Embracing Progressive Christianity - Politics

Transcript of a sermon preached by Rev. Shawn Coons on February 5, 2023

So here we are on week four, almost done with our series, Embracing Progressive Christianity. And we're on to how progressive Christianity is very active and doesn't shy away from the political sphere. Once again, this is not unique to progressive Christianity. Many other Christian traditions also have their faith lead them into the political sphere. But the approach of progressive Christians can be a little bit different.

But the question that we begin with in terms of our faith leading us into the political realms is why? Why don't we keep that separation between church and state? Politics never enter the church, and the church never enters politics. It begins with a simple reality which you are all well aware of, and that's that our world is not as it should be. In our world there is violence, in our world there is poverty and racism and oppression and injustice and sexism and homophobia and transphobia and environmental destruction. And the world shouldn't be like this. I think everyone at some level knows that.

As Christians, we take the position that the answer to that is not simply just pray that God fixes it. Just stay in our home, stay in our churches and pray. God, there's so many ills in the world, please come down and make everything right. That's not a bad prayer, but it doesn't stop there. Sometimes we even take the attitude, some Christians take the attitude as, Well, you know what really matters is heaven. What really matters is the next life. There's this bumper sticker, this saying, This world is not my home. And some Christians will take that so far as to say that we don't really need to be concerned about the problems of the earth because the earth is temporary. And what are any problems that we face here on the earth compared to an eternity in heaven, an eternity with God.

There's a simple logic to that that maybe sounds good and comforting at some point, especially if you're wondering if the problems of the world will ever be solved. Or, the problems of the world will be too much, to take comfort in eternity without those problems sounds really good. The trick is the Bible, and the God witness to in the Bible, and Jesus in the Bible, is full of concern for this world. For the poor, for the hungry, for the oppressed, for the sick, for the grieving. Jesus didn't ignore the problems of this world in favor of heaven, in favor of the next life. So neither should we.

For progressive Christians and other Christians addressing the problems of the world is our responsibility, both as Christians and as citizens. And we acknowledge that there are things that we are called to do as individuals, actions we are called to take. But we also acknowledge that governments and institutions have a role, a big role, an important role, in solving the problems of the world, in taking care of people and addressing the evils that are around. Not that governments are the only solution or sometimes even the best solution, but without government action, without government reform, sometimes these solutions will always be incomplete. And in fact, there are times where governments can be part of the problem. And as Christians and as citizens, we're called to work for reform.

Now we see this in scripture. We heard it just a moment ago in our scripture lesson from Amos. God often in the Old Testament uses the prophet, speaks through the prophets, to address the kings, to address the nation of Israel and say, You're not taking care of [inaudible 00:04:48] people. I don't care how well you worship, God says. I don't care about your solemn assemblies. I don't care about your offerings. If justice isn't flowing to everyone, if righteousness isn't in part, if you're not taking care of the widows and the poor and the orphan, doesn't matter how you worship me, let justice flow like mighty waters, Amos says. God's laws in scripture are given to protect all people, but especially the oppressed; especially the poor, the widows, the orphans, the foreigners.

And so we start this morning by beginning with the premise that God cares about injustice in the world. And God wants to take care of all those who suffer from injustice. God calls us, as Christians, as the body of Christ, to help those people in their circumstances. To work for changes, whether that's political or otherwise, that address these needs. So with this dual call in mind as Christians, as citizens to God, to political action, I want to turn to our scripture lesson this morning. And we're going to read from Mark chapter 12, starting with verse 13. And this is going to help us answer the question, Okay, well we're called to bring our faith into the political world, but how do we do that?

Mark 12, starting with verse 13. Then they sent to him, some Pharisees and some Herodians to trap him. In what, He said. And they came and said to him, Teacher, we know that you are sincere and show deference to no one. For you do not regard people with partiality. But teach the way of God in accordance with truth. Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor or not? Should we pay them or should we not? But knowing their hypocrisy, Jesus said to them, Why are you putting me to the test? Bring me a denarius and let me see it. And they brought one. And then he said to them, Whose head is this and whose title? They answered, The emperor's. And Jesus said to them, Give to the emperor the things that are the emperor's and to God, the things that are God's. And they were utterly amazed at him. This is the word of the Lord.

