Ensign: Keeping Caesar In Christmas
All ye inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the earth, see ye, when he lifteth up an ensign on the mountains; and when he bloweth a trumpet, hear ye. Isaiah 18:3
AN ENSIGN ON THE MOUNTAINS 13 January 2017
On Christmas Day at church last year we heard Pastor Janet give the sermon and during it she referred to a message she'd previously heard and read, "Keeping Herod In Christmas." And like anybody else who I expect just read that phrase, she questioned WHY you would want to keep the chief villain -- remember, the one who commissioned the wise men to find the baby Jesus so he may come and worship him too, and after the wise men didn't come back he slaughtered all the two-and-unders in Bethlehem but not before Jesus with Mary and Joseph could escape -- of the story. The answer came back that Herod's necessary to the Christmas story because Jesus was born into a world of bumps and bruises, not of luxury and ease.
I'm simplifying, but please bear with me.
Not that there was much in Herod's documented life to indicate he was ever a nice guy; essentially, he wasn't even Judean (re: Jewish) but rather a client-king appointed by Caesar Augustus the first Roman Emperor (though he kept claiming to have restored the Roman Republic) who did everything he could to stay in power and curry favor with the occupiers. Ultimately, Herod was loyal to Herod and to Rome, in that order. And if you got in his way -- or looked funny like you were going to get in his way to keep power, as some of his wives and children did, he would be the one to stick the knife in your back.
Or have Roman soldiers do it.
But Herod would likely have not gotten to the position he was in when he appears in the Nativity story (more specifically, in Matthew 2 which tends to get subsumed into the story told in Luke 2; the wise men and the shepherds did not appear at the stable in Bethlehem at the same time, or even at all) if he hadn't been an ally of Caesar before he became the top man of what became the Roman Empire. The average citizen of Rome or any of the provinces the Romans had marched into and annexed, treated with, or occupied by force was hardly aware that the Republic had become an Empire for a long time.
You just knew back then that all roads led to Rome.
In our days ... I'm not entirely speaking to an American audience here, but follow me. In our days as a constitutional republic ("democracy" is way too simple a term) and as part of a media web, we are far more likely to know who the President of the United States is than who our state governor or even our representatives and senators are. That's no ignorance, or at least it's not intended to be, on our part so much as what we see as the ultimate source of authority in our own lives. I know what you're about to say: isn't God the Ultimate Authority?
Yes, but God is not the government. He's just placed it over us.
As I'm writing this I just heard an analogy comparing power and authority to drivers, pedestrians, and traffic lights. Now drivers and pedestrians have far more power in and of themselves than any traffic light ever will. But the traffic light has the authority -- green means go, yellow means floor it ... I mean CAUTION, and red means stop. Drivers and pedestrians can try to go on a red light, but I wouldn't recommend it. Likewise, going up against government when those in authority aren't commanding us to do something out of the will of God but rather order us to do something we personally disagree with, it's not recommended.
To render unto Caesar what's Caesar's, we have to render (read: give) him something.
Indeed, the purpose of Caesar (the German kaiser and Russian tsar are derived from this) and my extension government given in Scripture -- to provide for the correction of what's wrong and the reward of what's right -- is far too often far below what we sinful human beings will accept. Going all the way back to Genesis 9 when government is first dispensed to humanity (the ten-dollar word for it's the Noahic Covenant, named for Noah post-Flood) and going to Paul's admonition in Romans 13 that "the powers that be [read: the authorities] are ordained of God", no matter how good or how bad you find those in authority over you, you and I are to do what they say.
Everybody's got authority, and everybody has someone in authority over them.
And without that, we break down. I started this message inspired by "Keeping Herod In Christmas" and while I think my title today is better (it's almost more alliterative) I'm certainly not advocating editing the story of the Nativity at all -- I don't want Revelation's plagues on me! -- but if we give credit where credit is due, we have to see the hand of Caesar, the hand of earthly power, throughout making what happens next possible to have happened and have been recorded. If Caesar isn't kept in Christmas as well as Christ, then the purpose God's given others to govern or rule over us falls apart. For if we can't respect and obey earthly authority, how will we respect and obey Christ Himself?
David
P.S. I will continue as long as God allows me to write this devotional to keep in touch with you, and I hope it encourages us too! If it's not or you would like me to get lost, please let me know. Thanks!
Thank YOU, Lord, that we can come to You in prayer and that we can count on You to provide for all our needs according to Your riches in glory, even when we don't know what our needs are. (This happens more often than we think.) And we come to You in prayer for the peace of Jerusalem on both sides of the fence and all over the world.
Thank You as well, Lord, for everyone in leadership and service, in authority and power, both here and abroad. Thank You for the opportunities we have and the promise of new life through You by Your Son Our Brother, Jesus the Christ.
