Over a month ago I talked about how our hope was not in heaven, but in the Resurrection. Last week I answered the question "How do we live in the kingdom?" This week I want to give some concrete examples of working in the kingdom. Let me also say, if you did not read my blog from last week do it now. That one is far more important.
Today I dance on that line. I do it because I feel that the church has decided to co-op politics. I do it because I know there are many people out there who feel that their particular political party is the Christian one. I do it because I know that this is something that needs to be said. So here it goes. Four things every Christian should believe in.
4. Environmentalism
Yup. I said it. And in doing so I know I lost some of you. While now is my chance to try and loose the rest of you. Here it goes.
I don't say this because I believe in climate change. Or because I think that we have somehow irreparably damaged the earth. I thought about linking evidence her for one side or the other, but the truth is that you can find those yourself. This blog is about being a Christian not winning the climate change argument.
But then why mention environmentalism? Because the discussion has gotten so off track. Look I don't know if you believe in climate change. That really doesn't matter. What matters is that many Christians who believe in Climate Change try and use scare tactics to force people to come to the same belief.
"The only way to keep people caring for the earth is to keep them scared . . . If you really want people to care for the earth you have to give them a better reason."I HATE when people do this. I have mentioned on this blog before about how I felt that I was scared into heaven. I have seen how many other Christians were sold "fire insurance." This tactic makes me want to punch someone. Seriously. I HATE it so much because it misses the point of being a Christian. I HATE it because it short circuits the good news. I HATE it because it makes shallow Christians.
Climate Change fear mongering does the same thing. The only way to keep people caring for the earth is to keep them scared. As soon as they think that the earth is fine they will stop what they are doing. Why? Because then they don't see it as important. If you really want people to care for the earth you have to give them a better reason. Christianity does that.
When God created the earth he declared it very good. Six times prior to this he declared things he created good. It is the culmination of everything together that he declares very good. If God thought it was good then shouldn't I take care of it? Actually God thought so. He created humanity specifically to take care of it.
Look we are to be good stewards. We find this all over scripture. Most of the time we think of money, but our first duty was to be stewards of the earth. This is our reason to care for the earth, not some fear of impending doom. Oh and just in case you thought that part about this earth passing away means we don't have to worry about caring for the earth, check out what is inside the city at New Jerusalem.
"Then he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations."That's right. Revelation 22 tells us that the tree of life, you know the one from the Garden of Eden, will be in New Jerusalem. Yes this earth will pass away. But the first part of that verse tell us we will have a new one. God cares about His creation. So should we.
3. Social Welfare
If you didn't catch it by now my headings are going to all be political ideologies. Just a heads up. Anyway . . .
Again if you think I am advocating for federal welfare programs then you are sadly mistaken. Again I could quote different articles on either side, but let me just say that personally I do not trust some guy in Washington to understand what a small town in South Jersey needs. That's about all I have to say about the "political" side of this. Now to the important part.
All over the bible we are commanded to care for widows and orphans. Over and over and over again. (BTW that is just a small cross section of the times we are commanded.) If there is one thing that God cares about it is the disenfranchised. In fact many of the times that God declares destruction on Israel it is specifically because they do not care for these groups of people. (Amos 5, Isaiah 10, Micah 2, etc.)
Now I know some of you are thinking, I don't know any widows or orphans. First, I will say that you may not have looked hard enough. But second I want to point out that this isn't just about them. Widows and orphans were the most vulnerable people at the time. They had no rights. A woman could not own land. If her husband died it went to her son . . . if she had one. Children likewise didn't have many rights.
"Jesus never said make sure Rome takes care of widows and orphans. No, He said that we should follow Him. And following Him means caring for those He cared for."This was not about widows and orphans specifically, it was about caring for those that have nothing. Today there are many people in the same boat. Homeless people come to mind readily. Drug addicts. How about caring for child molesters?
Yup. That last one got you didn't it. It gets me too. But we need to realize that Jesus cared for people that the rest of society shunned. In His day that was prostitutes, tax collectors, and lepers. But today that may very well be your neighbor who is a divorced, out of work, drunk. It is the church's job to care for these people. Jesus never said make sure Rome takes care of widows and orphans. No, He said that we should follow Him. And following Him means caring for those He cared for.
Don't misunderstand me. I am not saying that a single church by itself can solve all the problems in our society. Churches need to work together to help their community. Sometimes that will mean working with local government. But that should never exempt the church from doing the good work of the kingdom.
2. Redistribution of Wealth
No, I am not "feeling the Bun." Honestly I don't think Sanders goes far enough. (That statement did it. I lost some of you and gained some of you.)
