Give Us Empire! Or ...

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“One day you will see that it is a mistake to love an empire, or a throne, or a crown, because those things cannot love. They can only die.”

          Lev Grossman, The Bright Sword

 

“Remember that all through history, there have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they seem invincible. But in the end, they always fall. Always.”

          Mahatma Gandhi, Gandhi: An Autobiography

 

Choose your leaders

with wisdom and forethought.

To be led by a coward

is to be controlled

by all that the coward fears.

To be led by a fool

is to be led

by the opportunists who control the fool.

To be led by a thief

is to offer up

your most precious treasures to be stolen.

To be led by a liar

is to ask to be told lies.

To be led by a tyrant

is to sell yourself and those you love

into slavery.”

― Octavia E. Butler, Parable of the Talents

___________________________________

 

Kingdom

My kingdom

My kingdom is not

My kingdom is not of this world

 

Why is the pull of Empire so strong, Jesus?

You made it clear

Very

 

That you are not about Empire

From your first breath

In the dust of a stable

To the pleas of the tempter in the wilderness

To tables tossed

To the cross

 

You did not merely step away from Empire

You confronted it

 

And yet

In the end, the crowds chose Empire

 

They looked at Jesus and muttered,

“he should have obeyed.”

“he should have kept quiet.”

 

And they made their choice.

Give us Barabbas.

Crucify him!

 

And still today

The choice is there, unavoidable

Do we let Empire be Empire

And do what Empire does,

Or do we choose Jesus

 

Choosing Jesus is radical

It is not simply a matter of saying

“I pledge allegiance to Jesus…..”

 

Choosing Jesus means choosing love.

And living love

 

If we choose Jesus, we cannot blindly hate

We cannot blindly follow human leaders

Or blindly obey them.

 

Choosing Jesus is inconvenient

Risky

It can get you thrown to the earth

Beaten

Handcuffed

Thrown into an unmarked van by masked

Agents of the Empire

 

You might even die

 

We always have a choice.

We can choose love or hate

We can choose power over or servanthood

We can choose apathy or compassion, brutality or kindness

 

The question comes

Who do we want?

 

What is our answer?

Give us Empire!  Give us wealth and domination!

Get rid of the leftist radicals!

 

Or

Give me Jesus

In the morning, when I rise

Give me Jesus

You can have all the rest

But give me Jesus