Patriotic Christians #5
For God and Country
Theme: Even though the Pharisees were trying to get Jesus in trouble, Jesus wisely gives us guidance for being good citizens and good Christians.
Introduction
For God and Country.
From the Latin phrase “pro Deo et Patria”, “for God and Country” has been the rallying cry of soldiers going into war, the motto of many colleges and universities, and even motto of the American Legion.
At its root, this phrase speaks of loyalty and allegiance to not only our national origins, but our allegiance to God above.
Dual citizenship.
This morning, as we look back over the past few weeks, we have talked about praying for our country.
We have talked about praying for our leaders.
We have talked about having a love for our country.
And last week, we talked about respecting the leaders that are extensions of God’s own authority in our world.
It is often said that politics and the church do not mix.
And many times that is true. Politics in the church can be a very touchy and delicate subject.
Jesus understood this. It was a touchy subject back in His times too.
In Matthew 22, we read about an exchange that the religious leaders of the day and Jesus had.
15 Then the Pharisees met together to plot how to trap Jesus into saying something for which he could be arrested. 16 They sent some of their disciples, along with the supporters of Herod, to meet with him. “Teacher,” they said, “we know how honest you are. You teach the way of God truthfully. You are impartial and don’t play favorites. 17 Now tell us what you think about this: Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”
18 But Jesus knew their evil motives. “You hypocrites!” he said. “Why are you trying to trap me? 19 Here, show me the coin used for the tax.” When they handed him a Roman coin, 20 he asked, “Whose picture and title are stamped on it?”
21 “Caesar’s,” they replied.
“Well, then,” he said, “give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and give to God what belongs to God.”
22 His reply amazed them, and they went away. (Matthew 22, NLT)
The Pharisees were looking for a good fight. The Pharisees were trying to set a trap.
If Jesus answered their question one way, the Pharisees would report Jesus to the Roman officials. Jesus would be arrested for not being loyal to the Roman government who was in power at the time.
If Jesus answered their question the other way, He would lose His authority that God was in charge. He would disrespect God’s authority.
Answer the wrong way, and someone was going to be mad. And it appeared that either choice was the bad one.
But Jesus, in His Heavenly wisdom, answered the posed question well.
So well, that the people there were amazed at His wisdom.
The same, though, is true today. Politics in the church is a touch subject. It’s a fine line to walk.
<Many churchgoers in U.S. don’t know the political leanings of their clergy
BY CLAIRE GECEWICZ
Pew Research
JANUARY 13, 2020
https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/01/13/many-churchgoers-in-u-s-dont-know-the-political-leanings-of-their-clergy/>
In a survey conducted in March and April 2019 by Pew Research, respondents who attend church regularly indicated that they are typically satisfied with the amount of political discussion in the sermons of their ministers — 72%. What wasn’t asked was how often politics are discussed in the sermons. The question was only if respondents were satisfied with the amount they hear.
In the same survey, 76% of respondents, regardless of denominational background said that ministers and pastors should not endorse candidates.
Further 63% of respondents indicated that the church should remain silent on political and day-to-day social issues.
Over the years, the interpretation and hardline for separation of church and state became more pronounced. The ceasing of school-sponsored prayer. The sanctioning of sinful behaviors as legal. The church should not be involved in matters of state, according to many activists. And that has lead to where we are today — siloing our life.
In our culture today, everything in our lives is siloed and put into nice compartments in our lives. Church and religion is in this corner of my life — I do this on Sundays.
Politics is this other area of my life — I do that on election years, and around election days.
Then there’s the other stuff in our lives — social issues, work, family, recreation. All in their own separate rooms in a house, if you want to think of it that way. Nothing in one room flows over or affects the other rooms.
But maybe, just maybe that’s not the right approach, especially when it comes to our faith.
Jesus didn’t silo his answers, but what Jesus did say gives us a pretty good way to look at our lives today.
Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar. Give to God what belongs to God. It’s all a matter of perspective.
Like income and taxes.
<Retrieving Perspective
Leadership, Vol. 16, no. 2.
