Jesus not Politics

So here's what we're gonna talk about today.

We're gonna start here.

There's a quote from 1879.

It's an old quote, 150-year-old quote, that says the two things you should never talk about in polite society are religion and politics.

Okay, now a few years ago, and by the way, I think this is interesting, right?

You think that in 150 years we would have figured out how to have these conversations?

That at this point we should be like, yeah, that quote is outdated because in the last 150 years, we have all figured out how to be much more tolerant, much more understanding and compassionate, and actually now we can talk about these things and it's not divisive, it's not explosive.

We all just agree to disagree, right?

Yeah, no, that has not happened at all.

It doesn't seem like it is.

A few years ago, many of you uh were here at this point in time.

Oh no, this always happens.

Hold on.

No, no, it's all good.

I'm gonna lick my fingers.

We're gonna be good.

All right.

We had a uh banner on our building, a billboard, I think, at one point, too, that said, Jesus, not religion.

This made a lot of people mad.

Um but what we were trying to say was not that we don't reverently worship God.

We weren't trying to say uh that we're not a church that takes God seriously.

We take God very seriously, we just don't take ourselves very seriously at all.

Um what we were trying to say is that religion is typically a bad thing.

Religion is when man-made rules are paraded as if they're the priorities of God, and the people who uh decide what the priorities really are, who kind of cherry-pick those, they determine who's in and who's out.

And in fact, when Jesus was walking around the earth and teaching, the people he made the most angry were the most religious people.

The more religious you were, the more angry you probably were at Jesus.

Because he wasn't super interested in religion as man makes it.

He was looking at people's hearts.

And he opened up access to God to people that religion would have always said were out.

And so as a church, we were saying, look, religion has this way of kind of taking over, and and over time uh the church, Christianity just becomes more and more religious, and it becomes less about Jesus and more about the rules and the regulations and the traditions, and we're not gonna be like that.

We're a church that's about Jesus, not religion.

And we've always been that way.

And since we've gone ahead and done the whole religion thing, it only makes sense that we just extend this and say, How about Jesus, not politics?

Um, because the tendency is also for religion, for church, for all this stuff that we do to also over time become political.

And in fact, the church in America has become much more political and politicized than at any point in my lifetime.

In the last 30, 40 years, there's been this huge effort to politicize the church.

And today we're gonna talk about why that can't be.

Now, what I'm not saying is that your faith in Jesus should not inform your political passions or your political convictions.

Absolutely.

It's fine to be interested in politics, it's fine to be involved in politics, it's fine to let your faith guide your opinions on politics, how you vote, what you talk about, but here's what's not okay is for you, for anyone, especially anyone who follows Jesus, to be constantly fired up, freaked out, panicked, worried, obsessed, anxious, angry because of what's going on politically.

John chapter 14, verse 27, Jesus said, I'm leaving you with a gift.

John 14:27

Peace of mind and heart.

And the peace that I give is a gift that the world cannot give.

So don't be troubled or afraid.

Jesus said, I'm coming to give you peace.

And the peace that I offer is a peace that this world cannot give you.

In the last three, four years, I've had so many conversations because of my role here with people who are just constantly triggered, angered, anxious, mad, scared, and obsessed with politics.

I mean, I've never been like that.

Um, I mean, we've all fallen victim to that from time to time, right?

Because there's this tendency to believe that the time that we're living in is like the most important time that has ever been, and that right now, in this moment, this is like this is the tipping point of history.

That's something that we all have a tendency to believe, and that's something, by the way, that pretty much every generation has believed.

And it's very easy for us, and by the way, a lot of people make a lot of money and profit very much by keeping us in that state.

And so I've seen more people that I love and care about and know through conversations, through things that I see on social media.

Uh I I browse, but I don't post very much.

But I see so many people and they're just worked up.

And it's all about politics.

In fact, there was a conversation I had with a gentleman a few years ago that I'll always remember because uh someone, and I still love this man very much, see him occasionally, but he was letting me know that that he was he was moving away from the church, he was leaving the church.

And I was like, Man, why?

And he talked for 30 minutes straight about politics.

And afterwards I said, Man, that's cool.

And I actually agree with much of what you said.

What does any of that have to do with our church?

And he went, Oh, I don't know.

He's like, and then he said he kind of put words.

He said, I think you should just be more political.

I think that we as a church should be more political.

And I said, Man, no.

No.

Because we're Jesus followers.

And there was a tremendous pressure, as we're gonna explore today, on Jesus to get political, and he didn't do it.

And today we're gonna explore why.

