WEBVTT 00:00:05.360 --> 00:00:07.759 Hello, and welcome to this week's episode of 00:00:07.759 --> 00:00:10.939 Trinity Sermons. This week we are continuing 00:00:10.939 --> 00:00:14.160 our sermon series, The Bible Doesn't Say That, 00:00:14.359 --> 00:00:17.960 where we look at some sayings that sound biblical, 00:00:18.120 --> 00:00:21.600 but they aren't actually in the Bible. Today, 00:00:21.719 --> 00:00:23.920 we're looking at this idea of the separation 00:00:23.920 --> 00:00:27.859 of church and state, the idea that religion and 00:00:27.859 --> 00:00:31.500 politics should never mix. But is that really 00:00:31.500 --> 00:00:34.979 in the Bible? And is that really how Jesus lived 00:00:34.979 --> 00:00:38.960 his life? Tune in as Rob unpacks this for us 00:00:38.960 --> 00:00:41.799 and shows us how the Bible really is political 00:00:41.799 --> 00:00:50.920 from start to finish. Today's reading is from 00:00:50.920 --> 00:00:55.299 the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 22, verses 15 00:00:55.299 --> 00:01:00.579 to 22. Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans 00:01:00.579 --> 00:01:04.859 to trap him in his words. They sent their disciples 00:01:04.859 --> 00:01:09.180 to him along with the Herodians. Teacher, they 00:01:09.180 --> 00:01:11.939 said, we know that you are a man of integrity 00:01:11.939 --> 00:01:14.939 and that you teach the way of God in accordance 00:01:14.939 --> 00:01:19.260 with the truth. You aren't swayed by others because 00:01:19.260 --> 00:01:22.980 you pay no attention to who they are. Tell us 00:01:22.980 --> 00:01:26.659 then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay 00:01:26.659 --> 00:01:31.640 the imperial tax to Caesar or not? But Jesus, 00:01:31.939 --> 00:01:35.959 knowing their evil intent, said, You hypocrites, 00:01:36.140 --> 00:01:40.159 why are you trying to trap me? Show me the coin 00:01:40.159 --> 00:01:44.359 used for paying the tax. They brought him a denarius, 00:01:44.579 --> 00:01:49.000 and he asked them, Whose image is this, and whose 00:01:49.000 --> 00:01:53.700 inscription? Caesar's, they replied. Then he 00:01:53.700 --> 00:01:57.040 said to them, So give back to Caesar what is 00:01:57.040 --> 00:02:01.879 Caesar's, and to God what is God's. When they 00:02:01.879 --> 00:02:05.219 heard this, they were amazed. So they left him 00:02:05.219 --> 00:02:09.360 and went away. The word of the Lord. Thanks be 00:02:09.360 --> 00:02:13.330 to God. So you're enjoying a lovely dinner party 00:02:13.330 --> 00:02:15.229 with friends. The food is good. The drinks are 00:02:15.229 --> 00:02:17.550 flowing. Everything's wonderful. And then somebody 00:02:17.550 --> 00:02:21.550 starts talking about Donald Trump, Pierre Poliev, 00:02:21.569 --> 00:02:23.870 Mark Carney. They start talking about tariffs. 00:02:24.110 --> 00:02:27.310 They start talking about pipelines. Daniel Smith, 00:02:27.729 --> 00:02:30.909 the 51st state. I don't know. And all of a sudden, 00:02:30.969 --> 00:02:34.550 you start to feel a little bit queasy. You get 00:02:34.550 --> 00:02:36.870 up from the table. You kind of excuse yourself. 00:02:37.090 --> 00:02:39.990 You say, I've kind of lost my appetite. What 00:02:39.990 --> 00:02:43.430 is going on there? Well, it's kind of like Mark 00:02:43.430 --> 00:02:47.490 Twain said. He said that never to discuss politics 00:02:47.490 --> 00:02:52.509 or religion in polite company. And the bad news 00:02:52.509 --> 00:02:54.629 for you this morning is that we're going to be 00:02:54.629 --> 00:02:59.740 discussing both. religion and politics. But thankfully, 00:02:59.900 --> 00:03:02.900 I wouldn't consider you polite company. So we 00:03:02.900 --> 00:03:07.280 should be okay. But if you think it can be a 00:03:07.280 --> 00:03:09.599 stressful thing to talk about politics around 00:03:09.599 --> 00:03:12.300 a dinner table with people, it's also very stressful 00:03:12.300 --> 00:03:17.000 to talk politics when you are in a church. And 00:03:17.000 --> 00:03:19.159 right now we're in the middle of a teaching series 00:03:19.159 --> 00:03:21.620 we're calling The Bible Doesn't Say That, where 00:03:21.620 --> 00:03:23.039 we're looking at some of the most misunderstood 00:03:23.039 --> 00:03:26.939 and misquoted scripture verses that are in, or 00:03:26.939 --> 00:03:30.159 aren't in, the Bible. Verses like, God helps 00:03:30.159 --> 00:03:34.219 those who help themselves, or cleanliness is 00:03:34.219 --> 00:03:37.439 next to godliness, stuff like that. And today 00:03:37.439 --> 00:03:40.439 we come to a statement that we're all pretty 00:03:40.439 --> 00:03:43.180 familiar with, and yet we might not be exactly 00:03:43.180 --> 00:03:45.250 sure where it comes from, and we might... be 00:03:45.250 --> 00:03:48.469 tempted to assume that it in fact comes from 00:03:48.469 --> 00:03:51.939 the Bible. This idea of the separation. between 00:03:51.939 --> 00:03:54.479 church and state. The idea that we should separate 00:03:54.479 --> 00:03:58.939 religion from politics. Now, is that idea in 00:03:58.939 --> 00:04:02.060 the Bible? Is that where it comes from? This 00:04:02.060 --> 00:04:05.699 idea that Jesus is okay in here, in the sanctuary, 00:04:06.159 --> 00:04:09.419 but don't let Jesus follow you out of here into 00:04:09.419 --> 00:04:12.259 the voting booth or wherever you're going next. 00:04:12.379 --> 00:04:15.699 If you've ever felt this tension within you, 00:04:15.740 --> 00:04:18.620 you're not alone. Christians throughout history 00:04:18.620 --> 00:04:22.860 have wrestled with this relation. between our 00:04:22.860 --> 00:04:28.100 spiritual convictions and our political ideas 00:04:28.100 --> 00:04:32.100 and our political lives. And as a result of that, 00:04:32.199 --> 00:04:35.899 sometimes we have slipped into two temptations, 00:04:35.899 --> 00:04:39.120 I will call them, about how we should handle 00:04:39.120 --> 00:04:42.860 that tension. Now, one temptation we face is 00:04:42.860 --> 00:04:46.850 what you might say is... that we decide we're 00:04:46.850 --> 00:04:49.709 going to become apolitical, meaning that I'm 00:04:49.709 --> 