Jesus destroys every throne, even his own. Instead he took up a cross, and calls us to do the same. Jesus shows us what it means to be fully God, and also fully human. There’s not much of a difference it seems.

In Jesus we discover that God is an accomplice, a comrade in the struggle. To be godly—to be like God—is to be surrendered fully to empathy, wherever she leads you. To dangerous places, to do dangerous things, included.

God is most fully revealed in the oppressed (Matt. 25:40)—those suffering under the weight of broken power. By being willing to do whatever it takes to honor their Incarnation, to accompany their struggles of justice, you become a disciple of Christ.

If you’re still placing God above humanity, above yourself even, you missed the point of Incarnation. By creating a hierarchy where loyalty to “God” is above loyalty to the suffering, you’ve missed the point of it all. Our devotion to the suffering, the oppressed, is devotion to God. And if our devotion to God prevents devotion to the oppressed, then we are deceived—idolaters even.

Bound together in the Spirit of solidarity and insurrection, may we take up our crosses. Make us humble, yielded to the movement of Love, and give us the faith needed to destroy all idols among us and tear all the mighty off their thrones. Amen.