Now, next week we're gonna start going through Romans chapter 13, which deals with this concept of God and government, and how do we as Jesus followers engage with a government that maybe we don't agree with, maybe we don't think it's going in the right direction, maybe its values aren't what we value.

Romans 13 · chapter mention

How do we engage with that?

We're gonna talk about things like is there such a thing as biblical civil disobedience?

Is there a way to sort of go against the government as a Jesus follower if you don't agree with certain things?

We're gonna have really interesting practical conversations, but today is sort of a foundation.

And what I want us to do today is look at how Jesus engaged with the politics of his day.

And what things about politics, about the world, about himself, did Jesus believe that maybe guided the way that he engaged or didn't engage in in politics?

And the question we're gonna get to is do we believe those same things?

I'm a Jesus follower.

So it's important for me to believe what Jesus believes.

How can I follow him if I don't believe what he believes?

We're gonna explore that together.

It's gonna be a really interesting conversation.

Now, here's what I want to start with.

There's a little bit of history, and I'm gonna try to, it's not boring history though, like it's super messed up, jacked up history.

Okay?

It's kind of like soap opera history, it's crazy.

But what I need us to understand is this I know right now there's a tendency for people to get very worked up politically because the world seems crazy.

Like, can we agree with that?

Does the world not seem a little bit crazy?

Has anyone felt that, looked around, and said, like, what is happening?

Right?

I mean, just think about the last few years.

I mean, right now we've got what's going on in Ukraine, and then it was Afghanistan last year.

What happened there was was seemed crazy.

And there's been all this divide politically between Republicans and Democrats, and that divide is widening, and each side accuses the other side of everything from fraud to cheating to election interference to election suppression, like just finger pointing left and right.

Right?

We've had all the COVID stuff, and the way the government has responded to that stuff, and it's ranged from certain states like ours and Florida and other states, a lot of southern states, uh saying, like, pretty much for the most part, let us be, to other places where it's like you can't do anything, you can't go anywhere.

There have been uh vaccine requirements and mandates, there have been mask requirements and mandates, there have been just all kinds of craziness, and it you look around, it just seems so chaotic.

And so it's easy to say, man, it's impossible not to get sucked into the vortex of political frustration and angst because it's so crazy, how could you not?

But what I need us to understand is that as crazy as our politics are today, it may not hold a candle to how crazy the politics of Jesus' day were.

So I need us to kind of understand the political setting of Jesus' life because he happened to live in one of the most politically charged eras in human history.

Okay?

So let's start here.

When Jesus was alive, uh, it was right at the height of the Roman Empire.

Okay, so I'm gonna walk us through this real quick.

So, about 50 years before Jesus, there was a dude named Julius Caesar.

Today I think there's a casino named after him, not much else.

Um, there's salads, he was a big fan of salads, loves salads so much, uh, just passionate about his lettuce.

And so I don't even know why they call it a Caesar salad.

Someone probably does, but whatever.

So, Julius Caesar, this is about 40, 50 years before Jesus, okay?

He was actually the first dictator of Rome.

Before that, Rome had been a republic, Caesar had more power, and he was actually assassinated by some friends that tried to overthrow him.

They were afraid he was getting too much power, uh, and they were gonna kind of take over.

But uh there were two very, very important allies of Julius Caesar who led uh a fight against those people who killed him, uh, specifically a man named Octavian, who would later be called Caesar Augustus.

Umper of Rome, and Mark Antony, who was a lover of someone named Cleopatra, if you've ever heard of her.

Okay?

Interesting, by the way.

Think about how important these people are in history.

I mean, movies have been made about these people.

People still know who they are today.

Like you might be someone who goes, I don't know much about history, but you've probably heard the names Caesar, Cleopatra.

And yet, how crazy is it that Jesus Christ, a poor carpenter from the middle of nowhere, ends up casting a shadow over history so much greater than any of these people, with all the political power and might in the world.

That Jesus rises above all of them when it comes to fame and importance in history.

That's pretty crazy.

But but these are important figures, right?

So here's kind of what happens.

Um, Octavian, Mark Antony, they defeat the people who uh killed Caesar, then they have a beef, and Octavian wins, he becomes emperor, Caesar Augustus.

Um Jesus, by the way, is born, this is who the emperor of Rome is, Caesar Augustus.

But then after a while, he gives up uh his rule, and Tiberius is a man who takes over for him.

Tiberius is actually uh the emperor during Jesus' life, okay?

Uh there's this guy named Sejanus who is really important.

He was like Tiberius' right-hand man, but as you'll see in a lot of the politics of the day, he wanted to be the man.

He didn't want to be number two, and so he's kind of positioning himself constantly to take over when Siberius is done.

