Understanding the mission and meaning of this child

Mary’s Song of Praise on the meaning and mission of the gift of God

(The Gospel According to St. Luke 1)

⁴⁶ And Mary said,

“My soul magnifies the Lord,
⁴⁷     and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
⁴⁸ for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.
    Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
⁴⁹ for the Mighty One has done great things for me,
    and holy is his name.
⁵⁰ His mercy is for those who fear him
    from generation to generation.
⁵¹ He has shown strength with his arm;
    he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
⁵² He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,
    and lifted up the lowly;
⁵³ he has filled the hungry with good things,
    and sent the rich away empty.
⁵⁴ He has helped his servant Israel,
    in remembrance of his mercy,
⁵⁵ according to the promise he made to our ancestors,
    to Abraham and to his descendants forever.”

 

Praying a blessed Christmas for you and yours, as well as a faith in keeping with the meaning and mission of this amazing child!

Context and interpretation. . .

   Through Whose Eyes?

Reading the Bible with the eyes of the poor is a different thing from reading it with a full belly. If it is read in the light of the experience and hopes of the oppressed, the Bible’s revolutionary themes—promise, exodus, resurrection and spirit—come alive.

Jürgen Moltmann
Source: The Church in the Power of the Spirit

Add your thoughts at inward/outward

Context, Experience, Relevance, Meaning--Part II

Again, the theological priorities that shape faith grow out of the experiences of individuals and societies.  How we approach sacred truth is always mediated through a worldview shaped and framed by what we and those around "go through."  That James H. Cone writes regarding the faith formation of African slaves transported to America is a case in point.  These same principles apply and relate to the way "the poor" read and understand scripture and the other formal and informal sources of their faith. 

The theological assumption of black slave religion as expressed in the spirituals was that slavery contradicts God, and he will therefore liberate black people.  All else was secondary and complemented that basic perspective.  But how did black slaves know  that God was liberating them?  Black slaves did not ask that epistemological question.  As with all ontological assumptions, the truth of a prepositional assertion is found in the giveness of existence itself and not in theory.  Black slaves did not devise philosophical and theological methodologies in order to test the truth of God's revelation as liberation.  From their viewpoint it did not need testing.  They had already encountered its truth and had been liberated by it.  Instead of testing God, they ritualized him in song and sermon.  That was what the spirituals were all about--a ritualization of God in song.  They are not documents for philosophy; they are material for worship and praise to him who had continued to be present with black humanity despite European insanity. . . .

The spirituals nowhere raise questions about God's existence or matters of theodicy and it is safe to assume that the slave community did not perceive a theoretical solution of the problem of evil as a felt need.  Rather, their needs were defined by the existential realities which they encountered.  As slaves, they felt sharply their oppression and complete lack of freedom.  In the Bible, the black slaves found the God who liberated the Israelites from bondage and whose will was the liberation of the oppressed.  This same God who came to mankind in Jesus Christ the Oppressed One, who disclosed that God's will from all eternity was not to be reconciled with human slavery.  Moreover, through the death and resurrection of Jesus, God made clear his will to deliver the oppressed.  This biblical disclosure the slaves appropriated as speaking directly to their own condition.  Whether they reasoned correctly about the Bible's message is irrelevant, a question for speculative discussion by those not entrapped in their situation. 

That this theme of God's involvement in  history and his liberation of the oppressed from bondage should be central in black slave religion and the spirituals is not surprising, for it corresponded with the black people's need to know that their slavery was not the divine Creator's intention for them. In fastening on this knowledge, they experienced the awareness of divine liberation.  Their experience of it and their faith in its complete fulfillment became factual reality and self-evident truth for the slave community.  Only those outside the community and the experience could dare question it or remain unconvinced.  To be sure, they did not deny:
   
          Sometimes I'm up, sometimes I'm down,
          Oh, yes, Lord!
          Sometimes I'm almost on the ground,
         Oh, yes, Lord!

But the certain fact is always that God is present with them and trouble will not have the last word.  Penultimately, white masters may torture and kill slaves capriciously, and the world seem only chaos and absurdity.  But ultimately God is in control and black slaves believe that they have encountered the infinite significance of his liberation.  And so they lifted up their voices and sang:

          Do, Lord, remember me.
          Do, Lord, remember me.
         When I'm in trouble,
         Do, Lord, remember me.

         When I'm low down,
         Do, Lord, remember me.
         Oh, when I'm low down,
        Do, Lord, remember me. 
    

Seeking a new way. . .calling for new will

"But the poor person does not exist as an inescapable fact of destiny. His or her existence is not politically neutral, and it is not ethically innocent. The poor are a by-product of the system in which we live and for which we are responsible. They are marginalized by our social and cultural world. They are the oppressed, exploited [laboring underclass], robbed of the fruit of their labor and despoiled of their humanity. Hence the poverty of the poor is not a call to generous relief action, but a demand that we go and build a different social order."


— Gustavo Gutiérrez

Captured faith

Here's a strong and, some would say I'm sure, controversial word from my friend Dr. Joerg Rieger, professor of theology at Perkins School of Theology at SMU.  After  you read it, let me know what you think.

. . .we need to face the forces that constantly threaten to hold captive our thinking about Christ. Theologies and Christologies that do not dare to confront their assimilation and bondage to empire stand little chance to push through to new versions of liberation (p. 315).

Other truths are still hidden and covered up, especially the question: Who ultimately benefits from the current structures of empire? Why else would so many common people vote for the interests of the wealthiest and most powerful members of society – for instance by endorsing tax cuts for the rich and for limits to the social and ecological accountability of monied interests – and against their own interests, that might better be served by a strong social security net that includes health care for all and a well-funded educational system? (p. 316).

The problem here is not so much an intentional cover-up or a conscious lie (although lies and cover-ups are part of the repertoire). The problem is with the fact that the most basic truth about empire is often invisible, to be found between the lines… The American empire… took shape… in a state of denial that did not allow reflection or debate. (pp. 317 & 318).

Awareness of a powerful alternative reality that cannot be captured by empire inspires fresh action and generates new energy… (Continue in my word: - John 8:31). Why not think about “continuing in [Jesus’] word” in terms of participating in Jesus’ alternative reality, which includes the realities of the kinds of people on the margins with whom he developed

from Joerg Rieger, Christ and Empire:  From Paul to Postcolonial Times (Fortress Press, 2007).