14–22 (NET)

¹⁴ Then Jesus, in the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and news about him spread throughout the surrounding countryside.¹⁵ He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by all. ¹⁶ Now Jesus came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read,¹⁷ and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, ¹⁸ “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and the regaining of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, ¹⁹ to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” ²⁰ Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fixed on him. ²¹ Then he began to tell them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled even as you heard it being read.”²² All were speaking well of him, and were amazed at the gracious words coming out of his mouth. They said, “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?”

Why was everyone so pleased with Jesus?

The Jews were an occupied people, under threat culturally, out-powered militarily, and under-siege religiously. What Jesus does here is nothing short of announcing that at his hand the power of their particular god Yhwh will reclaim and redeem his people. Surely these were big words but again, this is the kind of speech a politician uses to rally their base before they go out to defeat the oppressor and set the world right.

Politics Doesn’t Really Change Continue reading →