00:04:52.170 going to stay silent about politics, going to 00:04:52.170 --> 00:04:55.029 keep safe about politics. And we say things like, 00:04:55.069 --> 00:04:59.170 it's not our place as Christians to get involved 00:04:59.170 --> 00:05:01.250 in politics. In fact, I was talking to somebody 00:05:01.250 --> 00:05:03.069 at coffee hour just a few minutes ago, and they 00:05:03.069 --> 00:05:06.019 said that the church they grew up in, They were 00:05:06.019 --> 00:05:09.160 advised not to vote as Christians. And many people 00:05:09.160 --> 00:05:12.779 in that brethren denomination still do not vote. 00:05:12.959 --> 00:05:17.060 Keep Jesus safely tucked away in your private 00:05:17.060 --> 00:05:20.329 lives. He can have your heart. But don't let 00:05:20.329 --> 00:05:22.389 him have your politics. Don't let him have your 00:05:22.389 --> 00:05:24.870 policies. Don't let him have your own public 00:05:24.870 --> 00:05:29.370 voice. And often the verse that is cited by people 00:05:29.370 --> 00:05:32.889 in this camp is none other than John 18, 36, 00:05:33.009 --> 00:05:37.410 where Jesus says, my kingdom is not of this world. 00:05:38.040 --> 00:05:40.000 There you go. You see, Jesus himself said it. 00:05:40.019 --> 00:05:41.579 He said that there's a kingdom of this world, 00:05:41.639 --> 00:05:44.300 government and politics, and he's got a kingdom, 00:05:44.339 --> 00:05:46.379 but that kingdom is spiritual in nature. It's 00:05:46.379 --> 00:05:49.240 somewhere else. It's heaven after you're dead 00:05:49.240 --> 00:05:53.759 and gone. So as far as faith, faith needs to 00:05:53.759 --> 00:05:58.019 stay in its lane. and not cross over into the 00:05:58.019 --> 00:06:01.420 lane of politics. That's one temptation. The 00:06:01.420 --> 00:06:04.160 other temptation that we sometimes fall into 00:06:04.160 --> 00:06:07.100 is not to be apolitical and not to stay silent 00:06:07.100 --> 00:06:10.680 and safe, but actually to be all political, to 00:06:10.680 --> 00:06:14.699 be loud and loyal to our particular political 00:06:14.699 --> 00:06:17.240 party because we believe that's God's political 00:06:17.240 --> 00:06:19.920 party, or to our candidate because we believe 00:06:19.920 --> 00:06:24.879 that's God's candidate. And in that case, Christianity, 00:06:25.769 --> 00:06:28.529 just becomes like a mascot for whatever your 00:06:28.529 --> 00:06:32.050 political views are. And you probably know somebody. 00:06:32.209 --> 00:06:34.009 You probably know somebody who kind of holds 00:06:34.009 --> 00:06:37.360 that opinion. And if you don't... I would advise 00:06:37.360 --> 00:06:40.300 you just to look around the room because we as 00:06:40.300 --> 00:06:43.620 Anglicans, we have a kind of a complicated history 00:06:43.620 --> 00:06:46.860 with this whole thing about being tied to politics. 00:06:46.920 --> 00:06:51.660 Our denomination was born out of the fusion between 00:06:51.660 --> 00:06:55.920 the church and the state where the king became 00:06:55.920 --> 00:07:00.079 the head of the church. That's very messy. That's 00:07:00.079 --> 00:07:03.379 like all political. All the more reason for us 00:07:03.379 --> 00:07:07.339 to talk about this today. So let's talk about 00:07:07.339 --> 00:07:09.480 that phrase, right? The separation of church 00:07:09.480 --> 00:07:13.279 and state. Where did that phrase come from? Well, 00:07:13.360 --> 00:07:15.920 if you think it came from Jesus, you'd be wrong. 00:07:16.120 --> 00:07:18.879 It didn't come from Jesus. It came from Jefferson. 00:07:19.339 --> 00:07:23.040 200 years ago, Thomas Jefferson writing a letter. 00:07:23.579 --> 00:07:26.500 to a bunch of Baptists, Baptists who were worried 00:07:26.500 --> 00:07:28.579 that maybe the government was going to start 00:07:28.579 --> 00:07:31.079 to encroach on their religious freedoms. And 00:07:31.079 --> 00:07:33.920 Jefferson says, no, no, no, no, listen, don't 00:07:33.920 --> 00:07:36.220 read all this, by the way. But he says that you 00:07:36.220 --> 00:07:37.839 have nothing to worry about. We're not going 00:07:37.839 --> 00:07:39.920 to meddle in the church. We're, in fact, building 00:07:39.920 --> 00:07:44.240 a wall of separation. between the church and 00:07:44.240 --> 00:07:48.800 the state. And over time, that also kind of got 00:07:48.800 --> 00:07:51.139 sucked up into people's thinking that there should 00:07:51.139 --> 00:07:55.699 be a wall between our religious practice and 00:07:55.699 --> 00:07:59.800 our political lives, that government and churches 00:07:59.800 --> 00:08:02.920 should keep out of each other's business altogether. 00:08:03.800 --> 00:08:07.100 I was reading, getting ready for this week, and 00:08:07.100 --> 00:08:10.800 I came across the story of Archbishop of Canterbury 00:08:10.800 --> 00:08:14.699 by the name of Michael Ramsey. Back in 1974, 00:08:15.160 --> 00:08:17.699 Michael Ramsey took a trip, very courageously, 00:08:17.740 --> 00:08:22.660 down to Chile. At the time, Chile was being run 00:08:22.660 --> 00:08:27.300 by a violent kind of right -wing regime. He went 00:08:27.300 --> 00:08:29.759 down to preach the gospel. He went down to encourage 00:08:29.759 --> 00:08:33.299 the church down there. On one occasion, when 00:08:33.299 --> 00:08:36.340 he was in a church preaching, there was an armed 00:08:36.340 --> 00:08:39.139 soldier at the door. And the soldier kept asking 00:08:39.139 --> 00:08:40.799 people who were coming and going, is he talking 00:08:40.799 --> 00:08:42.840 about politics? Is he talking about politics? 00:08:43.000 --> 00:08:46.860 Is he talking about politics? And then he was 00:08:46.860 --> 00:08:50.639 heard to say, as he patted his gun, he's got 00:08:50.639 --> 00:08:55.360 to stick to the things of the soul because politics 00:08:55.360 --> 00:09:01.679 is for us. The message was pretty clear. You 00:09:01.679 --> 00:09:03.259 can have your religion. Keep it quiet, though. 