The God of
the people of Palestine…appeared to be weak compared with other gods. He seemed
forever to be on the losing end, just like his people. This God was almost interchangeable with his
people; his weakness was shown in theirs, and their defeat was his. This God was a loser…in short, this God did
not appear to be up to the challenge of the various empires. His people in Palestine were forced to hear
the mocking voices of their neighbors who taunted them, “Where is your God?”
(Psalm 42)
The
revelation the people of Palestine received was the ability to spot God where
no one else was able to see him. When
his people were driven as slaves into Babylon, they witnessed him accompanying
them… When his people were defeated, he was also present. The salient feature of this God was that he
didn’t run away when his people faced their destiny, but remained with them….
…defeat in
the face of empire was not an ultimate defeat; a new beginning was possible.
Believing that there is something more powerful than
Empire is an important and necessary step to questioning it.
Mitri
Raheb: Faith in the face of Empire
__________________
Where is God?
Where is your God?
Is your god the god of Empire
Found in monuments and massive ballrooms
Found in a rising stock market?
In mansions and megachurches
Is your god Empire?
Is your god wealth and power
Does your god abide in the halls of power?
Is your god the god of the winners
The powerful
Those who have dominion?
Or is your God beyond Empire?
Is your God found in unexpected places?
Showing up in unexpected ways??
Where has God been found?
In a small band of Semitic people who had
No land, no home?
In a group of rescued slaves
vacillating and doubtful?
In a land not so flowing
With milk and honey
An occupied land,
The battlefield of empires?
Yes!
Where has God been found?
In a squalling child of poverty
An immigrant king
A “domestic terrorist” hanging on a tree?
Yes!
Where is God now?
Where, if we look, can God be found?
God is not in the White House
Or in the halls of Congress
God is not hanging out at the Supreme Court
Nor is God to be found at patriotic rallies, replete with
American flags, loud proclamations of divine favor,
and bad music
Nor is God found in the masked forces of empire
lurking in the streets, creating havoc and fear
Nor in the copies of the 10 commandments
hanging on classroom walls
God is there in the ravaged streets of Minneapolis
In the woman blowing her whistle
In the man wielding only a cell phone
In massed people singing songs of love
God is in the abandoned car with the smashed windshield
And in the detention center
filled with battered brown people
God is there in that bewildered child
wondering where her father has gone, what has happened to
his mother?
God is in the blood stains on the pavement.
God is in the field where farmworkers toil
In the kitchen of a restaurant
God is found serving meals,
repairing roofs,
and caring for the landscapes of mansions
God is found in the slaves of Empire
In the least of these
God is not where we expect
God is not who we envision
But God is
God does not run
But remains
always
Can we not see
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