A. One day, two men, who didn’t know each other, were sitting on a park bench and neither one said anything for quite some time.
1. Then one of the men let out a BIG SIGH.
2. The other man immediately got up and said, “Well, if you’re going to talk politics, I’m out’a here!” and off he went.
B. That’s about the way it is these days with our political climate of divisiveness and hostility.
1. People are on edge and everyone seems ready for a fight the second someone says something pro or con about a political candidate or party.
2. That’s not the way it should be among healthy mature, and well-informed people.
3. And that’s certainly not the way it should be for Christians who are walking in the footsteps of our Lord who taught us to love one another and to treat others the way we want to be treated.
C. With our national election only two days away, I feel called to bring a message from Scripture that I hope and pray will give us the kind of spiritual perspective that God wants us to have.
1. As I look back on my 36 years of preaching, I see that I have only brought a special message near election day on a few other occasions – 1988, 2008, and 2016.
2. All the messages I have shared on those occasions have the same focus, because the truths of God never change.
D. And one of the other things that doesn’t change is the challenges we face in life.
1. The first point that I want to make this morning to help us have the right perspective is: There is nothing new under the sun!
2. We want to think that no one has ever gone through what we are going through, or no one has ever had it as hard as we are having it, but that’s not true.
3. King Solomon, the wise man of the Old Testament, wrote: What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done; there is nothing new under the sun (Eccl. 1:9).
4. The apostle Paul wrote: No temptation has come upon you except what is common to humanity (1 Corinthians 10:13)
E. So as we go to the polls to vote on Tuesday, we might be tempted to think that the United States has never had an election during such challenging times as a pandemic, but that’s not true.
1. The 1918 pandemic, sometimes called the Spanish Flu, occurred during the mid-term elections.
Jason Marisam, who studied the effect of influenza on the 1918 election, said: “The San Francisco Chronicle ran photos of Election Day, people lining up to vote all wearing these masks. They called it the first masked ballot in U.S. history. You have to think that that kind of mentality had an impact on turnout.”
2. During the national, presidential elections of 1916 and 1952, there were polio outbreaks.
3. Many of our national, presidential elections have occurred during times of war: including, the 1812 election during the War of 1812; the 1864 election, during the Civil War; the 1916 election during WWI; the 1940 and 1944 elections during WWII; the 1952 election during the Korean war, and many elections during the Vietnam War and the War in Afghanistan.
F. Another thing we might be tempted to think is that we are living during the most tumultuous times in history with all the civil unrest our nation is experiencing, but again, that’s not true.
1. We don’t have to look very far back in our nation’s history to remember another equally tumultuous time.
2. In 1963, the President of the United States, John F. Kennedy, was assassinated.
3. Two years later, human rights activist and Muslim leader, Malcolm X was assassinated.
4. Three years later, civil rights activist and Christian minister, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated.
5. Two months later, presidential candidate, Robert Kennedy was assassinated.
6. In the midst of these tragedies, there were war protests, race riots, college campus riots.
7. In 1970 only 11 days apart, campus protests and riots ended with injuries and death.
a. The National Guard opened fire on student protesters at Kent State University and in 13 seconds, 4 students were dead and 8 others were injured.
b. The local and state police opened fire on student protesters at Jackson State College resulting in 2 deaths and 12 others injured.
8. Those were tumultuous times indeed.
G. Going way back in history to the early decades of the church, consider the tumultuous times our early brothers and sisters experienced.
1. Paul’s two letters to Timothy were written during stressful and challenging times.
2. Paul was in jail in Rome and Timothy, the young preacher, was serving in Ephesus.
3. Paul had established the church in Ephesus and had ministered there for three years.
4. But Paul was forced to leave Ephesus under less-than-desirable circumstances.
a. Paul’s ministry had caused a city-wide riot.
b. The city leaders wanted to execute Paul, but he escaped with the help of some brothers.
5. Later Paul made his way to Jerusalem where another riot arose in response to him and he was taken into custody to protect him.
a. He languished in protective custody for 2 years and then appealed to Caesar, and was transferred to Rome.