00:09:03.399 --> 00:09:08.039 Keep it private. Do not let your religious beliefs 00:09:08.039 --> 00:09:12.200 challenge the powers that be, challenge the authorities 00:09:12.200 --> 00:09:15.299 around us. And if I'm honest, I think there's 00:09:15.299 --> 00:09:18.419 a lot of us that even today think that, yes, 00:09:18.500 --> 00:09:21.419 that's kind of what we're supposed to do. Doesn't 00:09:21.419 --> 00:09:23.480 the Bible say that while I'm here today to tell 00:09:23.480 --> 00:09:28.500 you? Absolutely not. The Bible does not say keep 00:09:28.500 --> 00:09:33.919 your faith. Free from politics. In fact, what 00:09:33.919 --> 00:09:37.679 we're going to discover today is the Bible is 00:09:37.679 --> 00:09:42.340 so deeply political. It is soaked in politics 00:09:42.340 --> 00:09:46.360 from the very first page to the very last page. 00:09:46.500 --> 00:09:50.779 The Bible is a political book. And if you don't 00:09:50.779 --> 00:09:52.600 believe me by the end of the sermon, I hope that 00:09:52.600 --> 00:09:55.659 you do. But let's start by turning to that page 00:09:55.659 --> 00:09:58.929 number one. The page number one. The Bible, of 00:09:58.929 --> 00:10:01.309 course, starts with a story of creation. There 00:10:01.309 --> 00:10:05.509 you have chaos and God with his power and his 00:10:05.509 --> 00:10:08.409 authority and his rule. He brings order and life 00:10:08.409 --> 00:10:12.149 and beauty out of the chaos. That's great. We 00:10:12.149 --> 00:10:14.250 know that part of the story. But did you know 00:10:14.250 --> 00:10:17.909 that after he creates humankind, his very first 00:10:17.909 --> 00:10:23.190 word to humanity is a political word? On page 00:10:23.190 --> 00:10:28.710 one. of the Bible. We learn that human beings 00:10:28.710 --> 00:10:33.690 were actually created for political power. You're 00:10:33.690 --> 00:10:35.429 like, Rob, what are you talking about? Well, 00:10:35.429 --> 00:10:38.649 take a look at this. God says, let us make humans 00:10:38.649 --> 00:10:42.610 in our image. And we say, oh, what does that 00:10:42.610 --> 00:10:45.370 mean to be made in the image of God? Oh, don't 00:10:45.370 --> 00:10:47.789 worry, because God answers it in the very next 00:10:47.789 --> 00:10:51.590 words. Let us make humans in our image so that 00:10:51.590 --> 00:10:57.600 they may rule. That is the first time rule or 00:10:57.600 --> 00:11:01.700 authority or power appears in the Bible. God 00:11:01.700 --> 00:11:06.039 says this essentially, just like I have power 00:11:06.039 --> 00:11:08.620 and authority to create order out of chaos and 00:11:08.620 --> 00:11:12.159 beauty out of a mess, I am going to give to this, 00:11:12.179 --> 00:11:16.919 my human creature, the ability to do what I do. 00:11:16.980 --> 00:11:21.159 I want them to be able to lead and have authority 00:11:21.159 --> 00:11:26.460 just like I do. Which means, everybody, we are 00:11:26.460 --> 00:11:31.659 political creatures. We're not political in the 00:11:31.659 --> 00:11:33.899 sense of partisan politics. We're not political 00:11:33.899 --> 00:11:36.340 creatures in the sense of power -hungry kind 00:11:36.340 --> 00:11:38.559 of politics, whatever you think of. But what 00:11:38.559 --> 00:11:41.820 I'm saying is we are creatures that have been 00:11:41.820 --> 00:11:45.940 entrusted. With God's authority to take the chaos 00:11:45.940 --> 00:11:48.580 of this world and make it a better world and 00:11:48.580 --> 00:11:50.379 make it a more beautiful world. And that is exactly 00:11:50.379 --> 00:11:53.240 actually what our politicians today are tasked 00:11:53.240 --> 00:11:55.320 with doing when we vote for them. To take the 00:11:55.320 --> 00:11:57.720 chaos of our community and make it better and 00:11:57.720 --> 00:12:00.100 make this world a more beautiful place. But the 00:12:00.100 --> 00:12:02.419 point behind that is that it's not just even 00:12:02.419 --> 00:12:05.590 our politicians who've been given that job. We're 00:12:05.590 --> 00:12:08.049 all human beings made in the image of God, which 00:12:08.049 --> 00:12:11.730 means we are all given the task of using this 00:12:11.730 --> 00:12:15.929 political image, this political power to rule 00:12:15.929 --> 00:12:21.149 our world on God's behalf. Guys, we're political. 00:12:21.629 --> 00:12:24.429 We're all political. We were created that way. 00:12:24.509 --> 00:12:27.629 Now, the question remains, how do we use that 00:12:27.629 --> 00:12:31.289 power? Do we use our political power for good 00:12:31.289 --> 00:12:35.029 or for evil? You just got to turn over a couple 00:12:35.029 --> 00:12:36.950 more pages in your Bible to like page three, 00:12:37.009 --> 00:12:41.230 and you will see a problem emerges. And no sooner 00:12:41.230 --> 00:12:44.250 have we been given the power to rule than we 00:12:44.250 --> 00:12:47.110 try to use that authority for our own advantage. 00:12:47.919 --> 00:12:50.799 I mean, Adam and Eve, they were supposed to rule 00:12:50.799 --> 00:12:54.059 with God as God's representatives, but they decide 00:12:54.059 --> 00:12:56.620 they want to rule without God and they want to 00:12:56.620 --> 00:12:59.559 do things their own way. And so what the result 00:12:59.559 --> 00:13:02.480 is, instead of bringing order and beauty into 00:13:02.480 --> 00:13:05.100 this chaotic world, things start to work in reverse. 00:13:05.320 --> 00:13:07.500 The beautiful world starts to kind of become 00:13:07.500 --> 00:13:10.440 more chaotic. There is sin and fear and blame 00:13:10.440 --> 00:13:13.580 and brokenness and hiding and all this stuff. 