Untitled Sermon (4)

240922 Don’t Be Anxious (about the Election) 2

September 15, 2024 / Matthew 6.25-34 / Stand Alone

(revised from 180422 Faith and Politics 1)

📚 Sermon Research

#Sermons/politics

Introduction / Review

A few days ago I saw a bumper sticker that said, “Vote like your life depends on it.” This two-week series is here to remind us that — while the election is certainly important — our lives as believers in Jesus Christ don’t depend on it’s outcome.

Hopefully you were able to be here last week — as today’s message is meant to build on that one. But for those of you who weren't — or who might have dozed off while I was speaking — let me give a quick review:

In Matthew 6 — as Jesus is winding down the Sermon on the Mount — he tells his followers that there are three things we should never be anxious about:

About our lives.

About what we will eat or drink or wear.

About what tomorrow might bring.

You probably noticed that these categories essentially cover everything in life a person could feel anxious about — and — as we observed last week — they are the topics on which every election is about: Every election is about our lives and the lives of the people that we love. Every election is about food, drink, and clothing – our economy and how our needs are going to be provided for. And every election is about what tomorrow might bring — how we can be a safe and prosperous people.

For followers of Christ — while these things are important and not to be ignored — Jesus teaches that rather than spending our energy worrying about them — instead — we should: Seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness — and that — as we do that — all these things will be added to us. God will take personal responsibility to make sure that all needs are met. And we can be assured of this — Jesus says — because if the birds and the flowers don’t have to be anxious about their lives (since God provides for them) — you and I don’t have to be either — because to the heart of God — we are so much more valuable than they are.

And so, as an application of this teaching — in terms of the election — we said three things:

We can — we are able to — and we should completely trust God with the Election. This trust enables us to be a non-anxious participators in the Election. Our non-anxious participation is a witness to the world that points to the trustworthiness of our God.

Transition

Now, today what I want to do is to give some push back — and say — “Okay Paul, I understand the sentiment, but out of a deep concern for the direction of our country — the election is weighing incredibly heavy on me. And it feels like you’re saying is, “Just ignore everything that’s happening around us.” Actually, I think the bumper sticker has the right idea. We should vote like our lives depends on it — because people’s lives actually do depend upon the outcome of elections.”

That’s a fair point, isn’t it. There are critical issues at stake in the election: Abortion and reproductive rights, healthcare, imigration, the economy, the enviromnent, race & gender, national security — just to name a few.

Does Jesus’ counsel to have non-anxious hearts about these issues imply that Christians should take a hands-off approach? Today I want to argue, no — not at all. If anything, taking Matthew 6 seriously calls us to be more engaged, not less. However, we do so with an approach that “Seeks first the kingdom of God”. And this helps us in two areas:

Seeking God’s Kingdom first helps us to remember that while elections can be beneficial, they fall short as ultimate solutions.

Seeking God’s Kingdom first helps us to wisely participate in ways that go beyond simply casting a vote.

Let’s see what we can do about this.

Let’s consider this for a few minutes… John 3.16

John 3:16 ESV

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

The Kingdom Priority

Last week we said that the Kingdom of God is God’s rule & reign over every star and planet in the universe — and every molecule here on Earth! Jesus taught that God’s Kingdom is both a present reality — and also a future hope that will be fully realized when Jesus returns. On that day — he will bring heaven to Earth — and everything that’s broken in the world will be restored. In our heart of hearts — this is what every human being longs for.

Now, earthly kingdoms and governments can be helpful & good — and solve a lot of problems — but not the most important ones:

They can provide hospitals — but people still get sick and die They can build prisons ~ but people still get robbed & abused & murdered They can supply roads & phones & internet access ~ but people still are lonely They can legistlate laws ~ but people still break them They can build courts ~ but guilty people still go free & justice isn’t always served They can restrain evil ~ but they can’t defeat evil — they have no antidote for human sin.

Wise leadership and government are part of God’s good plan for the world and help society — however, they make inadequate saviors. Even the best form of government — a democracy — is far surpassed by the Kingdom of God — because only King Jesus — by the power of His Gospel — has the power to defeat sickness and sin — evil and death — crime and lonliness — and to unltimately redeem our world. And it will only be when — as Revelation 11 describes…

When the seventh angel [blows] his trumpet — and there are loud voices in heaven — saying, ‘The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever…’”

it’s only on that day — when Jesus Christ brings heaven to Earth — that justice will prevail — all will be made new — every broken human who has recieved him will be restored to perfect health — the dead will be raised to eternal live — and God’s children will rule and reign with Christ forever and ever.

