Observation: Although there's a lot of really confusing imagery in the Book of Revelation, one consistent image remains throughout, and that is "Babylon." Babylon was the name of the Empire that in the 6th century BC sacked Jerusalem and sent its people into exile. By the time when Revelation was written (late 1st century AD) it is a stock image of an unjust Empire. While John of Patmos could not overtly call out the unfair economic and military practices of the Roman Empire, it's pretty clear that "Babylon" definitely applies to Rome. But more generally, it applies to the excesses and injustices to which any human government is prone. John's Revelation makes clear that in the end, all unjust Empires will fall.
Application: What a clash. I'm sitting here in the light of my family Christmas tree, listening to the Vienna Boys' choir, yet feeling ill at ease. I'm concerned for the poor in this country. I'm concerned for the sick, especially those without affordable health care. I'm concerned about graduate students. I'm concerned about public school teachers. I'm concerned about nonprofit organizations that benefit from people's voluntary generosity.
And if you think I'm only talking about the recent tax bill, some form of which it appears will eventually make it into law, that's not the half of it. It's definitely not the way I would have chosen to do things, had I been a legislator. But when it comes down to it, I don't think one particular law will completely turn the tide of our country's ability or will to care for the most vulnerable in our society.
I believe we as a society have Babylon in our hearts: the Empire that reigns when we look out for ourselves rather than those with less power than we have. This Empire is not identified by one political party or the other. It can't be voted in our out in any election. It's not a red or a blue problem. It's a human problem. Callousness and indifference to human suffering are not endemic to one half of the population: in some form or another, that figure lingers closer to one hundred percent. That is the Babylon that falls when Christ comes to dwell with us. Whether or not we realize it, it is we ourselves who we are praying to be dethroned when we pray that Emmanuel comes.
If we want to stop taking part in the kingdom of Babylon--if we want a society that is based on compassion, where the widow and orphan are cared for, and all God's children have enough--that can happen today, no matter who is in power. It's not about a particular method of caring for the poor. It's about deciding as people of faith that whatever our human institutions choose to do or not do, our values lie with the poor. We don't get to ignore their plight: it's simply a question of how we choose to respond.
Prayer: God, Emmanuel, may Babylon fall and may you be our king--first and foremost in my heart, and in the hearts of all who call you Savior. Reign in us, and call us out of Babylon. Amen.
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