00:13:14.360 --> 00:13:16.220 If you're reading the Bible and you come to Genesis 00:13:16.220 --> 00:13:18.519 3, one way to understand what is going on in 00:13:18.519 --> 00:13:22.019 Genesis 3 is simply this. It is a complete failure 00:13:22.019 --> 00:13:28.539 of politics, right? Rather than rule as God's 00:13:28.539 --> 00:13:31.600 representatives, human beings try to take the 00:13:31.600 --> 00:13:34.659 throne for themselves, okay? And from that point 00:13:34.659 --> 00:13:37.700 on, again, if you're reading the Bible, it's 00:13:37.700 --> 00:13:41.019 all politics. But from that point on, essentially, 00:13:41.080 --> 00:13:44.059 the rest of the biblical story, is the constant 00:13:44.059 --> 00:13:48.019 search for some human being, someone made in 00:13:48.019 --> 00:13:50.500 the image of God who can actually exercise the 00:13:50.500 --> 00:13:53.279 kind of political power that God intended in 00:13:53.279 --> 00:13:56.179 the way that God intended. And God says, I'm 00:13:56.179 --> 00:13:58.379 not giving up. I'm not giving up on these human 00:13:58.379 --> 00:14:00.600 beings. I'm going to find that person. I'm going 00:14:00.600 --> 00:14:03.600 to call that person someone to reflect my own 00:14:03.600 --> 00:14:06.519 political image. And of course, it starts by 00:14:06.519 --> 00:14:09.519 him calling this particular human being whose 00:14:09.519 --> 00:14:11.789 name was Abraham. And he said, Abraham, listen, 00:14:11.929 --> 00:14:14.110 here's what I want to do with you. I want you, 00:14:14.190 --> 00:14:17.789 since you're made in my image, to exercise leadership 00:14:17.789 --> 00:14:21.309 and to rule this world in such a way that you 00:14:21.309 --> 00:14:24.409 will restore all that has been lost. That's a 00:14:24.409 --> 00:14:28.809 good idea. But Abraham proves faithful in one 00:14:28.809 --> 00:14:30.789 moment and faithless in the next. And so does 00:14:30.789 --> 00:14:34.210 his children and his grandchildren and his great 00:14:34.210 --> 00:14:44.259 -grandchildren. Be the kind of ruler. Exercise 00:14:44.259 --> 00:14:47.820 the kind of politics that God intended them to. 00:14:48.990 --> 00:14:51.529 Eventually, it kind of degrades totally where 00:14:51.529 --> 00:14:53.789 Abraham's descendants don't really want to have 00:14:53.789 --> 00:14:56.590 anything to do with God as a king anymore. They 00:14:56.590 --> 00:14:59.370 want to have their own king. God says, look, 00:14:59.490 --> 00:15:02.269 look, look, they're now completely rejecting 00:15:02.269 --> 00:15:06.769 me as their king. And thus begins this time in 00:15:06.769 --> 00:15:09.610 Israel's history where they have kings. It doesn't 00:15:09.610 --> 00:15:11.710 work out really well. The very first king they 00:15:11.710 --> 00:15:14.169 appointed, King Saul, he's a failure. The next 00:15:14.169 --> 00:15:17.399 king is David. In some ways, he fails. even more 00:15:17.399 --> 00:15:20.440 spectacularly than Saul. And then David's son, 00:15:20.600 --> 00:15:23.440 Solomon, makes a total mess of things. You know, 00:15:23.440 --> 00:15:25.980 Israel is broken up. The kingdom is shattered. 00:15:26.480 --> 00:15:29.580 And as a result, you know, oh, and he was an 00:15:29.580 --> 00:15:31.620 idolater and he had a whole bunch of wives. None 00:15:31.620 --> 00:15:34.539 of these guys, none of these guys were able to 00:15:34.539 --> 00:15:39.620 reflect God's wise rule to the world. They just 00:15:39.620 --> 00:15:44.259 keep getting it wrong. Now, there were these 00:15:44.259 --> 00:15:48.000 other people during that time. who their job 00:15:48.000 --> 00:15:53.059 was to hold these politicians to account and 00:15:53.059 --> 00:15:55.299 to call out their injustices. They were called 00:15:55.299 --> 00:15:57.960 the prophets, the Old Testament prophets. In 00:15:57.960 --> 00:15:59.519 fact, it's not a bad way to understand what an 00:15:59.519 --> 00:16:02.080 Old Testament prophet is. It is someone who says 00:16:02.080 --> 00:16:04.440 to the leaders, hey, get back on track. Hey. 00:16:04.970 --> 00:16:06.470 Start doing what you're supposed to be doing. 00:16:06.529 --> 00:16:09.149 You're not doing what God intended. You're supposed 00:16:09.149 --> 00:16:11.250 to be creating a better world, a more beautiful 00:16:11.250 --> 00:16:14.990 world, a more ordered world. So get at it. Start 00:16:14.990 --> 00:16:17.950 defending the poor. Start, you know, fixing injustice. 00:16:18.750 --> 00:16:22.250 And so you had prophets like Nathan, a prophet 00:16:22.250 --> 00:16:26.210 called Nathan. He confronts King David when King 00:16:26.210 --> 00:16:29.450 David is abusing his power. And you have prophets 00:16:29.450 --> 00:16:33.480 like Elijah who stand up to... King Ahab, when 00:16:33.480 --> 00:16:35.940 he's exercising all this kind of corruption and 00:16:35.940 --> 00:16:39.919 injustice. And Isaiah and Jeremiah, they speak 00:16:39.919 --> 00:16:42.960 out against these kings that were constantly 00:16:42.960 --> 00:16:46.639 leading people astray. I'll give you one example 00:16:46.639 --> 00:16:50.679 of a prophet. This guy's name was Amos. And Amos, 00:16:50.679 --> 00:16:53.759 he was speaking out against the screwed up politics 00:16:53.759 --> 00:16:56.720 of his own day. He says, hey, hey, kings, you're 00:16:56.720 --> 00:16:59.879 levying a straw tax on the poor. You're imposing 00:16:59.879 --> 00:17:04.640 a tax on their grain. Guys, tax, this is all. 00:17:04.990 --> 00:17:06.609 this is all politics we're reading. It's all, 00:17:06.609 --> 00:17:08.609 it's all politics. You're oppressing the innocent. 00:17:08.890 --> 00:17:11.970 You're taking bribes. You're depriving the poor 00:17:11.970 --> 00:17:16.089 of justice. This is like today. This is tariffs. 00:17:16.190 --> 00:17:20.490 This is pipelines. This is Qatari jets, right? 00:17:20.609 --> 00:17:24.069 But the bribery, this is healthcare. This is 00:17:24.069 --> 00:17:30.109 the Bible. The Bible is all politics, right? 00:17:30.250 --> 00:17:33.640 And all the while God is keep searching. Gosh, 00:17:33.759 --> 00:17:35.660 there's got to be somebody out there who will 00:17:35.660 --> 00:17:38.960 actually exercise political authority in the 00:17:38.960 --> 00:17:44.720 right way. But how and who and when? And then 00:17:44.720 --> 00:17:47.200 we find out the answer to that question when 00:17:47.200 --> 00:17:51.200 we get to the New Testament. We find that Jesus 00:17:51.200 --> 00:17:55.319 is the one who finally gets it right. Jesus, 00:17:55.440 --> 00:17:59.700 he came not just to rescue souls. He came to 00:17:59.700 --> 00:18:06.640 rule the world. On God's behalf. And when Jesus 00:18:06.640 --> 00:18:09.700 shows up, surprise, surprise, guess what? He 00:18:09.700 --> 00:18:13.680 starts talking politics. I mean, I would say 00:18:13.680 --> 00:18:16.259 this, that if you were to go back then and visit 00:18:16.259 --> 00:18:18.180 a crowd of people that were listening to Jesus. 