We.... Responding to Political Reality

Good morning everyone, I am so grateful to be able to gather with you as we enter in to study God’s word. As a body, it is God’s word that gives us direction. In it, we find teaching from Jesus that invites us to a fuller life. Scripture has a way of exposing our faults, our rigidity, our bias, and helps us see that when we submit ourselves to God’s way of living it produces enrichment that gives clarity, it enables us to love generously, to overlook offenses and welcome others into deeper relationships. It helps us shake off the shallow desires of life and find deeper meaning and value as we live on mission for God. As we lean in, submit to His word, and humble ourselves before His throne, The Holy Spirit provides peace that passes understanding and joy that overflows.

I wonder, how many of us have felt peace and joy in the last couple of months?

How many felt anxiety swelling up inside? Fear lingering in the background? A growing uncertainty that left you unsettled?

Some have experienced a growing sense of dread.

Others have difficulty relaxing.

Many of us have probably experienced a growing irritability or emotional sensitivity.

It doesn’t really matter where you fall on the political spectrum, we have all been influenced - impacted by a dominating culture of fear mongering and unfair characterizations.

As a result we see people of differing ideologies avoiding each other.

Perhaps you have people around you who you get very unsettled around because of their political viewpoint.

In this series, our aim is to take a breath of fresh air. It is to stop and remember that presidents will come..... and they will go. All authorities have an expiration date. All authorities will have a time of influence but then their influence will come the an end.

- But not our king. Not our Lord. Jesus is the King of kings, and Lord of Lord’s. He is eternal, He will never expire. He is always there.

Last week, Pastor John challenged us with many practical, biblical principles. Understanding, that while politics and elections matter, People matter more. Because people matter more, we set aside our differences and we honor and we love, regardless of political background.

Secondly, our response as Christians matters more. In that, if we live out our faith biblically before God and others, the world around us will look at the beauty and richness of this community and crave what it has to offer. After all a city on a hill cannot be hidden.

Friends, our hope is not in donkeys or elephants. Our hope is in the Kings and Lord of lords, who freely lavishes His love on those who are ready to receive it. Meaning we can have stability in the chaos. Meaning that we can have peace and joy, embracing that our God reigns over all.

And that is what we are going to get into today, that we don’t have to get caught up in the drama, the anxiety, or the fear. But that through it all, we can trust our Lord.

Would you join me in a word of prayer?

Our passage for this morning is Romans 13:1-7. But before we get to it, I want to draw our attention to where we have been in the last few years.

Two years ago, as a church, we studied the Beatitudes the first section of the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5.

Then last year, as a church, we walked through the rest of Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount.

I want us to consider some of what we learned through those series. Because when we consider Jesus’ sermon in Matthew 5-7, what we find is an invitation for all people to trust the wisdom and discernment of Jesus. Recognizing that His ways are higher than our ways and His thoughts are higher than our thoughts. It’s when believers live out Jesus’ teaching that a deeper richer life is found before God’s throne.

The Sermon on the Mount is a beautiful offering of divine wisdom for us, but also very challenging. You see, much of what Jesus teaches is opposite to human nature.

For example, the beatitudes speak to the identity of Jesus followers and that there is great blessing in all the things we as humans try to avoid, like being poor in spirit, mourning, and meekness. It’s a form of identity that separates us from the rest of the world. Where we embrace what the world often perceives as weakness. Some have called it the upside-down kingdom because the wisdom of Jesus calls to let go of our pursuits and ideologies, the things we have come to value and trust.

Then in the rest of the sermon on the mount Jesus teaches about how His followers can live this out. That there is a righteous life to be lived and He teaches how to practically live it out. Again, lots of hard teachings for us to lean into because it is not our natural intuition. We see teachings on much of the human experience, like anger, judgement, lust, divorce, love, generosity, and faith. The whole point the sermon is to submit ourselves to Him, trusting the wisdom of Jesus.

Which brings us to the end of the sermon where Jesus invites us to live by His teaching.

Matthew 7:24–27 “24 “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.

25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.

26 And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.

27 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.””

Here is why all of this matters.

too often, we as Christians get pulled into the drama. We are leveraged by political parties, who claim to stand up for you and for your values - trying to get you to believe that they are standing up for you. We have to step back and recognize the manipulation games that come out of both parties.

