At home I have a yellow copy of one of the world's most revolutionary documents. In it are found these immortal words: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal..." Of course, that document, the Declaration of Independence, is the charter of the American Revolution. Though we have not yet lived up to it, it has been the vision that inspires us. The only document I know that is more revolutionary is in our Bible. It is called the Magnificat and is found in Luke, chapter 1, verses 39 through 56. Back before India won its independence, it was under British rule. Bishop William Temple of the Anglican Church warned his missionaries to India not to read the Magnificat in public. He feared that it would be so inflammatory that it might start a revolution!
The document is all the more remarkable when one remembers that it came from the lips of a simple, teenaged girl named Mary. She grew up in the obscure village of Nazareth in what is now northern Israel. The angel Gabriel appeared to Mary and announced that she had been chosen to be the mother of the long-awaited Messiah. Gabriel told Mary that her aunt Elizabeth, well past the child-bearing age, had become pregnant. Immediately Mary went to visit Elizabeth. Under the influence of the Holy Spirit, both women sensed that God has chosen them for special tasks and would do great things through their children.
Mary was then given by the Holy Spirit insights far too profound for a simple teenager to originate. She declared the impact that her son would have upon the world. She announced three distinct revolutions which Jesus would instigate and activate. She spoke of these revolutions in the past tense, as if they had already happened. The world has been reeling ever since under the influence of our revolutionary Lord.
THE FIRST REVOLUTION IS SPIRITUAL IN NATURE.
In verse 51 we read, "He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts." Another translation renders it this way: "The arrogant of heart and mind he has put to rout." We Methodists have a pride problem. I once heard the late Bishop Robert Goodrich say that some of his members were so self- righteous that they have to hold onto the pews to keep from ascending. Our problem is not that we deny our sin. We know our frailties. But deep-down we believe we are so much better than most folks that God would be ashamed of Himself not to let us into heaven on good behavior. When push comes to shove, we believe that God will grade on the curve. But the Bible says that the wages of sin is death. "None is good, no not one." Not even Mother Teresa can make it to heaven on merit. That truth ought to banish our pride and humble us a bit.
Bill Hybels, pastor of the great Willow Creek Church in the northern suburbs of Chicago, was on a plane one day. The man seated beside him struck up a conversation. Upon finding out that Bill was a clergyman the man said, "Well, I believe in God but I don't affiliate with any church. Don't really think I need it. Sure, I make some mistakes but I live respectably and give to charities. I wouldn't hurt a soul on purpose. I believe that God will accept me on that basis."
Bill took out a legal pad and said "Let's make a grading scale for all people, from one to ten, with ten being just about perfect. Who are the best people in the world?" The man thought for a moment and said, "Mother Teresa and Billy Graham." "Okay." said Bill. "But we must allow them to place themselves on our chart. Both of them has said, 'I am a sinner and have no chance of salvation unless it is a gift to me from Christ. ' So, by their own admission, they deserve to be down near the bottom of the chart. Now, my next question is, 'Where should we put you on the chart? You don't want to be above Mother Teresa, do you?"
The man replied, "If Mother Teresa is not good enough to get into heaven, I guess I'm in worse shape than I thought." Then Bill Hybels drew a cross right across the middle of the chart. Underneath that cross he wrote these words from I John 2:2: "But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, and he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins." Underneath that verse he drew a line and said to the man beside him, "Just sign here if you would like to be covered by the sacrifice of Christ on the cross. Then you can be as sure of going to heaven as Mother Teresa." The man signed on the dotted line.
The first revolution of Jesus is to banish pride and spiritual self-sufficiency. None of us has any hope until we dump our trash at the foot of the cross.
THE SECOND REVOLUTION OF JESUS IS SOCIAL IN NATURE.
In verse 52 we read, "He has put down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of low degree." God seems always to be overturning the world's social order. He helped a band of Hebrew slaves defeat an Egyptian pharaoh. He took a humble shepherd boy and made him Israel's greatest king. And when he sought a woman to be the mother of the Messiah, he chose a lower-class teenager from a hick town. Rank and caste and class are always under attack when Jesus is around. Hear the words of Paul to the Galatians: "As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 'There is no longer Jew or Greek; there is no longer slave or free; there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus."
In 1957 when Rosa Parks refused to yield her bus seat to a white male, she ignited a revolution. God was on her side. God opposes every ruling system that devalues people or deprives them of life, liberty, or justice. I have a relative who is very proud of the fact that he is one/eighth Cherokee Indian. We often say that is why he is such a good woodsman and expert hunter. But what if he were one\eighth African American rather than Cherokee. Would he and we feel the same way about it? I don't think so. And that's our problem.
