Bible Verse: Matthew 22:15-22
Full Sermon Transcript
WELCOME
Pastor Chris Paavola:
Well, hey everybody. Good morning. My name’s Chris Paavola. It’s great to be with you guys today. Hopefully you got a better night’s sleep than the folks at my house with that thunderstorm. Holy cow, if you see my kids go the other way this morning. But yeah, great to be with you guys.
ABOUT THIS SERIES
I’m excited today because we are kicking off a brand new series today and it’s a series on an important topic. That’s why I’m excited to talk about it. You can tell it’s an important topic because your phone blows up seven times a day with text messages about it. Your mailbox at home is full of junk mail about it. Every commercial break you see commercials about it. Every time you drive down the road, you have to be reminded about it.
THE ELECTION
We’re talking about the election, and I know instantly there’s a reaction in the room and maybe some of you watching online are like, I’m going to watch from home today in case things get wild.
This guy spent a few weeks talking about money, and now we’re talking about politics. He is a glutton for punishment, man. No. So here’s my pledge to you. Okay? My pledge to you today and next week is, and I’m actually going to take up a challenge, okay? It is kind of a reverse drinking game, right? I promise you in the next two weeks I will not say any of these words, okay?
CHALLENGE: PREACH ON THE ELECTION WITHOUT SAYING:
Kamala Harris Donald Trump The Border Immigration
Transgenderism Pro-Life Pro-Choice Economy
Medicare Republican Democrat Ukraine
Crime Gun Control
I am not going to say ’em, not going to say any of those words on the screen. And if you’re listening later on to the podcast or something, you have to tune into the live stream and watch what the screen looks like because I can’t say those words that are on the screen. I won’t say those at the next two weeks. And here’s why. You know the candidates, my friends, and the issues I want to talk to us about what we tend to forget during the election season. I want to talk about what we tend to not think about.
I want to put politics in perspective. As I was writing this message, I kind of had just this epiphany that what my goal for this message is that you could listen to it in 50 years. You could listen to it a hundred years, and every word would be just as applicable. So I don’t want to timestamp it with any one thing. And again, I want to talk about what we tend to forget during the election season. I want to put politics in perspective so you can walk out of here today with hope. That’s my goal. Now, most times if you think about that word perspective, that means you’re taking in greater context. And so most times when I’m preaching, I’m using a microscope and we look at one specific section of the Bible and we zoom in on, and that’s good. That’s what we should do.
We should look at this section and try to understand it the best we can. But today I kind of want to use a different instrument than a microscope. Today I want to use a telescope metaphorically. So I want to use a telescope to talk about today’s topic. And in particular, I want to take a telescope and do this survey of all of scripture around this idea of government.
GOVERNMENT
And I mean government, not like the noun or just like the thing. I mean it more like the term, the verb, the adverb to govern something, having governance. And when you look at scripture with this word in mind, when that’s the lens that you look at scripture, it is wild. It is wild and it is everywhere.
STRANGERS IN A STRANGE LAND
And so if you’ll allow me, we’re going to first look at the book of Genesis right away in the beginning with Adam and Eve.
ADAM AND EVE
There’s nothing, okay? And then all of a sudden God makes everything and who’s in charge of everything? God. And he is the ruler over it all. He’s a king declaring an edict. Let there be light. There was light, let there be land, there was land. Let there be water. There was water. And then he makes Adam and Eve, and when he makes Adam and Eve, he confers dominion on them. This is my area that I rule, but now I am putting you in authority. You in charge of this subsection of it. Take a look from Genesis one, verse 28. “God blessed them and said to them, be fruitful and increase the number. Fill the earth and” say it:
Response: Subdue
Pastor Chris Paavola: “subdue it and rule over it over the fish of the sea and the birds of the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground’, subdue it, rule and reign.
