Passage: Psalm 8
Last week I saw an ad for a new TV series about Spartacus. This isn’t the first media spectacle inspired by the life of the legendary gladiator. I doubt it will be the best. Of course it’s hard to compete with Kirk Douglas’ depiction of the slave who refuses to relinquish his humanity.
The reason this story is so compelling is not the bloody canvass on which it’s painted. It’s not about the ring and the fight to the death. It’s about the quest for freedom. If you know the story you know that Spartacus doesn’t escape Roman oppression. But there’s no doubt he shakes off that which his oppressors try to force upon him. Spartacus doesn’t die a gladiator; doesn’t die a killing machine. In his quest for freedom Spartacus wins his humanity. And he shows his fellows slaves what it is to be human.
Psalm 8 is a declaration of what it is to be human. Psalm 8 begins and ends with praise for God the Creator and Ruler of all things. But the Psalmist’s wonder at God’s handiwork turns to wonder at the privileged place God gave human beings in his created order. How is it, wonders the writer, that the God of the universe invited me to be his second-in-command? How is it that God gave me the capacity to love like he loves; to tend and care like he tends and cares; to be to Creation what God is to me?
We live in a world that persistently invites us to relinquish our humanity. We’re constantly tempted to overindulge our appetites and desires. We’re regularly enticed to meet our needs at the expense of someone else. We’re convinced that we have to compete with our fellow image-bearers for significance; for satisfaction; for survival. When we follow these impulses we chip away at the truly glorious thing we were created to be. A little lower than the heavenly beings. Crowned with glory and honor. It’s time for us to reclaim that crown.
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