The Curse of Autonomy and the Blessed Gift of Christmas

                          The Curse of Autonomy and the Blessed Gift of Christmas

The following questions are ones that I have had for a long time but well articulated by another: 

“Why is the modern Western world such poor soil for Christian faith to flourish? 

 "Why is there such a great contrast between the reception of Christianity in modern times and the way it was received in premodern times?” I think it is found in the word, autonomy.

It has been described as a good characteristic of our present day culture. Mechanically, it is the ability of a machine to operate independently of human intervention. But in an overheard conversation, it is attributed to our culture as a good human characteristic.  One theologian said that it was ‘the mentality behind the original sin’ and I tend to agree with him.  Today, we are more and more devoid of deep human relationships, the face to face type. We cling to our cell phones and use them as the only way to communicate, we latch on to our TVs, use social media as easy to communicate, and entertain ourselves through available streaming services, all devoid, at least in most cases that I am aware of, meaningful relationships.

Let me build on the above simplified meaning.  It is a characteristic of our present culture.  It is simply the ability of human beings to be independent of any outside intervention. Its the old Burger King advertise that said of you and your choice of burgers:  “have it your way”, “do it your way”, or we hear: “its not important what anyone else thinks.” Look at advertisements on billboards, monitor screens, and in magazines (if they print them any more). They cater to our own desires, and temptations as if nothing else matters.  Look at the difference between the auto advertisements for Volvo and Jaguar. The Jaguar is focused on you, the self and what you want, be different, its only up to you; while Volvo is focused on safety and protecting not only self but others. 

In my immediate health scare, I realized I would not have lived if I were “autonomous”. I was brought up with a kind of Norman Vincent Peale attitude, that I am a self made man, and live on the power of positive thinking.  How untrue. There is a song by my 60’s favorite duo, Simon and Garfunkel, that resonates with the autonomous being.  The lyrics read:

A winter's day

In a deep and dark December

I am alone

Gazing from my window to the streets below

On a freshly fallen silent shroud of snow

I am a rock I am an island

I've built walls

A fortress deep and mighty

That none may penetrate

I have no need of friendship, friendship causes pain

It's laughter and it's loving I disdain

I am a rock I am an island

Don't talk of love

Well I've heard the word before

It's sleeping in my memory

I won't disturb the slumber of feelings that have died

If I never loved I never would have cried

I am a rock I am an island

I have my books

And my poetry to protect me

I am shielded in my armor

Hiding in my room safe within my womb

I touch no one and no one touches me

I am a rock I am an island

And a rock feels no pain

And an island never cries

    

We become like the little Red Train that ‘chug a lugs’ up the mountain by itself and saying something like, “I think I can", “I think I can”. Or Sisyphus, the character in Greek mythology who was condemned to repeatedly roll a boulder up a hill for eternity. The myth is that the gods punished Sisyphus for his hubris and trickery by forcing him to roll a boulder up a hill, only to have it roll back down each time he neared the top. The story of Sisyphus is a metaphor for the human struggle against the absurdity of life. Or, the toddler that says he can do it all by himself and but finds out that he can’t.  Well, that is what many people are doing today.

What does this have to do with Christmas?  Well, my thoughts might be a stretch, but consider this.  God knew that we needed Him to survive. Our sin is that we can do all things by ourselves (autonomously), including saving ourselves. Being raised from the age of eleven on, to be the “man of the house”, to take adult responsibilities before I was even a teenager, both embolden me to take on things by myself, forgetting others, and/or the affect it would have on others, and later finding myself denying I needed help. It was in those moments between the stint being placed in my heart and then the critical by-pass surgery that God reminded me that His presence was there and that I could not survive alone, nor make it to Heaven ‘autonomously.’

Mark 10:27 (ESV): Jesus looked at them and said, “With man it is impossible, but not with God, because all things are possible with God.”

And so it is this Christmas. We have just gotten through a divisive political campaign and all candidates told us what they can do for us, giving us the impression that they can do this alone. Our Savior is not in Air Force One, but a baby born from the womb of Mary and laid in a manger.  God knows we can’t and will not survive without Him. So we read, that He sent Himself to be with us, Jesus the Christ, because He knew we could not do this alone. 

John 3:16-18 (ESV): “For God so loved the world (Q: and that includes you and me), that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

Paul writes: 

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (ESV): Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

The whole Christmas narrative is replete with people not going alone. Mary did not survive pregnancy alone, nor did shepherds come individually, and the ‘wise men’ traveled together 3 years later to visit the young Messiah.  Jesus formed a family around Him called disciples. Even in His prayers He as not alone.  God was there, with Him. No room for autonomy nor is there room for autonomy now. And this was confirmed almost 3 months ago, as I saw and experienced again that I could not live independent of God nor of family and friends. 

In my “Dukee” arrogance, I thought this poem was rather hokey but it has become a reminder to me when I think more of myself and my struggles in life. You might remember this allegorical Christian poem:

One night I dreamed I was walking along the beach with
the Lord. Scenes from my life flashed across the sky. In
each, I noticed footprints in the sand. Sometimes there were
two sets of footprints; other times there was only one.

During the low periods of my life I could see only one set of
footprints, so I said, "You promised me, Lord, that you would
walk with me always. Why, when I have needed you most,
have you not been there for me?"

The Lord replied, "The times when you have seen only one set
of footprints, my child, is when I carried you."

You may remember this song.  I’m not sure of the context but I hope it fits what I was thinking:

When you walk through a storm

Hold your head up high

And don't be afraid of the dark

At the end of a storm

There's a golden sky

And the sweet silver song of a lark

Walk on through the wind

Walk on through the rain

For your dreams be tossed and blown

Walk on, walk on

With hope in your heart

And you'll never walk alone

I’m not sure how a "golden sky, or the sweet silver song of a lark” can carry you on, but I know that God can because He is with you. Why?  Because that is simply God.  He desires to be with you, is with you even if you try to be autonomous.

There is a hymn that is not familiar with as many as some of the others of Charles Wesley, but one, none the less, that speaks to us as God’s children and what He has come to do for us: “Hark! The Glad Sound! The Savior Comes:”

1. Hark, the glad sound! the Savior comes,

The Savior promised long!

Let ev'ry heart prepare a throne

And ev'ry voice a song.

2. He comes the pris'ners to release,

In Satan's bondage held;

The gates of brass before him burst,

The iron fetters yield.

3. He comes from thickest films of vice

To clear the mental ray,

And on the eyeballs of the blind

To pour celestial day.

4. He comes the broken heart to bind,

The bleeding soul to cure,

And with the treasures of his grace,

T’enrich the humble poor.

5. His silver trumpets publish loud

The Lord’s high jubilee;

Our debts are all remitted now,

Our heritage is free.

6. Our glad hosannas, Prince of Peace,

Your welcome shall proclaim,

And Heav’n’s eternal arches ring

With your beloved name.

He is with us.  That is the incarnation.  That is Emmanuel (God with us), thus we are not alone. He does for us what we can not do for ourselves and it is when we experience that, that we know we are not alone.  We can not nor does He want us to be autonomous but to be in God as His brothers and sisters, being with us.

            Matthew 28:20b (ESV): And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.

What a wonderful Christmas gift that is for every day, for all of our life here on this earth.  

Quentin                                                                                                                                     Sharecropper’s Inheritance                                                                                                 Advent/Christmas, 2024