I Will Participate
Living Godly in a Pagan Society • Sermon • Submitted
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This past week, my brothers and fellow FEFAM Pastors made very strong statements against Racism and Injustice— My Sermon last Sunday became my message of solidarity
87 days since we are ordered to shelter in place [March 19] and 142 Days before the national elections [November 3]
Enjoy the last week of Spring— on Saturday [June 20] officially marks the beginning of Summer 2020— All our summer events was cancelled due to Covid-19— let me know your heart and thoughts if we will restore those traditional summer events
Last Sunday I talked to you about what we should do as Christians to “Make America United Again”
Our conversation revolved around the topic concerning what the Bible has to say about “Racism”
It led us all the way back to the time of the construction of the tower of Babylon being the pre-cursor to our physiological change— that explains why the color of our skin, hair and eyes are different despite the Bible said that we are all God’s creation, and we came from one origin who was Adam and Even through Noah and his wife
We traced back political harassments, spiritual persecutions and racial discriminations all the way to the time of Rehoboam, who succeeded his father Solomon and caused the division of Israel
Jeroboam [son of Nebat] on the other hand was the one responsible why the Samaritans [descendants of the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh] was persecuted spiritually, and discriminated racially
Jeroboam made for them idols to worship— and because of that infidelity against God, God let the Assyrians invade Israel that resulted to intermarriage when the king Assyria deported people from Babylon to Samaria
The Samaritans was despised by the Jews because of these— they were politically harassed, spiritually persecuted and racially discriminated
It is for these exact same reasons why people across our country are uprising resulting to civilian unrest due to racial divide
It was Jesus who healed these two people groups— because Jesus was did not politically harassed the Samaritan woman, because He did not persecute her spiritually, nor He discriminated her racially— the Samaritans was restored back to God [ACTS 8:14]
The death of George Floyd, a black American who died under the knees of a white policeman triggered a nationwide protests against racism and injustice— the blame was focused on the police force, hence, a national conversation about policing
It does not appear that congressional efforts to legislate reforms in the police force satisfies what the protesters are demanding— they recalibrated their sights to desecrating statues of some confederate officers and even demanded to rename our military bases that was named after them [SHOW PHOTO OF STATUE DESECRATED]
Let me tell you this— “You cannot change history, but you can let history change you.”— “You cannot alter the past, but you can definitely learn from it.”
Even in the Bible, you can find a lot of unworthy characters, but God let them stay in the scriptures as perpetual icons that constantly reminds of bad examples to avoid
CHARACTER, COMMAND, PROMISES, CONVICTIONS, EXAMPLES, CHALLENGES AND ENCOURAGEMENT
A profound quote from Soren Kierkegaard says that, “Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards.”
A beautiful biblical counterpart of this quote is found in…
16 The godly may trip seven times, but they will get up again. But one disaster is enough to overthrow the wicked.
Part 2 of our series entitled, “Living Godly in a Pagan Society”, is a follow through of our discussion about what Christians can do to “Make America United Again.”
I’d like for us to take a second look on the letter of Peter where I ended up last week— in 1 Peter 2:11-17, Peter urged us to…
I MUST ABSTAIN FROM SINFUL DESIRES
I WILL LIVE A GOOD LIFE FOR THE GLORY OF GOD
I SHALL SUBMIT TO GOVERNMENT AUTHORITY
I WILL NOT EXERCISE MY FREEDOM TO COVER UP FOR EVIL
I WILL RESPECT EVERYONE, LOVE MY CHURCH AND HONOR GOD
Let’s dive deeper into what I said that “We Shall Submit to Government Authority”— it was based from the letter of Peter
13 Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human authority: whether to the emperor, as the supreme authority,
The command sounds very absolute— does this mean we shall submit to every human authority regardless?
Are we to blindly obey the Government?
Shall we just keep our mouths shut and assume that doing nothing is alright with God?
When Jesus was brought to trial before Pontius Pilate, He opened His mouth and responded to his questions
Facing charges of sedition, Paul exercised his right as a Roman citizen and appealed to Caesar (Acts 25:10).
Evidently, the apostle was comfortable working within the political and legal system of his day to pursue justice against false accusations.
Why Christians should engage in politics?
If we find enough biblical reasons to believe that Christians should engage in politics..
How Christian should engage in politics?