6. Now try to imagine what the Christians in Ephesus were facing when Paul wrote the letters to Timothy and the letter to the Ephesians.
a. There was open hostility from the governing authorities.
b. There was discouragement and disunity within the church, and racial tension between Jewish and Gentile Christians.
c. Many were abandoning their commitment to Christ and returning to their roots in Judaism.
d. Others were likely afraid of ending up in jail, like the apostle Paul.
H. And it was in the heat and chaos of all this turmoil that Paul wrote these words to Timothy: 1 You, therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. 2 What you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, commit to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. 3 Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 4 No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in the concerns of civilian life; he seeks to please the commanding officer (2 Timothy 2:1-4).
1. What was it that Paul was trying to emphasize to Timothy? It was te necessity of staying focused on God’s objective.
2. As Christians, we live in two worlds – the physical world and the spiritual world.
3. And as Christians, we have two citizenships – one that is earthly and one that is heavenly.
4. We must be careful to stay focused on the most important things.
a. The most important things are not physical or earthly, rather, the most important things are spiritual and heavenly.
5. If we are going to be good soldiers (spiritual warriors), and if we want to please our commanding officer (the Lord Jesus Christ), then we must not get entangled in the concerns of civilian life.
6. Look at this powerful quote from Richard Niebuhr, one of the most important Christian ethicists in 20th century America; he wrote this in the 1930s: “The question of the church…is not how it can measure up to the expectations of society nor what it must do to become a savior of civilization, but rather how it can be true to itself; that is, to its Head.” (Repeat)
a. We must be true to our head – Jesus – and be true to Jesus’ mission for the church.
I. One of the greatest dangers that the church faces today is allowing our focus to shift from sharing the gospel that saves the souls of people, to trying to change culture and country through politics and social justice.
1. And here is perhaps the most surprising or shocking thing I will say today: the purpose of the church is not to save the United States of America, or any nation.
a. The mission of the church is not to save nations, but to save individuals.
2. God has entrusted us, Christians, the ambassadors of Christ, with the power to offer to people eternal salvation.
a. The church as a whole, and Christians individually, have something to offer that nothing and no one else can provide – the good news of Jesus that brings salvation.
3. We must not allow Satan to deceive us into becoming entangled with the “affairs of this world” to the point that we abandon our very purpose for existing.
4. Leading people to reconciliation with God is our mission and purpose, and we must be careful to avoid other enterprises that are sources of strife and division that hinder that mission.
5. Additionally, as Christians living in the United States of America (or in any nation), it is always our privilege and responsibility to be “salt and light” where we live, and to pray for our country and its leaders.
6. We can love and appreciate our country, but not more than we love our Lord.
J. And so, as much as I am thankful to have lived my whole life as an American citizen, and don’t wish that I had been born into citizenship in any other nation of the world, I am committed to keeping my primary attention on my citizenship in the kingdom of God.
1. The United States of America is only one country among the 195 countries in the world.
a. How easy is it for us to get so absorbed with the issues happening in our country that we forget about all the other countries of the world?
b. And how easy is it for us to think that God is somehow more interested in or concerned about our country than the other countries of the world?
2. Presently, the world is populated by 7 billion, 800 million souls.
a. Our country’s population of 328.2 million souls is only 4.2 % of the world’s population.
b. China and India together make up 35% of the world’s population.
3. So here is something to think about if we want to emphasize kingdom citizenship more than country citizenship, we have more in common with heavenly citizens than we do with earthly citizens, and there are way more people who are heavenly citizens, than citizens of the U.S.
a. According to figures from 2015, Christians form the biggest religious group in the world 2.3 billion adherents 31% of world population.
b. So 31% of the world’s population shares our heavenly citizenship in the broadest of terms, while only 4% of the world’s population shares our earthly citizenship.
4. But when we think about our brothers and sisters in Christ, who are citizens of other countries, we need to realize that 260 million of them are suffering high to severe levels of persecution in their country because of their faith.
a. While we can be thankful for the religious freedom of our country, and work to maintain that freedom, we need to be concerned about and pray for kingdom citizens of the Kingdom of God living in other countries.
