These well-meaning folk enter into church expecting to simply receive from their pastor. They expect that if something needs to be done, well then, we pay him to do it. Any Christian "service" they might engage in is largely determined by how much freedom and privilege and safety I'm willing to give up for service to the least of these. The result is that we have churches, that compared to other churches in the "Third World," come off looking like groups of spoiled brats.
We must take great care in giving serious thought to where the firm line lies between my American citizenship and my Heavenly citizenship. We absolutely must take great care to keep from confusing the two, or else we will seriously cheapen both. I am certainly not throwing mud on the concept of patriotism. Patriotism can be good.
Patriotism can be a glue, holding a people together. Patriotism can be a virtue propelling people to self-sacrifice for their neighbors and posterity. Patriotism for believers can be a way to worship God for his marvelous provisions for their peace and safety. Patriotism, for believers, may also simply be their prosperity thrown into Aaron's fire ... out of which pops a calf, wearing read, white, and blue.
But we need to ask the question, who is defining what it means to be an American today. We saw from the last sermon that increasingly it is less likely that people with Scriptural worldviews are doing so. It is increasingly likely that people with non-Christian or even anti-Christian worldviews are defining what it means to be an American ... and by default ... what freedom means.
Consider the song, "America the Beautiful," written by Katharine Lee Bates. Each verse praises some facet of America ... from the beautiful lands we possess to the beautiful concept of freedom. Then she calls our attention, "America! America!" to certain character traits she believes are necessary for our country:
- From Verse 1: God shed His grace on thee, And crown thy good with brotherhood From sea to shining sea.
- From Verse 2: God mend thine every flaw, Confirm thy soul in self-control, Thy liberty in law.
- From Verse 3: May God thy gold refine Till all success be nobleness And every gain divine!
- From Verse 4: God shed His grace on thee, And crown thy good with brotherhood From sea to shining sea.
Question: Is that what we see in the character of pop culture today? Certainly, we have seen glimpses of this during and following the World Trade Center attacks. During other times of crisis the American people seem to come together and live out this national hymn.
However, pop culture increasingly has a different message. Consider some examples.
- Car dealerships crown their advertising during this season with fireworks and the flag, leaving the message that the truly American thing to do is to come on down and buy a car that you don't need with money that you don't have. Buy, buy, buy! is increasingly the national motto.
- I took my family to a fireworks festival last Friday (July 4th). One girl sported a tank top that read, "Life, liberty, and the pursuit of boys." That is cute for all of about .326 seconds or until you realize that she probably means it. Hey, freedom is being able to do whatever I want, whenever I want, however I want, so leave me the _____ alone. What I do behind my door is my business, and if you come knocking, you had better be bringing a pizza.
We in the church seem curiously slow at picking up on the need to recognize that serious reconsideration of what it means to be a Christian and an American. Consider a particular bulletin that was distributed to some number of churches in celebration of July 4th by Cathedral Press (http://www.cathedralpress.com/every_08.html). What, pray tell, is the central message of this picture?
Before I tell you the two messages that I take away from this picture, allow me to draw your attention to certain aspects of this ... to build my case for you. The word that draws your attention is "FREEDOM." Below that is this family, complete with a dog, posing in front of the American flag. Fireworks are blazing in the background. Let's stop here. What seems to be the message so far? It seems to be a typical message about the preciousness of our American freedom and its gloriousness.
Question? How many of our families today look like that? I would say less than half. Yet, still the concept of "freedom" captures the hearts of all people, despite whether they came from a stable family or not. And keep in mind, that freedom is the ability to do whatever I want, whenever I want, however, I want. Nonetheless, the picture is still about the freedom aspect of pursuing our American way of life.
Now let me draw your attention to the words that are barely noticeable under the picture, "... IS OURS IN CHRIST." I mentioned above that there are two messages I take away from this picture ... as a whole.
- I, personally, can have the American dream (however that's defined) ... if I become a Christian.
- In order to preserve my American dream, I need to get everybody to go to church on a regular basis.
Now, there is a third message that explodes on the scene, once these two messages are understood ... my American dream is the most important facet of Christianity and achieving my American dream is what God cares most about.
These messages are inherently selfish and borderline ... if not blatant ... idolatry. This is the American culture and way of life dictating to me what Christianity is all about. This is not the message of Katharine Lee Bate in her 19th Century American hymn "America, the Beautiful." Perhaps in her day it was more of the case that Christianity informed what it meant to live as an American. In our day American life and culture dictates what it means to live as a Christian.
