Lately, I've been catching some flack from people  close to me.  Some of them have issues with a bumper sticker on my truck, the one you see in the picture at the beginning of th

&nbsp;

They didn't like it, they said, because I couldn't be sure it was the truth.  But, it is very much the truth; a truth that is attested to the Jesus' birth, life and death.  He was born to a poor family, lived in an occupied country and was put to death by the state.  He's not just <em>with</em> the 99%; He <em>is</em> of the 99%. Jesus came into the world to bring hope to the poor, the needy and the oppressed; to bring justice to an unjust system; to show us that love and mercy are far more important that things.  If these aren't the hallmarks of the Occupy movement, I'll eat my hat.

If you stop and think about it, the first Occupier was Mary, the mother of Jesus.  After Gabriel told Mary she would bear the Son of God, she got excited visited her cousin Elizabeth, who was also pregnant.  When she walked into Elizabeth's presence, Luke tells us that the child who would become John the Baptist leapt within his mother's (Elizabeth) womb.  When Elizabeth told Mary what had happened, Mary responded with what has become with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnificat" target="_blank">the Magnificat</a>.  In that hymn, she says
<blockquote>"He shows mercy to everyone,
from one generation to the next,
who honors him as God.
<sup>51</sup> He has shown strength with his arm.
He has scattered those with arrogant thoughts and proud inclinations.
<sup>52</sup> He has pulled the powerful down from their thrones
and lifted up the lowly.
<sup>53</sup> He has filled the hungry with good things
and sent the rich away empty-handed."</blockquote>
This song, sung by His mother sang even before He was born, speaks of how those on top (the rich and powerful) will be brought low and those on the bottom (the poor, the needy, the oppressed) will be raised up.  These words, spoken to a people suffering under the heel of one the most oppressive regimes the world has ever known, were a sorely needed balm.  They were words of hope; hope that, one day, things would be better.   While things today aren't anywhere near as bad as they were in first century Palestine, they aren't good.  The Roman boot isn't on our neck any longer; it's been replaced by a Gucci loafer.  Much like Palestine in Jesus' day, we live and work under a system that stacks the deck agaisnt the masses and in favor of the rich and powerful.  And, just like in Jesus's day, there are people working to change that.  They would do well to remember the original Occupiers and follow their lead.