He's putting all his guys that are loyal to him in really important places so that when Tiberius is done, he can take over.

But then Tiberius catches wind of this, has Sejanus killed, has a bunch of the people aligned with Sejanus killed.

It's crazy.

We have like cancel culture.

Uh, they had murder culture.

That was the culture in like like we're like, you can't tweet anymore.

They're like, you can't breathe anymore.

That's how they handled stuff back.

A little bit different.

Um, I don't like either culture, but you know, I breathing is better than than tweeting.

So it's okay.

Okay, so after Tiberius, uh, there's this dude Caligula, and he's horrible.

He's like a dumpster fire.

He is uh just crazy, as many of them were.

Uh, and then that leads to Claudius to Nero, who is also a dumpster fire, who actually uh allows Rome to catch on fire, which is is is a big deal.

And then you've got Vespasian and Titus, these guys are important.

When Vespasian is the emperor, there's this giant war between Rome and Israel.

Israel tried to break off and have independence.

This is 40 years after Jesus' life, so about 70 AD, and and and actually Rome lays siege.

Titus was in charge of this.

He lays siege to uh Jerusalem, and a million Jews were killed.

Jerusalem was completely destroyed, the temple in Jerusalem completely and totally destroyed, and then Titus becomes uh the emperor.

So these are important people.

Try to remember some of these names.

So we are you with me?

Alright, next flip chart.

Here we go.

This gets even crazier.

You think that's nuts?

Wait till we see what's going on in Israel.

Man, these pages are so small.

Hold on.

It's basically toilet paper.

Alright, here we go.

So here's the political structure of Jesus' area.

This is Israel, okay?

You've got Herod the Great.

That's a name he gave himself.

Very few people called the Great are called that by others.

That's a nickname that usually you come up with and then make people follow.

Um, and if you didn't do this, by the way, Herod killed you.

Here's how crazy Herod was.

Everyone hated Herod.

Everyone hated him.

When Herod died, he had an edict that on the day of his death, some of the most powerful, important, influential, and beloved men of Israel would be killed.

Because he was determined that on the day he died, people would cry.

Didn't matter to him if they were crying for him or for others.

So the day that Herod died, a ton of men in Israel who were very beloved and respected were rounded up and murdered.

That way people were sad.

That's Herod the Great.

That's what you know about his character.

This, by the way, is the same Herod, if you know the story of Jesus, who was in power when Jesus was born, and he's the one who finds out about the birth of Jesus and has all of the children in Bethlehem killed, and Jesus barely escapes.

That's this guy.

Now, it was said that it was safer to be one of Herod's livestock than to be one of his children.

Okay?

So these lines represent different wives that Herod had, and these are his children.

The exes are the ones he killed.

Okay?

So uh he had this guy killed because this guy was trying to take over, probably true.

These two sons he had killed, and then you've got uh Herod Philip I, Herod Archolus, Herod Antipas, and then Philip II.

Alright?

So here's where these guys get kind of interesting.

Um, this guy, he kind of rules uh an important area of like Jerusalem and whatnot, but his rule doesn't last very long.

Eventually, Rome just says, you know what, we're gonna replace you with what they called a prefect, like a governor, and that eventually becomes a man named Pilate.

He plays a pretty important role.

Okay?

Interestingly enough, Pilate was placed in his position by a dude we just talked about named Sejanus.

And that was one year before Jesus was crucified.

And so, because that guy Sejanus, who tried to take over, and then Tiberius had him killed, this is like a soap opera.

You guys tracking with this?

This is all insane, right?

It's like a rumor.

So then what happened was this guy killed this guy.

So Sejanus is the one who put Pilate there.

So guess how nervous Pilate was when Sejanus was killed?

He was on incredibly thin ice because he was placed in his position by a dude that was now murdered, executed, and all the people that Sejanus had put in power, the same thing was happening.

So Pilate, you see, when Jesus comes to trial, is just like, I don't care, I just don't want to do anything controversial.

Because that's that's the thin ice that he's on.

Okay, so this guy's important, Herod Antipos, for a couple reasons.

He's the Herod, by the way, that Jesus goes before when he's put on trial.

That's that guy.

Um, this is where it gets really weird and gross.

So one of the dudes that uh, one of the sons that Herod had killed had two children, Herod Agrippa and Herodias.

And I guess Herod the Great felt bad that he murdered their dad, also his son.

So he's like, you know what I'll do to make it better?

I'll have Herodias marry one of my other sons, you know, her uncle.

And so she's married to Herod Philip I, but then after a while, she's like, I don't like this uncle.

I like another one of my uncles.

And so she leaves this uncle and she marries this uncle, which is gross.

