Jesus has been telling people terrorized by Empire, both David’s and Caesar’s, parables about the Community of God. The Community of God is described as a treasure, a fine pearl, a net and thus surprising, joyful, fulfilling. Upon concluding all the parables Jesus says, “Every scribe who has been instructed in the Community of God is like the head of a household who brings from his storeroom both the new and the old.”
Biblical scholars tend to interpret Jesus’ concluding line about new and old backwards, in reference to the Old Testament. They influence us to honor Old people and Old traditions as forebearers to the New Jesus. But what if, in this context, Jesus is positioning himself as old in reference to all the new yet to come? What if Jesus is not looking backwards and is not honoring the old. What if Jesus is looking forward and envisioning the new? Jesus understands the fear of some people and their need to keep building up age Old Empires, be they named Israelite, Roman, Chinese, British, or U.S. He understands such fearful people will persist in domination, hatred, and violence. Jesus also understands the courage of other people, far more people, and their willingness to grow the New Community of God instead. Such courageous people will thus persist in Communion to transform the domination, in Love to transform the hatred, and in Healing to transform the violence. Age Old dominators will morph for their era to build up age old empires, such as this U.S. Empire. How are we peacemakers growing new Communion to transform its dominators – be they cops, federal soldiers, or a GOP-led congress? Age old haters will morph for their era too. How are we growing new Love to transform these current haters – be they white supremacists, U.S. stormtroopers, or an incompetent and evil/adversarial administration? Age old executioners will morph from the crucifixion to new violences too. How are we growing new Healing to transform the violators of this U.S. Empire – be they maintaining the confederacy, abducting protesters off the streets, or mismanaging Covid 19? Too often we do not act as radical transformers of our age but instead as subjects of the age old. This is glaringly true of soldiers, especially soldiers who self-title as christian. They subordinate themselves to empire and to its age old dominators, hatreds, and violences. They bring forth from their storeroom only age old evil and are trained to subject us to age old evil as well. As subordinated too we bring forth from our storeroom only age old incremental and superficial reforms of evil while we wait for age old evil to change. We wait for dominators, haters, and violators to lessen their chokeholds, or their abuse of citizens, or their violence against children – in cages and in our schools. While they bring forth little Communion, little Love, little Healing. It is 2,000 years after the initial revolution of Christ – what are we waiting for? Now is our revolution. Now in our wisdom and in our youth, in our vision and in our energy we can grow New revolutionary Communion, New revolutionary Love, and New revolutionary Healing to transform the old. Let us bring out of our storeroom now the enduring creative witness of Christ and our own New creative witness.
“Joy, begin to rise. Hope, begin to light the dark. Our God exchanges old for new. Dawn has conquered dark. Death has lost to life. And now we are exchanging old for new.” (Old for New – Hannah McClure)
Prayer: Spirit, inspire us for wisdom and creativity.
Question: What age old evils of empire are taking up space in my faith leaving little room for new creative action?
July 26, 2020 Gospel Matthew 13:44-52 Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time