I Pledge Allegiance

Beginning a new series today called Not In It To Win It. For the next few weeks we are going to look at how following Jesus informs our engagement with our political system. I’m thankful that this is a topic that doesn’t get anyone angry. Everyone stays pretty chill. No one thinks of creative names for the other side.

Just saying the word “politic” creates tension. I have the enviable job of pastoring people with sometimes wildly different ideas. I have to pastor blue people. I have to pastor red people. I have to pastor green party people - is that still a thing? I have to pastor people who write “Willie Nelson” in every year.

I’ll be honest. I didn’t to preach this series. I feel like I have PTSD from the last time. It was really hard. Lots of anger. I felt like I was losing friends over things they thought I was say but wasn’t saying. Many of us lost friends over disagreements, or damaged those friendships. People left church. I felt like THE church chose sides and we got sidetracked from what is most important. I’d rather be trapped on an elevator for a whole day listening to smooth jazz...

But, God… sometimes God says to do things, and what are your going to do? Say ‘no’? I feel like this is something he really wants me to address. Maybe one reason is because I did such a really bad job leading the church during the last election cycle. In trying to help the church stay focused on the main and the plain, I ended up doing more harm than good. I think people felt like I was choosing a side - and it wasn’t their side. The only side I meant to choose was Jesus’. In the end, I think I contributed more to disunity than to helping heal it. If it was a test, I probably got a D - and that’s if Jesus grades on a scale.

So I want to do better this time around to actually help us maintain our unity. My role is to not and get everyone to agree on everything but to create an environment where our disagreements don’t automatically become a source of disunity.

I just want to be really clear as we begin this series. I am not going to tell you how to vote, who to vote for, or even if you should vote. I’m not going to trivialize the issues that we are facing politically. I’m not going to tell you not to have convictions or express them as you vote. I’m not going to disagree with your convictions. Instead, my prayer is that as we participate in this privilege we have to vote that we are Christlike. That we exercise our right and convictions in a way that honors Jesus, maintains our unity, and preserves our witness to a world that is looking at the church to see if we really believe the things we say we believe. So to being our series and set it up, I’ve called the message this morning I Pledge Allegiance.

Pray...

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Allegiance is an interesting word. How many have used it in the last 24 hours? Not even sure how we’d use it in a sentence. When I say allegiance, what do I mean? Merriam-Webster says it is “devotion or loyalty to a person, group, or cause”. Giving allegiance means we are swearing to be faithful to something or someone. A theologian named Matthew Bates makes a strong case that the word translated as “faith” or “believe” in our English Bibles - pistis - is best understood as allegiance, or loyal obedience. Romans 10:9–10 “because if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and [swear allegiance] in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For one [gives loyal obedience] with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved.”

Of course, when your hear it, where does your mind go? The Pledge of Allegiance to our country. How many of us could say this right now without a cheat sheet?

Did you know the church has a pledge of allegiance? Originally it was simply the phrase “Jesus is Lord”. But by the second century it was more fleshed out. Let’s say it together: “I believe in God the Father almighty...”

What happened?! We’re not so familiar with this one unless you go to one of those churches where it is recited on a regular basis. But it is a statement of allegiance. It’s known today as The Apostles’ Creed. Several similarities between church pledge and national pledge. For instance, both:

Are statements of conviction. We think these things are important.

Are promises to be bound by our oath to some degree.

Are identity statements in some form. Our national pledge informs us who we are as a nation of people. That’s a good thing. We probably need to be reminded what we stand for in this country in terms of the Constitution.

But there are also some important differences too:

One forms our identity as Americans; the other forms it in who we are as God’s people.

One is a pledge to a nation-state, the other is to the Creator God.

One is a conditional loyalty; the other is an absolute loyalty.

So it seems logical that one pledge holds a higher claim on us than the other. Christians should be the best citizens in their nation. We should give our allegiance to our country up to the point that it conflicts with our allegiance to God.

But weird things happen when we get our loyalties confused. Ever gotten confused about something and almost made a horrible mistake?

Going in wrong bathroom?