Right?

Um, and there's a dude named John the Baptist who's cousins with Jesus, he's who baptized Jesus, and he sees that this is going on, he's like, that is not okay.

And so he goes to Herodontopas and to Herodias and says, Y'all are wrong and weird and gross, and this shouldn't have happened, and it's it's just bad.

And they get really angry and they throw him in jail.

So, just because we're on the weird gross train, one day, uh Herodontopas has a bunch of his influential buddies, he's trying to impress him, he has them over, he has a party, and he has Herodias' daughter, Salome, dance in front of all of his friends, and they like it.

And he's so impressed that he's like, Oh, my friends like this.

He says, I'll tell you what, Salome, you ask for anything, I'll give it to you.

Whatever you want.

And so she talks to her mom and she's like, What should I ask for?

And her mom, who's still mad at John the Baptist, said, asked for John the Baptist's head delivered on a platter.

And so that's what she asked for, and he's stuck.

He didn't really want to do it, but he doesn't want to embarrass his friends, so he has John the Baptist, Jesus' cousin, executed.

That's the same dude that Jesus would one day stand before and be silent, completely silent toward.

It's the same guy.

Alright?

So then this goes on.

Uh, whenever Herodias is marrying her uncles and doing all that kind of stuff, Agrippa, her brother, he's he's off in Rome.

He's grown up in Rome, being educated, and he becomes best friends with this dude named Caligula.

And Caligula is going to become the emperor of Rome, but he's not at the time that they're friends.

What ends up happening is one day Agrippa's like, you know, I think you'd be a better emperor than your uh your uncle Tiberius.

And people catch wind of that, and they have Agrippa thrown in prison.

But when Caligula becomes the emperor, guess who he remembers?

My bro Agrippa, who thought I'd be good at this.

So he has Agrippa freed, and then he sends Agrippa back to Israel and calls him actually a king.

And this makes Herodias really angry because she's not called a queen, her brother's called a king, so she goes to Herodontopas and is like, let's go to Rome and let's ask Caligula if we can be called king and queen.

And so they do.

Uh and Caligia's like, no, now you're exiled, banished forever.

So that's how their story ends.

Uh Agrippa, he's he's pretty bad, he's like all of them.

Um he's he's the one in power in the book of Acts, for example.

He's like, he's the guy while the church is being persecuted, he's in control.

He ends up having a son, Agrippa II.

He has a daughter named Berenice, who has uh an affair with Titus, who becomes Emperor of Rome.

This is all weird and gross, right?

Um he has another daughter named Drusilla, and she actually marries a guy named Felix, and there's a story in the book of Acts where Paul is actually speaking to this guy named Felix and sharing the gospel.

That's her husband.

Um, she has a son named Agrippa, and then they move to a place called Pompeii, and there's a big old volcano that blows up.

That's not a palm tree, that's a volcano.

I'm not an artist, okay?

Uh and so they die in Pompeii.

And that is the end of Herod the Great's line.

It ends with a bang.

That's what I like to think about.

Uh I know it's they're dead, but it's a long time ago, so I feel like it's okay to have some fun at that.

So, again, this is all crazy, right?

This is insane.

You think that our political system is messed up?

Like, this is what's happening.

They're marrying each other and killing each other left and right, it's nuts.

So by the time Jesus steps on the scene, oh my gosh, here we go.

There's four major political factions in Jesus' day.

And this is we're gonna go through this fast.

There's the the Sadducees, they're in the most power.

They're actually kind of liberal compared to like the Pharisees, they're more like fundamental.

The Sadducees are in power, uh, they're kind of the liberal side, and uh they have really good relationship with Rome.

The Pharisees, they're the strict fundamentalists.

They don't like Jesus at all, neither do the Sadducees.

The zealots, they're like revolutionaries, they're violent.

In fact, they're the ones that are gonna instigate this big rebellion that's gonna end with Jerusalem being completely destroyed not very long after Jesus is alive.

Then you have the Essenes, they don't do anything, they go off into like the wilderness and just read the Bible and stay out of everything.

And here's what's interesting: none of these people agreed about anything, really.

They didn't get along very much at all, but the one thing they all agreed with was their hatred of Jesus.

Like, none of them liked Jesus.

Because the Sadducees, like, their beliefs, Jesus would like they he they'd ask him questions and he would just put their beliefs to shame.

He's like, You guys don't even know what you believe.

Okay?

The Pharisees, like, they agreed with a lot of what Jesus said.

It's just that they thought they were gonna be the ones that kind of ushered in the uh the Messiah and all these other things.