Seeking first the Kingdom of God means that we strive to live with that perspective front and center in our mind. Rich Mullins sings about the United States, “I’ll call you my country, but I'll be lonely for my home”.

In the meantime we put the priorities of God’s kingdom — at the center of our lives — humbly recognizing Christ as our Savior and friend and King — seeking to trust and enjoy him — even as we live obedient lives to him — and sharing his love with others.

But here’s the thing: Kingdom-minded people care more — not less — about the issues that affect people’s lives. Here’s why: Because if you seek first the Kingdom of God — it will always draw you gaze towards the heart of God — and what you will behold is that God’s heart overflows with mercy & compassion for the people. This will inetivatably lead you back to the hurting people around you.

Seeking first the Kingdom of God should inspire a person to pursue justice and mercy — to care for the poor and the orphan — to uphold the dignity of human beings — to seek the salvation of all — and — rather than being so heavenly minded that we are of no earthly good — it should motivate us to be the best possible citizens of our country.

Do we participate in elections? Yes of course we do — we want good government for everyone — however, we don’t vote anxiously — (like our lives depend upon it) — because we know that even if the best possible earthly government is put in place — it will still be an inadequate solution to the deepest needs of human beings. But because we have been given the answer to what every heart longs for — we have more to offer our country, not less.

Kingdom Stewardship

Second thought: Seeking first the Kingdom of God also involves being wise stewards of the life God has blessed us with here on Earth. This includes asking ourselves, how does God want me to invest the time, resources, and energy he has given me in the most effective ways I can — for the sake of other people.

Now, all of the hype and emphasis around presidential elections can make it feel like the most important and critical thing you and I can do for our country is to vote. however — without diminishing the importance of presidential elections — we also need to recognize the limitations of our vote.

About 159 million people voted in the last presidential election. Just for perspecitve on how big that number is, compare it with the odds of getting struck by lightning this year, which are about 1 in 1.2 million. 159 million is a massive number.

While voting in presidential elections is important — it’s easy to emphasise our participation in the presidential election — that is disproportionate to the actual amount of influence we can exert through our vote. Here’s why this can be a problem: because it can distract us from investing in activities that can have a much greater impact on the issues that matter so much.

For example, immagine a person who is obsessed with the election. They are constantly digesting political news and breaking updates — they spend hours digging around on the internet — they watch all the ralleys — they are endlessly debating about candidates online — and with their friends and family — this person feels incredibly energized about certain issues. And when they finally go to the poll — mark their candidate — and feed the ballot into the counter — it feels to them like the culmination of months of effort. And when someone hands them an “I voted” sticker, they feel a sense of accomplishment about how they’ve been faithful in helping to solve the country’s problems.

Now imagine a different person who cares very little about politics — maybe they catch a few minutes of the debate — but only because it interrupts their favorite TV show. When that person goes to the poll — marks a candidate — and feeds their ballot into the machine — their vote counts exactly the same as the first person. They get a sticker, too.

And for all the energy that first person invested obsessing over the election — beyond adding their one single vote to the count of 159 million — what did they actually contributed towards making things better? They might feel like they’ve accomplished a lot — because they’ve spent a lot of energy — but it’s an illusion — in reality they’ve contributed no more to society than the second person who was almost completely disengaged.

Last week I talked about the damage that was done to churches — and to the reputation of Christ in America — as a result of Christians arguing with each other over politics. What’s disheartening about is that those arguments were often between two individuals over how each other was planning to cast their single vote — one vote out of 159 million. Relationships were destroyed over single votes which — statistically speaking — have almost no impact on the actual result! And what was accomplished in all that arguing? Nothing! It was meaningless and self-defeating.

Here’s my point: Christians can do so much better than this. If we truly care about society, absolutely we should vote! But when we do — and someone hands us a sticker — we shouldn’t be tempted to pat ourselves on the back and feel like we’ve checked off our responsibility. Kingdom minded people make the very best earthly citizens because we understand that voting is a starting point — it’s the very least we can do — but as we are able — we aim to help in much greater ways.