God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” Genesis 1:28
This is my dominion. I have authority over it. And now I’m taking this section for you to govern. And even if you didn’t grow up in the church, you know what happens next? They rebel against the king. They try to take his throne, the devil tempts Adam. And even listen to the temptation. You will be like, God, you won’t need ’em anymore. You’ll be on that throne if he eats from the tree that he forbade. And so they do this coup, a coup for his throne. And when he crushes their insurrection and the rebellion, rather than taking them to the guillotine in mercy, he spares them and banishes them from his kingdom. Really important concept. And Adam and Eve are cast out of God’s promised land, God’s paradise and forced to wander the earth and they’re now strangers in a stranger land. And this is the first of many times we see this in scripture.
ABRAHAM
So we turn our attention. Then next, I can’t see your nose, hairs or anything, I’m just next to Abraham. Abraham, interestingly enough, he’s living in a land called er between the Tigris and Euphrates River, which is where Eden was very interesting. And then he calls him to go to a land I will show you. And as Abraham is wandering, notice the language God uses from Genesis 17 verse eight, “you live in the land of Canaan now as a say it stranger”, you are a stranger in a strange land, a wanderer, a sojourner. This is not your home, “but I will give you and your descendants all this land forever.” Just like he tells Adam and Eve, here’s your section of the world to rule. He tells Abraham the same thing. This is your section to govern and “I will be the God of your descendants.”
You live in the land of Canaan now as a stranger, but I will give you and your descendants all this land forever. And I will be the God of your descendants. Genesis 17:8
And you know the story. Then Abraham has Isaac and Jacob. We talked about Jacob this summer. And then Jacob as a son, Joseph and Joseph goes to Egypt to escape a famine. And then the people of Israel begin to grow. They’re in Egypt, and eventually they’re subjugated and become slaves. They’re once again strangers in a strange land.
EXODUS
And God calls them out to the promised land through this man named Moses in this thing called Exodus. And while they’re wandering in the desert, there rebel against the king yet again. And when they do, we already know how he’s going to punish his subjects. He forces them to wander as strangers in a strange land. Take a look. Numbers 32 verse 13. “The Lord’s anger burned against Israel and he made them,” say it:
Response: Wander
Pastor Chris Paavola: “wander in the wilderness 40 years.” Yet again, they are strangers in a strange land outside of God’s promised land. And when that generation passes, they finally enter into the promised land and they’re there.
The Lord’s anger burned against Israel and he made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until the whole generation of those who had done evil in his sight was gone. Numbers 32:13
EXILE
Things are good for a while, but they rebel against the Lord. And we know what happens next. An army of the Babylonians comes conquers Israel and takes them to the exile. They’re exiled from Israel. God’s promised land, they’re banished, forced to wander, and they’re now once again strangers in a strange land called Babylon.
4 This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. Jeremiah 29
And while they’re there, if you were here during our Prosper the City campaign, very, very interesting, right? Because you’ve heard this and Babylon, God’s like don’t be a thorn in their side. Don’t try to upstage a rebellion and escape. No, no, no. In Babylon, prosper the city. Prosper the city, marry, build gardens, build homes, pray for the city because if it prospers, you too will prosper. Pray for Babylon. But just be clear from Jeremiah 29 verse four, “this is what the Lord almighty the God of Israel says to all those I sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon.” And they were interested in the affairs of Babylon. They were involved. Actually, some people ascended into actual office and politics in Babylon, but they always held it with an open hand because they knew in 70 years, that’s what God promised. In 70 years, I will bring you out of Babylon. So they were involved, they were active, but it wasn’t their hope. Their hope was to go back to the promised land, back to God’s kingdom where they would have dominion.
JESUS IN ISRAEL
And this goes on then, and Israel is rebuilt, and we get to the time of Jesus. There’s this army, this empire called Rome. It sweeps across the Mediterranean and they’re conquered subjugated. It is a violent bloody overtaking. And they fight, they fight valiantly, but Israel falls and they are ruled with an iron fist and a sharp sword by a tyrant called Caesar. And Caesar. One of the things the Roman empire does that made them so successful is if you remember this from history class, they set up kind of puppet kings. You could still be king, but you have to pay a tax to us. We own you now. And that acts why the empire was able to spread it like it did. And so they set up this empire and going on politically. Then you have Herod, king Herod of Israel, who’s under Caesar, making sure that Israel is a peaceful nation in the Roman empire paying taxes and tribute back to him. And sympathizers with Herod and with Rome are called Herodians.
