Citizens Of Heaven

Here’s a key point from my sermon on faith and politics last Sunday, and it has to do with the way many Christians have gotten immersed and engulfed in the current political frenzy:  “When we act like politics is every­thing, we deceive the world and mislead our neighbors:  it’s false advertising.  What is it saying to your friends and family, even Facebook friends, if the only thing they can tell that you care about passionately is politics?  What message are you sending?  Is it obvious to those who know you that you care much more deeply about the supremacy of Jesus Christ than about the victory of your preferred candidate?”

Now it’s fine to be engaged in the political process, and it’s good to be an active citizen of this country.  But the truth of Hebrews 11:13-16 must not be buried beneath mountains of partisan passion:  we’re actually citizens of a “better country, that is, a heavenly one,” and we give final allegiance to the King of Heaven, Jesus Christ.  As Peter and John demonstrate in Acts 5:29, when push comes to shove, when the powers that be demand that we disobey and deny and dishonor the King of Kings, “We must obey God rather than men.”

So I challenge you today to pause, look in the mirror, and ask:  What is it that really moves your heart, arouses your zeal, and captivates your imagination?  Have you forgotten that to be a follower of Jesus is to travel alongside his people—his church—as “exiles and strangers” here in this life?  Have you allowed your soul to be swept away in the gale-force winds of political enthusiasm?  Is it evident to those around you that the glory of Christ and the cause of his Gospel is what truly, deeply, overwhelmingly energizes your heart?

Let’s pray for each other in these turbulent times—pray that, amidst all of the political uproar and all the pressures of our pilgrimage this side of heaven, we’ll relentlessly fix our eyes on Jesus (Hebrews 12:1-2) and anchor our hope in the awesome fact that all who trust in him will one day see him face to face (Revela­tion 22:4).  “And so we will always be with the Lord” (1 Thessa­lonians 4:17).

And let’s take Psalm 42:5 to heart:  Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me?  Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.