Jesus and Politics: Kingdom of God
Our Citizenship is in Heaven
Matthew 22:34-46
Rev. Tim Callow
Preached Sun. October 25th, 2020
I was crossing an overpass when my guide stopped me. “There,” he said, “that is where I grew up.” He was pointing down to the freeway. That morning he had offered to give me a guided tour through his home neighborhood. We had met at a local breakfast that was offered to the poor. He was homeless, but worked washing dishes late at night. He hoped to save enough money to get back to his feet. He told me about his life story, the mistakes he made, how he got to where he was. But he also wanted to let me know the sorrow of visiting his old neighborhood. Much of it was boarded up. Trash was all over the streets. It wasn’t the sort of place I’d want to go without someone to guide me.
He explained how the neighborhood elders agreed to let the freeway run through the neighborhood, just about when he became a teenager. Before that it was a self sustaining black neighborhood with its own hospital and theater and college. “James Brown would come to give concerts”, he told me. But once the freeway gutted the residential part of the neighborhood many people had to leave. He moved to a new low income development out of town with his folks. And that’s when he fell in with the wrong crowd.
It was a very moving experience for me to hear his story and to see what had become of his old home. It changed the way I looked at that town, and changed the way I understood the decisions cities make. And it was all because I agreed to spent a morning with someone that, for the most part, we only had kind conversations about football trivia. I agreed to spend my time with him, and he reciprocated that act of love by sharing his story. Without that opportunity and that encounter I’d be a very different person. And I never would have met him if it weren’t for my somewhat naive attempt to follow the commands of Jesus. Not simply to love, but to give to those who ask, and to care for the least of these.
This morning Jesus concludes his arguments with the Pharisees, Sadducees, Lawyers, and Herodians. He does so by talking about the Law and about his Lordship. About his ultimate authority and his command to love.
“What do you think of the Messiah? Whose son is he?” Of course the question would rest on Jesus’ messiahship. The messiah, or the Christ, was the prophesied King who would restore the Kingdom of Israel. The Pharisees longed for the coming of the Messiah, the anointed one. The Sadducees and Herodians feared the wannabe messiahs who were a dime a dozen in those days.
The belief was the Messiah would raise an army, and with God’s help kick the Romans out of Israel. He would cleanse the temple, restore proper sacrifice, and instruct the nations in the Law of Moses. Israel would become a land of peace, and the center of the earth. The messiah was also to come from the line of David, and would restore the Davidic monarchy in Israel. That is why when Jesus asks, “whose son is he?” They reply, “David’s.”
Jesus then turns them to Psalm 110. "How is it then that David by the Spirit calls him Lord, saying, 'The Lord said to my Lord, "Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet?’” That would seem to be a conundrum. If the messiah is David’s son, who would be inferior to David, why does David write this Psalm, which was taken to be about the Messiah, where he calls him his Lord? “If David thus calls him Lord, how can he be his son?"
That question is enough to silence his opponents. In fact, they do not even dare to ask him any more questions. But it should not silence us. Because we have read to the end of the story, and we have learned the secret about the Messiah. The Messiah is not the son of David, who would come to restore Israel as just another monarchy. The Messiah is not just another military ruler, just another great King. But the Messiah is the son of God. The Messiah was David’s Lord, and is our Lord. And the Messiah comes not to simply restore Israel but to usher in the Kingdom of God. And the Messiah comes not simply to save Israel, but to save all who call upon his name in faith.
Jesus has a Lordship that is greater than King David’s. And a Lordship that is greater than all the powers of the earth. As Paul says, “every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.”
We talked about this last week. We should never forget where our ultimate allegiance lies. We owe our all to Jesus, who has won the victory over death. We have a citizenship on earth, but our true citizenship is in heaven. And we are called, too, to live as citizens of heaven. And how do we live as citizens of heaven? But Jesus told us when he told us on what two commandments all the Law and prophets lie. “'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’”
Love God. Love Neighbor. On this rests the Law and the prophets.
If we swear our allegiance to Christ, and if we are citizens of the Kingdom of God then we will exercise that citizenship in love. Taking the time to truly listen and understand where other people are coming from. Showing kindness. Having the humility to admit we may be wrong. Not crowing when we turn out to be right. Looking out not just for our own interests but the interests of others. Yet also not cowering, standing up for what we know to be true and good even when it might not be opportune.
In this election let’s remember that we swear allegiance to Christ who is Lord, and not whoever happens to hold the office of the president. Let’s remember we have that common allegiance. So we are called to love as he loved, to be kind as he was kind, and to acknowledge that the Kingdom of God will not come from whoever we decide to vote for. The Kingdom of God will come by the grace and mercy of God.