And then there is a group of people called the Sadducees. They are the wealthy class. Their view is, well, as long as Rome allows us to worship God freely, we’re okay. Then you have this middle class kind of group of people called the Pharisees, and their opinion is, well, Rome being here is wicked and evil and God doesn’t want them here. And they’re more closely associated with this group of people called the Sicarii or zealots who are trying to stage a violent rebellion. You’ve got Sicarii, Pharisees, Sadducees, Herodians, Roman centurions and governors all in Israel at this time. And Jesus steps on the scene and he begins his message. His message begins by talking scandalously about another kingdom.
From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” Matthew 4:17
Take a look, Matthew four verse 17. “From that time on, Jesus began to preach, repent for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” And everyone’s like, come again.
The kingdom of God is at hand. The kingdom of God has come. The kingdom of God is among you. And everyone’s like, oh, say more. What do you mean? And he starts to talk about this kingdom, but it’s really hard to nail him down. It’s like trying to catch smoke in your hand. He talks about this kingdom and he says it’s like this thing and it’s like that thing. It’s coming, but it’s not here yet. It’s now, but it’s not quite. And then he does these crazy things. He asks one of his followers, one of his closest followers is like, come follow me. And he asks this Roman sympathizer a Herodian who collects taxes from his own people and gives them to Rome like Benedict Arnold. His name is Matthew. And he asks them to come follow him. And then shortly after he goes up to another guy who’s a Sicarii zealot training to murder Romans. And he asks him, Hey Simon, the zealot, that’s you, right? Hey, why don’t you come follow me too. And everyone’s like, wait, who is this guy? Look at the people who follow him.
And then he has this moment where he talks to a Roman centurion, a Roman centurion dares, to ask this Jewish rabbi to heal his son as if they haven’t taken enough from Israel already. And here’s Jesus standing with the centurion. And instead of condemning his politics, instead of condemning his violence, he commends him for his faith. And everyone’s like, what is this guy? And even when he teaches us to pray, people are like, teach us to pray. He teaches us to pray about this kingdom. You’ve said these words likely, but here they are from Matthew and they’re going to look a little different. But I want to say them together. And in this first section, notice the kingdom language and how he’s talking about something different than what’s established that everyone can see. For Matthew six, we say together:
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
And then in the next section, notice the kingdom language in the frame. If you look at it through this lens, what he’s talking about is this kingdom where the king provides for his people. And the king protects his people. It’s all kingdom language. Look, say it with me. Give us today, sorry.
Give us today our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we have also forgiven our debtors and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.
RENDER UNTO CAESAR
Fascinating. And then he starts teaching on the kingdom, and he is like, blessed are the poor in this kingdom for theirs is the kingdom of God. Wait, what? And he’s talking to him and he is like, you know how the rulers of this world, guys like the Lord, it over you?
And they’re looking for power, not so among you, my followers. You don’t chase after power in this kingdom. You seek out weakness. You don’t try to be first. You make yourself last. You don’t try to be great. You try to a slave. You don’t try to exact vengeance in my kingdom. No, in my kingdom, you forgive. You love your enemies. What? Yeah, you give to your enemies. When they take from you, you give them even more. You love your enemies. That’s the way things work in this kingdom. You don’t fight for the seed of power, you don’t fight for the seed of honor. You fight for the seed of humility in this kingdom. And they’re like, what kind of kingdom is this?