Wrong way up one-way street?

Ask someone who is not pregnant when they are expecting?

Jump start car? I never have, but I’ve heard that it can be disastrous. Battery Jump Gone Wrong pic Like things blowing up. Acid burns. Catch your car on fire. Your face melting off. Don’t do this. Don’t Do This pic I think the same thing can happen when we get our loyalties confused as well.

So important now, but really all the time, that we keep our loyalties in the right priority. There are forces out there that would like to draw you to its side. I’m not talking about political camps. Much bigger forces, what the Bible calls powers and principalities. These forces would like you to confuse your loyalty to your spouse, family, your morals, your church, your faith. They want to pull you away from a pure devotion to Jesus and demand an allegiance that is too much. And these forces that would like you to give them your allegiance in exchange for the promise of protection, provision, security, and safety. And if our loyalties are not lined up properly we end up turning to things that are false idols.

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I want to look this morning at the very first pledge of allegiance in the Bible. We call it the Ten Commandments. I’m going to read from Exodus 20:1-7

Exodus 20:1–7 (NRSV)

Then God spoke all these words: I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; you shall have no other gods before me.

You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or worship them...

You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name.

These are just the first three commandments. But notice that all three statements of allegiance to God. They describe the exclusive relationship they have with God.

I want to look specifically at the 3rd commandment. Many of us have learned this as “You shall not take the name of the Lord in vain” which meant not using his name in a cuss word or not speaking falsely in God’s name. But something else is actually going on.

Jay Pathak, national director, interviewed theologian Carmen Imes... Play Pathak/Imes video.

Is that interesting? Have you ever heard this before about bearing God’s name? There’s something really unique about being called into a relationship with God that makes you distinct from everyone else. It pledges you to a higher allegiance. As we think about giving our allegiance to God and being people who bear his name, I think there are a couple of things it means for us:

We prioritize relationship over being right. That’s hard! Have you ever tried to be in relationship with someone you disagree with and butt heads with? Any married folk here? Ever raise teenagers? But it seems that giving allegiance to God, bearing his name, means we are pledged to one another as tightly as we are to God. In the OT there we disagreements, and there were ways of getting disagreements resolved. But one way was not to disassociate. To chunk the relationship. Relationship with God and with others was the priority.

Do you remember what Jesus said was the two greatest commandments ? Love God. Love neighbor. Did you know that in the Gospels he prioritized reconciliation and unity with others OVER worship of God. Matthew 5:23–24 “So when you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift.” Unity in God’s house really matters. That it is something that God expects that we will protect and preserve.

Maybe we need to think about the things we are be willing to break relationships over. Would God agree?

Who we represent informs how we represent. Our allegiance to God is not just a statement of beliefs. It meant you have a new identity. It determines not only what you believed but how you behave.

When you became a Christian, you professed Jesus as Lord. You may not have said those exact words, but that is the meaning of what you did in your baptism. You made a pledge of allegiance to Jesus. You became someone who now bears the name of God on yourself. As Carmen mentioned, you have an invisible tattoo that says “wholly belonging to God”. Don’t try to find it right now. Check at home bc it could get weird. You represent God himself. If we bear God’s name as his people, then we have to be careful how we bear everything else.

Over the next few months there will be ways that people engage in the political system that won’t be honoring to God or to others. There will be ugliness. There will be name calling. Both sides will say they other is evil. Both sides will employ the Bible to support their convictions. Both sides will demand absolute allegiance. As people who bear God’s name, we must be careful not to to allow our ultimate allegiance to God be compromised.

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I want to emphasize that it’s OK to have convictions and to even vote your convictions. I am not saying don’t participate in the process. In fact, whatever your beliefs are, I’m saying you’re probably right. But you can be 100% right in your beliefs and 100% wrong in how you manifest them. What we vote for matters; but so does who we represent and how we represent him as we vote.

So when disagreements come in the church - and they will - it seems to me that our pledge to Jesus gives us some guidance. Not just for political disagreements, but any disagreement. From the very earliest days the church had disagreements. But they were more committed to their relationship with each other and to identity as people who bear God’s name than they were to winning.

