The Christmas Peace

Luke establishes the birth of Jesus as a showdown between two kingdoms: God’s and Rome’s. By the time Jesus was born, Augustus had been ruling as the first Roman Emperor for over 20 years. He’d firmly established his trademark imperial policy, the Pax Romana, a Latin phrase that means “Peace of Rome”.

Augustus used the Peace of Rome to entice and threaten those Rome ruled into following Rome, into living Rome’s way. The Pax Romana policy essentially claimed that Rome brought peace to the Earth. The implied message was that if you follow Rome’s way, you get peace: safety and security, protection from your enemies. If you don’t follow Rome’s way, you’re the enemy, and Rome will crush you.

Augustus used the title “Savior” to describe how he brought the Peace of Rome to the world. Check out this inscription from a calendar that dates less than a decade before Jesus’ birth:

Providence… has given us Augustus, whom she filled with virtue that he might benefit humankind, sending him as a savior, both for us and for our descendants, that he might end war and arrange all things… The birthday of the god Augustus was the beginning of the good news for the world.

This is the language Rome used to describe its ruler. The Good News is that Augustus was born. Why is that good news? Because Augustus is the Savior. He protects Rome from her enemies and brings peace to the Earth.

And this Augustus decrees that a census should be taken, so a Galilean peasant and his pregnant fiancée head to Bethlehem, where she gives birth. This is the world into which Jesus is born. Now look at what Luke tells us happens next:

That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. The Savior— yes, the Messiah, the Lord– has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.”

The angelic messenger tells the shepherds there’s a new king in town. Tonight is the birthday of a new savior. This is a Gospel message to oppose Caesar’s. But the angel isn’t finished:

Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others– the armies of heaven– praising God and saying, “Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.” — Luke 2:8-14 (NLT)

The angelic choir proclaims Pax to the Earth, using all the language Augustus used to describe himself.

That is quite an entrance. God is throwing down the gauntlet. God is directly challenging Caesar’s claim to bring peace to the earth. According to Luke’s Christmas story, Caesar is a false god, making false promises and offering a false peace. And the good news is that the true king has come. The good news is that in the birth of Jesus, God is bringing true peace to the Earth.

The Christmas Scroll

ADVENT2012
You know. This scene.
You know. This scene.

There’s a scene that pretty much every Christmas movie includes at some point (usually toward the end of Act II). The protagonist is down on his or her luck, and has just stumbled upon a window. They look inside and see a perfectly happy family, tall, perfect Christmas tree in the corner, a big, crackling fireplace, a big pile of gifts and plenty of laughter.

And the protagonist stands outside, looking in. Separated from all the warmth, laughter and love. Of course this usually happens at the low point in the story, when the hero is about to learn some valuable lesson that will enable them to save Christmas and rejoin their loved ones at their own fireplace scene.

Because the message is that Christmas is happening inside, where the fire is so delightful. Not outside where the weather is frightful.

This understanding of Christmas, as the warm places full of love and cheer, runs deep, so that even our nativity scenes look so peaceful and serene.

We forget that the first Christmas was anything but warm and peaceful. We forget that everyone around the manger is an outsider. That the nativity scene is filled with people who didn’t belong anywhere else. People who’d been left standing outside in the cold.

We forget – or maybe never actually thought about – the fact that when God came to the World, he didn’t come to the cozy fireplaces. He came to the outsiders, to the left-out. Jesus is outside.Continue reading

When Christians take the Christ out of Christmas

war-on-christmasThis is a condensed, blog-friendly version of my sermon from yesterday. Listen to it here.

The so-called “War on Christmas” has been beaten nearly to death. On one side, many Christians believe that using words like X-mas and wishing someone “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas” are the mildest forms of a more-or-less systematic attack on Christmas (and by extension, the Christian foundations of American culture). This camp believes – and rightly so – that you cannot and should not take the Christ out of Christmas. (by the way, go read this)

On the other side, many recognize that America is becoming increasingly pluralistic, and in an effort to welcome other faiths and cultures into the dominant culture, are removing the most explicitly religious elements of Christmas celebrations. This camp believes – and rightly so – that there’s a lot you can do around the holidays that doesn’t have to involve Jesus.

I’m not interested in taking a side in the War on Christmas (though as usual, Jon Stewart is pretty spot-on). I’m more interested in how those who call themselves Christians are fighting this “War”.

Christians are taking the Christ out of Christmas by the way we treat our enemies in this “War”.Continue reading

Book: Undead by Clay Morgan

Undead by Clay Morgan
Click to check out Undead on Amazon!

Unless you are Amish, you are probably aware that zombies are way in right now. Which is at least slightly weird since zombies aren’t even a little bit sexy. I mean, there’s not much you can do to glamorize the zombie apocalypse.

But Walking Dead is the biggest show on TV. The number of zombie novels might be outpacing teen vampire romance novels. (Also, that those are a thing? Truly horrifying.) Zombies are even getting attention from scholars.

Which begs the question, Why are zombies so “in” right now?Continue reading

StoryMen: Apocalypse 2012 Special

storymen_bannerNEW The second (and possibly last!) episode of my new StoryMen podcast with Matt Mikalatos and Clay Morgan is up! Since December 21 is right around the corner, we welcome our first (and possibly last!) special guest, author and podcaster Jason Boyett. Jason’s sort of an Apocalypse expert, having written two very excellent books on the subject.

BONUS: check out the new StoryMen look! The art is courtesy of M. S. Corley, a truly astounding artist (who does COMIC BOOKS WHAT!?!). Check out his blog for some excellent art!

How to listen:

  1. You can subscribe on iTunes.
  2. You can listen on the StoryMen site.
  3. Oh, and if you haven’t liked us on Facebook yet, do it!
  4. You can WATCH us (!) on YouTube. Thanks right! Thanks to the magic of the interwebs, you can watch all four of us talk! It’s 1.057% more exciting than listening to us! Though you do get to see how pretty we are, which is an obvious bonus.

Enjoy these preview clips:

Continue reading