Lessons From Rome...

                I have realized one of the reasons I don’t multi-task well.  It isn’t because I can’t do two things at once, it is because I am doing HUNDREDS of things at once all the time!  At least, in my brain.  I don’t know if I ever process things just on a surface level; sometimes I wish I could! But, alas, this is how God made me.  It makes living with me a constant safari into the wilds of the soul.  Just ask Roger…poor guy.

                

               So, Rome was so much fun.  Roger and I had a wonderful week to re-connect and focus on one another as we “bashed around Rome” – to almost quote a movie.  We walked everywhere, close to 7 hours a day.  My feet paid the price for that one as they swelled up to twice their normal size.  Oh well, they’re back to normal now.  At least it made it so I didn’t put on any weight during the whole trip!!!!  Italy has the BEST ice cream!

               

                 But for me, Rome was more than a romantic adventure with my husband (though it was definitely that); it was a study in the finiteness of man despite his seemingly unquenchable drive for earthly significance and immortality.  Everywhere we went, there were monuments raised for heroes of the people: national heroes who conquered foreign lands and peoples, religious heroes who lived to serve the people but are now worshipped as gods – and some religious men who were not heroes at all, but who wanted to be remembered and worshipped as gods though they were merely men.

                

               Two examples of this stand out to me that I would like to share with you. 

                

Inside the Vatican

              On Monday, Roger and I visited the Vatican, St. Peter’s Basilica, and the Sistine Chapel.  Now, all my good Baptist friends are going to say, “Why would you go there?”  But, you can’t really go to Rome and not see something so famous – at least, we can’t.  Let me just say, it was absolutely stunning.  Oh my goodness.  The sculptures, paintings, tapestries…I don’t even have words for their beauty.  The building that is St. Peter’s is magnificent.  Even the ceilings of the Vatican are inordinately beautiful.  Art in various forms by Raphael, Michelangelo, and others adorns every niche and cranny; it is a feast for the eyes – sometimes a gluttonous feast. 

Now, I must say that I at least have a new appreciation for their use of art during those days. Many of the people were illiterate, and so they used the art as a constant visual way of teaching them. But here was my impression. The Vatican is not a monument to God…it is a monument to man; a specific man – the Pope. And in it, the Pope is worshipped as god. It is the palace of a king. It actually reminds me of the old Roman emperors who ruled the kingdom and demanded to be worshipped as a god. That was the culture of the Roman Empire at the time of the writing of the New Testament; it was their default, and they sadly reverted to it with a new twist – a “Christian” twist – during the first couple of centuries after Christ. Did you know the Pope is called the “Vicar of Christ”? Do you know what that means? Vicar means, “in the stead of” or “in the place of”. So, literally, the Pope is considered Christ on earth. He is considered the mediator between God and man. There is a problem, though. The Bible says that there is only ONE mediator between God and man– the man, Christ Jesus (I Timothy 2:5).

The Dome of St. Peter's Basilica

One of Raphael's Rooms - Apartment of one of the Pope's that was painted by Raphael

                Another thing that troubled my soul was the shrine-like atmosphere of all the buildings of worship (I don’t just have this problem in Rome with the Catholic places of worship, by the way…).  It’s as if the early simplicity of the Gospel and of the followers of Jesus themselves being the temple of God         

 was lost in the first couple centuries as the people reverted back to a physical temple mentality which was common to both Judaism and paganism.  Ephesians 2:19-22 says, “Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone,  in whom the whole building, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit,”   (did you know that early Christians in the Roman Empire were feared and hated as Atheists because they didn’t worship a god who could be seen, they didn’t worship in a visible temple, and they didn’t offer physical sacrifices?).   It was sad, really.  So many people going into temples to do some religious ritual in order to appease God’s wrath and gain some favor in His sight when Jesus has already done all that for them!  Paul said in Galatians 2:16, “knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we (the Jewish apostles) have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ, and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law, no flesh shall be justified.”   

               

                Then, on Saturday, our last day in Rome, Roger and I wandered around and stumbled onto some of the ruins of Nero’s palace.  

This area is called Domus Aurea – it was Nero’s famed Golden Palace which he started building after the great fire of 64A.D burned down all the aristocratic dwellings on the same area. It housed his famous revolving dining room which had a ceiling that opened to let in light and that also rained down flower petal and perfume on his dining guests. Estimates put the palace (which was really a landscaped Roman villa complete with orchards and an artificial lake) at roughly one square mile in size! Outside the entrance, Nero had sculpted a gargantuan 100ft bronze statue of himself. This was later moved to just outside the Flavian Amphitheater – which is now known by us as the Colosseum in honor of the Colossus Neronis (the statue) which stood beside it. The palace’s walls and ceilings were covered with marble, ivory, mosaics of precious stone, and beautiful frescoes as well as much gold. It was a palace built for a god; 300 rooms meant solely for entertainment purposes. In it, Nero threw fantastic and morally corrupt parties that lasted 12 hours at a time.

            
                Trouble is, Nero committed suicide 4 years later and within 10 years the palace was stripped of most of its marble, ivory, and precious stones, and the grounds were filled in with dirt so it could be built over.  Within 40 years, the “Golden House” was completely…gone…  Today, you can see only some of the remains.  We were not able to go inside because it has been closed due to the instability of the structure.  

But, there is a children’s playground there where parents sit on benches and watch their children play on slides and swings, and there is a basketball court where young men can play a pick-up game of hoops. 

    Nero – one of the most deranged of the Roman emperors – one of the most bloody persecutors of early Christians – built for himself a great kingdom and made himself out to be god. Where is he now? Where is his Golden Palace? It’s been made into nothing and in fact was wiped out of existence for thousands of years before its crumbling remains were discovered. Nero lived for a short 31 years and was emperor for 14 of them. The Roman empire is now gone. 2000 years later, we are ooh-ing and ahh-ing over its crumbling remains, and though Nero tried to wipe out the Christians of his day, we are all over the world – part of a Kingdom that will never be destroyed. What a very visual reminder that this world and all its kingdoms will pass away. Life is but a vapor; here today and gone tomorrow. Jesus asked this question; “what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world but loses his soul?” Which kingdom am I most concerned about? The kingdom of “me”? Making much of myself and wanting others to do the same? Building a legacy for…me? Leaving my mark of the world? Or living for the Kingdom that will never pass away? The Kingdom of light and love – the Kingdom of Jesus Christ.

               

                In 2000 years, I wonder who will be walking the grounds where the White House used to stand, or the Lincoln Memorial, or the Washington Monument, or the Supreme Court, or the Pentagon…or one of our mega-churches.  Will there even be anything there? In the end, does it even really matter? What lasts forever? Man’s opinions of me? My opinion of me? The world’s opinion of me? What good is it if I feed a starving body but neglect a lost and dying soul? What does it profit if I provide basic necessities to the masses but don’t lead them to the Bread of Life? What have I accomplished if I build my company into a multi-billion dollar success, but don’t teach my children the love of Christ? So what if I go back to school and earn my degree and find myself and fulfill my dreams at the expense of time and energy to disciple my children in the ways of the Cross.  Oh, my kingdom is so insignificant a thing to pour so much of my time and energy and resources into by stressing over the things that won’t matter in 10 years, much less in 2,000 years.  Oh that I would be freed from this compulsion to fret over my kingdom (i.e. what people think of me, making something for myself…of myself…). Let me live to make God’s name big rather than my own.  Let me live for God’s eternal Kingdom that will never pass away!