Copied from Preaching Today>
Gary Thomas writes in Christianity Today:
Thinking about eternity helps us retrieve [perspective]. I'm reminded of this every year when I figure my taxes. During the year, I rejoice at the paychecks and extra income, and sometimes I flinch when I write out the tithe and offering. I do my best to be a joyful giver, but I confess it is not always easy, especially when there are other perceived needs and wants. At the end of the year, however, all of that changes. As I'm figuring my tax liability, I wince at every source of income and rejoice with every tithe and offering check — more income means more tax, but every offering and tithe means less tax. Everything is turned upside down, or perhaps, more appropriately, right-side up. I suspect judgment day will be like that.
Life should be like that — an appropriate perspective and balance in life.
We today have dual citizenship. We are citizens of our country. We are citizens of Heaven.
So today, let’s look for a few minutes what it means to be a good citizen and a good Christian.
1. We are first to give to our country what belongs to our country. So what do we owe our country?
We owe it to our country to be a good citizen.
Follow the laws. Obey the rules. Respect authority.
Pay our taxes, for example. No one likes them, but it is the law of the land.
<A Taxing Story
By SermonCentral
Rajendra Pillai, Clarksburg, MD
from "Life in Our House," Christian Parenting Today magazine
http://ChristianityToday.com/cpt/9g2/9g2014.html
Copied from Sermon Central>
A dad one time was trying to teach his fifth-grade son the value of tithing, using Jesus’ words about giving to Caesar and to God what is theirs. The boy listened attentively only to say, "I still don’t understand why you have to pay taxes."
My friend replied, "Because the Bible says we must give unto Caesar what belongs to Caesar and unto God what belongs to God."
His son looked puzzled. "That’s what I’m trying to tell you, Dad. Caesar died a long time ago."
<Changed Tax Rule Forces Honesty
Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner, Freakonomics (William Morrow 2006), p. 239; submitted by Kevin Miller, executive vice president of Christianity Today International
Copied from Preaching Today>
In their book Freakonomics, Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner explain how a simple change to U. S. tax rules in 1987 exposed the depth of the public's willingness to deceive for financial gain:
In the 1980s, an I.R.S. research officer in Washington named John Szilagyi (zsch - log - ee) had seen enough random audits to know that some taxpayers were incorrectly claiming dependents for the sake of exemption. Sometimes it was a genuine mistake (a divorced wife and husband making duplicate claims on their children), and sometimes the claims were comically fraudulent.
Szilagyi recalls at least one dependent's name listed as Fluffy, who was quite obviously a pet rather than a child.
Szilagyi decided that the most efficient way to clean up this mess was to simply require taxpayers to list their children's Social Security numbers… The idea never made its way out of the agency.
A few years later, however, with Congress clamoring for more tax revenue, Szilagyi's idea was dug up, rushed forward, and put into law for tax year 1986. When the returns started coming in the following April, Szilagyi recalls, he and his bosses were shocked: seven million dependents had suddenly vanished from the tax rolls, some incalculable combination of real pets and phantom children. Szilagyi's clever twist generated nearly $3 billion in revenues in a single year.
Pay what you rightfully owe.
We also owe our country to work to make it better.
Ghandi is attributed with the quote “Be the change you wish to see in the world.”
If we want to make our country a better place, it starts with us as individuals.
We can use our voice to be a voice for those who do not have one.
This falls in line with James’ instructions in James 1:
26 If you claim to be religious but don’t control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless. 27 Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you. (James 1, NLT)
Champion those who cannot speak for themselves — neglected children, abused women, orphans, the elderly, and the list could go on.
Speak up for their rights. Speak up for the injustices they experience.
Speak up for what is right.
Another way to work to make our country better is to be kind.
We’ve said this before, but our country right now is so divided and angry. There is very little kindness. We would rather shout and scream at each other than be humble and submit.
We would want to make sure we get what we want at the expense of everyone else.
And don’t be just kind. Show loving kindness. The lovingkindness God shows us. Be a missionary of love to our world.
King David says:
I have not hidden Your righteousness within
my heart;
I have declared Your faithfulness and Your
salvation;
I have not concealed Your lovingkindness
and Your truth
From the great assembly.
(Psalm 40:10, NKJV)
We should not withhold and share God’s lovingkindness to our world around us.