Before moving on, allow me to consider the message of the bulletin picture at hand on a global scale. What are believers, living in oppressive regimes to make of this picture and its messages? If the American dream is the reward of choosing to be a Christian, then perhaps these believers living in oppressive regimes are not really loved by God? Perhaps they are not living as good of Christian lives as we in America are?
Whatever the messages those people living in oppressive regimes might take away from this picture, a statement by a Kenyan pastor to the largely American student body of Asbury Theological Seminary a couple of years ago is quite telling. He told them it seemed harder to be a Christian in America than in Kenya or other African states. His point was that prosperity dulls ones sense of duty and need for self-sacrifice for others and need for real, living, breathing faith in everyday life ... which is the life blood of Christianity.
Is all of this what was perhaps intended by the bulletin picture creator? Let's hope not. Let's hope that the bulletin creator meant that true freedom (freedom from sin and for Christian ministry) is ours in Christ ... but that message is lost in the flag and blown up by the fireworks.
Again, I'm not speaking against patriotism per se, rather I'm speaking against any form of patriotism that distorts authentic Christianity and takes away from the Lordship of Christ. People who are blatantly unpatriotic can be just as selfish as those who want to replace the cross with the flag. Consider the excellent article by Thomas Sowell on the necessity of patriotism.
http://jewishworldreview.com/cols/sowell070208.php3What then is the proper relationship between heavenly citizenship and that of the land of one's birth or residence? As we work through the following Scriptural material, let's keep two questions in mind:
- What have we produced with the freedom and privilege afforded by our American citizenship?
- What have we produced with the freedom and privilege afforded by our Salvation, our citizenship in Heaven?
Let's begin by turning to II Corinthians 3:17:
Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom (ESV).
That verse is popular this time of year, and if we're not careful, we'll commit the same sins as discussed above. We'll come to the conclusion that in order for me to obtain American freedom I must be a Christian ... and in order for God to continue to give us American freedom we must get everybody to go to church. This is silly at best ... sin at worst. We'll come back to this verse in context in a bit. I want to communicate three points:
- Christians Are Pilgrims before Citizens of Some Earthly Land
- Pilgrimhood Enhances Citizenship, as Christians Are to Be Loyal Citizens
- ... but clinching citizenship with tight fists breeds worms in our manna.
Christians Are Pilgrims before Citizens of Some Earthly Land
Ephesians 2:8-22:
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called "the uncircumcision" by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands---remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. For through him we have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit (ESV).
In 2:8 we read that we are saved by grace ... and we normally stop there. However, we need to continue to read through verse 10. We are his "workmanship," which is a term for salvation. We are his workmanship ... created .... for ... good works. We were not created to be fat and happy. We were created to produce good works with our Salvation.
Paul talks about "the circumcision" and "the uncircumcision." Paul is speaking about certain Jewish Christians who were teaching that in order to truly be Christians you must first be circumcised and then follow all 613 of Moses's laws. Paul is saying that our primary identification is faith in Christ. He is not saying the teachings of Moses are no longer important, but that we are primarily identified by our faith in Christ.
He then talks about how we who were once "separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world." He is speaking to people, some of whom have the privilege of Roman citizenship ... in that day and time Roman citizenship carried with it greater relative privilege than our American citizenship does in today's time. In our day non-citizens are afforded many of the same privileges that citizens are afforded. In Paul's time, non-citizens were afforded precious few privileges at all.
At any rate the main point is that the primary identification for these newly baptized Roman citizens is there citizenship in Heaven ... and no longer their citizenship in Rome. Did they retain their Roman citizenship ... yes. But their primary identification was as citizens of Heaven ... as the temple of the Spirit of God (verse 22).
Question: Who do we feel a closer kinship with?
- Our pagan or nominally Christian neighbors?
- Our Christian brethren over seas that don't look like us?
If we are to be true to the lordship of Christ, we should feel a closer kinship to our Christian brethren overseas, despite the fact they don't look like us.
