The Feed

Andrew Arndt, a pastor, writer, husband, father, friend, and one of my favorite theologians has shared some characteristically beautiful thoughts on Advent:

Among the most beautiful Advent words are the words of Mary after being visited by Elizabeth, historically known as the Magnificat:

46And Mary said:
“My soul glorifies the Lord
47and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
48for he has been mindful
of the humble state of his servant.
From now on all generations will call me blessed,
49for the Mighty One has done great things for me—
holy is his name.
50His mercy extends to those who fear him,
from generation to generation.
51He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
52He has brought down rulers from their thrones
but has lifted up the humble.
53He has filled the hungry with good things
but has sent the rich away empty.
54He has helped his servant Israel,
remembering to be merciful
55to Abraham and his descendants forever,
even as he said to our fathers.”

Beautiful. And also subversive. Mary’s words declare that in Jesus God has tipped the world upside down. It will not do for Mary just to go about repeating that Jesus is God’s “son” or “messiah”, allowing such titles to become nothing more than shallow, trite, dogmatic symbols that mean next to nothing when juxtaposed against the grinding realities faced by the poor, oppressed, and marginalized . Rather, Mary must tell what it is that Jesus’ Messiahship and Sonship MEAN.

Commenting on the passage, Raymond Brown writes:

“By placing this canticle on Mary’s lips, however, Luke has made a statement about discipleship and gospel. We have seen that in the annunciation Mary becomes the first disciple, indeed, the first Christian, by hearing the word, i.e., the good news of Jesus’ identity as Messiah and God’s Son, and by accepting it. In the visitation she hastens to share this gospel word with others, and now in the Magnificat we have her INTERPRETATION of that word… At the beginning of the public ministry [of Jesus] in Luke’s Gospel (as in the other Gospels) God’s voice identifies Jesus as His Beloved Son (3:22)–the good news from the start is Christological. BUT, when Jesus speaks the gospel to people, he does not reiterate his own identity to people, saying, ‘I am God’s Son.’ Rather, he INTERPRETS what the sending of the Son MEANS, so that the Beatitudes and Woes show both its salvific and judgmental results.”

Jesus’ coming is not merely an occasion for pious sentimentality, as sometimes I’m afraid that we make it.

We set up manger scenes in the front lawns of churches and on top of our TVs
We dress our kids up as Mary and Joseph and the Wise Men and remember the story cutely
We put on Christmas productions to commemorate what deep down we feel is becoming an increasingly vapid symbol

And then we wonder why Christianity in the West is so gutless, so sterile, so safe.

The birth of this child is anything but cute, anything but safe, anything but a vapid symbol. Mary reminds us what all the Gospel writers instinctively knew: that the coming of this helpless One

shakes
empires
to
their
core

Because it questions the very foundations upon which empires rest.

The accumulation of wealth
The consolidation of power
The careful, calculated control of the masses

And so the Gospel writers declare Jesus’ coming as that which all the Hebrew prophets understood the Messiah’s coming to be: a political reality that would turn the world upside down with an alternative value system built on an alternative vision of reality – a vision built on a robust understanding of the inbreaking of God’s righteousness.

Of course, you know what this requires, right?

You. Me. Us. Together. Living out a “messianic” value system in full view of the world.

We could turn the world upside down.
We could engage in prophetic acts that would be:

1) Consistent with Jesus’ first coming and
2) Congruent with his second coming

Jesus “coming” means the world is and will be a different place.

The possibilities are endless:

Oppression
Slavery
Sex-trafficking
Hunger
AIDS
Systematic, codified racial prejudice
War

You could think of others I’m sure. But let me suggest just one – a modest proposal if you will:

That the Christians of the world, under the aegis and authorization of a messianic vision of reality, determine to end the problem of global thirst, and with it, a whole host of other problems.

Some quick stats:
- Nearly 90% of all diseases in the world are caused by unsafe drinking water
- 4 billion cases of diarrhea occur every year as a result of drinking contaminated water, resulting in 2.2 million deaths annually
- Every day, water-related diseases claim the lives of 5000 kids under the age of 5. Right. EVERY DAY.
- The annual number of deaths globally due to water-related illnesses is SIX TIMES that which occurs due to armed violence.

But it goes deeper than that:
- Water-related diseases cost 443 million school days per year
- 150 million school-age children are severely affected by waterborne parasites like roundworm, whipworm, and hookworm which causes anemia and stunted growth among other things
- The lost momentum for many of these students due to lost time in school reduces cognitive potential, undermines schooling, and ultimately hinders nations from developing as they should

Deeper still:
- In sub-Sarahan Africa, 40 billion labor hours are wasted carrying water over long distances
- Women typically do most of the water-carrying, often spending 15-20 hours a week simply collecting water, sometimes walking distances of 7 miles during the dry season (this is basically a sun-up to sun-down walk)
- This takes women away from their families, hence harming families in developing nations and harming women by consigning them to disempowering work

Simply having access to clean water could transform entire communities, entire nations, entire continents.

And here’s the best part. The estimated cost to solve the world’s water problem is 10 billion dollars.

10 billion.
10 billion!

That’s a layup. If 20 million Christians in the U.S. decided that over the next 30 days, they were going to try and come up with $500, we could end the problem of global thirst in 2009.

Leading to a brighter future for:
Kids
Women
Workers
Nations

Next year.

I told you, it’s just a modest proposal. I’m going to do what I can. Will you?

http://www.adventconspiracy.org

http://water.cc