So what’s the difference between kindness and lovingkindness?
<Momma and the Toast
By Robert Drake
Copied from Sermon Central>
A Sunday School teacher one time asked her class the same question. One little girl said she knew the difference. She told the teacher that kindness is like when you ask your mother for some toast and she gives it to you, but loving kindness is when you ask your mother for some toast and she gives it to you with butter and jelly on it. And that’s the way God is.
And that’s the way we ought to treat the world around us.
Which leads me to the next way to work to make our country better: give generously.
Help those who need help. Give to those who are in need. Share from our storehouses.
Not because we must. But because we want to.
Share our blessings with those who have not been so richly blessed.
Make our country better by modeling respect. Be respectful of all people, regardless of their social standing, their bank accounts, their differences, and their beliefs. God has not called us to love only those who are like us. God has called us to love the world as He loved the world.
We also owe our country our allegiance.
Give our loyalty.
<Mark Twain on Loyalty
https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/109530-my-kind-of-loyalty-was-loyalty-to-one-s-country-not
From A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court>
In the book A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, Mark Twain’s main character says:
“My kind of loyalty was loyalty to one's country, not to its institutions or its officeholders. The country is the real thing, the substantial thing, the eternal thing; it is the thing to watch over, and care for, and be loyal to; institutions are extraneous, they are its mere clothing, and clothing can wear out, become ragged, cease to be comfortable, cease to protect the body from winter, disease, and death.”
That is what it means to pledge allegiance to our country. Ultimate loyalty. Complete faithfulness.
Yes there are problems in our country. But our country is made up of people with problems.
Our country will never be perfect. But our country cannot succeed if its people tear it down from the inside out.
I think that loyalty, faithfulness, and allegiance are the fundamental values that God expects of us toward our country. I think these are the exact definitions of patriotism.
As a matter of perspective, we owe a lot to our country.
As a matter of perspective, we certainly owe a lot to God.
2. Jesus said to give to God what belongs to God. So what do we owe God?
Our all.
Our lives.
Our time.
Our money.
Our talents.
After all, Jesus paid it all.
<101 More Hymn Stories
Kenneth Osbeck
1985. pp. 160-162>
It’s like the words of the great hymn that we often use for Communion:
Jesus paid it all
All to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain
He washed it white as snow.
Written on a Sunday morning in 1865, during the sermon, Elvina Hall was inspired by the sermon that morning.
Coincidentally, John Grape, the church volunteer organist-choir director had written a tune to which no lyrics had been found.
“[And so w]e marvel at the workings of God…. An obscure woman scribbles a poem on the flyleaf of her hymnal, an amateur church musician unknowingly creates a matching tune, an unknown pastor provides encouragement and … [a] hymn is born, that has since found an important place in our church hymnals and in turn has ministered spiritual challenge and blessings to countless numbers of people for more than a century.”
I hear the Savior say,
“Thy strength indeed is small!
Child of weakness, watch and pray,
Find in Me thine all in all.”
God deserves our all.
Paul writes in Romans 6:
12 Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to sinful desires. 13 Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God. 14 Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God’s grace. (Romans 6, NLT)
How do we give God our all?
We do everything we can and with God’s help to resist the temptation to sin.
<#8230; Discipleship Journal, ...
By Troy Borst
ILLUSTRATION… Discipleship Journal, 11-12/92
Copied from Sermon Central>
A survey of Discipleship Journal readers ranked the areas of greatest spiritual challenge to them. The top 9 were these:
1. Materialism
2. Pride
3. Self-Centeredness
4. Laziness
5. Anger/Bitterness
6. Sexual Lust
7. Envy
8. Gluttony
9. Lying
Survey respondents noted temptations were more potent when:
• They had neglected their time with God (81%)
• When they were physically tired (57%).
According to the respondents, resisting temptation was accomplished by:
• Prayer (84%)
• Avoiding compromising situations (76%)
• Bible Study (66%)
• Being accountable to someone (52%)
Whatever it is, finding ways to keep ourselves free from sin is the first part to giving God our all.
Then we need to submit and surrender to God. Know His word. Know His will. Know His authority.
Once we surrender to God, according to Paul, we use our entire body to praise God — to do His work — to honor Him in our service to Him.