And here's Jesus, and he's doing things they don't agree with, like he's ignoring some of their traditions, and and he looks at them and says, like, yeah, you guys have all the head knowledge, but your hearts are just dark.

Because it's not about what you know, it's not about what you believe in your head, it's about does your heart change because of it?

So you don't love people, you don't care about people, you put burdens on people, you're just religious.

All right, the zealots, they would have loved if Jesus would have said, Hey, come on, let's let's do this, let's take Rome down.

They would have let Jesus be their leader, but he was just far too peace-loving for them.

And so you have all these people that can't agree, the only thing they can't agree on is like, let's get rid of Jesus.

And I believe it'd be the same today.

Fully.

Jesus is just, he's outside the box, he's different, and I don't think Jesus would be fully embraced by any political party that exists on this planet.

And he never will.

So this is the political world that Jesus walks into, and I think we can all just agree it is super messed up.

It's it's volatile, it's divisive, they murder each other, they marry multiple uncles.

It's weird, it's gross, it's honestly, if we're just like all humor aside, it's sin.

It's just the worst parts of humanity on display.

And this is the political climate of Jesus' day.

I mean, think about it, and they're they're just a few decades away from a massive civil war.

That's how like that's how volatile it is.

That's how heated it is.

And with all that in mind, the most political statement that Jesus really ever makes Mark chapter 12, verses 13 through 17.

Mark 12:13–17

Later the leaders sent some Pharisees and supporters of Herod to trap Jesus into saying something for which he could be arrested.

Teacher, they said, We know how honest you are, you are impartial and you don't play favorites.

You teach the way of God truthfully.

Now tell us, is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?

This was a big debate.

Because in their mind, paying taxes is a tribute, it's worship, and that means they're worshiping someone other than God, and so it's this huge debate.

Should we pay them or shouldn't we?

Jesus saw for their hypocrisy and said, Why are you trying to trap me?

Show me a Roman coin and I'll tell you.

And when they handed it to him, he asked, Whose picture and title are stamped on it?

Caesar's, they replied.

Well then, Jesus.

Said, give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and give to God what belongs to God.

Like, and they're just like, What?

It's so simple.

And here's what's insane to me is that is probably, arguably, the most political statement that Jesus ever made.

So he's in this super messed up political climate.

Like everyone's angry, everyone's upset, it's volatile, people are getting killed left and right.

Like the emperors are changing and they're murdering each other and poisoning.

I mean, if you look at the history of the emperors, by the way, it's like when they don't die of natural causes.

They drink something and they're dead.

And then someone else is the emperor.

And sometimes you're the emperor for like a few months.

It's just it's messed up.

And obviously, it's moving toward something that's explosive, the civil war that's about to happen, and Jesus knows about it.

In fact, Jesus talked about that.

Like he prophesied about that.

And yet, in the midst of this incredibly charged political world, Jesus never gets sucked into it.

The most political thing he ever says is, you know, give to Caesar what's Caesar's, give to God what's God's.

Now they wanted him to get political.

In fact, to the Jews, their Messiah was a political figure in their minds.

See, we always have this tendency to imagine God fitting into the world we can understand.

Right?

We're limited by our imagination, and so in our minds, the only thing that could really change the world is something political, so the Messiah must be a political figure.

Because that's clearly what's going to happen.

It can't be a self-sacrificial teacher and healer.

That would never do it.

But God is not bound by our limited imagination or our understanding of the world.

So he frequently operates outside of that and he surprises us.

But what I'm trying to say, this fundamental truth we have to understand, is that Jesus did not allow himself to get sucked into all the political craziness.

He just didn't.

And I want to explore why.

And I think there's four truths that are really, really important for us to understand.

And I think if we could believe these same things, it would keep us from being people who are who are susceptible to being triggered, anxious, to have our peace stolen from us because of all the political craziness happening around us.

When Jesus said, I come to give you peace, he wasn't giving them peace in a peaceful time.

He was giving them peace in chaotic times.

And we need peace in chaotic times.

And the world will not give it to us, and politics will not win it for us.

Number one, Jesus understood his authority.

Part of why Jesus didn't get sucked into the politics of his day is he understood his authority.

It's really interesting when he's on trial before Pilate, you know, the same Pilate who's on thin ice because he was placed in his position by a dude that just got executed.

It says that Pilate took Jesus back into the headquarters again and asked him, Where are you from?

But Jesus gave no answer.

Why don't you talk to me?

Pilate demanded.

Don't you realize that I have the power to release you or crucify you?

And then Jesus said, You would have no power over me at all unless it were given to you from above.

So I think it's interesting and kind of funny that Pilate is flaunting his power in front of Jesus.

