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6: Faith and Political Allegiance · Finding God at Work

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(Transcribed by TurboScribe.ai. Go Unlimited to remove this message.) Hi, I'm Chris.
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This is Finding God at Work.
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Just a reminder that Finding God at Work
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isn't just a podcast, it's also an online
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course.
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Check it out at FindingGodAtWork.org.
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Our current series is Take a Stand, Faithful
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Political Witness at Work.
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And we're kind of moving into part two
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of three in this series.
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So we just had a few episodes focusing
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on faithful, faithfulness.
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What does it mean to be faithful in
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political conversations and as political issues come up?
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Now, in these next three episodes, we are
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moving into political.
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What is a Christian way to think about
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politics to help us when we have these
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conversations?
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So this is more of kind of like
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the theoretical groundwork.
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And then we'll get to witness in the
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final third part of the series, looking at
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specific political issues in the light of Jesus's
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resurrection.
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Okay, so we're starting to look at political.
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How do we even think about politics related
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to the kingdom of God?
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That's like a political metaphor, right?
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King, kingdom, these are political units as followers
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of Jesus.
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How do we put all of this together?
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How should we think about it?
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And we're going to use the three virtues
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classically called the theological virtues of faith, hope,
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and love to guide our thinking.
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So today we're going to talk about faith
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and political allegiance.
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So to start, I want to rewind the
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clock to 1907 in US history.
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There are conversations right now about citizenship in
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the United States and who should have citizenship
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or not, not talking about the contemporary thing,
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but this is a perennial issue in US
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politics.
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In 1907, the Expatriation Act was passed, which
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made it so that US citizens who were
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women, if they married a foreign national, someone
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who was not a citizen of the United
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States, those women would lose their US citizenship
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by marrying that person even if they still
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lived in the United States.
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Expatriation Act, 1907.
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It was repealed in 1922 by the Cable
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Act.
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But during those years, between 1907 and 1922,
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if a woman was in a relationship with
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a foreign national, maybe thinking about marrying him,
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she had to make a decision.
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She had to make a decision.
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Where is my allegiance?
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Am I willing to give up my citizenship
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in order to marry this man or not?
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Now, I don't bring this up to comment
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about the law itself, although obviously it seems
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to be an instance of sexism and women
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not being able to have their own legal
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standing in the United States.
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Probably a good thing that it was repealed,
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right?
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Okay, that's not the main point here.
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The main point I want to bring up
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is what was the experience of women like
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during those years when they had to consider
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this choice of, wow, am I going to
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choose this man even over my own privileges
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of citizenship?
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Is that how much I care about him?
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Am I willing to choose him over being
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an American?
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As we look at politics and the kingdom
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of God, the question we face as disciples
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of Jesus is not so different.
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We have to face the question again and
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again as different political issues come up.
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Where is my allegiance?
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Who commands my first allegiance?
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When the chips are down, if I have
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to choose, who do I choose?
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Now, this is a conversation about faith.
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It might not seem like a conversation about
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faith at first, but we talked about this
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a little bit in our Gentle Witnesses series
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that faith has a lot of different dimensions
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to it.
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It appears in different forms depending on what
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frame you're looking at it in.
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If you're looking at faith in a relational
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frame, how do you relate to another person?
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Faith is like trust.
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You trust Jesus when you put your faith
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in him.
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If you're looking at faith in an intellectual
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frame, like what are your ideas, then faith
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is belief.
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It's the doctrines that you believe.
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That's part of faith.
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Then if you look at faith in the
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frame of what the Bible calls covenant, then
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faith is loyalty.
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Faith is allegiance.
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Faith is I am bound to this person
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and I'm sticking with them no matter what.
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In that sense, marriage is a fantastic example
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of this kind of faith.
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The idea that I'm choosing to pledge my
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life to another human being, come what may,
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even though I have to renounce other loyalties
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in order to be with them.
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That's an excellent vision of the kind of
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loyalty that faith is.
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And we see this in the teaching of
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Jesus himself.
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Jesus has a very high bar for faith
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in him.
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Jesus does not treat this idea of faith
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or of becoming his disciple casually.
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Hear his words from Matthew chapter 9, starting
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in verse 23.
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Then he said to them all, whoever wants
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to be my disciple must deny themselves and
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take up their cross daily and follow me.
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For whoever wants to save their life will
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lose it, but whoever loses their life for
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me will save it.
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What good is it for someone to gain
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the whole world and yet lose or forfeit
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their very self?
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Whoever is ashamed of me and my words,
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the Son of Man will be ashamed of
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them when he comes in his glory and
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in the glory of the Father and of
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the holy angels.
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We've looked at this passage before and this
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idea that Jesus calls us to take up
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our cross and follow him.
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We're not just called to bear a cross
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as though it's imposed on us from the
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outside.
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We were called to actively embrace it, to
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take up our cross, to embrace the path
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of pain and suffering that comes from following
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Jesus.