Genesis 12:1-3:
Now the LORD said to Abram, "Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed" (ESV)
Our heritage as the people of God is as a pilgrim people. The father of our faith in the true and living God, Abraham, was first and foremost a pilgrim. His relationship with the living God began by God asking him to leave his precious country and family and take God at his Word. We have strong indication that Abraham thought of his home country as precious because he refused to take a wife for Isaac from among the people in which he currently lived. He sent for a wife for Isaac from the home country. When Abraham left, in essence God became his country and heritage (Hebrews 11).
Question: Are we willing to go for God ... or does our American sense of freedom, peace, and security curb where we are willing to go for God?
Colossians 1:9-23:
And do, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. My you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. he has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. He (Jesus Christ) is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities--all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of god was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth of in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross (ESV).
Paul prayed for these Colossian Christians to have knowledge of the will of God for their lives. Notice the purpose to Paul thought for having the will of God in verse 10: "so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work ...." When was the last time we prayed for God to give us his wisdom to bear "fruit in every good work?" When was the last time that we came to church with the mindset of seeking to bless the people there? Yet, if my Christianity is determined by my American freedom, I might be more inclined to come to church to receive what I'm entitled to.
Paul speaks in verse 13 of our being delivered from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of the Son? Again, who do we have closer kinship with? Our American pagan neighbors or our non-American Christian brethren oversees who don't look like us?
Paul next speaks of stature of Jesus ... the Lord. In everything he is to be preeminent! ... including how I use my American freedom ... and how I define my American freedom. Again, is what I'm willing to do for him in any way curtailed by some American sense of peace, security, and/or freedom? Am I willing to take his Gospel to the projects? to some repressive regime overseas?
We are pilgrims before we are citizens of some earthly land.
Pilgrimhood Enhances Citizenship, as Christians Are Supposed to Be Loyal Citizens
Again, let me not be misunderstood. I am not bashing patriotism. I am not bashing this country at all. I'm bashing idolatry. I'm bashing the creation of secular progressivism. Jesus said that we do owe allegiance to both kingdoms ... heaven and the earthly land.
Matthew 22:15-22:
Then the Pharisees went and plotted how to entangle him in his words. And they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, "Teacher, we know that you are true and teach the way of God truthfully, and you do not care about anyone's opinion, for you are not swayed by appearances. Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?"
But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, "Why put me to the test, you hypocrites? Show me the coin for the tax." And they brought him a denarius.
And Jesus said to them, "Whose likeness and inscription is this?"
They said, "Caesar's."
Then he said to them, "Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." When they heard it, they marveled. And they left him and went away (ESV).
Jesus does not consider paying allegiance to Caesar as taking away from the Lordship of Jesus ... in and of itself. Jesus told his accusers they were to pay taxes to Caesar and to the Temple. They had responsibilities to country and God.
Here is the kicker that is easy to miss. The Jews of Jesus's day lived under Rome and prayed for God to deliver them from Roman/foreign rule. They wanted and waited for God to set them on high as a people and as a country. God's messiah was supposed to do this. Jesus was God's messiah, but Jesus, the Messiah, told them they were to pay taxes to Caesar, their foreign lord.
Question: What if we were to lose our sovereignty? We we be able to serve a foreign power? This is a question ... if we are to be true to the Lordship of Christ ... that we must seriously ponder. Do I want a foreign power? No. Would I join in the fight to repel any foreign invaders? Yes. Even still, we must consider what whether we are Christians first or Americans first.
Romans 12:1-2:
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect (ESV).
Paul is speaking about our worship and says something here that is truly stark. He says that our bodies are to be living sacrifices. In other words the mark of my Christian life is not gluttonous revelling in freedom and getting fat. Rather worship is with my body and is sacrificial. My whole life is to be a living sacrifice with the extremities of my body. Worship is not sitting on pews in church. Worship is actively living as a living sacrifice for God in the world.
Paul gives us ways that we live as living sacrifices unto God. In 12:3-8 we physically touch the lives of fellow believers by the power of the Holy Spirit. In 12:9-21 we are to do such physical things as practice honest love and the abhorance of evil (verse 9), as practice abstaining from weak enthusiasm and practicing fervent enthusiasm (verse 11), and taking no revenge (verses 14-21).
Paul then continues his train of thought in chapters 13, 14, & 15. All of these chapters speak to how to physically live as living sacrifices to God in the world. Of particular importance is chapter 13.
Romans 13:1-3:
Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists teh authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment (ESV).