There is this interesting passage in Acts 4. It tells us that the believers all decided that they shouldn't hoard anything. They gave freely among each other so much so that no one was in need. Everyone's needs were met. There are two really interesting parts to this.
First, and most fascinating, is verse 33. It says that with great power the Apostles were giving testimony of the Resurrection. Now most would see this as evidence that they were preaching the good news. They were. But not the way you think. This verse is sandwiched between places where it talks about giving what they had and caring for others. The disciples were not going out on the street corner with a bull horn. No people were coming to them, because they knew that at this Church all their needs would be met. The good news was actions not words. This leads to the second thing.
"Joseph GAVE up his land. It was not taken from. . . . he saw the work of the church -- he saw the good news of the Resurrection -- and was moved to give."The end of this passage tells us that a guy named Joseph (not Jesus dad) sold his land and brought it to the church. He was so moved by what they were doing that he decided to give up the things he had. The wealthy were willingly giving up what they had for the cause of Christ! This is awesome!
Now some of you will say "Socialism at work!" I want to argue that you are missing the most important point here. Joseph GAVE up his land. It was not taken from. His land was not taxed and given to the church. No, he saw the work of the church -- he saw the good news of the Resurrection -- and was moved to give.
Also note that this passage does not deal strictly with money. There are all kinds of wealth. There are people who are wealthy in friends, or encouragement, or power. Now this passages is directly talking about material goods, but if you think that was the only thing the church was sharing then you really don't understand what was going on. The church was growing because they were being selfless. And this wasn't just to other believers.
There is a 4th century letter from a guy named Julian to a guy named Arsacius. In this letter Julian tells this pagan high priest that the Christian's are increasing because they care for people, "not only their own poor but ours as well." Thus he decides that this guy Arsacius should "shame or persuade them into righteousness or else remove them from their priestly office."
This Julian guy HATES that the Christians are growing. He wants his pagan gods to be worshiped. So he decides that he will try and do what the Christians are doing. The problem with this is that you can't force someone to care for others. It just doesn't work. But what did work was what the church was doing. So when did the church stop caring for people and let the government do it?
1. Foreign Citizenship
It is this belief that informs all the others. We are not citizens of any kingdom on this world. We are citizens of the Kingdom of God. In Hebrews we are told that many who came before understood this. We see that Abel, and Abraham, and Jacob, and others just like them all knew that theirs was not a kingdom of this world. They died in faith, knowing that they were citizens of another kingdom.
As Christians I think sometimes we get caught up in the kingdoms of this world. We think that if we vote for the right person, or we enact the right statute that we will have heaven on earth. The problem with that is we are actually putting our hope in the kingdoms of this earth. We think that maybe we can force this nation to be Christian. or that it was founded as a Christian nation. I hate to tell you but that just isn't true.
Look, I'm not saying that we shouldn't vote, or that all government is un-Christian. What I am saying is that we need to remember where our true citizenship is. We are not of this world. We may live in this world. We may even care for this world. But the things of this world are not always the things of God.
"No local kingdom will ever be the true Kingdom of God. No elected official is our savior. Not Caesar. Not Trump, or Cruz, or Hillary, or Sanders. I serve one king and His name is Jesus."In Daniel we see a vision of this. He interprets king Nebuchadnezzar's dream. This is a dream of a great statue. The head is gold. The shoulders are silver. The torso is bronze. The legs are iron. And the feet are clay and iron. This a great statue, but it is crushed by a rock made by no human hand. That rock grows into a great mountain that covers the whole earth.
Daniel tells the king that this represents the kingdoms of this world. (The head is Babylon the feet end up being Rome.) But there is a kingdom that is greater. A kingdom not made by human hands. A kingdom that will crush all others. This kingdom will reign forever.
All the good deeds done in those other kingdoms. All the social programs, all the taxes, all the just and unjust wars, all the buildings and temples, everything of those other kingdoms will pass away. The only Kingdom that will remain is the Kingdom of Heaven, the Kingdom of God.
We are citizens of that last kingdom. We live in that kingdom . . . now . . . here . . . today. Our mission as the church is to share that kingdom with the world. We are called to show people the way they were meant to live. We are called to bring the Kingdom of God here. Vote for what you think is right, but remember that no local kingdom will ever be the true Kingdom of God. No elected official is our savior. Not Caesar. Not Trump, or Cruz, or Hilary, or Sanders. I serve one king and his name is Jesus.
May you remember where your true citizenship lies. May you work in that kingdom to protect the earth, help the needy, and give of what you have. And may the Lord of that Kingdom bless you.
Amen!
No comments:
Post a Comment