Winning Christmas
A few months ago, a woman posted a TikTok video in which she asked her husband how often he thought about the Roman Empire. She was surprised that he did so daily. For some reason, the video went viral and led to news coverage, debate, and memes. As with many pop culture issues, I learned about all of this through an Onion headline and had to make my way back through the development of the story retroactively.
Some claimed that a major takeaway from the discussion is that men and women are different, as if each group is a monolith and such generalizations are useful. I’m not going to wade into that debate today; rather, I’ll claim that the percentage of men who think daily about the Roman Empire pales in comparison to the percentage of Bible scholars who do.
The Roman Empire provides the context for the entire New Testament. While the teachings of Jesus, the acts of the apostles, and the letters of Paul offer much at face value, they take on even greater meaning when you better understand the time and place in which they were written.
Rome claimed what they referred to as Palestine as part of their empire around 63 years before Jesus was born. At that point, Rome had already been a republic for over 400 years! A few decades after Paul wrote his letter to the Romans, the empire had grown to circle the entire Mediterranean and stretched as far north as Britain. They were a dominant power, taking what land and resources they wanted by force. They also excelled in architecture and engineering, as well as in scholarly pursuits. They inherited much from the Hellenistic (or Greek) culture that existed prior to their reaching dominance, including worship of their many gods.
Jewish culture was very different. They had been living in that land for over a millennia, were often governed by an outside power, and had been monotheists — worshipers of one god — from their genesis. They lived a countercultural lifestyle while under occupation, and found ways to preserve their values and practices rather than succumbing to societal pressures. As biblical scholar Mark Nanos writes, “Idolatry was woven throughout the very fabric of Roman society, and for a Jew to live faithful to his or her God it was simply impossible to embrace fully the prevailing practices of his or her neighbors. Virtually all of society revolved around religious principles associated with ‘the gods,’ from the worship of Caesar to the many household and civic deities.” (Nanos, 66)
Thus it’s no surprise that when Jesus came to earth to live among humankind, he was born to a Jewish family. When he began teaching, he did so amongst Jewish people. He chose fellow Jews as his disciples. Yes, we do read that his message found appeal among some who weren’t Jewish, but for the most part it seems one needed to have a countercultural lens already in place to find appeal in a gospel that promised to bring the powerful down from their thrones, lift up the lowly, fill the hungry with good things, and send the rich away empty. These were teachings offered by the Hebrew prophets, and articulated by the mother of Jesus, who herself must have grown up learning them.
If you do spend time thinking about the Roman Empire, I wonder if you also spend time comparing it to our current context. We live in the most powerful country on earth, with a military presence in many places around the world. We are collectively affluent, and enjoy many comforts and luxuries not experienced by most of our siblings in developing countries. We’re on the forefront of the entertainment industry, and lead in many other fields as well.
Yet I keep hearing reports about how miserable people in the U.S. are. This despite low unemployment, a rising stock market, and stabilizing prices. We’re surrounded by technological marvels that allow us to communicate and find information in ways that seemed unimaginable a few decades ago. Many of us have access to almost countless entertainment options, food options, and activity options.
Is this what it felt like to live in the “advanced” civilization of Rome two thousand years ago? Is it possible we have too many seemingly-mandatory rituals in our society, and that they distract us from more life-giving paths that lead away from despair, loneliness, and fear?
This month, I’ve been marveling at the wide array of stories, songs, and traditions that accompany the Christmas season. Sometimes it seems like it would be impossible to accommodate all of them. I wonder if your month has included any of the following:
- decorating the house
- hanging holiday lights
- finding, transporting, and setting up a Christmas tree
- attending Christmas concerts and other performances
- caroling
- buying and wrapping gifts
- attending holiday parties
- hosting holiday parties
- baking cookies
- watching requisite Christmas movies
- hanging (and perhaps filling) stockings
- designing, stuffing, and sending holiday cards
Is this avalanche of Christmas responsibilities part of the reason everyone seems so exhausted right now? Isn’t this supposed to be fun? And do any of those things have anything to do with the birth of Jesus?
Then there is the Christmas spirit. What exactly does that entail? Does it refer to peace and goodwill, or believing in a bearded man who delivers gifts based on one’s merit? As much as I enjoy the movie Elf and some other holiday movies, it seems “just believing” is the most critical value to possess at this time of year.
So many Christmas songs and movies encourage us to believe, and I think a lot of our holiday traditions exist because we’re yearning to believe in something. We believe if we send the right card or serve the right dish or find the right present or attend the right party or hang the right lights or watch the right movie . . . that our Christmas experience, or the Christmas experience of a loved one, will be complete. We will have won at Christmasing.
I suspect some Romans were also in search of something in which they could believe amidst the many gods and rituals that pervaded their society. And some did find the gospel of Jesus appealing, but there were still struggles to overcome. Because even though they wanted to be Jesus-followers, they still had trouble adopting a counter-cultural worldview. As people who lived at what they might have considered the pinnacle of society, what did they have to learn from Jewish people from occupied Palestine?