And Jesus knows what's going to happen.

Jesus knows that just a few years later, Pilate's going to be exiled for the rest of his life.

But, you know, to say to Jesus, Do you realize who I am?

Do you understand my authority?

It's like Jesus could respond.

Let me ask you a few questions.

Have you ever spoken to a storm and it obeyed you?

Have you ever had a man filled with multitudes of demons fall down on his face in front of you and beg you for mercy?

Have you ever spoken to a dead girl and told her to rise and she got back up?

If Jesus wanted to, he could have said that to Pilate.

He could have said, Don't talk to me about authority.

You have none.

I have it all.

But he didn't say that because he didn't have to, because people who have real authority don't have to tell people they have it.

See, Jesus understands his authority.

And he understands who he is and the power that he has.

And so why didn't Jesus get sucked into the politics of his day?

Because it was beneath him.

It was beneath him.

You know, something interesting that Jesus says in his exchange with Pilate, if you keep reading, Pilate asks him, So are you a king or not?

And he says, My kingdom is not of this world.

My kingdom is not of this world.

Jesus understood that there is something greater than what's happening right now.

We need to remember that, guys.

That for all of history, there have been crazy things happening and charged seasons and eras, and at the same time, there's this greater arc over history.

And Jesus said, My kingdom is not of this world.

It's something greater, it's something far bigger.

In Matthew chapter 4.

Matthew 4 · chapter mention

Jesus is being tempted, and he's tempted three times by Satan.

The third temptation says this, verse 8.

Next the devil took him to the peak of a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.

I'll give it to you, he said, if you'll kneel down and worship me.

Get out of here, Satan, Jesus told him.

For the scriptures say you must worship the Lord your God and serve only him.

Satan was offering Jesus all the kingdoms of the world.

That must mean that Satan has some influence with the kingdoms of this world.

But Jesus wasn't interested.

Jesus just wasn't interested in earthly power or earthly influence.

Because he understood that the kingdom of God, the kingdom, by the way, that if we give in our lives to Jesus, we are citizens of, it is not of this world.

Which means that the solutions that we really need in our lives are not of this world.

It means that the hope that we have is not in this world.

That's why we say Jesus, not politics.

Not because we can't be interested or involved or participate, but because our hope is not in politics.

Our hope is not in who we think should be in the Oval Office.

Our hope is not in who wins the next election.

It's in Jesus.

And his kingdom is not of this world.

It's part of something much greater.

And we have to ask ourselves the question: do we see ourselves primarily as citizens of this world or citizens of his world?

And if you see yourself as a citizen of the kingdom of God, it just, I don't know.

It puts things in a different perspective.

That's the second truth.

The third truth, I think this is something a lot of us need to remember that Jesus understood that real change happens, real change happens bottom up, not top down.

So in Mark chapter 4, Jesus says, How can I describe the kingdom of God?

Mark 4 · chapter mention

What story should I use to illustrate it?

It's like a mustard seed planted in the ground.

It's the smallest of all seeds, but it becomes the largest of all garden plants.

It grows long branches and birds can make nests in its shade.

Jesus says that my kingdom is like a weed.

That's why it's actually illegal in the Jewish world to plant mustard seeds in gardens because they take everything over.

It's like there, now you have a mustard tree.

That's it.

But it's bottom-up.

I think sometimes when we recognize that change needs to happen, which by the way, guys, it's good to have discernment and recognize, man, things need to change.

This is not going in a good direction.

Something needs to happen.

But we have a tendency, we get sucked into the politics of the world, and we believe that real change happens top down.

If we get that person elected, if we get that law passed, that's going to trickle down and change the world.

That is not how change happens.

It's bottom-up.

And so Jesus spent virtually no time trying to wine and dine the influential people of his day.

He spent zero time trying to gain political influence and become close to people who had power.

You don't see the Apostle Paul in the New Testament writing, like, guys, just get me elected to the Senate, and then we can really make something happen.

No, what did Jesus do?

He went and talked to everyday people.

And he opened the eyes of everyday people and he opened their eyes to the love that God has for them.

And they began to give their lives to Jesus.

And from the bottom up, the movement of Jesus became so strong and so powerful that no top-down authority on earth could stop it or has been able to stop it ever since.

Because real change happens bottom up, not top-down.

And Jesus believed that.

Finally, Jesus understood the permanence of his kingdom versus the fleeting governments of this world.

I made a chart, and I'll do this very often.

Pretty cool chart, right?

So let me explain the lines.

This line represents the uh length of the movement of Jesus in time up to this point.

And please understand that this one is still going.