Again, these verses are the continuation of Paul's teaching on how to physically live as living sacrifices in the world. Again, the question is could we submit to a conquering foreign power? If we have trouble with this ... it is to be expected ... as we often define our Christianity by our American context. But we are not permitted to anything that takes away from the Lordship of Christ. Paul says that to resist the government is resist God, himself.
We cannot simply read this verse and then pooh pooh our situation. We must wrestle with what the teaching means for us as freedom-loving Americans. Our American founding fathers had to wrestle with it, since they were in essence resisting the Crown of Great Britain. We must also wrestle with it. It is not something easy to do, but in wrestling with these hard questions of Christian faith we can become better American citizens, more faithful to the land we love. Yet if we refuse to do the hard work of putting good thought into daily practice, then how, pray tell, are we to reasonably be expected to choose between the candidates up for election?
... but clinching citizenship with tight fists breeds worms in our manna.
Pilgrimhood can enhance our American citizenship, but clinching citizenship with tight fists breeds worms in the manna of our American freedom. Here is the perpetuating question with which we must answer:
- Does the peace, security, and freedom afforded me by my American citizenship in any way override the duty that I have to do gospel ministry in the world ... in any part of the world in which God might be calling me to serve?
Matthew 25:31-46:
When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left.
Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty adn you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.'
Then the righteous will answer him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? adn when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?'
And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these me brothers, you did it to me.'
Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.'
Then they also will answer, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?'
Then he will answer them, saying, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.' And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life (ESV).
This is a teaching of Jesus that we not overlook. How are these people in the hereafter judged and then assigned their eternal place of residence? In this parable there is no mention of belief only what these people did with their beliefs. These people are judged by their treatment of "the least of these."
Let's remember the two questions we were supposed to keep in mind as we ploughed through the matterial at hand:
- What have we produced with the freedom and privilege affored by our American citizenship?
- What have we produced with the freedom and privilege afforded by our Salvation, our citizenship in Heaven?
In light of the above teaching of Jesus, concerning "the least of these," these two questions become even more pertinant. Since we will be judged on what we did with what we had ... simply put ... how are we using what we have been given? Are we even producing anything at all for God and country? Or are we merely consuming? Are we merely consuming our American culture? Are we merely consuming at Church?
Do we remember the story of the rich, young ruler from Matthew 19:16-29? This dude was a morally upright dude. Yet, he refused to relinquish his power and position and wealth to follow Jesus in order to inherit eternal life.
Does the peace, security, and freedom afforded me by my American citizenship in any way override the duty that I have to do gospel ministry in the world ... in any part of the world in which God might be calling me to serve? In other words, do I refuse to reliquish my own comfort for service to God in the world?
Let's now return to the opening verse of II Corinthians 3:17
Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom (ESV).
The context of this verse is that Paul and his missionary band are being accused of not being anointed of God and of not being apostalic because of his sufferings. Obviously God is mad and displeased with him. However, if we read through the rest of the chapter and through chapters 4 and 5, Paul staunchly proclaims that God's marvelous light and freedom from His Spirit is found in "jars of clay." His marvelous light and freedom is found in human vessels marked out for suffering for God in doing Gospel ministry in the world.
Consider 4:16-18:
So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting asway, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that arde seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal (ESV).
Paul goes on to say in chapter 5 that he does not even regard outward appearances anymore, because ... "if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come" (5:17).
Rather Paul's sole focus, instead of outward appearances, is on being a part of an ambassador minstry for God. What then was the focus of his ministry? We see this in verse 21. So let's consider 5:20 & 21:
Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so htat in him we might become the righteousness of God (ESV).
They were not simply out to get people to make decisions for Christ. Rather they were out to see people come into the kingdom of God and be transformed into the righteousness of God.
Again, Paul writes in II Corinthians 3:17:
Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom (ESV).
Paul's concept of freedom is not our contemporary concept of American freedom. It is not the idea of freedom from trials and tribulations so I can be fat and happy, able to click my remote control in complete freedom and safety. Rather Paul's idea of freedom is the empowerment to do Gospel ministry in the world, even from the confines of severe trials and tribulations.
Freedom for Paul is the ability to produce with the least internal encombrances. Freedom for the contemporary American is the ability to consume with the least external encombrances. Sadly, this contemporary concept of American freedom marches its way into our churches and dictates our Christianity. The result is a worm-filled Christianity and America.
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