What can this look like? Well, pick the issue that weighs most deeply on your heart this election: Beyond your vote, what if you committed to praying daily about it. Maybe start a prayer group with people who share the same concern. or perhaps you could find someone in your community who needs support in this area — maybe it’s a it’s a single parent — or struggling family — or a vulnerable young person— be a cheerleader for them by offering encouragement and practical help.

You could also get involved with a local organization that is investing in that concern: donate supplies to them, volunteer your time, write a them a big check, maybe get some training as an admistrator or counselor or mentor there. Think about hosting a seminar or workshop to raise awareness. Mabye you could even consider runing for local office. These are just a few ideas to get you started.

Richelle Starr

I want to conclude with a story I told a few years back. I’m sharing it again today because it perfectly illustrates this point.

It’s about a woman named Richelle Starr. You’ve probably never heard of her. Richelle lives in Louisville, KY. And one day — a few years ago — as she was driving down the road, she saw a billboard advertising a strip club. And she thought about the girls who were employed there and what their lives were like. And so she called her husband, and said that she felt like God had put a burden on her heart to work with women in the sex industry. And his response to her was “Well, that sounds like something that Jesus would do.”

So, the first thing she did was she gathered some of her friends one night and they parked across the street from the club and began to pray for the women who were dancing inside. And — for an entire year — that was the only thing she ever did. Every Tuesday and Thursday night, you’d find Richelle and a few friends — parked down by the club — with their heads bowed down, asking God to pour out his grace into these women’s lives.

And then — after a solid year — Richelle began to feel like God was prompting her to do something crazy: To go inside. So one evening she put on a turtleneck sweater, walked through the front door, found the owner of the club, and said, “Hi, I’d like to do something good for the women who work for you”. And he was very surprised by this and said, “Who are you?” And she said, “My name is Richelle and I’m a Christian.” And he said, “The only Christians I’ve ever seen around here are are the ones that picket outside in the parking lot.”

But they ended up having a good conversation — and the club owner eventually said, okay, if you want to, you can bring in a meal for the dancers. So the next week she came back with her girlfriends and laid out a big spread of food on a table. Now, at first some of the women wouldn’t eat it because when they heard it was from a Christian they were afraid it might be poisoned (Isn’t that so sad?). But nevertheless, every Thursday, she arrived at the club and served them dinner.

And over time — meal after meal on Thursday nights — guess what happened? Richelle became friends with the girls. And they began to open up with her about their lives. They shared about their families, and in many cases their struggles with addictions of different kinds. They also talked about their goals and dreams for the future. She learned their stories. And one thing Richelle discovered that is also incredibly sad was that she never met a stripper who wasn’t abused as a child.

One day she had the opportunity to go home to the apartment of one of the girls. And the she found that only thing that was in the whole apartment was a Disney Princess sleeping bag. This girl didn’t even have a pillow. So Richelle called her church and they did a drive to collect everything that was needed to furnish the apartment. And through that — people in the church started to hear what was happening — and some of them joined in, too. So that today — Richelle and her team are in every single one of the Strip Clubs in the city — and in 5 other cities, too.

She has helped more than 600 girls break free from the sex industry — and hundreds of them have come to know the Lord as well. And though it has been incredibly difficult and often heartbreaking work, one thing she said that continues to drive and energize her is the knowledge that — for every girl she helps to leave these clubs — there are 5 more ready to take her place. And so her work continues today…

This is a woman who deserves a sticker.

You and I can't control the outcome of the presidential election, but we shouldn’t toss and turn over that. Instead, Jesus words in Matthew 6 should inspire us — as november approaches —to cast all our anxieties on Christ — and to trust him completely. We don’t have to vote as if our life depends on it, because they don’t — ours is the Kingdom of Heaven. But it also motivatats us to do our best to invest more — not less — in the lives of the people God has placed right in front of our noses.

Prayer

Thank you for the election — free country / prosperous Thank you that we can host Pray for each of the candidates:

In spite of the political machinery behind them — just people / with an enormous task. And because they are created in your image, help us to honor them regardless of whether we agree or disagree with their policies. We pray you would draw them to yourselves through the Gospel of Christ. We pray for our county — we often feel overwhelmed with concern for the future — but help us to cast our cares on **you. We pray you would help our nation to navigate the difficult problems that are before us. But we pray most of all for revival. The book of Daniel tells us, Lord, that you change times and seasons; you remove kings and set up kings. You are completely in control. Help us to be the best possible citizens of your Kingdom first. our trust is in you