How dare we value God's people differently based on skin pigmentation? When we treat someone as being of lesser value because of race, that is sin; whether it takes the form of a realtor not wanting to sell a certain house to an African American, or telling a racist joke at a cocktail party, or an African American politician calling whites "devils,” or a Louis Farrakan devaluing Jews -- all of it is sin. In this regard, let the great golfer Tiger Woods be a role model for us. He is a person of mixed race, combining Asian, black and white components. He is proud of each strand of his racial heritage.
Jesus delights in flipping the social order on its head, elevating the humble and putting down the pompous. Today there are two contrary movements in Shelby County. One is a desire to isolate from all that is negative in Memphis. The negative is usually associated with the poor and the black. The isolationists want to keep their schools, neighborhoods, and government as undefiled by the poor and black as possible. The attitude is: Let the poor and black stew in their own crime, ignorance, disease, and vulgarity, but just leave us alone. But there is another movement, and I believe it is inspired by Jesus Christ. It is a reconciliation movement. It declares that even the lowest of the low is created in God's image and for him Jesus died. Therefore, we cannot write off that three-year-old growing up in Hurt village or that drug addict who slept last night on a bench in Confederate Park. We dare not isolate from the poor because that is where Jesus is. The Bible tilts in the direction of the widow and the orphan, the least of these my brethren.
THE THIRD REVOLUTION ANNOUNCED BY MARY IS ECONOMIC IN NATURE.
In verse 53 we read, "He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent empty away." The Bible is tough on us who, in relation to the rest of the world, are rich. Jesus said, "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the Kingdom of God."
A Christian society is one in which no person dares to have too much while others have too little. One day a poor girl came to the door of our Methodist founder, John Wesley. It was a bitterly cold day but she was wearing just a thin linen gown. She was shivering and her teeth were chattering. Wesley gave her what little money he had. Later he looked around his room and saw his extra clothes and fashionable wig. He cried out, "0 Lord, have these been bought with the blood of the poor?" If we die with lots of money in investments, leaving huge amounts to children who don't really need it, while people in Memphis are homeless, hungry, and in despair, God will surely call us to account.
Let's suppose that you have three grown children. One son is a company vice president in Atlanta, earning $200,000 per year. Your daughter is doing quite well as a surgeon in Miami. Your other son is an alcoholic in Richmond, living hand to mouth, unable to hold a steady job. As a parent, where would your focus be this Christmas? On Richmond, of course. And I'm certain you would call those prosperous children in Miami and Atlanta to help their less fortunate brother. God is a good heavenly father. His focus this Christmas is on his children with the biggest problems and least resources. And he calls us, his other children, to lend a hand.
This should be the big question for us: How can I help the poor in such a way that I build up their confidence and promote their independence? We don't need more government welfare schemes. We need Christian entrepreneurs with imagination who are utterly committed to Christ and the poor. Does your company have high school youth from disadvantaged backgrounds working for you during the summers, learning the basics
of success? Are you investing in college and technical scholarships for deserving disadvantaged persons? Does your company hire and promote women and minorities just because it's right? Over the last twenty years, thousands of poor people have been given very small loans at low interest rates so that they can start new businesses. These loans ranged from $75 to $500, the kind of loan they could not get from a bank, but only perhaps from a high interest loan-shark. The results of these investments have transformed some communities. What we need are Christian entrepreneurs with imagination who are utterly committed to Christ and to the poor. Wouldn't it be wonderful if every company had such a loan fund for sharp investments among the poor?
Every affluent church needs poor people in its membership. We need them more than they need us. Why? So that Jesus will feel at home among us. After all, when God became flesh, he chose to be one of the "am ha'aretz", the people of the land, the poor folks. What Christ Church is doing in Binghampton is not just for the folks who live in that area. It is for us too. If we do not identify with the poor, Jesus will not identify with us. And if we try to be church without Jesus, we will be nothing more than a religious "feel-good" club for the pious and the proud.
Historians still consider the successful American Revolution as something of a miracle. George Washington and his little rag- tag army had to fight the mighty British and their hired troops from Germany. Not only that. They had to fight against many Americans. In many states there were more Tories-- pro-British Americans--than there were rebels. The Jesus Revolution faces a similar problem. Some of Jesus' toughest opposition is within the church. Many church members worship Jesus, but say in their hearts, "Don't make any big changes. I'm doing pretty well with the present system. Don't rock the boat."
What about you? In regard to the Jesus Revolution, are you rebel or tory? Are you on the side of Jesus or of the world? Is your heart with Jesus or with your stocks and bonds?