So I like in this story how they butter them up at the beginning. Jesus, you're sincere. You show no harsh reality. You teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. And if you're Jesus at that point you're like, Okay, what's coming? Because something is coming, and it is. They're trying to trap him. Trying to give him that impossible question that has no right answer, because that they can catch him. No matter how he answers it one way or the other, they're going to get him. They ask him the question, Should we pay taxes to the emperor? To Rome, to the Roman Empire? Should we as Jewish people under Roman occupation, should we pay those taxes? If he says no, all right, it's off to the Romans. Jesus is inciting rebellion. He's speaking against Rome. If he says yes, now he is out of favor with the Jewish people. Oh, we're supposed to pay our taxes to the occupiers, to the people who have conquered us. You must not sympathize with your Jewish people.

So Jesus doesn't fall for the trap. Instead, he lays a trap of his own, so to speak, although it's a trap based in the truth of the matter. And he says, Bring me denarius. A denarius is a coin at that time, a Roman coin. It's about the pay for an average day's labor. And he says, Whose image is on it? And it's the emperor, like this coin we have up here. That's the emperor there. And I think if I remember this coin, it says something along the lines of, Son of the divine, Caesar Augustus. He says, Okay, here's this coin. It's got Caesar's picture on it. And then we get this phrase, and many of us know the King James version, Render unto Caesar, what is Caesar render unto God? What is God? Caesar can have everything that is his and God can have everything that is God's.

The trick is, these are good Jewish folks. They know their scripture. And so when Jesus brings this coin, it says, Whose image is on it? Well, Caesars, that's obvious. But these Jewish folks, they know their scripture and they think, Okay, the coin is made in the image of Caesar, but what is made in the image of God? And they're going to go back to Genesis and they're going to say, People, you and I, humanity is made in the image of God. So if we give to Caesar what is in Caesar's image, then we give to God what is in God's image. And that is us, our humanity, all that we say and do.

And so this is going to be our starting point here for how we practice our politics as Christians. There are things that belong to God and there are things that belong to Caesar. As progressive Christians, we embrace the American ideal of the separation of church and state. We don't believe that the state should promote, the government should promote any one religion, should promote Christianity above any religion, should promote any other religion. We are against the Christian nationalism that says, Well, our country was founded to be a Christian country and the government should make sure it stays a Christian country. Should mandate certain Christian practices, or preference certain Christian practices over others. Neither should the state interfere with the church. We feel that we should be free to practice our religion how we see fit and how we choose as long as it's not harming anyone else.

But this isn't to say that our faith doesn't influence our politics. Give to God what is God, give to Caesar what is Caesar's. We do it in such a way that our highest allegiance is to God, and not to the government and not to a particular candidate and not to a particular party. We like to say, as Christians, we are political, but our faith does not make us partisan. There is no one party, there is no one candidate, there is no one platform that is a substitute for God's will and how God would have us act in the world. Our politics should conform to the gospel, not the other way around.

If we read scripture, if we read the Bible, if we practice our faith and we find that Jesus and God supports every one of our political positions, we should wonder about that. I think it's Anne Lamont, I want to say, who said, If it turns out God hates all the same people we hate, that's not right. Bishop Michael Curry says, Partisan neutrality though does not equal moral neutrality. Sometimes we as Christians can say, Well, we don't want to be partisan. And we take that to mean that we shouldn't act, we shouldn't live out our faith. God has values that come through in scripture, and we should be living those and seeking to achieve those politically wherever that leads us.

One of the best examples is we can point to in our history is the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. This was led in large part by churchgoers, by clergy, by their wives. Black clergy, especially. We know of Martin Luther King Jr's religious background. We know the imagery he used to embrace the struggle for racial justice. He talked about the Promised Land. And the Civil Rights Movements they met and they organized in churches. They sang hymns and they sang spirituals at protests and on freedom rides. And as I have learned more about American Christianity and its culpability in white supremacy over the years, it makes sense some way that the only way to ever overcome the racism, the white supremacy, that was part of our land and laws, was through the church. Because the church, the white Christian church, had a hand in supporting and forming that racism in our country.

Our involvement in politics as Christians is complex, but we cannot shy away from it. When we act politically as Christians; when we vote, it's not simply a political act. It is a moral act and it is an expression of our faith. It's an act that expresses love for neighbor and love for the stranger. It's an act that expresses how strongly we believe in God's call to love, to compassion, to justice. Our beliefs are shown oftentimes more strongly in our actions than they are in our words.

So I just want to leave you this morning with this idea that how we act as Christians, whether that's out in the world at work, at school, in the voting booth, in the Capitol, how we act in the world shows what we believe even more than what we say and what we profess. Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, give to God what is God's.