And then the Sadducees, Pharisees and Herodians, they like, oh, we got away. We know how to trap him. He’s got to pay his taxes. He’s too old. And actually, we know from another account that Peter also was probably old enough to pay taxes, which means the rest of the disciples were too young to pay taxes. They’re not bearded guys like you see in paintings, but they’re like, we can trap this guy because he’s got to pay taxes. And if he doesn’t, he’s rebelling against Rome. We got him. So they walk up to him and they flatter him with words, and they’re like, Jesus, is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?
And he’s like, bring me a denarius. It’s the coin. And this is the coin they bring him on. One side is this face. Who do you think that is? Yep, Caesar. Tiberius. That’s Caesar. Okay. And then the other side is the pacs Romana, the peace of Rome it’s, this goddess and the Roman religion sitting on a throne. She is right, pack’s peace, right? The inscription on the left says Caesar Augustus, son of God, he’s a God on earth. Caesar is the son of God according to Rome. The inscription on the right, there’s Pax Romana, it’s the great high priest.
21 Jesus said to them:, “Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.” Matthew 22
So just picture this, the son of God, the great high priest, is now holding a coin with heresy that says, Caesar is the son of God, and Rome has the Ponte fix Maximus, the great high priest, and he’s the high priest himself. And he doesn’t say a word about it. He doesn’t say anything about it. All he says is “Give back to Caesar, what is Caesar’s, and to God, what is God’s” And in doing so, he does a couple things. One, he recognizes human authority. He recognizes the kingdom of this earth, but he also raises their eyes to a greater kingdom over it, the kingdom of God. It’s going back all the way to the garden of Eden. Again, this is his dominion.
And Jesus kind of reiterates this point again when he’s standing in front of the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate and Pilate says, are you a king?
11 Jesus answered, “You have no poser over me if it were not given to your from above.” John 19
And Jesus says, my kingdom is not of this world. It’s interesting. He doesn’t say, my kingdom’s not in this world. He doesn’t say that. He says, my kingdom’s not from this world, of this world. Pilate’s like, well, I could free you. And Jesus says, you would have no power over me if it were not. Say it given to you from above. But God has given you this authority, Pontius. And later on he starts to talk about, and the corollary on this is that leaders are held to a higher standard. Caesar will be judged by God according to his actions for what he has done as a leader, because that authority was given to him by God.
And then in a few hours after he says this, he’s led away in chains. He submits to Jewish authorities, he submits to Roman authority, and he goes to a Roman instrument of torture where he dies, and the sign over his set head says, king of the Jews. And he submits to the Roman authority because he is submitting to the will of his father who is over him. Lord, not my will, but your will be done. And then he rises from the grave and the least is made the greatest because that’s how it works in God’s kingdom. And he ascends into heaven and sits down at the right hand of God.
And the church watches this happen. And in particular the apostles. The apostles watch Jesus submit to the Roman authorities, to the Jewish authorities because he’s submitting to the will of his father all the way to a cross, and they watch him ascend into heaven. And they’re like, okay, we get it in the entire New Testament. We have no letters written, talking about writing petitions to Rome, no letters about marching on Rome, no letters about staging a violent revolt against Rome. Paul says in Romans 13, to submit to the governing authorities for they bear the sword. You don’t want to fear Rome, do good. Romans 13, Paul writes a letter to another pastor named Timothy, and he says, pray for those in authority, just like God commanded us to pray for the Babylonian kings, pray for the Roman kings.
And then Peter, Simon, Peter, Peter, Peter writes a letter to a church. And look at the language Peter uses. “Dear friends, I urge you as, oh, there it is.” Say it:
Response: Strangers
Pastor Chris Paavola: Strangers and sojourners”, strangers in the strange land, wanderers like Adam and Eve, like Abraham, like the people of the exodus, like the people in the exile, strangers in strange land, abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul live such good lives among the world that though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds. They may see you serving one another. They may see you giving up seats of honor for seats of humility. They may see you loving your enemies and turning the other cheek. They may see you making yourself weak for the sake of the strong, least for the greatest last for the first. And telling people that Jesus died and rose again.
