Thought for Today
1 Samuel 8:1 When Samuel became old, he made his sons judges over Israel . . . 3 Yet his sons did not follow in his ways, but turned aside after gain; they took bribes and perverted justice. 4 Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah, 5 and said to him, "You are old and your sons do not follow in your ways; appoint for us, then, a king to govern us, like other nations."
Matthew 22:17 Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?" (RSV)
This morning, I woke up thinking about “-ocracies.” Most of us are aware that 2024 is an election year. You may have even already noticed some news coverage about politics this year. In fact, unless the mother ship from another galaxy just dropped you off on our planet, you have seen more than a little news coverage about politics for the past year
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It seems to me that a constant theme for both sides in our almost evenly divided nation has been to couch the looming contest as being about saving the fundamental basis of our democracy, the very heart of our form of governance.
Most of us took a course in civics or political science at some point in our education. Almost everyone in my generation began every school day by reciting our Pledge of Allegiance. Very quickly, we learned to do so by rote. Yet, think for a minute about that pledge. It never refers to our nation as a democracy. It does say, “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” The United States of America is a constitutional republic.
All of this was on my mind this morning due to a question I was asked yesterday during our post-worship Coffee Hour. I was asked, as a Texan, whether or not it is true that Texas can choose to divide itself into 3 states. I explained that I took Texas history multiple times in my elementary and secondary schools. I did say that I remembered the number as 5, but that was my understanding.
I did an internet search this morning, and I found: “Uniquely among U.S. states, Texas was admitted to the Union with a pre-approved ‘entitlement’ to further divide itself into up to five states should it choose to do so . . . In 1845 the U.S. Congress passed a resolution annexing Texas and consenting to its statehood. The resolution included this proviso: ‘New States of convenient size not exceeding four in number, in addition to said State of Texas and having sufficient population, may, hereafter by the consent of said State, be formed out of the territory thereof…’” (texapedia.info)
Despite our present preoccupation with politics, with democracy and with forms of civil governance, as a minister and as a Christian, I try to honor what is often referred to as the Separation Clause of our Constitution. I find politics interesting. I find questions like the one I was asked yesterday fascinating, especially in terms of how that separation might actually be carried out. But, as a minister, I do my best to keep my politics and my political opinions out of my sermons and my writings.
What is our Christian duty in the realm of civic government? What is our civic duty in the public realm in terms of religion? Does the Separation Clause of our Constitution prohibit our allowing our religious beliefs to influence our political beliefs? Do our religious beliefs insist that we take the tenets of our faith into consideration in making political decisions? In this world, can politics and our religious beliefs ever truly be kept separated?
As Christians, I believe the first thing we all must understand is that in our almost evenly divided nation, there are true Christians on the other side. Folks just like each of us, who have thought about the issues, listened to the candidates, read their Bibles, and made carefully considered decisions opposite of the decisions we have made. Red state, blue state, Republican, Democrat, progressive, conservative, there are Christians in the leadership and in the ranks.
Jesus did not tell us to eschew politics. Jesus told us "Matthew 22:21 Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor's, and to God the things that are God's." We live in two worlds, but we are Christians in both worlds. I said in my sermon yesterday that Christians never retire from being Christian. We also must be Christians in all we think, say, do and/or vote.
Stay safe, follow Jesus, trust God,
Pastor Ray