We owe God our worship.
Consider the words of the Hebrew writer in Hebrews 13:
15 Therefore, let us offer through Jesus a continual sacrifice of praise to God, proclaiming our allegiance to his name. 16 And don’t forget to do good and to share with those in need. These are the sacrifices that please God. (Hebrews 13, NLT)
Or the words of Paul in Romans 12:
1 And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. (Romans 12, NLT)
<Worship Warrior
By SermonCentral
(Brian Doerksen, Make Love, David C. Cook, 2009. From a sermon by C. Philip Green, Take a Risk, 5/25/2012)
Copied from Sermon Central>
I like the way songwriter and worship leader, Brian Doerksen, puts it. He says, "Becoming a worshipper means becoming a warrior... And by toning that down...we have sent men and women away from the church in droves. It's time to call them back," Doerksen says, "as worshiping warriors." That is as "warriors who are surrendered to God, warriors who know that their authority comes because they are under authority, warriors willing to wait even when everyone else is rushing ahead, or [warriors willing to] act decisively...in obedience" to their commanding officer, Jesus Christ, even when everybody else is lagging behind in disobedience.
We also owe God our devotion.
Paul tells the Corinthian church in 1 Corinthians 10:
31 So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. (1 Corinthians 10, NLT)
Whatever we do, it should be in complete devotion to God.
Like part of the words of the Newsboys song:
“You found me
In a shallow grave
You tracked me out from beneath it all
You healed me
Saved me
In the nick of time
Your perfect time
I devote all I have to you
I devote all that You’ve made new
All You restored that day You bled
All that You brought back from the dead
All devotion
You’re all that I have to give
You’re all that it means to live
Devotion”
Conclusion
This morning, we live for God and country.
This morning, we devote all that we have to God. We owe God our lives, our all, our worship, ourselves.
We owe our country our allegiance, our loyalty, our respect.
Why? Because we have dual citizenship — citizenship in America — and citizenship in Heaven.
But the two must remain separate, right? We absolutely cannot intermingle religion and politics.
<Religion and politics don’t mix. Or do they?
By ISABEL F. STEILBERG
FOR THE DAILY PRESS |
MAR 15, 2020 AT 7:00 AM
https://www.dailypress.com/life/faith/dp-fea-religion-column-steilberg-religion-politics-031520-20200310-jw6uea4ytvb53ah6eflknqxgjy-story.html>
Religion and politics don’t mix. Or do they?
In a presidential election year when we’re nearly swamped by campaign rallies, ads, polls, primaries, tweets and endless political commentary, can we honor our Constitution while also staying true to the faith we profess?
In the First Amendment to the Constitution, the “establishment clause” bars state support of religion. The “free exercise” clause allows citizens the right to the religious practices of their own choice, without government interference.
By law (the 1954 Johnson Amendment to the U.S. tax code), institutions of worship cannot, as official policy, endorse or oppose specific candidates for public office. To do so is to clearly risk losing the charitable tax-exempt status allowed by the IRS, although it’s equally clear that the IRS is less than vigilant in enforcing this.
He [Jesus didn’t] go into hiding when he hears that John the Baptizer [had] been beheaded for his resistance to the heavy foot of the Roman establishment. In fact, he [responded] to the news by publicly calling the Roman-appointed ruler Herod a “fox.” That’s not a compliment.
He stands with, speaks for, and empowers those who are shunned, who have lost their homes, their livelihoods. The Kingdom of Heaven must be near, right here, He preaches.
… Martin Luther King Jr. followed this Jesus of nonviolent resistance. [Agree with him or not,] King called out public policies that led to crippling poverty, severe economic disparities and law-enforced discrimination. He called for policies and laws that support life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for all people.
No matter how you read the holy texts, the message is obvious: “Let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.” (Amos 5:24.)
So, we of faith communities face decisions. To what are we true? And when? No official endorsements. But faith-informed hearts, voices and action.
For God first. For Country second. Today I challenge you to not so separate your faith from your life. Do not silo your faith into a Sunday bucket and your political and national beliefs into another bucket.
By doing so, you are not being true to yourself, true to God, or true to your country.
