Readings:
Isaiah 61:10-62:3, Galatians 3:23-25; 4:4-7, John 1:1-18
But when the fullness of time had come, God sent
his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, in order to redeem those who were
under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children. And because you
are children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying,
"Abba! Father!" So you are no longer a slave but a child, and if a
child then also an heir, through God. –Galatians 4:4-7
Those of you know me, know
that I am huge history buff. Ancient history, American history, European history.
You name it, I’m interested in it. But one area I have always been interested in
has been the American Civil War and when I recently saw a display near my wife
Lorrin’s church in Independence, OH honoring local participants in the Civil
War, I took notice. And one display really interested me in particular. Accompanied by a grainy
mid-19th century daguerreotype, the caption on this display stated: PVT Philp
G. Shadrach, executed by the Confederacy for espionage. And let me tell, being
the huge geek that I am, I immediately Googled his name on my phone.
And the story that I read was
one that was one that was really familiar to me from my childhood. Private
Shadrach had been participant in the famous Andrew’s raid of 1862 where a dozen
or so Union spies – all former railroad men – hijacked a steam engine of the
Western and Atlantic Railway in an attempt to make the railroad impassable by
blowing up bridges, tearing up tracks, and pulling down telegraph wire. This
same story had been told in glorious technicolor by Walt Disney’s studios in
their 1956 film the Great Locomotive
Chase starring Fess Parker. And this was a movie I had watched over and
over again as child. I mean what’s there not to be excited about – trains, espionage,
and Davy Crockett.
In the film version of this
history, Fess Parker, who plays ring leader James J. Andrews, takes a band of
union soldiers into the heart of the Confederacy. And boarding a train at Big
Shanty, Georgia without their uniforms and without their Yankee accents,
Andrews’ men take their seats in the passenger car and wait for the right time
to overtake the train.
The right time comes when the
train stops to take on wood and water and as the crew and passengers took their
breakfast. They uncouple the railroad cars and seize the engine and press on in
their mission to disrupt Confederate transportation and communication. The rest
of the story is about the chase that ensues as Confederate forces attempt to
stop Andrews and his team of saboteurs in their mission. The story, as Walt
Disney tells it, ends with the capture of Andrews and his men and with Fess
Parker singing “Roll, Jordan, Roll” behind prison bars.
Ultimately, however, this a
story of valor where brave men risk their lives in service to a cause greater
than themselves. They go undercover in order to subvert the work of an enemy,
masking their true identity in order that they might accomplish the tasks
set before them. In many ways, this is the same story as Christmas.
St. Paul tells us in his
letter to Galatians, “God sent his Son, born
of a woman, born under the law, in order to redeem those who were under the
law, so that we might receive adoption as children.”
God’s own son, the Word
of God who the Gospel of John tells
us “was in the beginning with God” and through whom everything was made” – that
same “Word” became flesh and dwelt among us. The author of our human nature
takes human nature upon himself so that he might enter this world alongside us
as our brother.
At Christmas, God breaks
into the world as clandestinely as Andrews and his men, by taking the form of
child born to poor parents in an obscure corner of the Roman Empire. He does
not enter the world as a king, a ruler, or a general but rather, as a lowly servant.
At Christmas, God sneaks
under the radar, so as to build his kingdom on earth right under the noses of
those like Herod, the Roman Emperor, and all those who think themselves the
rulers of this world.
You see, at Christmas,
Jesus, who is God incarnate and undercover, inaugurates a great conspiracy of
love. And this same Jesus, bids us to be conspirators with him and bids us,
through the power of love, to bring the power of earthly Empire to heel. Jesus
has hopped that train at Big Shanty and is calling us to follow him as the
forces of darkness are put flight and as his Kingdom is established on earth.
He is calling us to the work of holy sabotage.
And When Empire might be
telling us to hate or fear someone or a group of people – whether the be
undocumented immigrants or refugees of the Muslim faith – Jesus calls us to
sabotage Empire, by reaching out in love to our fellow human beings.
When Empire tells us
that some people –namely those with means and money – matter more, we are
called to sabotage Empire, through our solidarity with the poor and our
commitment to economic and social justice.
When Empire tells us
that our short term economic goals are more important than the lasting effect
we are having on the environment, we are called to sabotage Empire, through our
commitment to be good stewards of the earth we have been given as a home.
Jesus did not come to
maintain to status quo or to affirm that we are all just good people just
trying to do a good job. He came to overturn the powers of darkness that have
us in thrall, to loose the captives, to bind up the brokenhearted and build a
peaceable kingdom on earth. Jesus came that we might be raised to heaven and
that heaven might descend to earth. He came to usher in a conspiracy of love
that will, in God’s good time, renew the face of the earth and wipe away every
tear and hush every cry. This is the promise and the rallying cry given to us
at Christmas
+ Amen