K. I want to point our attention to some warnings and advice that the apostle Paul gave to the Christians in Philippi and in Colosse.
1. To the Philippians, Paul wrote: 17 Join in imitating me, brothers and sisters, and pay careful attention to those who live according to the example you have in us. 18 For I have often told you, and now say again with tears, that many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 Their end is destruction; their god is their stomach; their glory is in their shame; and they are focused on earthly things. 20 Our citizenship is in heaven, and we eagerly wait for a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ. 21 He will transform the body of our humble condition into the likeness of his glorious body, by the power that enables him to subject everything to himself (Phil. 3:17-21).
a. In this passage, Paul contrasts those who are focused on earthly things, and those who are focused on heavenly things.
b. Those focused on earthly things face the danger of their end being destruction, but those focused on their heavenly citizenship and Savior await a blessed end.
2. To the Colossians, Paul wrote: 1 So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory (Col. 3:1-4).
a. In this passage, Paul encourages us to seek and set our minds on things above, not on earthly things.
b. He says we should do so because we have died and our life is now hidden with Christ in God.
3. And this is part of the challenge we face – in the one sense we have died, but in another sense we are still alive.
a. We are caught between two worlds and two realms of existence.
b. We are citizens of two kingdoms.
c. The spiritual is more important than the physical, and yet the physical is still important and the impact of the physical has profound implications.
4. Perhaps the words of Jesus can help us with this dilemma: 25 “Therefore I tell you: Don’t worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Isn’t life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Consider the birds of the sky: They don’t sow or reap or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you worth more than they? 27 Can any of you add one moment to his life span by worrying? 28 And why do you worry about clothes? Observe how the wildflowers of the field grow: They don’t labor or spin thread. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was adorned like one of these. 30 If that’s how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and thrown into the furnace tomorrow, won’t he do much more for you—you of little faith? 31 So don’t worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you. 34 Therefore don’t worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own” (Matthew 6:25-34).
a. Jesus certainly covers a lot of territory in this section, but notice His two primary commands imbedded in these verses.
b. First of all, notice that He commands us to seek first the kingdom of God – focus on things regarding your heavenly citizenship and prioritize it above earthly things.
c. Second, He commands us not to worry.
d. And why not worry? Because God is in control and God is able to provide.
L. This is one of the important things I want to highlight today: our enemy, the devil, wants us to worry and so he does his best to cause anxiety and fear.
1. The enemy knows that fear can consume, control and immobilize us.
2. Unfortunately, the enemy of our souls is not the only one who uses fear to control and manipulate.
3. I’ve been reading a book about personality types and how to grow spiritually by understanding our personality type, and as the authors discuss one of the personality types that is prone to fear, they make this interesting statement: Regrettably, you and I are not the first to figure out that 3.5 billion of our planet’s full-time residents (plus or minus a few hundred million) are easily motivated by fear and a deep need for security and certainty. Politicians, cable news anchors; marketing experts, highhanded preachers and other unprincipled grifters know it as well. To win votes, hike viewership, raise money and sell home-security systems, these panic-mongering demagogues, pundits and advertising execs deliberately use well-researched scare tactics to prey on all of us, but they target folks like Sixes in particular. We all need to learn how to prevent fear from taking over our lives, but Sixes especially do. History demonstrates that when anxious folks make decisions as a group based on fear and a frustrated desire for security, bad things happen (The Road Back to You, pg. 193).
4. As citizens of the heavenly kingdom, and children of the God of the Universe, we don’t have to let fear and fear-mongers control us.
5. If we seek first God’s kingdom and keep our minds and hearts focused on God, then we don’t have to be afraid.
6. We should know that our God has got this, right? Our God is in control, one way or the other.
7. Our God has promised to never leave us or abandon us.
a. The Hebrew writer said this: 5 Keep your life free from the love of money. Be satisfied with what you have, for he himself has said, I will never leave you or abandon you. 6 Therefore, we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me? (Hebrews 13:5-6)
8. As citizens of the heavenly kingdom and as children of God, we know that everything is going to be okay, one way or the other.
a. Whatever we have to go through, we know that God is with us.
b. God will make sure we have what we need physically and spiritually.
c. And we know that even if the worst earthly things happen to us - even death – we have an eternal home in heaven with God.
d. For Christians it is always a win – win situation, if we live we are with the Lord, and if we die, we are with the Lord.
e. So, let’s keep our focus on God, and not on earthly things.