To get answers to these questions, I will take you to the Bible particularly in ROMANS 13:1-7— but before I do that, let me first define the word “Politics”
Definitions are crucial for mitigating confusion—For many, the term “politics” is synonymous with deception, conflict, and division and invokes images of candidates clashing on TV or a nasty campaign ad denouncing an opponent.
However, narrowly interpreting politics to refer to politicians, campaigns, or an apparatus of the state is a truncated view.
The word “politics” came from the Greek word “Polis”, which referred to Greek city-states (political entities ruled by a body of citizens)
Politics is a about how groups of humans organize their affairs
Not just in Government— whether a home school, or a homeowners association, or even a church— for as long that there is group of humans managing or governing their affairs, politics is present
In this sense, politics is intimately connected to community—how we relate to other people—closely associated with the concept of loving our neighbor.
If we convince ourselves that politics only deals with the clashing of politicians, and thus we choose to withdraw from politics at large, society—and our neighbors—it will be worse off
Not taking part of politics deprives you of the opportunity to do good— and how is that? in a moment you will see..
Open your Bible to ROMANS 13:1-7
While you’re opening your Bible, let me just underscore a number of things in the chapter that precedes our text today
Paul said in chapter 12 that we must not conform to the pattern of this world [in other words, let us not just go along with what is popular, with what is trending], but be transformed by the renewing of your mind [our transformation is through renewal]
And then he spoke about serving humbly in the Body of Christ [the Church] using the different gifts according to the grace given to each of us
After that he spoke about “love in action”— Surely, Paul had his good reasons why he spoke about renewing of our minds, use of different gifts, and love in action before tackling the topic about Government & Politics
Evidently, Apostle Paul wanted us to approach matters concerning Government and Politics with a renewed mind, and with the service to God’s people in mind
BOOK ROMANS 13:1-7
BOOK ROMANS 13:1-7
1 Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. 2 Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.
Although God is sovereign, he chooses to use human governments to carry out his will
Government was God’s idea, and Christians should think about it and engage with it in a way that is consistent with its God-ordained purpose
Resisting that authority is the same as rejecting the authority of God
3 For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and you will be commended. 4 For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also as a matter of conscience.
The rest of the text talks about paying taxes to compensate those people in authority who are giving their full time to governing
But I’d like to focus on two things:
In verse 3 Paul said, “DO WHAT IS RIGHT”
Do what is right not in reference to what the Republican or what the Democrats said is right— but in reference to what God said is right in the Bible
God’s people engaging in politics as part of a holistic approach to ministry that meets both spiritual and temporal needs
The Old Testament provides examples of faithful political engagement. For example, Joseph and Daniel served in foreign administrations and used their influence to implement policies that benefited society
In the case of Joseph, during a devastating famine (Gen. 45:9-12), God used his position in the Egyptian government to protect and provide for his extended family (who would become the future nation of Israel)
Likewise, Queen Esther used her influence in the Persian government to save the Jewish people from a state-sanctioned genocide (Esther 8)
In the New Testament, Jesus engaged in holistic ministry, caring for the physical and spiritual needs of people; feeding the hungry and caring for the sick were extensions of the message he preached.
Paul also advocated a comprehensive approach to ministry: “As we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone” (Gal. 6:10). Also:
“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Eph. 2:10)
Decisions made by those serving in government positions have a substantial impact on people’s lives.
Consequently, a Christian worldview recognizes that the “good works” of believers must include every area of life— including politics, an area with massive implications for Christian evangelism, missions, and the freedom to preach the gospel
Politics occupies a significant place in society and is an unavoidable
And in verse 5 he said, “A MATTER OF CONSCIENCE”
1 I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people—2 for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.
Yes the Bible tells us to pray for our government leaders, but we can still do more than just praying for them
Avoiding politics altogether is an endorsement of the status quo
Edmund Burke said, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”
And the Bible has this to say about that..
21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Part of the things that we can do to “Live Godly in a Pagan Society” is to Participate
We are so blessed to be living in a democratic society where we can freely worship the Lord—
If we don’t participate, they will take even this spiritual liberty that we enjoy
"We have to teach our children, otherwise, someone else will.”
TOOK
TOOK
I WILL PARTICIPATE BY REGISTERING TO VOTE
I WILL PARTICIPATE BASED ON ISSUES AND NOT ON PARTY OR PERSONALITY
I WILL PARTICIPATE BY CASTING MY VOTE CONSCIENTIOUSLY