In the current state of politics every news station and every politician are so biased that they can’t admit any fault, any wrongdoing, - there is almost no honest ownership.

Everything I do is painted in the best possible light and I am sticking to it regardless.

Everything they do is problematic and full of problems and faults.

What is crazy to me is that we know it. For years we have joked about the honesty of a politician. For years we have watched news stations become extremely biased in what they say and what they cover.

We know they are spewing lies and yet we get caught up in it. We believe it. We buy what they are selling and run around talking to people about how you cant vote for one of these candidates because they are purely wicked and evil.

Personally, I grieve election cycles because we too readily embrace cultural pressure and forget about living in the wisdom of Jesus. We too readily feel the need to do whatever we can to ensure an outcome by the way we judge, trash, and ultimately hate on other people.

Yes, we need to vote, yes, we need to have convictions, and we need to respond to the leading and guiding of the Holy Spirit in our lives. We have to be discerning and wise. But we were never called by God to take control. We were never called to embrace slinging mud.

Luke 6:27–28 “27 “But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.”

Galatians 6:10 “10 So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone.”

How many of us can honestly say that in the last few months we have honored, respected, and used our tongue to speak from a place of love? As believers in Christ we have to learn how to deeply love people that we disagree with. We have to learn how to speak in fairness, giving honor, and recognizing that this person is made in the image of God.

We are called to love our neighbor as ourselves. So maybe we need to recognize a need, for separating our response to ideologies from our response to people.

“If you dont have them separated, can you respond in love that stands for truth?”

“If you don’t know how to respond in love, perhaps you have made an enemy out of the person you are called to reach. Even still, you are called to love your enemies and to pray for them.

The sermon on the Mount calls us to a different kind of approach, where we embrace the wisdom of Jesus, instead of our own. Friends, you don’t get to build your house on the rock and live in the sand.

Perhaps, some of you couldn't sleep the night of the election. Perhaps you felt that dread and anxiety.

I would pose this to you. If you felt that growing anxiety and fear, that dread. If you were anxious, having trouble relaxing, eating all kinds of junk food suddenly

it may be a sign that you have put too much trust in government and not enough in the Lord.

It may be a sign that you are claiming to live on the rock when you are building in the sand.

1 Peter 5:6–7 “6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, 7 casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.”

Christians humbly submit to the Lord, we do not take matters into our own hands, because we will always act in wickedness when we do.

Now, I don’t say this without recognizing that what we are talking about is really challenging. In part, it is hard because there are over 300,000 million people in the U.S. I don’t know if there is a soul who hears these words that believes we had it narrowed down to the best, most qualified, or respected leaders.

For the Christian, it should be heart-breaking that this is where we as a country. Both parties had issues that are really hard to swallow when using a biblical perspective.

We should be driven to the throne of God, in prayer for Godly leaders to rise up.

Now, regardless of who you voted for, regardless how you feel about the president elect, we are now preparing to live in the context of his leadership. Just to be clear, if Kamala Harris would have won, we would be studying this same text. God’s word doesn't change based on who is elected.

In Romans 13 we find four calls of the believe that reflect practical ways we can trust God.

Starting in verse 1,

Romans 13:1 “1 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities......”

Right out of the gate, we are met with a challenge. Friends, there are things about president Trump that I really struggle with. But I will not stand here and complain about him. I will not disregard his authority.

We trust God when we are subject to governing authorities, why

Romans 13:1 .......For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.”

Can we stop and admit that we need to trust God. That too often, we fail to recognize that regardless of who wins the election - God is in control. Regardless of who wins the election - we are to live on mission. Regardless of what policies or antics are displayed in office, we are called to serve and love others with the Love of Christ. Encouraging what is true, honorable and right.

You don’t have to get anxious about the election because either way, God is going to have His way. The question is, are we willing to submit to it?

I am not going to pretend that it is always easy to submit. I also think it is hard to always identify and give our anxieties to the Lord without getting caught up in it. This is why living in the context of biblical community is so valuable. As Iron sharpens Iron, the Lord keeps us grounded as we speak truth into one another.

