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Christ and Caesar – The Magnificat of Mary

By Charles Rush

December 14, 2008

[ Audio (mp3, 6.7Mb) ]

er Thanksgiving, I woke one morning, opened the door to my room to head towards the coffee pot, when this medium sized bucket of water fell on my head. I would have blurted out choice words I learned from sailors but I could hear the muffled giggles of two boys- aged 6 and 8- my nephews Henry and Charlie. They were coming from a nearby closet, so with iron-clad discipline, I walked over to the closet, soaking wet, bucket on my head and I said slowly and clearly, my nephews 7 favorite words, “You realize of course, this means War”. With that, the door swung open, and the two of them ran, rolled, and scattered like POW's set free.

We've been doing this same schtick since they were born and they never get tired of it. I give them what I refer to as ‘the business', roughly 3 parts wrestling and one part tickling. And I suppose it has ever been thus between uncles and nephews.

Let's stay with that phrase, “It has ever been thus”. I used to get these lectures when I was in my twenties from older, wizened men in the church on the ‘the real world', the world where force must be used, the world where budgets had to be slashed in tough times, the world where violence had to be used to contain violent men. Just now, I am certain that all of you are more immersed in the tough, ugly dimension of ‘the real world' that you would like nothing more than to simply change the channel. And that is why we are here, to change the channel.

We are going to change the channel and look at the story of the birth of a baby and all of the hope, promise, and love that this birth entails. It is a beautiful story. It is not a historical story, the manger, the shepherds, the angels, the wise men. It has more apposition to it than people generally realize, speaking of the significance of the birth of Jesus. Romans would have understood it this way, at least educated Romans. I discovered it by accident, and here let me put in a plug for continuing education after college is over. I read the Iliad and the Odyssey at the beach one summer- we now have excellent translations and the story is a page turner- seduction, jealousy, battle, honor, lust, adventure. It is the oldest piece of enduring western literature and all of the proto-values for western civilization are contained in it. It was so good, I read the Aneid by Vergil the next summer, alas, not as compelling, about the founding of Rome by Rome's greatest poet. All educated Romans read this piece and quite obviously, so did the author of the gospel of Luke, even though I never heard a single lecture on this subject in college or divinity school.[i]

Jesus was born at one of the most interesting times in Western history. It was right at the end of the Roman Republic and just at the beginning of what was called the “Pax Romana” the stable peace that extended all of the way around the Mediterranean sea. If you watched the terrific series on HBO, “Rome”, you know the cast of characters. About 70 years before the birth of Jesus, Julius Caesar was murdered in a public square by Brutus and Cassius. His heir, from the house of Julii, was his nephew Octavian. But he was only 19 when his uncle died and so he was challenged for power by Marc Antony and the ruler of Egypt Cleopatra. Eventually, the lovers were killed and the forces of Octavian solidified his power.

Through the entire episode, the Senate of Rome proved themselves to be fickle and without moral integrity. And so, the season of the Republic, where the Senate ruled Rome, came to an end and the position of Caesar turned into Emperor, the one in control of the feared Army that could not be defeated. Octavian made this happen. Someone suggested the honorific Augustus for him and he accepted it. Caesar Augustus, the most powerful man in human history.

Like the Egyptian aristocracy before him, Caesar Augustus believed that his fantastic rise to power was due to special protection that he received from the god Apollo. Indeed, today if you visit the wonderful city of Corinth in Greece, where Paul started his churches, you can still read the dedication carved into the main stone pillar over the arch that leads into the ancient city. It thanks the builder of the city, including the huge temple to Apollo, Caesar Augustus, ‘son of God'. Caesar Augustus was the first Emperor, the first Roman citizen, to accept the claim that he was part God. He was not just human. He was divine.

Vergil, the greatest poet of Rome, wrote this long encomium about the founding of the Rome and he centered it on the birth of Augustus, his patron. Vergil, like most Romans, was not only convinced that Rome was the greatest civilization in human history, he also expected it to continue for thousands of years. Rome, the Eternal City. The work lacks humility and is therefore important reading.

Right at the beginning, he says, “I shall unroll for you the secrets of the scroll of Fates. He will wage a great war in Italy and crush its fiercest tribes. He will build walls for his people and establish their way of life… he will give his own name to his people, the Romans. On them I impose no limits of time or place. I have given them an empire that will know no end… then the years of bitterness will be over.” Augustus was regularly referred to as a Savior when he was alive. One inscription reads, “Providence… by producing Augustus [has sent] us and our descendants a Savior, who has put an end to war and established all things…” All things Roman, of course.

So the long story that Vergil tells, recounts wars and battles the preceded Rome, indeed a tremendous amount of wanton and tragic bloodletting which is not exactly justified. It is just that through this, the inscrutable will of the gods leads us up to the birth of this one all-wise, all benevolent, all powerful founder of the center of civilization, Rome, and the beginning of a thousand year peace, the Pax Romana. It is, to use an SAT word, panegyric, an effusive oration of praise. Ass kissing, as old as human civilization, reached a new level during this period of Rome's history.

Of course, actual history was quite a bit more complicated than this depiction. Again, one of best things about the HBO show Rome, was its depiction of slaves, who would have written this story quite differently from Vergil. I don't know exactly what the ratio was but there were something like 3 o4 4 slaves for every Roman citizen. And one of the things the HBO show depicted so well, is how utterly different Roman attitudes were towards slaves than ours. They were completely transparent- really invisible- and had no meaningful existence whatsoever, except as for the service they provided Master. Rome was fantastically wealthy and stable and civilized but only for a small percentage of the population, while the overwhelming majority led lives of degradation.

