God and the back forty
Commentary
Luke's nativity stories focus not on the movers, shakers and power centers of that ancient world but on ordinary people in a remote place. Those with rural roots or experience will recognize the phrase "back forty." Reference books define the back forty as a remote geographical area. Check with people who grew up on farms and you'll get more colorful definitions and descriptions. When the western lands were originally measured out they were divided into 160-acre tracts, four of forty each. The front forty faced the road and that is where the house stood. What about the back forty?
One friend I asked to define the back forty said, "That's the part of the farm where the fertilizer never quite got." Another farm-bred friend said, "Sure, the back forty was that part of the farm we were always going to clean up some day. That's where we would pile the worn out equipment and put the old nags out to pasture. The company never saw that part of the farm." One respondent raised in South Carolina said, "Where I come from the back forty is also called the bottoms. That's where the swamp is."
Does this help us put some perspective on the region where Jesus was born? Rome was the political center of that ancient world and all roads and sea lanes literally led there right to the emperor's big house. Asia Minor still basked in the glory of Greek culture. No military or economic tentacles reached out from Jerusalem. Jerusalem was primarily a religious center for the locals and the million or so Jews who lived abroad and regularly sent back their offerings and often returned for Passover or to retire there.
As far as Rome was concerned the volatile middle east was not a desirable place. Rome was there only because of the military necessity to control this land link to three continents. It was no garden spot in their eyes and the legionnaires sent there were Gauls, Germans or Cilicians. Only the Procurator's residence in Caesarea was garrisoned by Roman troops, the Italian Cohort.
Thinking of Bethlehem as in the back forty of the ancient world can give us a little different slant and lead us right into the romance and mystery of the faith and that is part of Luke's intention as he tells the story of the birth of Jesus. Welcome to the back forty where the real action is going on.
I hope these thoughts will help get your creative juices flowing as once again we prepare to tell the timeless story that is forever timely. I do believe that for this weekend the gospel lesson carries the imperative for preaching. The passage from Isaiah has a traditional place in Christmas Eve services of lessons and carols. The reading from Titus reminds us that renewed personal moral discipline is a central part of the salvation that Jesus brings.
Sermon Seeds In Luke 2:1-4
A Sermon could be built on the metaphor of the back forty. Being in the back forty can also be a psychological condition. We can fall into a rut of depression and see ourselves in a situation barren of possibilities. There are those who feel the best years of their lives are behind them, too many losses, too many disappointments. The contrived joviality of the season rings hollow. Doesn't the gospel tell us we can be nowhere or in no situation where God is not present for us?
The Bethlehem/Rome, manger/place, baby/emperor polyphony in Luke's nativity story also challenges and turns upside down our judgment about places, events and people. The action is not always where the bright lights are. Everywhere Dr. Benjamin Minge Duggar went he used to scoop up a handful of dirt and send it back to a New York laboratory. It was just such a handful of dirt taken from a Missouri farm that had within it the golden mould that produced aureomycin. Said Dr. Duggar, "You never know where a better drug will be found." Ash Can Jimmy was an enthusiastic worker in the early years of the Salvation Army. They found him dead drunk in an ash can. You never know where potential disciples can be found either.
The baby in the manger reminds us of another baby in a basket hidden among the reeds in a river (Exodus 2:1-4). The initiatives of God in history are shoestring operations. You may have noted that in Matthew's gospel the wisemen find the baby Jesus in a house (Matthew 2:11). To argue whether Jesus was born in a house or a manger is to miss the point. In the nativity stories theological interpretations of the meaning of Jesus are the dominant concern of the storytellers. An echo of the language of Isaiah emerges in Luke's story. "The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master's crib; but Israel does not know, my people do not understand" (Isaiah 1:3). God wants to be known by his people and wills that they truly find him. Luke points us to the revealing life.
Understanding what Luke wants to say also knocks out the traditional misinterpretation of the words "for there was no place for them in the inn." The Greek word Luke uses is topos which bears the meaning of a place charged with significance. The God who comes is not a traveller who comes for a brief visit. Topos is the word used also for the place where Jesus was crucified.
The prejudiced of any day and age would find the presence of shepherds offensive. Shepherding was a despised occupation. Shepherds were a rough-cut bunch who disregarded land boundaries when pasturing their flocks and were not above taking what was not theirs to take. Luke was quite impressed by the way Jesus included all sorts and conditions of people.
Religious zealots would be equally offended by the song of the angelic host. It certainly is not a war song. It certainly doesn't identify those whom God favors. The presence of the shepherds, however, indicates that God does not abide by the litmus tests set down by any kind of bias. This song was probably a canticle sung in the worship of the earliest church in Jerusalem which included many former zealots. It is interesting to speculate what group in the church at Luke's time of writing he was targeting by turning the tables on those Christians who seem able to walk arm in arm with militarism.
