Are
you skeptical when you hear the statement, “It’s never been this bad?” This statement
is commonly held, if mass and social media can be trusted as a reliable
reflection of what people are thinking. The expression is used to color
national politics, morality, religion, social conditions, international
relations, and even climate conditions. It seems that whenever someone wants to
make a case for something that disturbs them, they dip into the darker shades
of the language palette to color their comments with this expression. Certainly,
we are living in a less than perfect world. But is it true that, “It’s never
been this bad?”
Reflect upon the time of the birth of
Christ. Politically Palestine was under Roman rule. Historians tell us Herod
was the appointed ruler of Galilee (40-4
BC.) His history “is a drama of extraordinary moves of political chicanery
accompanied by a succession of atrocious crimes… his reign was one succession
of monstrous crimes until his death” (J.W. Shepard). Culture and philosophy in
the region were dominated by Greek perspectives that permeated life and thought
under the Roman rule. Skepticism ruled in much of their thinking. This
influence invaded and dominated religious thought in Palestine when Christ was
born. As a result, the Jewish community was divided into the conservative
branch of the Pharisees and the more liberal branch of the Hellenistic Jews who
were dominated by Greek culture and thought. Morally historians indicate, “The
world was in a state of extraordinary moral degeneration.” Slavery was
widespread. The rich minority lived in extreme extravagance – the majority in
abject poverty. Shepard describes the sexual situation this way, “Chastity and
marriage were the exception while divorce and immorality were the rule… Romans
had no power to cope with the degeneracy of the times… None of the philosophies
could meet the deep moral needs of the times.” The Roman historian Tacitus writing
of the world of that day said the goal of the people was “to corrupt and be
corrupted.” In this time of history Jesus was born to be an agent of change.
Describing conditions centuries later
during the French Revolution, Charles Dickens wrote about that period in
history in A Tale of Two Cities, “It was the best of times, it was the
worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was
the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of disbelief, it was the season of light,
it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of
despair.” Perhaps throughout history one could justly say, “It has never been
this bad.” This is the nature of living in an imperfect world. This does not
mean one resigns himself to despair. It does mean that one looks for the agent
of change that can enter a marred world to make a positive difference.
Jesus came to be an agent of change in a
world of proverbial darkness. Conditions in his world were bleak. God knew that
government, dominate religious systems, philosophy, culture, or any other humanly
contrived solutions were not a match for what was needed. So, God provided an
agent of change in the form of a Divine Solution. The announcement to shepherds
in a dark world, tending sheep on a dark field was simple yet profound, “For
unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord”
(Luke 2:11 ESV). The Divine Solution was a Savior; not a politician subject to
corruption; not a philosopher with limited wisdom; not a cultural guru
proposing transient solutions; not a military leader whose arena of conquest is
limited to the physical; and not a financial wizard throwing finances at
problems that need more than money. People needed an agent of change that
exceeds human capacity to address human depravity. To those shepherds they heard
an announcement about an agent of change that could really make a lasting and
even eternal changes.
How did humanity respond to God’s Divine
Solution? Sadly, the Apostle John wrote, “He came to His own, and His own did
not receive Him” (John 1:11). An agent of change is only effective if he is
allowed to implement change. What good does it do to have a tile cleaner in the
house if the cleaner is never applied to the area needing cleansed? The good
news is that when Jesus came there were those who were tired of things being as
bad as they were and trusted the announced savior to make things better than
they have ever been (John 1:12). Did the world become perfect? Not quite yet.
They did however become better for those willing to accept a divine agent of
change. Those changed then joined in becoming mini agents of change by becoming
lights in the world still shrouded in darkness (Matthew 5:14).
Christmas reminds us that while things may be “as bad as they have ever
been” that God gave the gift of a Divine Solution so that things may be “as
good as they have ever been.”