And Rome kept the wealth and kept the peace because of the brutal force of the Army. This was an era before Human Rights, before CNN's film crew. The Romans sent a dispatch to their colonies to pay a tax that was determined in Rome. If the colony didn't pay all of the tax that they were assessed, the Romans simply sent the Army in, let them rape in public, wantonly kill, taking the girls for concubines and the young men for slaves, and then utterly destroy the cities and crops. The expression, “scorch and burn” in military parlance, first referred to the utter devastation that the Roman army wreaked untold terror on the countryside.

This is the real world. You have to have power to collect taxes and some people have to be enslaved so that the rest of us can achieve high civilization. Yes, there is human misery and tragedy but without it, we could never carve out higher culture. And… it has ‘ever been thus'.

Our story of the birth of Jesus in Luke, begins right here. “In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be enrolled for taxation.” Roman citizens would have read that line, hardly noticing it because that is just what they did tax the colonies. And everyone else would have read those lines with a palpable sense of fear, righteous indignation, and resentment.

“And Joseph also went u from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David which is called Bethlehem because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be enrolled with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. And while they were there, the time came for her to be delivered. And she gave birth to her first-born son, and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the Inn (2:4-7).

We have the humble origins of a great leader, a very common approach that authors have loved from then until now. Caesar Augustus was also so depicted. George Washington was so depicted. Ronald Regan was so depicted and no doubt, there is an author right now writing about Barack Obama in exactly this way.

But it is more than that too. Jesus was born into a family that was at the margins and will stay at the margins. They will not become the storied Kennedy family or the House of Windsor. They don't even have last names. They are teenagers in a stable, putting their baby in a feeding trough to sleep. ‘There was no room for them at the Inn'. And there never will be any room for Jesus. When he was in his thirties, one day he said something that stuck with his disciples. “Foxes have holes, birds have nests, but I have no place to lay my head.” He was probably tired and discouraged but after he died, the disciples realized that was true for his whole life. This is not the story of tough times that are overcome and all fall into place because one day he will wield great power and influence.

This is the story of a God who hears the cries, the silent, plaintive pain of people at the edge of the empire, in a little dumpy nowhere town, who you've never heard of precisely because they aren't important and won't matter in the future either. Nobody else pays any attention to them, except to collect their taxes. Nobody cares about them. But God cares. God doesn't just bestow favor on a few that become fantastically successful in the future. God hears the ordinary fears and prayers of every single one of us. Right now, you might be lying in bed at night, wondering if anyone is out there in the dark who is listening, who really gets your concerns. And you may even be angry because nothing is really changing in your life, no magic cure is emerging and you are getting desperate. But God does care. God is listening. Your silly little worries? God shares them. God cares… about you.

“And there were in this same country shepherds (ordinary shepherds, nameless men, Bedouins) abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And lo and angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them (and they were filled with majestic awe).

And the angel said unto them, Fear not; for behold I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. [Not just for the favored citizens; not just for the gifted- but each and every one of us] For unto you [Yes, even you] is born this day in the city of David a savior who is Christ The Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you. You shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the Angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God, and saying, “Glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace, good will towards men.”

We know about the real world. We know about the order that is built on power and the threat of violence. We know about détente, the cessation of overt conflict, about the closest we ever come towards peace. But it is not real peace either and we know that as well. We know that it is only one terrorist attack away from unleashing the horrors and tragedies of armed warfare.

But what we hope for, what we are waiting for, is real peace, the genuine kind, the spiritual kind that settles over the hearts and minds of each person so that there doesn't need to be a threat of violence to enforce the order because people are willing to do it themselves.

We know about power. We know about organization that is so strong, you simply have to go with its direction because you are unable to do otherwise. But what we hope for, what we are waiting for, is moral suasion. What we hope for is something so genuine, something that has such integrity, that we will want to be part of it because it is the right thing to do and we will be better for it.

We know about winners. We know about the perquisites that come to people that have become more successful than their peers. But what we hope for, what we are waiting for, is a world where everyone finds a meaningful place at the table. We hope for a world where everyone is included, where everyone is respected and valued. We hope for a world where we can heal each other. We hope for a world where everyone can shine- where the radiance of God's love fills each and every one of us.

We know about will. We know about the world where one person claws their way to the top and for a short while can organize the rest of us in the direction that they think we all need to go. But what we hope for, what we are waiting for, is that we would live out of love. We hope for a leader that will help us to become something noble; we hope for a world where we care for others and others really care about us. We hope for a community of grace that lifts each other up, so that we all realize what is best in us.

We know about the real world. And we know it has been ‘ever thus'. But what we long for is a spiritual world where we can find our fulfillment. And this is what the baby came to tell us. Jesus used to say, ‘seek ye first, the kingdom of God, and all these other things will be added unto you.' We have to negotiate the real world. That is the only one we get. But as we do, open ourselves to the profounder spiritual depth of human existence that is our true end and goal. Be in the world but not of the world as Jesus taught us. Wait, watch, and search out the real hope for integrity and authenticity that is the way of peace.

At the moment, we are all waiting for the ‘real world' to give us bad news as cuts have to be made and operations have to be closed. The ‘real world' is giving us anxiety and worry unto fear. So, let's each start our day during this season, lighting a candle for the spiritual depth of human existence to fill us, that we might see the ‘glory of God shining round about us.' Lift up your concerns to God and live out of the power that God came also for you. God is listening. God really cares. Amen.

[i] For a quick review, you might see the work of Marianne Bonz at Harvard. She did a piece on this subject for PBS that is quite accessible. See www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/symposium.