In fact, I should have just drawn it off the edge because it hasn't ended.

So just pretend that that keeps going.

That would have been better.

My mistake.

So this represents over 2,000 years, right?

Because the movement of Jesus has been going for 2,000 years.

And it's still going.

This line would represent uh the length of time that the the Roman Empire was in power.

And by the way, the Roman Empire, by far, the longest-lasting, most successful uh political organization in the history of the world.

Nothing comes close to it.

A thousand years.

It lasted a thousand years.

That's insane.

But it's over.

It's gone.

And yet, the movement of Jesus keeps going.

More than double, and it will one day dwarf it.

This would represent the British Empire, which is another one of the most successful empires in the history of the world.

400 years.

There's a period of 400 years where Britain controlled like so much of the world.

There was actually a saying that said the sun never sets on the British Empire.

And that was true.

Because you've got Australia and India and Britain and the colonies here.

It's like they were everywhere.

400 years, and then it ended.

And we kind of played a part in that.

And then you've got us.

Look at us.

Look how cute we are.

Look at America.

A little line right there.

You know, just chugging along.

And I don't know what's gonna happen.

Like, maybe, maybe we'll one day outpace this one, and we're we're we can jump up here.

We got a couple more hundred years in this, I guess.

I don't know.

Or maybe we'll even like go to this level.

Like, wow, can you imagine if America was in power for a thousand years, like Rome?

Of course, by that time, this line will be a lot bigger.

And here's what we need to understand, guys.

The kingdoms of this world, they all end.

It's fleeting.

And if you read the book of Revelation, there's a lot of imagery and it's not like super clear all the time what's going on.

But what is clear is that Jesus does not return and make like any nation the official nation of the world.

He comes and actually it says that all nations oppose him.

And that he speaks against all nations.

And he just hits the reboot button, the reset button on everything.

Like he doesn't come and make the world America or any other country in the world.

He he starts something new.

And so what we have to understand is one day, this line, this never-ending line of the movement of Jesus, these will just be like tiny, almost indiscernible little dashes.

Because his kingdom is permanent, it will never ever end.

And yet, so much of the time, instead of putting our trust and our hope in this thing, we put all of our focus and energy and attention and stress and worry and fear on this one.

I mean, I love the country I live in, but it's nothing compared to the kingdom of God.

So why would I allow this to dominate my thoughts, to control my feelings?

Why would I give this my hopes when I could put it all here?

And so we wrap up with this whole idea of Jesus, not politics.

I think if we put this on a billboard, it would make people mad.

Maybe we should do that.

We don't have a billboard ordered right now, but if you see one a few months from now, maybe during election season, you'll know what it means.

Right?

Again, it doesn't mean that we don't get active and involved in politics.

In fact, in the next few weeks, we're gonna get into the nitty-gritty like Romans 13 gets us into, is what does it actually look like practically for us as Jesus followers to engage in the government of our day?

We're gonna talk about those things.

I'm not saying that we we're not like the Essenes who are one of the factions in Jesus' day where we just detach from all the world and go, I don't know.

That's not what I'm saying at all.

But but our hope is not on this.

Like, which of these do you put your trust in?

Politics or Jesus?

Which of these do you think is really in control of the way the world is going?

I mean, you understand, like, Jesus is in control.

And if you look at the course of history, all the times that it it looked like it was really bad and it was about to crumble and fall apart and it's over, it's like those are often times of the greatest victories that our world has ever seen.

Because there's a God in control.

And so I want to ask this question as we as we wrap up, we're gonna take Lord's Supper together.

Do you believe the same things that Jesus believed?

Do you believe in the authority of Jesus?

Do you believe that Jesus is a greater authority than whoever sits in an office?

Like, oh please.

Please trust Jesus.

I said during the last election that if Jesus, Joe Biden, and Donald Trump were standing on the stage and you could pick one of them, I just I hope you would pick Jesus.

But many wouldn't.

I mean, it's just the truth.

Jesus has the authority over everything.

He is the king of kings.

He is the Lord of Lords.

He's the king of the universe.

That's why the temptation that Satan offered him was so silly.

Like, I'll give you all the kingdoms of the earth.

It's like, I'm over the universe.

Like, I hold all things together.

That's who Jesus is.

But do we believe in his authority?

If we did, it would give us so much comfort.

But if we don't fully believe in the authority of Jesus, if we feel like it's fragile, then we put more of our trust in the kings of this world.

It just leads to stress and anxiety.

Do we really believe that Jesus' kingdom is not of this world?

Because if we really believe that, like Jesus did, then we recognize that the solutions to all of our problems are not in the kingdoms of this world.

