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PRESBYTERIAN
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WINTER 2018
MESSAGE FROM THE GENERAL SECRETARY
PRESBYTERIAN
The Power and Politics of Christmas
By the Rev. Ian Ross-McDonald, Life and Mission Agency
The politics of Christmas are har- rowing—not the gift giving or the inevitable collisions with beleaguered family and friends in this busy sea- son, but the stories of Jesus’ birth. It was an illuminating exercise when I took a coloured pencil and underlined the names, words and events associ- ated with power and politics that ap- pear in the Bible’s Christmas stories. The result was that insights that were always lurking in the shadows of the text suddenly came to life in vibrant colour, and it now becomes impossi- ble to ignore how immersed in power and politics Christmas is.
At least nine political authorities and a government-enforced census are mentioned in just the first three chapters of the Gospel of Luke. The Christmas story in the Gospel of Mat- thew adds a few more references to political authorities as does the story of some directionally challenged star- struck visitors who skulk home via a secret path to avoid being co-opted into the lethal schemes of Herod the Great. The magi escaped Herod’s snares—not so the children slaugh- tered by him when Herod exterminat- ed all the male children his soldiers can find in a vain attempt to fend off a future challenge to his civil authority by the infant Christ. Herod’s homi- cidal decree made political refugees of Jesus and his parents who sought sanctuary in Egypt—the region from which Moses fled centuries before when he was threatened with death after he confronted the raw power of Pharaoh. Even before Jesus ar- rives on the scene revolution is in the air. Mary, the mother of Jesus, and John the Baptist sing and sermon- ize about God’s intention to overturn the social order that underpinned and reinforced the politics, relationships and daily life in the Roman Empire. The Baptist will lose his head as a re- sult of the political denunciations he makes against another king, Herod Antipas. Even the Christmas angels are political agitators wheeling in the night sky; their Christmas carol begs the question: what powers and struc- tures must pass away to make room for this new eternal reign initiated by the birth of a homeless king nestled in a food trough?
Ministers should stick to the Bible and keep their noses out of politics;
haven’t you ever heard of the separa- tion of church and state? This is the question we are asked by unhappy church members when a commit- tee of the church or the moderator of the General Assembly makes a statement, writes a letter to the gov- ernment or offers a prayer related to global warming, mining, the treat- ment of Palestinians under the cur- rent government of Israel, our work with refugees, and ethical invest- ments.
The separation of church and state is a phrase that slipped across the American border. It’s an expres- sion of sentiments written by the de- ist Thomas Jefferson who is famous for, among other things, rewriting the New Testament but omitting the mir- acles and resurrection of Jesus. Sep- aration of church and state prohibits the state from interfering in the free exercise of religion by its citizens. It has nothing to do with muzzling the church or keeping ministers, mod- erators and the church quiet about the government’s laws and practices when they are unjust and contrary to the gospel’s justice imperatives to protect the weakest among us, to deal fairly with each other, to pro- tect the dignity of all people and to reject discrimination and tyranny. According to our own standards, Presbyterians in Canada, “reject all doctrines which assume, whether on sectarian or on secular grounds that the Church’s life should be or can be completely dissociated from the life of the Civil State” (Declaration Con- cerning Church and Nation).
During World War II and in its af-
termath, Presbyterians were think- ing about the responsibilities and relationship of the Christian church to the state and also how it was that some Christians and churches in and outside Germany could have tolerated or supported Hitler and the spirit and programs of the Third Re- ich. After extensive work and debate, The Presbyterian Church in Canada adopted Declaration Concerning Church and Nation in 1954 and it is now one of the subordinate stand- ards of the church which elders and minsters must accept at ordinations, inductions or admission to sessions. The document is short and worth reading, studying and thinking about; its contents may contain surprises. (Declaration Concerning Church and Nation can be found at presbyterian. ca/od or in Appendix E of the Book of Forms.)
Christmas is dense with mean- ing. One of the things Christmas signifies is the advent of the new governance present in the flesh and blood of God’s son, who preaches the politics and economics of the Kingdom of God. “The church and state are intimately related, with the manifold overlying concerns and common responsibilities...” and of course “Christians must always do their utmost to honour the civil laws, and to fulfil all statutory obliga- tions whether financial or personal” (Declaration Concerning Church and Nation). Compared to most of the world’s citizens, Canadians are fortunate to have the governments we have had in the past 150 years. Churches in Canada are free from
undue influence by the government and we enjoy special protections and exceptions under the law. The church also cooperates with the govern- ment through Global Affairs Canada, which partners with Presbyterian World Service & Development and grants funds to help us support pro- grams in developing countries. The church joins with other departments of the government in discussions about healing and reconciliation in Canada. Occasionally, governments are ahead of the church and create laws or encouraged practices that are more gracious and just than the church—women voted in the House of Commons as of 1921; it wouldn’t be until 1966 that they could vote at session or presbytery meetings— which is a mystery worth pondering in our hearts. But then there are other times when the Kingdom of God is at odds with the economics and gov- ernmental policies of the day, so the cross and church must speak words of truth to the powers of the flag and nation.
Christmas is political. Christian faith is political. If they weren’t, their scope of meaning would be narrow and flimsy. Christ’s call to faithful liv- ing includes public and private life, political and personal power, local and global governance, body and soul, creation and economics. And thank God for that, because oth- erwise Christian faith devolves to the sentimental and wouldn’t make much difference in the world God loves. Perhaps Joy to the World, the carol by Isaac Watts, provides the best pledge of allegiance to the high- est of all powers: “Joy to the world, the Lord is come!, Let earth receive her King...He rules the world with truth and grace, and makes the na- tions prove the glories of his right- eousness...”
The church could remain silent on political matters. But it wouldn’t be a very broad or authentic expression of the faith gifted to us. Instead, we have the opportunity to join our voices with the great chorus of reform with Jesus and his mother Mary and John the Baptist, the host of Christmas angels, St. Augustine, St. Catherine of Alexandria, St. Thomas Aquinas, John Calvin, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Mother Theresa, Martin Luther King Jr., St. Óscar Romero and Desmond Tutu all singing in the dawning of a new day.