And when they see that they may glorify God on the day he visits us. And then look at the language he uses. Next one, Peter two, verse 13. Submit yourselves to the Lord for the Lord’s sake to every human authority, whether to the emperor, wait, the guy who conquered us and is hunting us down, yes, submit to him as the supreme authority or to governors who are sent by God to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right?
11 Dear friends, I urge you, as strangers and sojourners, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. 12 Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us. 13 Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human authority: whether to the emperor, as the supreme authority, 14 or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. 1 Peter 2
And as you survey all of scripture, it seems to be the stance towards government is two things. If they aren’t forcing you to sin, coercing, forcing you to sin or forbidding you to worship, submit to them, submit to them. Sometimes pastors are a prophet, and prophets call people to break their idols. And I feel like that’s kind of what God is leading us to do today to smash some idols.
YOUR HOPE DURING THE ELECTION
So how do we use all of this information to find hope in October and November of 2024 or whenever you’re hearing these words? Well, my friends, your hope is not in Caesar, your home is not Babylon.
GOD’S KINGDOM IS YOUR HOPE DURING THE ELECTION
God’s kingdom is your hope during the election. You are not hoping in the election, not hope is not found in who wins. Your hope is in God’s kingdom. It is. Now, don’t hear what I’m not saying. Yeah, but how come? Don’t hear what I’m not saying. You can be involved in the affairs of Babylon. You can be involved, you can be interested, you can vote, you can serve in public office, but hold it with a loose hand. This world is not your home.
AM I MORE CONCERNED WITH THE KINGDOM OF THE WORLD THAN THE KINGDOM OF GOD?
Your hope is in God’s kingdom, not the earthly kingdom. And what’s wild is this group of Roman or this group of Christians, this rag tag dozen or so people in 200 years, they overthrow the Roman empire not through bloodshed, but because they live the upside down kingdom of God. They never worked to save Rome. They worked to save lives, to save people, and it changed the world. When I am feeling anxious, when I have bought the fear, they’re mongering and I’m worried about the election and I’m angry. I have to check myself with a question when my blood pressure gets up. And here’s the question I pose on myself. Am I more concerned with the kingdom of earth than the kingdom of heaven? And almost invariably, the answer is yes.
I’m not forbid from worshiping in this room and I’m not forced to sin, and I am finding myself far more concerned with the kingdom of earth and the kingdom of God, then I need to turn off Fox News, CNM and MSNBC, whatever, and open my Bible and read about how God is still on the throne. His kingdom is everlasting. I need to meditate on the things of God and remind myself of them. And that would be my encouragement to you today, this week in the coming weeks on November 5th, when everyone else is biting their fingernails. You can be interested, you can be involved, but your hope is in a greater kingdom and set your minds on that kingdom. In fact, that’s exactly what the apostle Paul tells us to do. He’s writing a letter to a church in a place called Colossal. Look at the language he uses. Notice the political language, the governing language in it, but it’s what Paul is instructing us to do when we’re feeling anxious. “Since then, you have been raised with” Christ because of your baptism, since you have been raised with Christ, because of your baptism. “Set your heart on things above” where Christ is reigning, ruling, seated at the right hand of God Almighty, all powerful, not nervous about what’s going to happen on November 5th. “Set your mind on things above, not on earthly things.”
Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. Colossians 3
This is your hope in November. This is your hope during the election. Let me pray for us.
PRAYER
Heavenly Father, we confess specifically this morning the sin of idolatry. And maybe for a moment, maybe it’s a lifestyle, whatever it is, God. But there are times where we place too much hope on the rulers of this world, and we forget and we lose our focus on you and your kingdom. And we ask God to help us put politics in perspective. And Lord, we pray for the election ask that you would govern and that Lord, whoever is elected, that would make decisions that honor you. But most importantly that we would continue to have a freedom to worship like this. As we do that, we would be free to abstain from sin, and we would be free to expand your kingdom by loving, serving, forgiving our enemies. It’s in Jesus’ name we pray. Amen
