Advent Week Two: Peace

 

I invite you to light two candles: one for hope and one for peace as you read today’s meditation.  You are invited to read Luke 2:1-20 aloud...then settle into the first two verses:

 In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. ² This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria.

Luke starts off by naming the powerful and prestigious people who lived in posh palaces.  Luke begins by naming the context when the sacred started stirring in a new way.  To locate God’s grand entry in the time of Augustus and Quirinius reminds us that God’s story and our story are not different or distance.  God’s story gets woven into human history.  God’s story is still being stitched into this world right here and now.

Sometimes people like to debate or discuss if the census really happened?  They want historical evidence or to prove that this is true.  What I find more fascinating is the truth beneath whether something occurred.  Whether a census happened only takes me so deep into the story.  To dare to dive deeper would be to acknowledge and affirm that Emperor Augustus and Quirinius had all the clout and cash to do whatever they choose.  To quote my grandfather’s favorite phrase, “If Augustus said jump…you didn’t even dare ask how high!  You just started hopping with all your might and hoped it was enough.”  People were afraid of the powers-that-be.  The anxiety that hovered/hung in the air was contagious.  People tried to keep their heads down and just went about their life. 

You can stop me anytime this sounds familiar!

We still have powers-that-be that flex their might and muscle.  We still have people who use that power to hurt and harm others; examples of how people today are treated as less-than made in God’s holy image.  We still have people in positions of prestige and privilege who may not go by the name “Caesar,” but act like it every day. 

The deep truths of this story are a song as old as time and rhyme!

If you want to switch to advance-player mode, the truth is that I can be like Emperor Augustus too.  I can demand over the phone to a customer service representative that the “Customer is always right!”  I can decide not to look in the eyes of the front-line worker at the grocery store and stare at my phone instead.  I can throw around my privilege, such as it is, in ways I don’t see because of my own bias.  I can let the access I have to the basic needs as well as money shield me from others demands.

Me?  Like Caesar?  Say it ain’t so!  I don’t like how uncomfortable that makes me feel.

Perhaps one of Luke’s points isn’t only that God entered human history in those days, but also in these days.  Perhaps one of Luke’s points isn’t only that God’s ways are different than our ways, but will challenge and call us to let go over the things that keep us separated from each other.  Perhaps one of Luke’s points is to bring this sacred story next to our own heart, trusting that God’s grace will guide us in ways that can move us to live differently in these days.

May that paragraph above be my prayer this day, O God.  Come and show me the Caesar within to let go and make more room for You.  Amen.