Jesus, Jazz, and Buddhism

The recent debates in Washington over the debt ceiling, followed by uncertainty in the global markets, has shaken people’s faith in the American government and the ability of the stock market to “care for” our future. John Cobb writes in his reflections on these events (http://bit.ly/oF1K0y) that, for Christians, faith in the markets and governing institutions is faith misplaced. Rather, Cobb argues, our faith should be in the God who beckons us into a life of abundance characterized not by financial well-being but rather by the richness of experience and relationships.

As a biblical scholar, my thoughts in this time of crisis turn to the New Testament book of Revelation (an odd source of comfort, perhaps). Revelation itself was written at the end of the first century for Christians living in an area of the Roman Empire in Asia Minor, roughly modern day Turkey. The author of Revelation, a fellow named John of Patmos, wrote to Christians who he believed faced a choice between being loyal to the Roman Empire or being loyal to what he called the “Empire of God." For the author of Revelation, a person can have faith in Rome or faith in God—but not in both.

In the 18th chapter of the book of Revelation (Revelation 18), John describes to the reader a vision in which he sees the Roman Empire meeting its end. The mighty Empire that once ruled the world is reduced to ashes while the businessmen and merchants weep and moan at its destruction:

“Alas, alas, the great city, cloth in fine linen, in purple and scarlet, adorned with gold, with jewels, and with pearls! For in one hour all this wealth has been laid waste!” And all the shipmasters and seafarers, sailors and all whose trade is on the sea, stood far off and cried out as they saw the smoke of its burning, “What city was like the great city?” And they threw dust on their heads as they wept and mourned. (Rev 18:16-19a)

According to this vision, all those who had put their faith in the economy of the Roman Empire would find themselves weeping over the failure of the economy as they discovered their faith had been misplaced. For the author of Revelation, the Empire of Rome and its economic system—or in our case the stock market, the global economy, the United States of America, China—these things are not able to secure our future. As a result, they are not worthy of our faith or our worship.

Elsewhere in Revelation, the author has a vision of heaven (Revelation 5). In that vision, the author asks who or what in the world is worthy of our faith—to whom should Christians give our allegiance? In the vision, the angels seek all over heaven and all over the earth and even under the earth, among the dead, but they find that no one is worthy of worship and allegiance except Jesus Christ alone.

But the remarkable thing about John’s vision is the appearance of this Jesus whom Christians are to worship. Jesus does not appear to John as a king or as a mighty warrior or even as a terrifying lion. Rather, when John sees Jesus, he appears as a lamb who has been slaughtered—a reference to the Christian belief in the crucifixion and resurrection.

The vision, simple though it is, makes a remarkable claim about the world. The world has done its worst to Jesus—putting him to death on a cross—and yet in Christ life has triumphed over death. Though he has been slaughtered, the Lamb yet lives.

The apparent message of this vision is that true power is found not in military strength, or in political power, or in the wealth of a comfortable lifestyle. Rather true power is found in the self-giving love of Jesus Christ--the one cared more about living among the poor than about amassing wealth for himself; the one who taught love of enemies rather than victory through military power; the one who claimed that true love is to be found in feeding the hungry and quenching the thirsty, in clothing the naked and visiting the sick, in letting the captives go free.

In our day, the wealthy will weep over the American markets as they wept over the destruction of Rome in John’s vision. There will be anxiety about the future and whether America can regain its once and former glory. But for Christians these anxieties are revealed to be mere illusions. We know that the power of the stock market is ultimately unreliable—wealth will come and wealth will go. But for we who worship the slaughtered Lamb that is Jesus Christ, our hope is not to be found in the stock market or the governments of the world. Rather, our hope is in the way of humility and the way of peace, the way of service to the poor and comforting the lonely. We ought not to seek the wealth of the world, but rather to give our lives loving and serving those who are unimportant in the eyes of the world.

Follow Robert Williamson on Twitter (@rwilliamsonjr).