00:18:18.880 --> 00:18:21.339 What would you be hearing Jesus say 2 ,000 years 00:18:21.339 --> 00:18:25.019 ago? Yes, he may say something about loving your 00:18:25.019 --> 00:18:27.980 neighbor. Yes, he may say something about forgiving 00:18:27.980 --> 00:18:31.480 your enemies. But definitely, he's going to have 00:18:31.480 --> 00:18:35.059 something to say about politics. He has this 00:18:35.059 --> 00:18:39.440 great political announcement that Jesus makes, 00:18:39.700 --> 00:18:41.799 especially at the beginning of his ministry. 00:18:41.900 --> 00:18:43.779 But basically, every day, I think he probably 00:18:43.779 --> 00:18:45.779 would have talked about the fact that a kingdom, 00:18:46.019 --> 00:18:51.019 the kingdom of God, He says, I'm the one, everybody. 00:18:51.119 --> 00:18:53.599 I'm the one who's finally come to bring God's 00:18:53.599 --> 00:18:57.380 rule back over this world. You guys know the 00:18:57.380 --> 00:18:59.440 plan always was that there would be a human being 00:18:59.440 --> 00:19:01.559 that was properly made in God's image and would 00:19:01.559 --> 00:19:04.240 be a perfect embodiment of God's rule. Well, 00:19:04.339 --> 00:19:06.680 we've done a pretty cruddy job at that, but now 00:19:06.680 --> 00:19:11.400 I am here and I am the one. And so Jesus begins 00:19:11.400 --> 00:19:14.079 his public ministry by saying things like this 00:19:14.079 --> 00:19:17.630 over and over again. The time has come. The kingdom 00:19:17.630 --> 00:19:21.990 of God, political word, is here. The kingdom 00:19:21.990 --> 00:19:26.549 of God has come near. This is political language. 00:19:26.789 --> 00:19:29.609 You guys know that right now. Kingdom of God. 00:19:29.730 --> 00:19:33.289 That word would have landed like a thunderclap 00:19:33.289 --> 00:19:36.730 in that day and age. Why? Because there already 00:19:36.730 --> 00:19:40.210 was a kingdom, right? It was called the Roman 00:19:40.210 --> 00:19:43.609 Empire. And there already was a king. That was 00:19:43.609 --> 00:19:47.769 Caesar. Even the statement, I don't know if you 00:19:47.769 --> 00:19:50.690 guys know, but that word good news is the word 00:19:50.690 --> 00:19:55.269 gospel. In the first century, whenever Caesar, 00:19:55.490 --> 00:19:57.769 you know, won a battle or had a great victory, 00:19:57.849 --> 00:20:00.349 they would send word throughout the kingdom, 00:20:00.410 --> 00:20:02.710 throughout the empire, saying Caesar has won. 00:20:02.829 --> 00:20:04.609 And you know what they called that? They called 00:20:04.609 --> 00:20:07.470 that a gospel. That was the good news of Caesar. 00:20:07.609 --> 00:20:10.170 The gospel of Caesar. He's won again. He's done 00:20:10.170 --> 00:20:13.650 it again. Jesus just steps in and he steals that 00:20:13.650 --> 00:20:16.029 word. And he says, hey, I've got better good 00:20:16.029 --> 00:20:18.549 news. I've got a better gospel. I'm a better 00:20:18.549 --> 00:20:23.230 king. I'm creating a better kingdom. It's all 00:20:23.230 --> 00:20:26.230 about politics. Jesus, what is going on? And 00:20:26.230 --> 00:20:29.509 Jesus doesn't just show up and talk politics 00:20:29.509 --> 00:20:33.529 this way. He also, he takes on for himself these 00:20:33.529 --> 00:20:36.569 political titles, right? A Messiah. What's a 00:20:36.569 --> 00:20:40.349 Messiah? The anointed one. That is the king. 00:20:41.279 --> 00:20:44.759 in the line of David. Jesus Christ. Christ was 00:20:44.759 --> 00:20:47.019 not just Jesus' last name. It wasn't his last 00:20:47.019 --> 00:20:50.440 name. It was a title. It was a royal title. Lord 00:20:50.440 --> 00:20:55.180 is a word that Caesar claimed for himself. Jesus 00:20:55.180 --> 00:20:57.099 says, I'll take that title. Thank you very much. 00:20:57.400 --> 00:21:02.359 Son of God. There are coins that are found from 00:21:02.359 --> 00:21:05.799 that era that Caesar minted that had his picture 00:21:05.799 --> 00:21:08.880 on it and said, Caesar, the son of God. Jesus. 00:21:09.349 --> 00:21:12.049 says, I'm the son of God. He takes Caesar's title 00:21:12.049 --> 00:21:15.869 from him, right? Even the Prince of Peace, when 00:21:15.869 --> 00:21:18.730 you think of it in that context, you know, it's 00:21:18.730 --> 00:21:21.089 not like a nice cozy, oh, Prince of Peace, doesn't 00:21:21.089 --> 00:21:23.589 that feel good? No, no. Prince of Peace was a 00:21:23.589 --> 00:21:27.250 direct challenge to the Roman peace, the Pax 00:21:27.250 --> 00:21:30.349 Romana. Jesus says, I'm the real king. I'm the 00:21:30.349 --> 00:21:32.309 real one that's going to bring peace. Each of 00:21:32.309 --> 00:21:35.569 these titles, political edge to them. Guys, are 00:21:35.569 --> 00:21:39.039 you starting to see? Just how political the Bible 00:21:39.039 --> 00:21:42.940 is, right? If Jesus is Lord, if you say that, 00:21:43.019 --> 00:21:45.140 then that means you're saying Caesar is not the 00:21:45.140 --> 00:21:48.720 Lord. And that's a political statement, a dangerous 00:21:48.720 --> 00:21:51.480 political statement. But anyways, Jesus. does 00:21:51.480 --> 00:21:52.880 something really brilliant, at least according 00:21:52.880 --> 00:21:56.799 to Matthew's gospel. When he gets started on 00:21:56.799 --> 00:21:59.759 this political campaign, he decides to go and 00:21:59.759 --> 00:22:02.559 first lay out his political platform. And so 00:22:02.559 --> 00:22:05.559 for three long chapters in Matthew's gospel, 00:22:05.660 --> 00:22:08.400 Jesus goes and he climbs up a mountain and he 00:22:08.400 --> 00:22:11.839 starts laying out his political platform. This 00:22:11.839 --> 00:22:22.019 is his manifesto of the kingdom of God. platform 00:22:22.019 --> 00:22:25.559 for the kind of kingdom that Jesus is creating, 00:22:25.779 --> 00:22:29.259 and it's laying out what it looks like to rule 00:22:29.259 --> 00:22:32.539 in God's way. And so if you look through this 00:22:32.539 --> 00:22:35.380 platform, it's like totally upside down. It's 00:22:35.380 --> 00:22:37.480 totally different than the world's kind of kingdom. 