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These are words of absolute allegiance.
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Whoever wants to save their life will lose
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it, but whoever loses their life for me
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will save it.
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Jesus is saying that our allegiance is to
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him, even to the point of death, that
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our very life we hold more lightly than
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we hold to Jesus himself.
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These are words that do not broach any
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kind of claim superseding the claim of Jesus
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on us.
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And that's why he says, what good is
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it for someone to gain the whole world
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and yet lose or forfeit their very self?
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If you let some claim, any kind of
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claim, a political claim, a social claim, an
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emotional claim, a religious claim come between you
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and Jesus, you might gain something but you're
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forfeiting yourself.
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You're forfeiting that way of life in Jesus
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where his goodness and his grace is making
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you more of the human being you were
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meant to be.
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The only way to experience life with God
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is to let God take it all.
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The only way he can transform our life
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is if we surrender our life.
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Absolute allegiance.
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And then there's these final words that are
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quoted less often, words about shame.
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Whoever is ashamed of me and my words,
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the Son of Man will be ashamed of
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them when he comes in his glory and
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in the glory of the and of the
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holy angels.
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And I think it's understandable why these words
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are not quoted very often.
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Nobody wants to think about Jesus being ashamed
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of them.
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That's so harsh, right?
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We think of the gentle Jesus.
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We've talked about the gentleness of Jesus many,
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many times in this podcast.
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What is this moment where Jesus says, I'm
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going to be ashamed of you in this
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particular scenario?
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But what he's using is he's using this
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language of shame, again, to get at this
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idea of allegiance.
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Why would you be ashamed of Jesus?
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You would be ashamed of Jesus if, for
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example, like Simon Peter, you feel threatened because
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of your association with Jesus.
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And so Peter denies that he even knows
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Jesus.
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He is ashamed of Jesus in that moment.
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He renounces his association with Jesus to save
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himself.
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And then he goes and he weeps bitterly.
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Now we know, again, Jesus, the minister of
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forgiveness, the embodiment of God's grace, that he
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restores Peter even after that.
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So we've got to balance what Jesus is
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saying here about being ashamed of those who
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are ashamed of him with the fact that
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he's always willing to restore.
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But there is a sense of ultimacy here.
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When it talks about the Son of Man
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coming in his glory and the glory of
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the Father and the holy angels, that's talking
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about the return of Christ.
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That's saying there is a point of ultimacy.
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There is a point where we've run out
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of time, we've exhausted all of our opportunities,
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the chips are down, the situation is decided.
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That's the point of Jesus's return when he
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restores all things.
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And if at that point we continue to
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renounce our association with Jesus, continue to be
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ashamed of his words because we felt we
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needed something else, then we're missing out.
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There's no way for us to get in
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on God's goodness and life at that point.
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So Jesus commands our absolute allegiance.
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That's what faith in Jesus entails when we
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turn to him.
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Now what does this have to do with
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politics?
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Well, just like there can be different claims
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that might tempt us away from allegiance to
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Jesus, one of those claims is our national
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identity or our political identity.
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It's our sense of, who's are we?
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Who is my king?
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Now that may not be the exact language
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we use in the United States because we
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don't tend to have kings here, but we
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still have that sense of, I am an
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American.
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I belong to America.
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This is my kingdom.
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This is my nation.
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This is who I am.
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Sometimes it gets to a point of identity
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around a specific political party.
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I am a Republican or I am a
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Democrat or I belong to the green party
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or fill in the blank.
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I am a conservative.
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I am a liberal.
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I am a progressive.
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People can have a strong sense of identity
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attached to these political categories.
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And the question is, when there's a conflict
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in the claims of that political movement or
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that political party or even of that nation
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and the claims of Jesus, and there's a
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conflict between those claims and the claims of
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Jesus, who wins for you?
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Who do you say yes to, even though
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you have to disappoint the other?
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Are you willing to renounce your citizenship if
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that's what it takes to remain loyal to
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Jesus and his way?
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Now, this is laid out in the Gospel
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of John in some of the most poignant
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verses of the entire New Testament.
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There's a passage where Pilate says, this is
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the man, and we're going to read that
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passage.
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In Latin, that phrase is eche homo, e
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-c-c-e-h-o-m-o.
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It's just the Latin for here is the
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man.
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And this has been a subject of Christian
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art over the centuries.
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I've been reflecting on the portrayal by Honore
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Domie from about 1850, his painting of this
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eche homo moment.
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I encourage you to just google it and
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look it up.
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It's visceral.
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You see Jesus framed with the crown of
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thorns in the center and the people jeering
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as Pilate presents him.
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So, let's read the text from which these
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images come and see what it has to
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say to us about faith as allegiance.
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When Jesus came out wearing the crown of
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thorns and the purple robe, Pilate said to
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them, here is the man.
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As soon as the chief priests and the
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officials saw him, they shouted crucify, crucify.
