Matthew 5:1-11
“Gospel of Empire, Gospel of Jesus” from After Jesus: Before Christianity (Westar)
Today’s chapter from our book is about Good News – for the Empire and for those who followed Jesus. “Good News” is a translation of a Greek word which meant that literally. It’s also translated as “Gospel” from the old English word Godspel, which also meant “Good News.” In the first century some “Good News” was official. It was the announcement by the government of something official to celebrate – a new victory in war, the birthday of the Emperor, the building of a new temple in your town. It bore the stamp of Empire approval.
If you were a Roman citizen in the first century, the Pax Romana was indeed good news. Civil war had ended and the government was stable. Roads were easy to travel and were relatively safe. Wealth poured into your hands from across the known world. You owned slaves taken in war to do your heavy work and care for all your needs. The Empire built beautiful buildings for entertainment, for bathing, and for worship. It was a very good time to be alive. The Emperor had SAVED you from barbarians and given you a great life.
If you weren’t a Roman citizen, you paid the cost for all this luxury and leisure. Last week we talked about how the “peace” was maintained by violence, which impacted everyone’s life directly or indirectly. In contrast to the official “Good News” of the Empire, the people who followed Jesus (the Anointed) made their own good news in quiet ways, under the radar of those who ruled them. They chose this same Greek word “good news” when near the end of the first century they wrote down stories about Jesus. He became the instigator of good news by teaching people how to live in a new way. He was not the violent winner of conflict but the crucified victim of Empire. He was the Anointed leader of a nation which had been crushed by Rome. Those who identified with him claimed that in spite of being utterly defeated, they found a good way to live. They made a different kind of peace, turning the hardship of their everyday lives into moments of joy. Jesus SAVED them and gave them new life.
The tiny communities gathered for support and encouragement and to practice a way of life built on very different values than Rome. They spoke of love, forgiveness, compassion, generosity, and justice. They treated each other with dignity and respect. Every action they took according to these values was a repudiation of Rome.
Some of these groups were dinner clubs. They met in very small groups and talked over common meals about how they wanted to shape their lives by Jesus’ teaching. Others were wisdom circles our groups of students who discussed and debated the teachings of Jesus and others. They were similar to the students of philosophers, but their topics were more focused on daily life – how to build friendships and working relationships, how to relate to nature, how to be a good neighbor, how to deal with hardship and loss, how to think strategically and build community. How to make meaning. Some became groups that gave folks an identity. Rome dehumanized those it called barbarians. When you are officially not fully human, you need to find a way to reclaim dignity and purpose. You could belong to the followers of the Anointed. You were no longer “Judean or Greek, enslaved or free, woman or man but all one in Jesus, the Anointed King of Israel.” Some women joined together and resisted marriage, which was essentially enslavement to a man. Some men formed families to replace families they had lost. There were so many ways of being a Jesus group that we haven’t discovered all of them, but we’ll be looking at some of them more clearly later this summer.
Most of these groups were places to build “confidence” or “trust.” This is a word used 252 times in the New Testament. Jesus encouraged people not to be afraid, but to be confident. Often our translations read “Faith” rather than “confident.” The meaning is significantly different.
Hear today’s scripture again using the Westar translation:
Congratulations to those who grieve. They will be consoled.
Congratulations to those who hunger and thirst for justice. They will have a feast.
Don’t fret about your life, what you’re going to eat, or about your body, what you’re going to wear. Remember there is more to living than food and clothing….Think about how the lilies grow; they don’t toil and they never spin.
Communities who trust become self sufficient, confident. Rather than being afraid of the many dangers of their time, they are able to love and encourage one another. They are empowered. They become healthy. They create their own safety and find their own joy, even though they still live in difficult circumstances. They live differently. They find new life.
We are a small community of Jesus’ people. We name values we believe Jesus taught and try to live by them: justice, inclusion, equality, compassion. We believe everyone should eat. Everyone should have a home, an education, an opportunity for meaningful work, a community who cares about them. And we are living by those values, influencing the larger community in which we live. Instead of worrying about what we can’t do because we are few, we focus on doing everything we can. That matters.
How much more is this Jesus lifestyle important to those in more desperate circumstances than we are. Folks experiencing warfare. Those whose people have known generations of racial injustice. People in the cycle of extreme poverty. When we build confident, supportive communities, everyone can benefit. This is good news for everyone today. We hold this in common with our first century ancestors.
At the same time there are key differences between the first and twenty-first centuries. First century folks couldn’t challenge Rome. There was no democracy, no dissent. They were powerless to change the prevailing system. We aren’t. It’s important to build resilient communities, but telling folks to find their own good news in the face of oppression is insufficient. We CAN challenge our system. We can learn and respond to the challenges of our time – warfare, racism, discrimination based on economics or gender or sexual orientation.
For example, we have been giving housing assistance to people a few times each year. That’s good news. We’ve also learned how dehumanizing it is for those folks to cold call churches and social agencies, tell their story and hope for a handout. This week I’m going to call our partners in this work and ask them to help us think about how the process could be easier, less abusive of those who need help. And to help us think about why people need emergency help with housing. Maybe we’ll discover ways that we can advocate for change and be even more helpful.