00:22:37.599 --> 00:22:40.599 In this kingdom, Jesus says, you know who's in 00:22:40.599 --> 00:22:43.700 charge? It's the poor in spirit. It's the meek. 00:22:43.720 --> 00:22:46.019 It's the peacemakers. It's those who hunger and 00:22:46.019 --> 00:22:48.680 thirst for righteousness. These are the ones 00:22:48.680 --> 00:22:53.529 who are going to inherit God's good world. Jesus 00:22:53.529 --> 00:22:58.910 redefines, redefines what power and status and 00:22:58.910 --> 00:23:04.349 justice looks like. So guys, this is Jesus, the 00:23:04.349 --> 00:23:06.829 politician. By the way, we're gonna spend all 00:23:06.829 --> 00:23:09.289 summer looking at the Sermon on the Mount. We're 00:23:09.289 --> 00:23:11.990 doing a series called Summer on the Mount, and 00:23:11.990 --> 00:23:14.269 it'll allow us to dig in deeper to the Sermon 00:23:14.269 --> 00:23:15.390 on the Mount. But let me just tell you this. 00:23:15.490 --> 00:23:17.109 When you're reading the Sermon on the Mount with 00:23:17.109 --> 00:23:19.569 your cup of coffee, it is not meant to be just 00:23:19.569 --> 00:23:21.750 a nice little devotional thought for the day. 00:23:22.069 --> 00:23:26.970 This is the constitution of the kingdom of God, 00:23:27.069 --> 00:23:30.450 and it turns... Everything upside down. And when 00:23:30.450 --> 00:23:33.170 you start saying stuff like this, you're bound 00:23:33.170 --> 00:23:35.730 to run into opposition. And that's exactly what 00:23:35.730 --> 00:23:38.970 happens to Jesus. He has showdown after showdown 00:23:38.970 --> 00:23:41.250 with the religious leaders and political leaders 00:23:41.250 --> 00:23:45.150 in some cases. And for example, the one we read 00:23:45.150 --> 00:23:49.289 today is a classic example. Very famous. Today's 00:23:49.289 --> 00:23:52.529 reading. Jesus, the Pharisees are trying to trap 00:23:52.529 --> 00:23:56.099 him. They say, hey, Jesus, is it lawful for us 00:23:56.099 --> 00:24:01.500 to pay taxes to Caesar or not? Guys, it's a political 00:24:01.500 --> 00:24:05.960 question. If he says yes, then he risks offending 00:24:05.960 --> 00:24:10.720 all the Jews who see Roman taxation as complete 00:24:10.720 --> 00:24:14.400 oppression. If he says no, then he's inviting. 00:24:15.989 --> 00:24:18.849 Roman retaliation. So what does Jesus do? He 00:24:18.849 --> 00:24:21.650 asks for a coin. He says, oh, whose image is 00:24:21.650 --> 00:24:23.650 this on the coin, right? Remember I already told 00:24:23.650 --> 00:24:26.109 you, Caesar had his image on the coin. They say 00:24:26.109 --> 00:24:28.049 it's Caesar's. And then he says, well, then give 00:24:28.049 --> 00:24:32.269 to Caesar what is Caesar's and give to God what 00:24:32.269 --> 00:24:37.950 is God's. What a brilliant response. Right? When 00:24:37.950 --> 00:24:40.210 I read that, I can't help but that word image 00:24:40.210 --> 00:24:43.710 jumps out to me again. Remember Genesis 1, made 00:24:43.710 --> 00:24:47.930 in the image of God. And I think what Jesus is 00:24:47.930 --> 00:24:51.329 saying here, yes, give your coin to Caesar, but 00:24:51.329 --> 00:24:55.009 give your whole self to God because you belong 00:24:55.009 --> 00:25:00.140 to him. There's no... neat separation here between 00:25:00.140 --> 00:25:02.880 religion and politics or church or state or whatever. 00:25:02.980 --> 00:25:06.079 Jesus is actually calling for your complete allegiance. 00:25:06.460 --> 00:25:09.839 He wants your body. He wants your choices. He 00:25:09.839 --> 00:25:13.819 wants your resources. He wants your voice. He 00:25:13.819 --> 00:25:17.819 wants your allegiance. He wants all these things 00:25:17.819 --> 00:25:20.940 belong to God, according to Jesus, because God's 00:25:20.940 --> 00:25:26.500 image is stamped onto you, right? And Of course, 00:25:26.519 --> 00:25:28.720 we know where this all goes. Jesus keeps having 00:25:28.720 --> 00:25:32.119 these showdowns and eventually he gets up on 00:25:32.119 --> 00:25:35.299 the wrong side of a political violence. It comes 00:25:35.299 --> 00:25:39.039 crashing down on Jesus. But it's not a tragedy. 00:25:39.160 --> 00:25:41.539 It's not a mistake that this happens because 00:25:41.539 --> 00:25:45.079 when they finally decide to kill him, ironically, 00:25:45.079 --> 00:25:48.240 that is the exact moment where Jesus ascends 00:25:48.240 --> 00:25:52.180 the throne and becomes the true king. Right when 00:25:52.180 --> 00:25:55.470 it looks like he loses power is the moment. He 00:25:55.470 --> 00:25:59.069 actually gains power. Look, they give him a cross 00:25:59.069 --> 00:26:02.569 for a throne, right? They give him a bunch of 00:26:02.569 --> 00:26:05.269 thorns for a crown. You know, they give him some 00:26:05.269 --> 00:26:09.049 purple cloth and pretend it's a robe. Kings usually 00:26:09.049 --> 00:26:11.789 have scepters, but in Jesus' case, they give 00:26:11.789 --> 00:26:14.529 him like a, they have a staff or something and 00:26:14.529 --> 00:26:17.750 they beat it with him, right? It's so interesting 00:26:17.750 --> 00:26:19.569 because the Romans think what they're doing here 00:26:19.569 --> 00:26:24.119 is humiliating Jesus, but inadvertently, What 00:26:24.119 --> 00:26:27.700 they're really doing is they are enacting the 00:26:27.700 --> 00:26:33.140 coronation of the world's true king. And the 00:26:33.140 --> 00:26:35.619 reason we can say that is because we know that 00:26:35.619 --> 00:26:39.240 three days later, two days later, on the third 00:26:39.240 --> 00:26:42.740 day, he rose from the dead, thus proving that 00:26:42.740 --> 00:26:46.019 he was who he said he was, that he is who he 00:26:46.019 --> 00:26:49.119 says he is. He is the true Lord. He is the king 00:26:49.119 --> 00:26:52.799 of all the world, the one that we've been waiting 00:26:52.799 --> 00:26:57.009 for. And here's what I find hilarious. Jesus, 00:26:57.230 --> 00:27:00.490 so he rises from the dead, and the first thing 00:27:00.490 --> 00:27:02.450 that he really starts doing once he's risen from 00:27:02.450 --> 00:27:04.369 the dead is he starts talking more about politics. 