I do believe that through our popular traditions, worship, preaching and Sunday school pageants we have tamed the nativity stories. This week-end is a good time to try to let new light break forth, and the sermon need not be a long one. Merry Christmas!
One friend I asked to define the back forty said, "That's the part of the farm where the fertilizer never quite got." Another farm-bred friend said, "Sure, the back forty was that part of the farm we were always going to clean up some day. That's where we would pile the worn out equipment and put the old nags out to pasture. The company never saw that part of the farm." One respondent raised in South Carolina said, "Where I come from the back forty is also called the bottoms. That's where the swamp is."
Does this help us put some perspective on the region where Jesus was born? Rome was the political center of that ancient world and all roads and sea lanes literally led there right to the emperor's big house. Asia Minor still basked in the glory of Greek culture. No military or economic tentacles reached out from Jerusalem. Jerusalem was primarily a religious center for the locals and the million or so Jews who lived abroad and regularly sent back their offerings and often returned for Passover or to retire there.
As far as Rome was concerned the volatile middle east was not a desirable place. Rome was there only because of the military necessity to control this land link to three continents. It was no garden spot in their eyes and the legionnaires sent there were Gauls, Germans or Cilicians. Only the Procurator's residence in Caesarea was garrisoned by Roman troops, the Italian Cohort.
Thinking of Bethlehem as in the back forty of the ancient world can give us a little different slant and lead us right into the romance and mystery of the faith and that is part of Luke's intention as he tells the story of the birth of Jesus. Welcome to the back forty where the real action is going on.
I hope these thoughts will help get your creative juices flowing as once again we prepare to tell the timeless story that is forever timely. I do believe that for this weekend the gospel lesson carries the imperative for preaching. The passage from Isaiah has a traditional place in Christmas Eve services of lessons and carols. The reading from Titus reminds us that renewed personal moral discipline is a central part of the salvation that Jesus brings.
Sermon Seeds In Luke 2:1-4
A Sermon could be built on the metaphor of the back forty. Being in the back forty can also be a psychological condition. We can fall into a rut of depression and see ourselves in a situation barren of possibilities. There are those who feel the best years of their lives are behind them, too many losses, too many disappointments. The contrived joviality of the season rings hollow. Doesn't the gospel tell us we can be nowhere or in no situation where God is not present for us?
The Bethlehem/Rome, manger/place, baby/emperor polyphony in Luke's nativity story also challenges and turns upside down our judgment about places, events and people. The action is not always where the bright lights are. Everywhere Dr. Benjamin Minge Duggar went he used to scoop up a handful of dirt and send it back to a New York laboratory. It was just such a handful of dirt taken from a Missouri farm that had within it the golden mould that produced aureomycin. Said Dr. Duggar, "You never know where a better drug will be found." Ash Can Jimmy was an enthusiastic worker in the early years of the Salvation Army. They found him dead drunk in an ash can. You never know where potential disciples can be found either.
The baby in the manger reminds us of another baby in a basket hidden among the reeds in a river (Exodus 2:1-4). The initiatives of God in history are shoestring operations. You may have noted that in Matthew's gospel the wisemen find the baby Jesus in a house (Matthew 2:11). To argue whether Jesus was born in a house or a manger is to miss the point. In the nativity stories theological interpretations of the meaning of Jesus are the dominant concern of the storytellers. An echo of the language of Isaiah emerges in Luke's story. "The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master's crib; but Israel does not know, my people do not understand" (Isaiah 1:3). God wants to be known by his people and wills that they truly find him. Luke points us to the revealing life.
Understanding what Luke wants to say also knocks out the traditional misinterpretation of the words "for there was no place for them in the inn." The Greek word Luke uses is topos which bears the meaning of a place charged with significance. The God who comes is not a traveller who comes for a brief visit. Topos is the word used also for the place where Jesus was crucified.
The prejudiced of any day and age would find the presence of shepherds offensive. Shepherding was a despised occupation. Shepherds were a rough-cut bunch who disregarded land boundaries when pasturing their flocks and were not above taking what was not theirs to take. Luke was quite impressed by the way Jesus included all sorts and conditions of people.
Religious zealots would be equally offended by the song of the angelic host. It certainly is not a war song. It certainly doesn't identify those whom God favors. The presence of the shepherds, however, indicates that God does not abide by the litmus tests set down by any kind of bias. This song was probably a canticle sung in the worship of the earliest church in Jerusalem which included many former zealots. It is interesting to speculate what group in the church at Luke's time of writing he was targeting by turning the tables on those Christians who seem able to walk arm in arm with militarism.
I do believe that through our popular traditions, worship, preaching and Sunday school pageants we have tamed the nativity stories. This week-end is a good time to try to let new light break forth, and the sermon need not be a long one. Merry Christmas!