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But Pilate answered, you take him and crucify
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him.
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As for me, I find no basis for
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a charge against him.
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The Jewish leaders insisted, we have a law
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and according to that law he must die
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because he claimed to be the son of
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God.
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When Pilate heard this, he was even more
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afraid and he back inside the palace.
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Where do you come from?
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He asked Jesus.
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But Jesus gave him no answer.
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Do you refuse to speak to me?
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Pilate said.
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Don't you realize I have power either to
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free you or to crucify you?
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Jesus answered, you would have no power over
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me if it were not given to you
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from above.
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Therefore, the one who handed me over to
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you is guilty of a greater sin.
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From then on, Pilate tried to set Jesus
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free, but the Jewish leaders kept shouting, if
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you let this man go, you are no
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friend of Caesar.
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Anyone who claims to be a king opposes
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Caesar.
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When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out
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and sat down on the judge's seat at
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a place known as the stone pavement, which
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in Aramaic is Gabatha.
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It was the day of preparation of the
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Passover.
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It was about noon.
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Here is your king.
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Pilate said to the Jews, but they shouted,
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take him away, take him away, crucify him.
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Shall I crucify your king?
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Pilate asked.
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We have no king but Caesar.
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The chief priests answered.
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Finally, Pilate handed him over to them to
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be crucified.
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What's going on in this passage?
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There's so many things going on, so many
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layers here, but one thing I just want
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to bring out is what brings the chief
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priests to the point of saying, we have
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no king but Caesar?
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This is a statement of betrayal of everything
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that the chief priests are supposed to stand
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for.
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The chief priests should know that God is
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the king of Israel, first and foremost, and
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that God established a kingship, the line of
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David, and that there's promise of a coming
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king in that line.
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Ironically, that king is standing in front of
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them and they can't recognize him.
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In their religious context, they believed they were
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in the right.
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They believed they were defending decorum and appropriate
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theology, but they were missing out on what
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God was doing in their midst.
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They were missing out on the presence of
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the true king.
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And because they couldn't bring themselves to recognize
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that king, they couldn't bring themselves to put
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their faith in Jesus, to let him claim
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their allegiance, they instead find themselves moving into
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this blasphemous betrayal of saying, we have no
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king but Caesar.
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See, this is what the choice comes down
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to for each of us, is when the
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chips are down, when there's a conflict in
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allegiances, who commands our allegiance?
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And in this situation, the chief priest said,
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Caesar, Caesar commands our allegiance, we have no
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other king.
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Their rejection of Jesus led them to letting
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Caesar command their allegiance.
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This can happen to us too.
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Whenever there's a political movement, whether it's a
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movement, or a party, or a nation that
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lays claim to us, and when the demands
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of that movement, or party, or nation come
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into conflict with the teaching of Jesus, if
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we roll over and say, okay, well, I
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got to go along with it, because that's
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who I am.
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This is my movement.
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This is my party.
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This is my nation.
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I just got to do it.
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What we're saying is we have no king
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but Caesar.
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We're saying when the chips are down, that's
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where our allegiance is.
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And if we have that attitude, we're betraying
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Jesus.
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We're failing to recognize Jesus.
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We're handing Jesus over to be crucified.
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The alternative is like Jesus to stay faithful
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and face the consequences, no matter what they
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are, to go even to the cross, to
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lose our life for Jesus, if that's what
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it takes to be faithful to him.
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So, as we think about political conversations as
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they come up in the workplace, this idea
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is more of that off-the-spot training
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work that we do.
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When we need to be thoughtful in order
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to be faithful, we need to take the
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time to discern, are my political allegiances getting
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in the way of my allegiance to Jesus?
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If we're doing that work off the spot,
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that's going to help us, if we're ever
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in a political conversation, to say things that
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reflect loyalty to Jesus, that reflect faith.
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But we do need to take that time
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for reflection.
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So, I would encourage you even now to
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reflect, do I have a political identity that
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I care about?
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Do I care that I'm an American?
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Do I care that I belong to a
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certain party?
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Do I care that I belong to a
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certain movement or certain school of political thought?
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Do I care about a certain cause very
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deeply?
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And now imagine, imagine that that movement, that
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party, or even that nation moved into a
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place where to stay a member in good
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standing, to stay a citizen, so to speak,
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you had to compromise on the teaching of
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Jesus.
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Would you be willing to give it up
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or not?
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It's a good question for us to keep
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reflecting on in prayer.
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We may not be tested with that exact
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question, but we may be.
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And we need to be ready to say
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yes to Jesus.
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Come with me.
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Lord Jesus, give us your courage, give us
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your grace, help us to turn to you
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again and again in faith, remaining loyal to
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you, knowing that it is always worth it,
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no matter what the cause.
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Jesus, do your work in us as we
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do our work with you.
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Amen.
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Thanks for listening.
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18:29
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