First Sunday in Lent A; 02.22.26; G Miles Smith+ (Jesus and Politics)

Matthew 4:1-11                                  

1st Sunday in Lent A; 02.22.26;

G. Miles Smith+

The most important thing that Jesus discerned at the very beginning of his ministry…was what he was not going to do…what his mission was not going to be about…the kind of Savior he was not going to be.

There is something refreshing and clarifying about recognizing where the No must be in our own lives…what we will not do…what we will not say…what we will not be. It isn’t enough, of course, but it is a very necessary beginning…and sometimes we have to re-discover our essential No’s…especially when it comes to trying to be Christian.

So, in one sense, the season of Lent is a season of the No…that returns us to our identity as Christians. Holy Baptism is a clear statement of our Christian identity…that same capacity for naming our Christian No’s is also found there:

Question             Do you renounce Satan and all the spiritual forces of wickedness that rebel against God?

Answer             I renounce them.

Question             Do you renounce the evil powers of this world which corrupt and destroy the creatures of God?

Answer             I renounce them.

Question             Do you renounce all sinful desires that draw you from the love of God?

Answer             I renounce them.

It is easy to overlook the fact that the No’s of our baptism…follows from Jesus’ own renunciations…that followed his baptism. Right after he was baptized, Jesus was tempted in the wilderness by the devil.

And what did Jesus say No to? There were three very clear No’s:

1.       Jesus was hungry in the wilderness…but he said No to using his power to serve himself.

2.       Jesus was vulnerable as a human being like us…but he said No to using his power to save himself.

3.       Jesus was God’s Beloved Son, as announced in his baptism…but Jesus said No to using his power to glorify himself with worldly political power over others.

Through most of my ministry, the parts of Jesus’ No which resonated the most with me was…Jesus would not serve himself…and he would not save himself…his focus was outward toward others…he was not going to use other people for his own purposes…he was casting his lot in with our precarious human lives…and was going to be vulnerable to abuse and death…just like we are. That was how he was going to save the world. And that’s very powerful to meditate upon.

What I’ve not so easily been able to hear is his own clarity…about abstaining…from seeking worldly political power. But now in these days when politics are so urgent and seems to be everything…then it is important to try to wrap our minds around this No of Jesus…and see if his No…should lead to some similar No for his followers.  

I’ve been thinking about this a lot over the past year. And that has led me to meditate on Jesus in a way I have not been able to before. And I have come to recognize three things [curiously, yet another set of three’s]:

1.       Jesus only mentioned Caesar one time in the Gospels—and that was only when someone else brought it up. So he was not specifically focused on Rome. I guarantee you everybody else talked about the Roman Empire all the time. And yet there is only one time when Jesus referenced politics from the news cycle—when it involved a politically motivated attack authorized by the local Roman governor, murdering some Jewish pilgrims inside the Temple of Jerusalem. Other than that, it must have seemed so strange to others that Jesus did not join in all the political talk.

2.       Jesus’ 12 disciples were a heady mix of…one known Roman collaborator, Matthew the tax collector… Simon the Zealot who had likely been associated with an anti-Roman sect…and Judas Iscariot who could have been associated with a shadowy group of Jewish assassins who targeted Romans. We don’t have any idea of the politics of the other disciples.

3.       Jesus never aligned himself with either the pro-Roman or anti-Roman sides. And yet, surprisingly, Jesus was experienced by others as being political…and he was executed as a potential political threat to the Empire.

And so, my conclusion is that it is questionable…for any Christian…to completely align their discipleship in Jesus with a political party today…or to claim that…in order to be a Christian we must belong to one party or the other. It does not fit the reality of Jesus in the Gospel books.

However, it is also questionable to imagine being Christian…as having no political consequences…as if being Christian is purely a private matter that should have no effect on the world other than our most private relationships. That does not fit the reality of Jesus either.

From the very beginning of the 12 disciples, the followers of Jesus were a mixed bunch. I trust that that was not simply an accident--but within the purposes of Jesus. And that is why I think churches should not become uniformly one party or the other. We are supposed to be mixed.

But it is not that politics is not important…and how we order our societies…and how we treat each other. The fact that Jesus had no explicit pro- or anti-Roman politics does not mean that Jesus had no politics—his politics were of the kingdom of God…a politics that is not of this world in terms of our partisan divides…a politics of God that…if we don’t try to silence it…will make any of us…uncomfortable…and challenge us in ways exceeding the imagination of worldly politics.

Jesus’ politics began with a No to serving our own selves alone…a No to saving our own selves alone…and a No to glorifying ourselves alone. Jesus’ politics created unusual communities of disciples who did not define themselves by partisan political uniformity…but by a common vision of being beloved by God…accountable to truth-telling…and accountable to loving their neighbor as themselves.

That can sound like…fluff…when our worldly politics are intense. So, Christians are tempted—and I do mean literally tempted by evil—to prioritize partisan politics…over…the politics of Jesus.

But let me ask you this question: What was the name of the most powerful man living during Jesus’ lifetime…a man of untold wealth…a man capable of massive violence…a man who controlled a world? What was his name?

Tiberius...Julius...Caesar...Augustus (42BC-37AD). An impressive name, yes? It was under his authority that Jesus died on a cross.

And yet the name of Tiberius has, for all practical purposes, disappeared from human consciousness. Think about that.

What truly matters? What truly lasts?

For the next two thousand years after Tiberius…it has not been his name that has been remembered…but the name of Jesus. So much so…that today almost every human being knows the name of Jesus…and people of all political persuasions are still being gathered to Jesus’ name.

The Church of Jesus is called to a different kind of politics…a politics of love and compassion for the suffering…of truth-telling…and an appropriate fear of God. We are called to be the Church of Jesus which belongs to no “kingdoms of the world.”

This is an otherworldly politics…an intensely spiritual politics…that is however meant for this world. And it never fits neatly into any partisan policies. In fact, the tremendously challenging politics of Jesus requires the best conservatives…and the best liberals…to hammer out work together…if it will have any chance of being remotely faithful to God. This is what we sorely need.  

Christians will rightfully vote within political parties as best we can discern…and Christians will work on behalf of and within different political parties. But we are called to a have a presence of mind…the mind of Christ…that won’t let us ever completely belong to a political party. Our belonging lies elsewhere.

No worldly politics is invulnerable to evil...regardless of what you think about your politics or evil. And unfortunately, no Christians are invulnerable to evil either. Which is another reason why the more we are divided…the more evil thrives.

This is an epochal time in American history…when the Church can easily be absorbed…into partisan warfare. A real possible consequence of this…as we’ve seen in history before…is that generations after us…our grandchildren and their children…may end up with such a bitter taste in their mouths…that they reject Christianity wholesale. Or the Church—or hopefully at least a lot of churches—may rediscover Jesus anew…rediscover our baptismal calling…and our unique mission in the world that is called to continue until the end of time…

Because of what I’ve long experienced of Grace Church these many years…I can imagine Grace continuing to be a mixed people who desire to maintain the bonds of peace in Jesus—not just because we don’t want to hurt anyone’s partisan feelings…not because we don’t want our coffee hour fellowship disrupted…not because we want to silence one another…but because in some way we can sense…that like the first disciples…we are being called by Jesus to a greater vision for our community and the world…than our worldly political warfare is allowing for…in which we really need each other…and we need God together…a people of common prayer.

After Jesus’ temptation had ended, Jesus said to the devil:

“Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.”

Then the devil left Jesus [for a time], and suddenly angels came and waited on him.