And so we just don't stress out about it as much.

We don't get triggered by it.

It's like a bunch of crazy people being crazy.

The story of history, for the most part, is really terrible people making really terrible decisions that hurt lots of people, and yet somehow, by the grace of God, maybe, we keep going.

Do we really believe that his kingdom is not of this world and that our hope is in something that is not of this world?

Do we really believe that real change happens from the bottom up and not top down?

If that was true, by the way, as Jesus followers, we would spend way less time posting on social media about who we think should be elected or what decision a president has been made, has made, and we would spend way more time talking to our neighbors and our friends about Jesus.

That's just the simple truth.

Because we would recognize that the way you change the world is by the people who are around you, the people that God has put you with influence with.

It's bottom-up, not top down.

Do we really believe in the permanence of the kingdom of God?

And how temporary the kingdoms of this earth are?

If we did, again, I'm not saying we don't get involved, I'm just saying, guys, we just.

You know, Heidi started our service this morning by breathing.

That's grace.

And let's recognize that we're about to be in a political season.

Midterms are happening this year.

And I don't think it's gonna be nice.

I don't know why.

I just have a feeling.

I just have a feeling.

I think it's gonna get a little crazy.

Because that's what politics is.

It's a bunch of crazy.

And we can either get sucked into the crazy, or we can be like Jesus and say, you know what, that's all happening.

I'm sure Jesus had very strong opinions about those things.

I'm sure Jesus had very strong opinions about Herod Antipos, who, you know, beheaded his cousin.

But if Jesus didn't let himself get sucked into the crazy, I don't want to get sucked into the crazy.

Because I don't think I could handle the crazy as well as Jesus could.

So if he said nope, then I'm just gonna be like, yeah, I think that's probably a good decision.

So let's be a church that puts our focus, our eyes, our hopes on Jesus.

On this one, not here.

And let's experience the peace that he offers us, a peace that this world simply cannot.

So if you have a cup with bread and juice, go ahead and grab it.

If you missed this on the way in, by the way, go grab one now at the entrances.

We have cups of bread and juice.

You're never doing anything wrong by going and getting one.

We uh want you to participate.

When we take Lord's Supper, really simply, we just we put our eyes on Jesus.

We remember that he is our hope.

And it's amazing when you think about Jesus in the context of politics, how in his day all the people with political power and clout tried really hard to stop him.

Right?

Herod the Great tried to have Jesus killed as a baby, didn't work.

Herod Antipas, he had Jesus killed, was part of that, didn't work.

Backfired tremendously, actually.

Herod Agrippa persecuted the church, didn't work.

Nero, who was one of the emperors of Rome, by that point in time the movement of Christianity had grown and spread.

He hated Christians so much that he had the church persecuted, he had them thrown in the Colosseum, he had them burned alive, he tried to stop it like that.

Guess what?

Didn't work.

Every political power that has ever tried to snuff out the movement of Jesus, well, it's died, and yet Jesus continues on.

So our hope is best placed, not in the powers of this world, not in the politics of this world, not in the candidates that represent the parties that claim to have the solutions.

Our hope is in Jesus Christ.

This piece of bread represents his body that was broken for you.

How amazing is it that the one that we serve does not demand much of us, but he gives everything for us.

I've never seen a politician do that.

I've never seen a politician give everything for his people.

But Jesus did this for us.

So as we pray, we're gonna take this bread, we're gonna thank Jesus for what he's done for us, for the life that he's won for us, and we're gonna remind ourselves that our hope is in him and not in the powers of this world.

Because he endures.

If we put our trust in him, we endure.

So let's let's pray.

Father God, thank you for this bread.

Thank you for what it means.

This is your body broken on the cross for us.

And when we take this, when we eat this, it's a it's a recognition that we need you, that you sustain us, that the grace you gave, the forgiveness that you won for us on the cross, that is what sustains us.

That is what our hope is in, that is what our trust is in.

Help us remember that today.

Let's take the bread.

This juice represents his blood, which was spilled for us on the cross.

It was a sacrifice that was poured out to pay for all of our sins.

And you know what?

It was to pay for all the sins of this world.

So all the crazy, weird, messed-up stuff that we just looked at in a chart, this covered that too.

There's no sin too great, there's no problem too big.

The blood of Jesus cannot make amends for it.

So let's pray.

Father God, thank you for the sacrifice of your son.

Jesus, thank you for willingly shedding your blood for us.

You love us, you gave everything for us.

You gave it all for us, Lord.

So help us put all of our trust, all of our hope in you.

Help us get all of our peace from you, not from the kingdoms of this world.

I pray this in your name.

Amen.

Strength.