Let’s not be known because of our political affiliations. Let us be known as servants within the community who long for the best and build people up what is right in them, even when everyone else is focused on tearing down.

Romans 13:2–3 “2 Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority?

Friends, God’s word teaches us to submit to governing authority because governments were established to bring about good.

Not all governments will do it well. Not all forms and systems will work. Sometimes, when the government becomes corrupt, the country falls apart or into poverty as the people are abused.

But the intent, the purpose is to bring about what is good. Here in the U.S. we do not have a tyrannical system. Instead, our constitution states “We the people...” Which means, it is our responsibility to pray over candidates and to vote according to the conviction the Holy Spirit places on us. Just make sure it is a conviction from the Holy Spirit and not one based on fear or what you think is best. So there should be engagement by the Christian to vote and participate.

Our judicial system desperately needs Godly men and women to be engaged in standing for truth and not catering to evil. The problem is that we all wait for the election year to start before we ever speak up. Before we get involved.

- Now here me on this, because I think it could be easy to mistake what I am saying here. I am not saying that we as a church need to be political and that we need to be political all the time.

I am saying, we need to learn to always be engaging our community with the love of Christ in prayer and action. We need to stand for gospel truth all the time. We need to be serious about the Lord and praying that He would provide godly wisdom to all of our leaders.

Here is the humbling reality for us, is that our presidential candidates often reflect the state of our culture. You want to know why there were different candidates 50 years ago, because there was a different culture.

If the church wants to see better candidates in office than the church better lead the way in right living before God, that loves Him, moves towards Him, and invites others to see the saving truth extended to them in the person of Jesus.

Romans 13:3–5 “Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, 4 for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience.”

We show trust in God when - We are good citizens regardless of who takes office.

That truth plays out on two levels.

1. As an American citizen the Bible calls me to uphold the law of the land. But many of us treat the law as if it is subjective or only applies to me in part.

- Speed limits - How many of us drive 5 over

- Using your phone while driving?

I know we all pay attention to the Jaywalking laws.

Friends, understand that when you follow the law of the land (as long as it doesn’t go against scripture) you are honoring the Lord and living as a light.

Follow the law.

2. Doing good. Which is the message of the Bible. That we are blessed through Christ and the giving of His Holy Spirit to go and be a blessing through generous love and proclaiming the gospel.

Go help people, take care of our community whenever you can. We should be purposefully engaged.

Meaning that we are intentional to engaged personally in building healthy relationships.

That we intentionally engage in community events and opportunities to help build connections and relationships.

When and where we are able we should be the most kind and generous people around.

It’s intentional engagement for the building of relationship while spreading the love of Christ. Meaning that all the way through we are praying. We are asking people if we can pray for them. We have prepared thoughtful questions that plant gospel seeds.

Friends, we need to value the difference that can be made when we stop allowing ourselves to be impacted by culture and instead intentionally impact the culture around us.

Imagine if we as a church were intentional to reach out, to build up, to help whenever we can. What would our ability of reach look like if we aimed to serve like Jesus served?

I believe we would quickly win the respect of people and it would cause them in time to wonder how we as a community can so consistently encourage, invest, and build up the people around us.

I believe that if we were intentional to serve at every corner and be unified in how we live with the wisdom of Jesus we could shape a culture that our society desperately needs!

Romans 13:6–7 “6 For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. 7 Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.”

We show trust towards God when we pay taxes. Jesus said, Matthew 22:21 “Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.””

We show trust in God’s plan when we pay off debts, give respect, and honor others.

Friends, can we aim to be a church that chooses to be unified, embracing the wisdom of Jesus, serving others, living out and standing on truth with kindness as we live on mission for Jesus?

You only get one life to live. You only have so much time to intentionally lean in and build a rich community of faith that exalts Jesus and reaches the lost. Would you join us in building that vibrant community of faith where we trust in the Lord to provide, to enrich, and to bless, so that we can bless the broader community as servants of Christ.

It’s time for the church, to be the church. Let’s be done dragging people through the mud, let’s learn how to speak the truth in love. Let’s learn how to bring the blessing of the gospel and the freedom that is offered in Christ to a hurting, anxious world, that is at a loss and searching for something more.

Lets pray.