Let's Get Political

ICEBREAKER

Does anyone want to take a guess at what the word “politics” means?

Ooh… You’re so close! Obviously, “politics” is what you call it when a lot of old people get in a room and start yelling at each other.

Wait… although it may seem like that’s what it is, that can’t be right.

The word “politics” refers to the way cities, counties, states, and countries make decisions. When it comes to talking about politics, we can probably divide people into one of two groups: those who care deeply about and love talking about politics and those who would generally prefer to stay as far away from it as possible.

But what about people your age? On the one hand, your generation is growing up in what might be the most politically divisive time in recent history, but on the other, until you turn 18, it can feel like there’s little, if anything, that you can do about it anyway. But make no mistake, politics affects you… a lot.

And I think that’s because politics is pretty much everywhere you look. Even if you wanted to, it’s become almost impossible to avoid politics. First, it affects almost every aspect of your life, and second (especially during election season), you literally can’t even watch YouTube or TV (or YouTube TV, for that matter!) without seeing political ads.

And those ads! They’re brutal! Both sides are constantly insulting each other, saying that the other side is lying and that the only way to fix things is to vote for a specific candidate. But what makes it even more difficult is that most of the time, it’s almost impossible to know who to believe.

The problem is that the issues they’re arguing about are a big deal. The decisions we make during upcoming elections will have a lasting effect on issues including (but definitely not limited to) immigration, unemployment, women’s reproductive rights, healthcare, environmental sustainability, inflation… the list just goes on and on!

And even though most of the people in this room aren’t old enough to vote yet, some of you may feel the pressure to already have opinions on political issues. So, what are we supposed to do? And more specifically, for those of you who are too young to vote, how should you respond when it comes to politics?

MAIN MESSAGE

LOOK BEYOND YOUR DIFFERENCES

See when it comes to politics and being a student you might feel like that there is nothing that you can do to get involved. But the thing is that is far from the truth at all. But the real question is how can you get involved and as a Christian what should your response be. But even before that I also want to look at while politics can be one of the most divisive topics in our country, we do not need to respond that way. We can take an example from Jesus about that. Let’s look at Matthew 8:5–13

Matthew 8:5–13 NLT

When Jesus returned to Capernaum, a Roman officer came and pleaded with him, “Lord, my young servant lies in bed, paralyzed and in terrible pain.” Jesus said, “I will come and heal him.” But the officer said, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come into my home. Just say the word from where you are, and my servant will be healed. I know this because I am under the authority of my superior officers, and I have authority over my soldiers. I only need to say, ‘Go,’ and they go, or ‘Come,’ and they come. And if I say to my slaves, ‘Do this,’ they do it.” When Jesus heard this, he was amazed. Turning to those who were following him, he said, “I tell you the truth, I haven’t seen faith like this in all Israel! And I tell you this, that many Gentiles will come from all over the world—from east and west—and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at the feast in the Kingdom of Heaven. But many Israelites—those for whom the Kingdom was prepared—will be thrown into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Then Jesus said to the Roman officer, “Go back home. Because you believed, it has happened.” And the young servant was healed that same hour.

Now if we look in another Gospel we can also know that this officer treated the Jewish people really well, but in the end he still is a Roman officer.

See there are many in the Jewish community who would view any positive interaction with Rome as a bad thing. They would treat tax collectors different because, they betrayed their own people. But lets put it in terms with today’s politics, or even ones we would have seen on commercials. Intermix the term Republican or Democrat with the phrase if you vote for them you are going against your own country.

So there we have it in the exact same way as Jew’s felt towards Rome. Yet what did Jesus do, he listened and healed the officers servant even complementing the officer on his faith. While society had determined the dividing lines Jesus walked right over them and looked at the person for who he was, and for that I want to encourage the same exact thing here tonight: Look Beyond Your Differences.

See when you look beyond the differences you see between you and the person on the other side of the aisle, instead of seeing an enemy, yes there are those who view it that harshly, you see a person in need of Jesus or even in some cases another fellow Christian.

YOU HAVE A VOICE

And while that is just dealing with those everyday people around us, what then should we do about our elected officials which you guys can’t even vote for yet. See that can be even harder, you see all of this division and all these political ads on TV and social media, and yet in the most basic form it feels like there is nothing that you can do. But the thing is that is not true at all, your voice can be heard, you can write letters and reach out to elected officials to make your voice heard. When I was a student I reached out to a member of the PA House of Representatives, and asked if I could meet him. Low and behold he said yes and then when I got to meet him at his office in State College, he then invited me and a friend to go and tour the Capitol Building in Harrisburg where he gave me and my friend a private tour. While this can be a instance where my voice was heard, there will be times when you reach out and your voices are not heard. There was a time in 8th grade where we had to write letters and for mine I chose Chief Justice Roberts on the Supreme Court and while I wrote my letter and it got sent, I have still yet to get a reply from him. Maybe he got a chance to read it and maybe not, I may never know, but I still made my voice heard.

