The Dogmas of Emperors
Christmas Midnight
Luke 2:1-20
December 24, 2022
World power makes audacious claims. The power to tax and make war.
“A decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered,” which is to say, taxed. The word for decree here is δόγμα – a dogma went out from the Emperor who styled himself Augustus, “the exalted one.” These are the audacious claims of world power. The exalted ones issue dogmas, and the little ones obey.
The dogmas of today have us racing, chasing tinsel as worthless as FTX crypto. The dogmas of world power demand we find satisfaction in a moment of purchase, pleasure in a hit of Soma or a night at the Feelies. The dogmas of world power declare blue is pink and always has been.
At the height of world power, in obedience to the emperor’s dogma, a tired man wends his way south to his hometown. A descendant of Israel’s kings, he now works on construction projects for the invaders. That’s why he was up north, in Nazareth. His betrothed accompanies him, great with child. Hidden in her womb is the divine response to the world’s hubris.
Nine months earlier, a dogma had gone out from a different Emperor, the One who first spun the world into being. The virgin betrothed to the laborer, a descendant of kings, had received the secret message from the true Emperor’s emissary. The Child she would conceive is the King of the Universe. All others are usurpers.
In her womb a different kind of power has entered the cosmos. He comes to overturn the values and priorities of world power. World power seeks to subjugate. This Child comes to and for the subjugated. Dietrich Bonhoeffer said,
It is the Christ Child Himself who holds world judgment and world redemption…. He overturns the thrones of the powerful … He lifts what is lowly and makes it great and glorious in His mercy.
“He lifts what is lowly.” This means we must be lowly. No more can we long for world power, world riches, world esteem. The world’s dogmas are not ours.
Christ comes for the lowly. Christ comes for sinners. We must not be ashamed to count ourselves as sinners. It’s true, that’s who we are.
The announcement comes not to the Roman emperor; it is far from the centers of world power. The announcement comes to shepherds. These soiled men did not receive the evite to the cocktail party. No presents are waiting for them. They are working, waiting, watching.
The announcement comes to the lowly; the announcement comes to sinners; the announcement comes to you, if you have ears to hear: ”Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior.” A Savior.
What sort of Savior? He would save you from all that dismays you. He puts death’s dark shadows to flight. He gathers the strays. In Him is reconciliation, an end to our sad divisions. From Him demons flee.
World power would turn tonight into a non-confrontational night, where twinkling lights and gentle music evoke nostalgic gooeyness. But there must be a confrontation, a serious assessment of everything that is wrong with the world and with us. We need a Deliverer from the sins of which we cannot free ourselves. We need Someone to put to right the illnesses of body and mind. There are those whom we have hurt. There are those we have failed to help. Our thoughts and desires have been soiled with selfishness.
This is why the Christ Child comes. Christ beheld Adam, fallen. And in Adam, you. All the children of men, shipwrecked. So Christ bowed the heavens and came down to us. As Adam was made from virgin soil, Christ took up His dwelling in a virgin womb. He comes to refashion Adam. He comes to rescue you from your corruption, the ruin of your mind and body. He comes to have compassion on your daughter and your son, who are not what they were made to be.
More than sentiment, He comes into the wreckage. What a sign the shepherds are given! You’ll find Him in the manger. We’ve heard the words so often they’ve lost their force, even seeming sweet. But no mother willingly puts her infant in a feeding trough. “When you see that,” the shepherds are told, “you’ll know He is the One.” No other babies will be there.
St. Jerome put it this way: “He is not born in the midst of gold and riches, but in the midst of dung, in a stable were our sins were filthier than the dung. [As it is written in Ps. 113:7,] ‘From the dunghill He lifts up the poor.’”
This night announces that world power is impotent. The state is not your god. The market is not your master.
You are a sinner, it’s true. Hear this and rejoice: To you is born this day in the city of David a Savior. He is your Lord. He forgives you. He joins you on the dunghill, and the disaster and disarray of your life. The claims of the world are empty. His claim on you will see you through death to the resurrection. Merry Christmas! +INJ+