M. The final thing that I want to remind us of today is that the Bible teaches us that God is in control, even of elections.
1. When Jesus’ life was in the hands of Pilate, He made this important point to Pilate.
a. The conversation went like this, “Pilate said, ‘Do you refuse to speak to me? Don't you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?’ Jesus answered, ‘You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above.’ ” (John 19:10-11)
2. Psalm 22:28 says, “For dominion belongs to the LORD and he rules over the nations.”
3. And Daniel 2:20-21 says, “Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever; wisdom and power are his. He changes times and seasons; he sets up kings and deposes them.”
4. What a blessing it is to know that no matter who is President that God is in control and He is working things out for His purposes.
5. I want to share with you something that F. LaGard Smith wrote.
a. Smith is a prolific Christian writer, Professor of Law Emeritus, University of California, and member of churches of Christ.
b. In a recent Facebook post, he wrote: Considering the top candidates, it’s tempting to check neither box. Yet, my misgivings about voting this time around have been allayed by the following advice (ironically from someone with a radically-different perspective): “A vote is not a valentine. You are not professing your love for the candidate. It’s a chess move for the world you want to live in.” Because the “world I want to live in” is a nation that honors God, the fine distinction between “ungodly” and “godless” leaves me no choice. My vote is not simply the “lesser of two evils,” but a fervent prayer that God in his infinite wisdom might cast the deciding vote, even if it cancels out mine (Smith’s Facebook page, “The ‘single issue’ getting my vote” 10.24.20).
c. I like that: a vote is not a valentine – it is a chess move – we vote as we think best, and we then leave it with God to cast the deciding vote.
N. But in the meantime, let’s keep our faith focused in God and our minds set on things above.
1. In Homer’s Greek mythological poem – The Odyssey – the main character, Odysseus, had been warned about the Sirens – those beautiful creatures who sang an irresistible song which lured sailors onto the rocks where their ships were dashed to pieces.
2. In order to avoid this fate, Odysseus ordered his crew to plug their ears with beeswax and to tie him firmly to the ship’s mast.
3. On hearing the Siren’s song, Odysseus himself could not resist and begged to be untied, but since he had instructed his crew to ignore him, they refused his pleas.
4. Thus, the ship with its crew was able to sail safely past danger; but only because Odysseus was smart enough not to underestimate the power of temptation.
5. Brothers and sisters, if we have to put wax in our ears and tie ourselves to the mast to enable us to stay focused on things above – on our calling and mission – then that’s what we must do.
6. With God’s help, we can focus on what pleases our “commanding officer” and not get entangled in “civilian life.”
O. For every person on the face of the earth, the most important question isn’t: Are you a citizen of the United States of America.
1. Rather, the most important question is: Are you a citizen of the kingdom of heaven?
2. If you are a member of the kingdom of heaven, then keep your heart and mind focused on that kingdom, and keep honoring, obeying and trusting the Lord Jesus Christ.
3. If you are not a member of the kingdom of heaven, then I would encourage you to turn to Jesus, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, for His kingdom will never end.
4. And those who trust in Jesus will never be disappointed, because when Jesus who is our life appears, we will also appear with Him in glory.
5. If you aren’t yet a disciple of Jesus, a member of the Kingdom of Heaven, but you would like to become one, here’s what the Bible says about how to get started:
a. Believe in Jesus.
b. Repent of your sins and turn to Jesus.
c. Confess your faith in Jesus.
d. Be baptized – immersed in water for the forgiveness sins.
e. Then faithfully follow Jesus.
6. We would love to help anyone become a citizen of the Kingdom of God, a disciple of Jesus.
a. Contact us after the service if we can help you become a follower of Jesus.
Resources:
The Road Back to You, Ian Morgan Cron and Suzanne Stabile, IVP Books
Entangled in Civilian Affairs, Sermon by Ken Stegall