Because of some of the language used in the gospels, which were written decades after the resurrection of Jesus, we might sometimes think of Jews as being a separate people from the early Christians. That might have been true in some instances, but “evidence indicates that in Rome Christianity and Judaism shared a common heritage, and were probably inseparable before 60 c.e., and even perhaps until the middle of the second century.” (Nanos, 68) When the teachings of Jesus spread outside of Judea, they probably did so through people raised as Jews. Mark Nanos writes that “there are many indications that Christianity did develop in the context of Judaism. . . . The Christians of Rome . . . would have had no concept of their faith outside the expression of the Jewish community, initially at least, for they saw their faith in continuity with the tradition of Israel’s faith.” (Nanos, 71–72) Paul’s letters and the gospels were not circulated until later in the first century, so if the Romans were exposed to scripture, it was in the synagogues. They learned the “ways of righteousness” and how to pray from the Jewish people. “There would have been an almost insurmountable learning curve in bringing gentiles to an understanding of faith in Christ and the practice of righteousness without association with the synagogue and the life of the Jewish community.” (Nanos, 73)
So when Paul writes to those Romans who followed Jesus about being strengthened by the gospel and learning from the prophetic writings, he might be referencing the Jewish sources that informed their faith. As Nanos writes, “Paul’s instructions in Romans may have been directed to Christian gentiles who were in need of being ‘reminded’ boldly of their obligation to ‘subordinate’ themselves to the ‘governing authorities’ of the synagogues to which they were attached.” (Nanos, 75)
The society in which the Romans resided might have actually served as a hindrance in recognizing the words of the prophets and understanding gospel teachings. They needed help to look past what was distracting them from following Jesus and the countercultural message he offers.
We deal with a lot of detracting distractions as well. That’s not the only thing we have in common with the Roman Empire, however. Like those in the first century, we also live in a broken world.
So maybe holiday obligations shouldn’t take all the blame for our fatigue. Maybe it also comes from the realization that even if we’re doing okay, too many of our siblings are not. How much celebration should we allow ourselves when we know that not far away, there are people living unhoused in below-freezing temperatures, struggling to get enough food, denied the health care they require, or otherwise suffering in isolation? How do we experience joy when civilians are dying daily in the Middle East, Ukraine, and South Sudan? How do we hope when government-subsidized fossil fuel companies continue to buy our politicians, sow disinformation, and engage in practices that will cause suffering for future generations?
In the Advent devotional I’ve been reading, Nadiyka Gerbish, who is from the Ukraine, writes that
“Jesus came in the physical body of a man to put boots on the ground of the hurting world, to touch and smell and taste and be present. And to be patient, too. Later on, the church was born, boots on the ground, for the same reason. To be present and be patient, to smell, touch, feel, and cry. To act in love and to believe in reconciliation — and also at the same time to realize that the way to reconciliation is difficult and long.” (Gerbish, 65–66)
Jesus himself lived life as it came to him, healing when the opportunity to heal presented itself, speaking truth in the face of cultural powers, and, yes, celebrating when it was time to celebrate. And he did this perhaps knowing the duration of his ministry on earth would be short.
As I look back on my first full year at Intertwined, I realize how much I’ve witnessed the continuing work of Jesus within our numbers. We’ve been those boots on the ground providing aid to others directly and through service. We’ve stood alongside those who champion ecological and socioeconomic justice. And we’ve grown together in spirituality and fellowship, in sorrow and in celebration.
So you might not find me singing “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” with the hope it will allow a sleigh to take flight. My outdoor lights might not reach as high as my neighbor’s. And I might not be game to watch the latest Hallmark Christmas romance. But that doesn’t mean I don’t believe.
To the contrary, I believe in you. I believe in us. And because of that, I believe Intertwined will play a growing role in God’s kin-dom.
I hope this Christmas is what you need it to be. Quiet and peaceful, or noisy and raucous. A time to celebrate, or a time to grieve. A few days of rest, or a few days of activity. Whatever it looks like, I hope it proves to be life-giving.
I’m profoundly grateful that so many of you took a chance on our fledgling faith community this year. Thank you for being a part of Intertwined.
And thanks be to God.
Amen.
Works Referenced
Adams, Simon, contributor. Exploring History: An Illustrated Encyclopedia. New York City: Backpack Books, 2005.
Germbish, Nadiyka, Joel Bengbeng, Cláudio Carvalhaes, & Sidwell Mokgothu. Light from Afar: An Advent Devotional from Around the World. Nashville, Tennessee: Upper Room Books, 2023.
Nanos, Mark D. The Mystery of Romans: The Jewish Context of Paul’s Letter. Minneapolis: Fortress, Press, 1996.
Wright, N.T. “The Letter to the Romans.” In New Interpreter’s Bible, Volume IX. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2015.