And now I pray that we all seek and have a blessed week! Amen.
AN ENSIGN ON THE MOUNTAINS 13 January 2017
On Christmas Day at church last year we heard Pastor Janet give the sermon and during it she referred to a message she'd previously heard and read, "Keeping Herod In Christmas." And like anybody else who I expect just read that phrase, she questioned WHY you would want to keep the chief villain -- remember, the one who commissioned the wise men to find the baby Jesus so he may come and worship him too, and after the wise men didn't come back he slaughtered all the two-and-unders in Bethlehem but not before Jesus with Mary and Joseph could escape -- of the story. The answer came back that Herod's necessary to the Christmas story because Jesus was born into a world of bumps and bruises, not of luxury and ease.
I'm simplifying, but please bear with me.
Not that there was much in Herod's documented life to indicate he was ever a nice guy; essentially, he wasn't even Judean (re: Jewish) but rather a client-king appointed by Caesar Augustus the first Roman Emperor (though he kept claiming to have restored the Roman Republic) who did everything he could to stay in power and curry favor with the occupiers. Ultimately, Herod was loyal to Herod and to Rome, in that order. And if you got in his way -- or looked funny like you were going to get in his way to keep power, as some of his wives and children did, he would be the one to stick the knife in your back.
Or have Roman soldiers do it.
But Herod would likely have not gotten to the position he was in when he appears in the Nativity story (more specifically, in Matthew 2 which tends to get subsumed into the story told in Luke 2; the wise men and the shepherds did not appear at the stable in Bethlehem at the same time, or even at all) if he hadn't been an ally of Caesar before he became the top man of what became the Roman Empire. The average citizen of Rome or any of the provinces the Romans had marched into and annexed, treated with, or occupied by force was hardly aware that the Republic had become an Empire for a long time.
You just knew back then that all roads led to Rome.
In our days ... I'm not entirely speaking to an American audience here, but follow me. In our days as a constitutional republic ("democracy" is way too simple a term) and as part of a media web, we are far more likely to know who the President of the United States is than who our state governor or even our representatives and senators are. That's no ignorance, or at least it's not intended to be, on our part so much as what we see as the ultimate source of authority in our own lives. I know what you're about to say: isn't God the Ultimate Authority?
Yes, but God is not the government. He's just placed it over us.
As I'm writing this I just heard an analogy comparing power and authority to drivers, pedestrians, and traffic lights. Now drivers and pedestrians have far more power in and of themselves than any traffic light ever will. But the traffic light has the authority -- green means go, yellow means floor it ... I mean CAUTION, and red means stop. Drivers and pedestrians can try to go on a red light, but I wouldn't recommend it. Likewise, going up against government when those in authority aren't commanding us to do something out of the will of God but rather order us to do something we personally disagree with, it's not recommended.
To render unto Caesar what's Caesar's, we have to render (read: give) him something.
Indeed, the purpose of Caesar (the German kaiser and Russian tsar are derived from this) and my extension government given in Scripture -- to provide for the correction of what's wrong and the reward of what's right -- is far too often far below what we sinful human beings will accept. Going all the way back to Genesis 9 when government is first dispensed to humanity (the ten-dollar word for it's the Noahic Covenant, named for Noah post-Flood) and going to Paul's admonition in Romans 13 that "the powers that be [read: the authorities] are ordained of God", no matter how good or how bad you find those in authority over you, you and I are to do what they say.
Everybody's got authority, and everybody has someone in authority over them.
And without that, we break down. I started this message inspired by "Keeping Herod In Christmas" and while I think my title today is better (it's almost more alliterative) I'm certainly not advocating editing the story of the Nativity at all -- I don't want Revelation's plagues on me! -- but if we give credit where credit is due, we have to see the hand of Caesar, the hand of earthly power, throughout making what happens next possible to have happened and have been recorded. If Caesar isn't kept in Christmas as well as Christ, then the purpose God's given others to govern or rule over us falls apart. For if we can't respect and obey earthly authority, how will we respect and obey Christ Himself?
David
P.S. I will continue as long as God allows me to write this devotional to keep in touch with you, and I hope it encourages us too! If it's not or you would like me to get lost, please let me know. Thanks!
Thank YOU, Lord, that we can come to You in prayer and that we can count on You to provide for all our needs according to Your riches in glory, even when we don't know what our needs are. (This happens more often than we think.) And we come to You in prayer for the peace of Jerusalem on both sides of the fence and all over the world.
Thank You as well, Lord, for everyone in leadership and service, in authority and power, both here and abroad. Thank You for the opportunities we have and the promise of new life through You by Your Son Our Brother, Jesus the Christ.
And now I pray that we all seek and have a blessed week! Amen.
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