What Hath Washington to Do with Jerusalem? Part 3

This is Part 3 of 5. This sermon was preached at Mt. Gilead UMC in Georgetown, KY on Oct 11, 2020. Click here for Part 2 and here for Part 4.

I. Introduction

• What does Washington have to do with Jerusalem? The government with the church? Politics with theology? Declaration of Independence with the Bible?
  • Week 1 – The Mission of the Church in the World (Matt 28:16-20)
  • Week 2 – The Saints Will Inherit the Kingdom (Daniel 7:1-28)
  • This week
    • The only Christian political choice and political allegiance.
    • We don’t pledge allegiance to anything other than our crucified and risen Savior Jesus Christ.
    • “Our citizenship is in heaven” (Phil 3:20)

II. Mind on Earthly Things

• Context: Paul is talking about those who are enemies of Jesus, and especially his saving and atoning death on the cross. In describing them—with tears!—he points out one of their flaws, that their eyes and focus are on earthly things.
• Paul talks about this in other places as well (Col 3:1-4).
• C. S. Lewis said…
  • “If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were just those who thought most of the next…It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this. Aim at Heaven and you will get earth ‘thrown in’: aim at earth and you will get neither” (Mere Christianity).
• And so, I think that many Christians and many churches today, when it comes to politics, have their minds on earthly things.
  • Help this group…get this person elected…you name it.
  • Those aren’t bad things. We should help people and care about people’s felt needs.
  • But our focus must be upon God and worshiping him and him alone.
• “Their mind is on earthly things” (3:19b)
  • Paul contrasts that and those people with God’s people: instead, “our citizenship is in heaven…” (3:20).

III. “But Our Citizenship Is in Heaven” – Neither Red Nor Blue

• This is the most explicit place in the New Testament where God speaks about what our political beliefs as Christians should be. Basically, we are committed to and belong to the Kingdom of God, the place where we are eagerly awaiting a Savior from…Heaven comes down to earth.
• What does that mean for us? Because there is a real world system right here and right now.
  • It doesn’t mean that we can’t or shouldn’t vote; you can choose that.
  • It doesn’t mean that we can’t participate in government.
  • We stand in the gap. We don’t choose sides. Purple. Neither fully red nor fully blue. We become peacemakers.
  • Why? Well, neither Republicans nor Democrats fully embrace a Christian and biblical worldview. They both have some good and Christian elements about them, but they also both have some bad, sinful, perhaps anti-Christian beliefs and practices. Both.
• Heavenly Citizenship
  • So both parties have good and bad things about them. Neither is purely Christian or purely moral.

IV. “Vote and Let Vote” – John Wesley

• A Christian can vote either way. It’s between them and God. It’s a matter of conscience and what you weigh more. Voting is almost always a deciding between two or more unethical choices. A vote one way for something you believe in also means a vote for something that as a Christian you might also not believe in. And the same is true if you vote the other way.
• And so it is a matter of personal conscience. Which issues outweigh the others in your opinion? That’s how you vote. What is most important to you, do you think? And what will be most helpful for the most people in our country? And everyone will have a different answer, and that’s okay. Every Christian will probably have a different answer. And that’s okay.
• John Wesley captured this sentiment in a really meaningful way in his Journal when he said this about Methodists and their relationship to politics and voting:
  • October 6, 1774 – “I met those of our society who had votes in the ensuing election, and advised them…
    • To vote, without fee or reward, for the person they judged most worthy
    • To speak no evil of the person they voted against, and
    • To take care their spirits were not sharpened against those that voted on the other side.”
  • I think that Wesley hit the nail on the proverbial head. He really captured the spirit of the biblical writers when it comes to voting and politics.
    • Vote for the person that you deem most worthy of the position without being bribed.
    • Speak no evil of the candidate that you voted against.
    • Make sure that you are not heatedly and vehemently angry with or arguing against those who voted the other way.
  • In short, Wesley and I think the biblical writers too are saying, “Vote and let vote.”
    • Vote for the candidate that you think is the best choice—or perhaps the lesser of two evils—and let other people vote how they will without being upset about it.
    • You’re going to do what you’re going to do; other people will do what they’re going to do. But overall, let’s remember that, in the end, the Lord will set all things right and bring the best possible world to this world: heaven on earth. Only Jesus can do it, and he will. We join with the prayers of those throughout the centuries: come, Lord Jesus. O that you would rend the heavens and come down. The Spirit and the bride [of Christ] say, “Come!” Your kingdom come and will be done on earth as it is in heaven! Maranatha! Come, O Lord! Amen.

Click here for Part 4.