Jesus, Politics, and Religion
- Sociologists say that our country is more divided today than it was during the civil war.
- The pew research center found a recent poll taken that revealed :
-66% of people in both parties see those in the other party as close minded
-36% of those same people see the other party as unintelligent
We know that is not true. Somewhere we have to say "enough" and start entering in with respect for one another.
- The phrase separation of church and state was made famous by Thomas Jefferson in a letter to an association of Baptist Churches in Connecticut shortly after being elected president.
-He was referencing the 1st amendment which reads as it relates to religion as the following:
"Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."
-Jefferson was clearly saying that the government could not establish a state church, nor could it prohibit the free exercise of religion
It said nothing about people not bringing their faith to bear in thinking about politics
Your politics should not influence religion, but your religion can’t help but influence your politics.
- How should our faith impact our practice of politics?
-People of faith, and people in this congregation will reach different conclusions on what candidate and political vision more closely aligns with how they do faith... We are going to disagree.
-Our own church has conservatives, liberals, moderates and everything in between. If you are looking for a church where everyone agrees on these topics, you will not find it here…..and we can't guarantee anywhere else either.
- We can disagree on these things; where we should not have disagreement is how our faith should impact how we love one another in the midst of those disagreements.
Matthew 5:43-48 "43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be children of your Father in heaven, for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the gentiles do the same? 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect."
- When it comes to politics, this is what Jesus invites us to :
-Not simply loving our neighbor, but even those we perceive as our enemies.
-Just because someone else declares you an enemy, you do not have to return the favor.
- The person of another party is not our enemy
-They are our fellow Americans, and potentially a sibling in Christ
-When we pass the peace in our church services, we do that with those we don’t agree with. We offer the peace of Christ to one another, not just in a sanctuary, but it is our call to do that when we leave this place.
- For our children, for our communities, for our country - lets love our enemies, our friends, our allies, our families; our neighbors.
Let’s do unto others as we would have them do unto us.
- Let us lead the way as Christ-followers, with kindness to to all. Those with whom we disagree and those with whom we agree.
-We should be blessing and encouraging all, as Christ did.
Let’s close the gap between where things are and where they should be.
We can make a difference as we do unto others.
