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A Christ-like revolution

Jesus’ call to revolution is a call to service and to equality (Luke 14.11).

Context

In his novel Animal Farm, the writer George Orwell imagines an English farm where the animals mount a successful revolution against the farmer who has been exploiting their labour, their produce, and even their very flesh. They then formulate Seven Commandments, including ‘All animals are equal’, echoing the the American Declaration of Independence: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident: That all men are created equal…’

Regrettably, the ideal of human equality wasn’t true for America’s Founding Fathers – George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and even Benjamin Franklin kept men, women and children as slaves – and the ideal of animal equality doesn’t last long in Orwell’s novel, either.

In our own time and place, both the immediate impact and the long-term fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic have hit poorer communities and ethnic minority groups far harder than relatively wealthy majority groups, while inequality of wealth and disposable income has grown sharply since the start of the pandemic.

Ideas for sermons or interactive talks

The writings of St Luke are full of revolutionary ideas. Even before the birth of Jesus in Luke’s Gospel, Mary sings of God, ‘He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty’ (Luke 2.52-53). In this week’s Gospel reading, Jesus states that, ‘all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted’ (Luke 14.11). And the impact of the Apostles Paul’s and Silas’ teaching is described as ‘turning the world upside down’ (Acts 17.6).

But what kind of revolution did Jesus bring? Unlike many revolutionary leaders, he resisted the use of organised violence. Those who followed him expecting a deliverer who would lead an army against the Roman occupation or gather a protest group to take back the Temple from those who had turned it into ‘a den of robbers’ (Luke 19.46), were to be disappointed and probably baffled by his behaviour.

The nature of the revolution to which Jesus calls us is itself revolutionary. It begins, not with marches and protests, nor with meetings and plans, but deep inside the very hearts and minds of those who have begun to understand him. It begins with the recognition that I am not the most important person on the planet, the universe does not revolve around me, and my life’s purpose is not the gratification of my desires.

It begins with accepting Jesus’ teaching about taking the lowest place, about sharing with those who have nothing to share with us, and about seeing ourselves as servants of the one who was the servant of all. Only when we let this Christ-like attitude inform our actions, is it safe for us to take part in the social, political and economic reordering of the world.

Questions for discussion

• If you can, read Animal Farm or buy/stream the 1954 animated film version, and discuss why things turned out the way they did.
• Where is inequality visible in our Church, our neighbourhood, our country, our world? Who is trying to redress the balance?
• What causes movements for equality to succeed? What causes them to fail?

Robert Beard is an NHS worker, freelance writer and Church of England priest.

Check-in

Connecting faith with everyday, real-life issues for young people

We live in a world where we’re judged constantly – on how we look, how we behave, what we have and, for many young people this week, what exam results we achieve.

It’s not necessarily wrong for us to be measured against certain criteria – we need a level of understanding and ability to grow and move onto the next level. What isn’t helpful, or godly, is for people to be judged as successful – or not, worthy – or not, important – or not, depending on how clever, rich, capable or popular they are.

In this week’s passage, Jesus makes an important point – that pushing ourselves forward might result in us being pushed back again, and that’s embarrassing. Equally, bolstering other people’s egos by chasing after the attention and approval of people who have ‘made it’ in the eyes of the world also isn’t God’s way.

The call for Christians is a call to inclusivity: to include those that most people would leave behind. Jesus isn’t saying that we can’t be friends with people who are popular, who have ‘done well in life’ or are easy to be with. But are we also reaching out to people who can’t give us anything in return, who are perhaps a bit broken right now, or who might be difficult to be around?

The people with the big house and the big social network might get us invited to all the best parties, but it’s including the people who are at the bottom of the pile that gets God’s approval.

When’s the last time you actively included someone who might otherwise have been left out?

Lucy Carman is a freelance writer, based in Manchester.

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