Look even at the Roman officer he did not know what Jesus would do or even if He would hear him out, yet he still went and asked Jesus for help. In that same way take this to heart: You Have a Voice.

So, don’t be afraid if you have a point you want to make or your opinion to be heard, you have a voice so use it.

USE YOUR VOICE IN LOVE

But this is a small caveat to all of this. When you use your voice how should you use it. That it self is the bigger question and for that I want to look at the way the officer spoke to Jesus. Matthew 8:5-9

Matthew 8:5–9 NLT

When Jesus returned to Capernaum, a Roman officer came and pleaded with him, “Lord, my young servant lies in bed, paralyzed and in terrible pain.” Jesus said, “I will come and heal him.” But the officer said, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come into my home. Just say the word from where you are, and my servant will be healed. I know this because I am under the authority of my superior officers, and I have authority over my soldiers. I only need to say, ‘Go,’ and they go, or ‘Come,’ and they come. And if I say to my slaves, ‘Do this,’ they do it.”

Do you notice how the officer treated Jesus? With respect and reverence, not commanding or ordering him too, which has a Roman officer he could have. He used his voice with respect. Jesus also spoke this way at the Sermon on the Mount when he said in Matthew 5:43-44a

Matthew 5:43–44a (NLT)

“You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor’ and hate your enemy. But I say, love your enemies!

So if you are going to use your voice, do it this way: Use Your Voice in Love.

I know that even if you use your voice in love that they may not respond in kind, but that says more about them than you. Our job as Christians is to show people Christ, even those we may disagree with.

APPLICATION

PRAY FOR ALL OF OUR LEADERS

But what do we do about the election right now, I mean there are very few people in this room who can even vote. But what about those of you who can’t vote what can you do, well its this pray. But then what do we pray? We pray for God’s will but even more than that we pray for the leaders who are currently elected and those who will be. We get this straight for both Peter and Paul. Let’s first look at 1 Peter 2:13-17

1 Peter 2:13–17 NLT

For the Lord’s sake, submit to all human authority—whether the king as head of state, or the officials he has appointed. For the king has sent them to punish those who do wrong and to honor those who do right. It is God’s will that your honorable lives should silence those ignorant people who make foolish accusations against you. For you are free, yet you are God’s slaves, so don’t use your freedom as an excuse to do evil. Respect everyone, and love the family of believers. Fear God, and respect the king.

Or let’s see what Paul writes in Romans 13:1

Romans 13:1 NLT

Everyone must submit to governing authorities. For all authority comes from God, and those in positions of authority have been placed there by God.

Or how about 1 Timothy 2:1-5

1 Timothy 2:1–5 NLT

I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity. This is good and pleases God our Savior, who wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth. For, There is one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and humanity—the man Christ Jesus.

Seems pretty simple right, no matter who it is we need to pray for our leaders and respect them. But what if they go against Christian values or attack Christians, do you think we should still pray for them?

Well lets go back to 1 Timothy 2:1-5

1 Timothy 2:1–5 NLT

I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity. This is good and pleases God our Savior, who wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth. For, There is one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and humanity—the man Christ Jesus.

See here is the thing about this passage we need to look at who was the current emperor of the time in Rome. See it was Nero. Anyone know anything about Nero.

This man hated Christians and even that is an understatement. There was a fire in Rome and it is a common held belief that Nero himself was responsibly for it, yet he purposefully blamed the Christians, due to the hate he had for them and wanted an excuse to persecute them. One of the ways that he would kill Christians was to light them on fire and use them as lamps to light up his garden at night. This is the man that Nero was and yet both Paul and Peter who were killed by the man, both said that the church needed to pray for him.

So if Paul and Peter were telling the Church to prayer for a evil man such as Nero, I think it is safe to say that saying we should pray for all of our politicians even those we disagree with is not that big of a stretch. So what can we do now: Pray for All Our Leaders.

Look at the what I left out of this passage in Matthew 5:44

Matthew 5:44 NLT

But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you!

And when we are praying for them we also need to be respecting them as well. That means that when we talk about them we treat them with respect, both sides and believe me I rarely here either side talking nice about the other. What kind of fresh air would it be if someone were to talk to you about politics and instead of demonizing them if they disagree with you, you show respect. It would really make them do a double take and may even make them ask why?

See my sister in law when on this whole rant about the Church and that women are fleeing the church because they want freedom and men are flocking to it because they can control women. Now we know this isn’t true, yet my sister in law does and even when I want to bounce right back and defend it, it won’t do anything, so instead I am going to love on her, my brother and my nephews because I want to show them Christ and do exactly as Jesus said in Matthew 5:38-39

Matthew 5:38–39 NLT

“You have heard the law that says the punishment must match the injury: ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say, do not resist an evil person! If someone slaps you on the right cheek, offer the other cheek also.

We should not respond evil with evil. Even if it is in our mind, we need to be showing respect for all of those around us, even our leaders in government.