00:27:04.869 --> 00:27:07.650 I think, Jesus, you really love politics. And 00:27:07.650 --> 00:27:09.849 he's like, yeah, I love politics. Because here's 00:27:09.849 --> 00:27:11.970 what he says after he rises from the dead. He 00:27:11.970 --> 00:27:14.329 doesn't say, okay, everybody, now go find religion. 00:27:14.789 --> 00:27:19.029 No, he makes this political proclamation, right? 00:27:19.190 --> 00:27:21.390 And this is what he says to all his followers. 00:27:21.730 --> 00:27:26.059 He says, all authority, political word, in heaven 00:27:26.059 --> 00:27:28.500 and on earth has now been given to me. I'm in 00:27:28.500 --> 00:27:33.380 charge, right? Go therefore and make disciples 00:27:33.380 --> 00:27:38.759 of all nations. Go teach the world how to live 00:27:38.759 --> 00:27:41.680 in the way of my kingdom. Do you remember the 00:27:41.680 --> 00:27:44.680 manifesto I gave you back on the mountain, you 00:27:44.680 --> 00:27:48.640 know, a year or so ago? Yes, go do that. Go out 00:27:48.640 --> 00:27:53.960 into the kingdoms of the world and invite to 00:27:53.960 --> 00:27:56.579 live under the reign of the resurrected king, 00:27:56.740 --> 00:27:59.799 me, Jesus. And he also says, he says, remember, 00:27:59.920 --> 00:28:03.640 I'm with you until the end of the age. This is 00:28:03.640 --> 00:28:06.839 like amazing. Like, now don't get confused here. 00:28:06.960 --> 00:28:12.819 Obviously, Jesus is not trying to vouch for some 00:28:12.819 --> 00:28:16.559 kind of Christian nationalism, right? That is 00:28:16.559 --> 00:28:20.180 not at all what this is about. This is kingdom 00:28:20.180 --> 00:28:26.640 politics. right? And out of this commission and 00:28:26.640 --> 00:28:29.819 out of this is birthed, I think, the greatest 00:28:29.819 --> 00:28:32.480 political movement of all time. And you're going 00:28:32.480 --> 00:28:35.200 to be shocked when I tell you that that political 00:28:35.200 --> 00:28:39.220 movement is the church. The church is a political 00:28:39.220 --> 00:28:41.720 movement, right? I thought we weren't supposed 00:28:41.720 --> 00:28:43.819 to mix. No, no, the Bible doesn't say that, right? 00:28:43.940 --> 00:28:48.109 The church has always been in this sense. A political 00:28:48.109 --> 00:28:50.990 movement, and it always will be. Not partisan 00:28:50.990 --> 00:28:53.690 politics. Not like, you know, conservative, liberal, 00:28:53.829 --> 00:28:57.069 NDP. Not that kind of politics. Kingdom politics, 00:28:57.609 --> 00:29:00.650 right? So what happened next was these Christians, 00:29:00.730 --> 00:29:02.450 they just went everywhere. They went to all the 00:29:02.450 --> 00:29:03.950 nations. They went to all the other kingdoms. 00:29:04.109 --> 00:29:06.490 And they said, hey, everybody, good news. There's 00:29:06.490 --> 00:29:09.089 a new king. Brand new king. He doesn't live in 00:29:09.089 --> 00:29:10.789 Buckingham Palace. He doesn't live in Rome. He 00:29:10.789 --> 00:29:13.069 doesn't live in Ottawa or Washington. Oh, and 00:29:13.069 --> 00:29:15.289 by the way, you didn't even vote for him. We're 00:29:15.289 --> 00:29:17.809 just here to tell you there's a brand new king. 00:29:17.950 --> 00:29:19.390 And can you just imagine how this would have 00:29:19.390 --> 00:29:21.630 sounded? If you want to see what this looks like, 00:29:21.650 --> 00:29:23.509 just read the book of Acts. Because the book 00:29:23.509 --> 00:29:26.690 of Acts is all about politics. Are you guys getting 00:29:26.690 --> 00:29:28.630 the trend here? It's all about politics. Paul 00:29:28.630 --> 00:29:32.049 and other Christians, they go about. In fact, 00:29:32.089 --> 00:29:34.029 once they go to this city called Thessalonica 00:29:34.029 --> 00:29:37.569 and they get to Thessalonica and they start announcing, 00:29:37.650 --> 00:29:40.930 hey, everybody, there's a new king. And this 00:29:40.930 --> 00:29:44.910 huge mob grabs them and drags them before the 00:29:44.910 --> 00:29:48.170 authorities and they want to arrest them. And 00:29:48.170 --> 00:29:49.910 this is what they tell the authorities. Look, 00:29:50.089 --> 00:29:52.890 these men, they've caused trouble all over the 00:29:52.890 --> 00:29:55.410 world, right? And now they've come here and get 00:29:55.410 --> 00:29:59.740 this. They are defying Caesar's decrees. saying 00:29:59.740 --> 00:30:05.980 there is another king, one who is called Jesus. 00:30:06.880 --> 00:30:10.240 Wow, right? The whole city is thrown into turmoil. 00:30:10.519 --> 00:30:13.480 It looks like, if you were to read this, it sounds 00:30:13.480 --> 00:30:15.119 like they're trying to launch like a military 00:30:15.119 --> 00:30:17.160 coup or something like this, but this happens 00:30:17.160 --> 00:30:20.839 like six times. In the book of Acts, Paul goes 00:30:20.839 --> 00:30:22.920 to a city. He gets arrested. They say, you're 00:30:22.920 --> 00:30:25.000 committing treason. The authorities say, what 00:30:25.000 --> 00:30:27.220 are you talking about? And he says, well, listen, 00:30:27.299 --> 00:30:29.319 here's the deal. There was this guy named Jesus 00:30:29.319 --> 00:30:33.720 of Nazareth. And he lived and he died and he 00:30:33.720 --> 00:30:37.200 rose again. And now he told us to go and to care 00:30:37.200 --> 00:30:40.240 for the poor. And he told us to go and love our 00:30:40.240 --> 00:30:43.519 neighbors. And he's also told us that one day, 00:30:43.579 --> 00:30:46.279 oh yeah, one day he's going to take over all 00:30:46.279 --> 00:30:50.920 the kingdoms of the world. you, even though you 00:30:50.920 --> 00:30:55.099 are a politician, you better check yourself because 00:30:55.099 --> 00:30:57.819 you are actually living under his authority and 00:30:57.819 --> 00:31:01.079 actually all the self -proclaimed rulers and 00:31:01.079 --> 00:31:04.759 leaders of the world are accountable to the true 00:31:04.759 --> 00:31:10.119 king of the world, Jesus Christ, who lived and 00:31:10.119 --> 00:31:15.299 died and rose again. Do you see how the church 00:31:15.299 --> 00:31:20.880 was not apolitical? was also not all political 00:31:20.880 --> 00:31:23.539 in a partisan way. It was kingdom political. 