I have heard numerous folk who claim Jesus' name and call themselves "Christians" say that who they vote for has nothing to do with their faith or that it doesn't matter. I have seen and heard many folks who claim Jesus' name support ideologies of this kind or that, without regard to how their faith may inform them regarding their stance on social issues. I have also heard and seen many folk of late who, while claiming Jesus as their reason, support doing horrible things to others even IN THE NAME OF JESUS. It does matter. It matters.
The business executives or employees and even small business owners who sit in the padded seats or pews week after week, breathing in the sanctuary air and listening to their pastors or bishops preach the Word of God, inspired by the music and other aspects of worship, make decisions during the week that have EVERYTHING to do with their faith and what they profess as people who claim the name of Jesus. It matters.
The politicians, local, state and national who run campaigns on being people of faith and how that informs them in their policy-making for the whole population, effect the lives of EVERYONE who lives in areas they represent and that has EVERYTHING to do with their faith and who they profess to follow. It matters.
Our neighbors and community acquaintances who attend public meetings with us, send their children to school with our children and co-exist on the same streets as everyone else in our community, affect the decisions enacted that affect the lives of everyone in the community, and that has EVERYTHING to do with their faith and in whom they profess to believe, It matters.
When we disassociate our professed faith in Jesus with how we live our lives, we are not following Jesus. How I am as a follower of Jesus has EVERYTHING to do with how I am in the world around me - what I say and what I do. Jesus' Good News, as we have that in the Gospels, is less about "Pie in the sky when we die" than it is about how we live right here and now, in THIS PART of God's Kingdom. The question is, as people who confess Jesus as LORD, are we living what Jesus taught, commanded and modeled for us or are we not? It matters.
I will put this VERY clearly, directly and simply for you -
You cannot support deporting millions of resident aliens AND follow Jesus.
Matthew 25:31-46 (Deuteronomy 15:7-11; 24:17-22)
You cannot support taking away the affordable healthcare of millions AND follow Jesus.
Matthew 10:8-15; 25:31-46
You cannot support legislation that is intolerant of Muslims AND follow Jesus.
Good Samaritan Luke 10; Luke 4:22-30; Matthew 15:21-28; John 4:7-30; 10:11-18
You cannot be in favor of the rich getting more off the backs of the poor AND follow Jesus.
Luke 16:1-31; 19:1-10; Mark 10:17-27; Matthew 19:23-26
You cannot be in favor of going to war, except in circumstances that leave us no choice AND
follow Jesus. Luke 6:27-36
You cannot actively work to discriminate against people of color AND follow Jesus. Luke 4:14-21
You cannot believe in the religious right to discriminate against LGBT folk AND follow Jesus.
Jesus, fulfiller of the Law and Prophets said NOTHING about it being a sin, but DID
say, "Do not judge, and you will not be judged... for the measure you give will be the
measure you get back." Luke 6:37, 38
You cannot believe that some children deserve a better education than other children AND
follow Jesus. Matthew 18:1-7
You cannot advocate lower paid folk getting less so that wealthy folk can get more AND follow
Jesus. Matthew 25:31-46 (Lev. 23:22; Deut. 24:17-22); Matthew 20:1-16
In short, you cannot Love Money, Power or Self above all else AND follow Jesus.
Matthew 13:22; Luke 12:13-21; Luke 16:13
And you cannot Hate, Be Intolerant of or Treat others shamefully AND follow Jesus.
Matthew 5:43-48... and WHO is your neighbor? Stranger, Enemy - Luke 10:25-37
I am not addressing those who do what they do and do not profess to be "Christian" here. I trust that those on other paths know the truth of their way with God. And I expect the lost to act like the lost.
I am addressing folk who claim Jesus as Redeemer, Savior and Lord, and who refuse to follow what Jesus taught, commanded and modeled in their lives. You cannot have Jesus as Savior and NOT as Lord of your life. You cannot have Jesus as Lord and NOT recognize Jesus as fulfiller of the Law and Prophets and our Authority as Judge of the World based on God's Will and Kingdom Values.
Here is the thing. Jesus is judge. And Jesus' words give us a clear vision of His judgment and upon what it will be based in Matthew 25:31-46.
Jesus is judge, and Jesus claims that not all who profess His name, worship Him and even do powerful and miraculous acts in His name will be saved - Luke 13:22-30; Matthew 7:21-23
Jesus does not only value Worship and Praise with Offerings (Matthew 15:8,9), but demands that we live what He taught, commanded and modeled for us, as His followers.
So, in the FIRST public message of Jesus in the FIRST written Gospel's FIRST Chapter (Mark 1:15), Jesus commands (Imperative Mood statement) that we REPENT (change our thinking so that our words and actions change) and BELIEVE in THE GOOD NEWS - what Jesus taught, commanded and modeled as God's Will and Kingdom Values, the way God wants us to live in THIS PART of God's Kingdom. At the center of His Good News is the Command to love God with all we have and love neighbor as self (Matthew 22:34-40), upon which hang ALL the Law and Prophets. Indeed, for Jesus it is personal regarding us being His followers and if we indeed do or do not live what He taught, commanded and modeled in HIS Good News - Matthew 28:20; John 14:15; 15:7-10; Matthew 7:24; 24:35; Luke 6:47.
So, Jesus asks those who profess His name yet today, "Why do you call me 'Lord, Lord', and do not do what I tell you?" (Luke 6:46)
When it comes to how we live in THIS PART of God's Kingdom, here and now, Jesus offered that "where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." (Matthew 6:21). What is in our hearts will be reflected in how we live. We will show, indeed, what we truly value by how we live.
And when it comes to who we support in the world - politics, economics, churches, ideologies or philosophies - and false prophets, Jesus offers insight with "You will know them by their fruits." (Matthew 7:20). It matters who and what we support in this life, here and now, at least for any who profess to be followers of Jesus.
It matters. It truly matters.
Pastor Jamie
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