As we go through this election season, how can we bear the name of Jesus well? Could I offer some suggestions?

We can choose to resist the forces that seek to divide us - while maintaining our own convictions. That means extending grace to those who disagree with you. God isn’t anti-convictions. He is anti-disunity.

We can ask questions of our brothers and sisters with different opinions and try to see the world from their perspective. That’s a little radical, but sometimes knowing where someone is coming from can be helpful. It probably won’t change your mind but at least you will understand how their mind works.

Last week during morning prayer Margaret invited those present to fast one meal a day until the election to pray for our nation. I want to extend the invitation to all of us. If one meal a day is too radical, commit to one a week. Our country needs revival.

The good news is that Jesus gives us something better to give our allegiance to...

Pledging our allegiance to Jesus means we can leave room at the table for those we disagree with. It means that we really believe that Jesus is Lord and that he is the one who can bring their convictions - and our convictions - into alignment with his.

Disagreement will come. We will never - this side of eternity - agree 100% on everything. But we can have unity in spite of our disagreements. We can be the people who bear God’s name well and who extend grace toward those we disagree with.

My prayer is that this time is not like last time. That the vitriol of the election won’t seep into our relationships or disrupt our unity. I am ashamed of how I let it affect me last time. I want to do better. Maybe you want to do better too. I think remembering our pledge of allegiance to Jesus can help us keep all our other allegiances in their proper order.

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Prayer...

Our pledge of allegiance to Jesus isn’t merely to some kind of moral standard. It’s to a king. The son of God took on flesh. He came among us and showed us exactly what the Father is like. He died in our place, taking the penalty and consequence of our sin upon himself. He endured incredible suffering so that we can be free of sin and reconciled to his Father. He rose from the dead, showing beyond doubt that he is who he claimed to be and that he has defeated death and will give that same eternal life to everyone who believes in him. Now he sits enthroned as the true king over every nation.

Have you ever surrendered your life to Jesus as Lord? As I’ve shared, that’s more than just believing some things about Jesus. It is giving him your allegiance above everything else. He loves you. He wants good for your life. He is a good king. He knows what will make you your best self, what will give you real life. I invite you to give your life to the one who gave his life for you. You can use our connect card in the back of the seats or go to the link on the screen to talk with me about that more.

Ministry...

Are there places where you feel like your allegiance to Jesus have been compromised? Is there any place in your life where you aren’t allowing Jesus to be the king, the boss? Are there things you hold dearly that might be distracting your from a pure devotion to Jesus?

As we prepared to take Communion together, this meal that Jesus gave for his disciples to eat together in his presence, could we just sit with our thoughts for a few minutes and allow Jesus some time to speak with us?

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Communion

Emilie and homosexual narrative…rejection by parents… felt like she tried to turn toward that narrative, but we refused to let it affect our relationship with her. When she tried to pull away, we just got a little closer. Even though we deeply disagree with her choice, we have chosen to prioritize our relationship with her over our beliefs. This isn’t a sell-out on our convictions; it is a choice to keep the relationship intact as we trust the Holy Spirit to bring change.

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*** Announcement reminders ***

We’ve been closing our worship times by praying prayers that remind us of who we are and that help form us to represent God well. During the next few weeks I’d like us to prayer a kind of Christian pledge of allegiance - the Apostles’ Creed - asking God to help us keep Jesus in the center of all we do and say.

I believe in God, the Father almighty,     creator of heaven and earth;

I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord.     He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit         and born of the Virgin Mary.     He suffered under Pontius Pilate,         was crucified, died, and was buried.     He descended to the dead.

    On the third day he rose again.     He ascended into heaven,         and is seated at the right hand of the Father.     He will come again to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,     the holy catholic Church,     the communion of saints,     the forgiveness of sins     the resurrection of the body,     and the life everlasting. Amen.

Now as we prepare to take this time of worship into the week ahead, the Lord who loves you and has given you a new identity says in 1 Peter:

1 Peter 2:9 NRSV

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

GO BE THE CHURCH!!