00:31:23.900 --> 00:31:29.200 The kingdom spread, not through violence, didn't 00:31:29.200 --> 00:31:31.859 spread through revolution, but just because these 00:31:31.859 --> 00:31:35.200 Christians lived out the kingdom constitution, 00:31:35.400 --> 00:31:39.920 declared boldly their allegiance to King Jesus. 00:31:41.230 --> 00:31:43.650 And like I said, if you flip to the very end 00:31:43.650 --> 00:31:45.190 of the Bible, you see this is where the whole 00:31:45.190 --> 00:31:48.170 story ends. It's political to the very end. There 00:31:48.170 --> 00:31:50.710 is this political future that is painted saying 00:31:50.710 --> 00:31:54.069 that one day every other empire in this world 00:31:54.069 --> 00:31:57.910 will fail and fall and only Christ's kingdom 00:31:57.910 --> 00:32:02.250 will remain. In fact, the last book of the Bible, 00:32:02.329 --> 00:32:03.809 let's look at the book of Revelation. We read 00:32:03.809 --> 00:32:06.890 this, the kingdom of this world will become the 00:32:06.890 --> 00:32:10.230 kingdom. of our Lord and of his Messiah, and 00:32:10.230 --> 00:32:15.509 he will reign for how long? Forever and ever. 00:32:16.049 --> 00:32:24.269 It's all politics from page 1 to page 1001. So, 00:32:24.410 --> 00:32:27.789 to end, I think we have to ask the so what question. 00:32:28.109 --> 00:32:32.009 What does that mean for us as the church? Right? 00:32:32.380 --> 00:32:33.420 Well, it definitely means we're not supposed 00:32:33.420 --> 00:32:35.160 to be apolitical. We already talked about that. 00:32:35.200 --> 00:32:37.279 We're not supposed to be all political, rah -rah 00:32:37.279 --> 00:32:40.019 for our candidate. This is God's chosen one. 00:32:40.059 --> 00:32:44.200 No, we're supposed to be kingdom political, which 00:32:44.200 --> 00:32:49.660 means three things. First, the church must bear 00:32:49.660 --> 00:32:54.000 public witness to King Jesus. That is the most 00:32:54.000 --> 00:32:58.079 basic political act you... can do you don't need 00:32:58.079 --> 00:32:59.799 to go flyer the neighborhood you don't need to 00:32:59.799 --> 00:33:01.960 go do any you know sign up for your local constituency 00:33:01.960 --> 00:33:04.700 office or whatever you just have to declare your 00:33:04.700 --> 00:33:08.779 own allegiance to jesus and not as just some 00:33:08.779 --> 00:33:10.680 private little spiritual thing you do but you 00:33:10.680 --> 00:33:12.720 have to be willing to stand up for jesus to declare 00:33:12.720 --> 00:33:16.839 unashamed that yes i believe i believe that jesus 00:33:16.839 --> 00:33:20.660 is this world's true king Have you done that? 00:33:20.759 --> 00:33:23.220 Have you made that decision? Have you put your 00:33:23.220 --> 00:33:25.559 trust in him? Have you given your allegiance 00:33:25.559 --> 00:33:29.240 to him? Because that is the first and most fundamental 00:33:29.240 --> 00:33:32.839 act of politics you can do. And that is the thing 00:33:32.839 --> 00:33:34.680 that got the early church into so much trouble. 00:33:34.880 --> 00:33:36.960 Might get you into a little bit of trouble too, 00:33:37.019 --> 00:33:40.279 but that is the first move of the church. It's 00:33:40.279 --> 00:33:44.960 just to bear public witness to King Jesus. Second 00:33:44.960 --> 00:33:49.160 though, we then have to be willing. to confront 00:33:49.160 --> 00:33:54.920 injustice with courage and clarity. Remember, 00:33:55.099 --> 00:33:59.119 the church's job is not to seize political power 00:33:59.119 --> 00:34:01.720 from the state. That's not how it works. But 00:34:01.720 --> 00:34:04.299 at the same time, we don't... stay silent in 00:34:04.299 --> 00:34:06.839 the face of injustice. Just like those ancient 00:34:06.839 --> 00:34:09.820 prophets, we got to find our own prophetic voice. 00:34:10.000 --> 00:34:12.960 We got to find our own political voice, one that 00:34:12.960 --> 00:34:15.880 speaks up for the poor, one that challenges oppression, 00:34:16.119 --> 00:34:19.579 and one that confronts political corruption whenever 00:34:19.579 --> 00:34:22.420 we see it. I just ask you, do you have that voice? 00:34:22.539 --> 00:34:24.800 Have you found that voice? Are you passionate 00:34:24.800 --> 00:34:28.199 about that? That's an important job of the church 00:34:28.199 --> 00:34:33.039 even today. And then thirdly, and finally, We 00:34:33.039 --> 00:34:38.179 live. We have to live out the politics of the 00:34:38.179 --> 00:34:42.119 kingdom of God. We don't just point our finger 00:34:42.119 --> 00:34:43.900 at all the problems that are out there in the 00:34:43.900 --> 00:34:47.239 world. No, we embody a different way of living 00:34:47.239 --> 00:34:49.820 through sacrificial love and through justice 00:34:49.820 --> 00:34:52.579 and through reconciliation and forgiveness and 00:34:52.579 --> 00:34:55.079 hospitality and all these wonderful things we 00:34:55.079 --> 00:34:56.639 learn about every single Sunday here at Trinity 00:34:56.639 --> 00:35:00.059 Streetsville service. You know, the church shows 00:35:00.059 --> 00:35:05.070 the world. what it looks like in practice. We 00:35:05.070 --> 00:35:09.210 don't force a Christian nation on other people. 00:35:09.269 --> 00:35:12.369 We just simply build for the kingdom of God through 00:35:12.369 --> 00:35:17.650 faithful witness and love and justice. It's like 00:35:17.650 --> 00:35:23.210 N .T. Wright says, the kingdom of God is not 00:35:23.210 --> 00:35:24.889 from this world. Yeah, you see, you're right. 00:35:25.010 --> 00:35:28.949 It isn't from this world, but... It's emphatically 00:35:28.949 --> 00:35:34.090 for this world, like it or not. Politics and 00:35:34.090 --> 00:35:38.730 religion go together. Caesar gets your coin, 00:35:38.849 --> 00:35:41.309 but God gets your whole life. The coin bears 00:35:41.309 --> 00:35:44.010 Caesar's image, but you bear God's image. So 00:35:44.010 --> 00:35:46.510 give to God what is God's. Give him your loyalty. 00:35:46.630 --> 00:35:48.889 Give him your voice. Give him your life. And 00:35:48.889 --> 00:35:53.530 become a subject of King Jesus. Become a citizen 00:35:53.530 --> 00:36:01.429 of the kingdom of God. Thanks be to God. Amen.