My Country, Right or Wrong?
            Luke 24:19-26

Intro.:

l. Politics is always a controversial topic to discuss. There were two men in a bar in Houston talking politics, and one of them said rather disgustingly, "Clinton’s raising taxes". The other man reacted to what he thought he heard and hit the man and knocked him to the floor. The man looked up and asked: why did you hit me for saying Clinton is raising taxes. "Oh," the man replied, "I thought you said Clinton was raised in Texas.

2. We seem to have increased polarization in our society about "the other people in our country. I was going into Dillons and in a hurry. There was a family of rather small people in front of me and a man was coming out and said to me, thinking I was a native with my Texas hat on, "We ought to ship them half-way home." It dawned on me a few paces later that he was talking to me. At first I thought that halfway home would be in the middle of the ocean, and then I thought, "that’s way the Indians probably thought about us, and still do."

3. The increased polarization in society may also be seen in attitudes toward religion, in general, and Christianity, in particular. There seems to be more hostility toward Christianity than there used to be. Some of this is due to scandals in TV ministries, some of it is due to the Christian right’s involvement in political activities, particularly, the attempt to write a "religious" platform into the parties. Probably the greatest source of hostility comes from the increasing secularization of our society.

4. The issue of truth has become lost amid the desire to be tolerant. Tolerance is a great thing. But to proclaim the truth of the Gospel in a world of relativism is what we are called to do. Truth does not require heresy hunts, snobbishness, or anything of that nature.

5. It is the issue of truth that is going to cause us trouble. Some of this trouble comes from the government, some from groups, some from individuals. Jesus declared a great truth for us to live by in terms of public life. There are some things that we can do in obedience to the state, but we cannot obey the state in everything. There are some things that we can do only for God in obedience to him.
Let us look at his statements and think about some principles in them.

I. Christians should be good citizens.

1. Give to Caesar that which belongs to Caesar. We have some obligations as citizens of any state.
A. Taxes. We have an obligation to pay taxes. This does not mean we cannot protest and lobby against any proposed tax system. A state has to have taxes to provide for services for the common good. You should fight inefficency in government in a lawful way. There are lots of concerns about over- taxation and these are real problems, but we do have an obligation for certain legitimate taxes.
B. Peaceful .... We have to be a peaceful group of people. We are to promote the common good and Welfare of the community.
C. General  Welfare of the Community. Christians are to be involved in doing their share for the common welfare of the community. This community may be the local community, the county, state, country, or the world. We are obligated to do what we can as Christians.

II. The State is not God.

l. There comes a time when one must take a stand and say, I will not obey this law because it is immoral and is contrary to my conscience as I stand before God. There are obligations that we owe to God that cannot be given to State. There are obligations we owe the state that do not have to be given to God. If we maintain moral sensitivity we will encounter problems that will test our faith and commitment.
Take the case of Stand and Millie Zeinstras of Allendale, Mich. For nearly thirty years this couple had rented numerous apartments built by Stand, always careful to check the background of potential applicants. "We rent to singles and divorced people," explains Millie, "but we just can’t bring our conscience to rent to an unwed couple." They said that they knew of laws prohibiting housing discrimination, but God’s moral law was more important to them. "We’ve raised four children and tried to teach them right from wrong. The almighty dollar isn’t so important to me that I have to sacrifice my principles. Last year, however, those principles were sorely tested when an unwed couple who were denied occupancy took their grievance first to the fair housing authority, then to the Michigan Civil Rights Commission. Then began a long ordeal of harassment and intimidation by various agencies, all trying to force the Zeinstras to bow the knee to Caesar.
Crisscrossing the state for hearings and deposition, the Zeinstras were told the housing laws had been challenged before and that no mom-and-pop operation was going to defy established public policy. Furthermore, the Civil Rights Commission told them they must rent to the unwed couple they had originally turned down. Because the couple had taken another apartment in the meantime, the Zeinstras were ordered to pay off the balance of the lease and foot the bill for moving them back to a the Zeinstras apartments. The Zeinstras stand to lose everything they’ve built over the past thirty years.
Knowing what they know now, would they again break the law for the sake of their conscience? "Oh, yes," says Millie without hesitation. "We’re still doing it. (They have defied the order of the Civil Rights Commission to open their apartments to unmarried couples and are now tied up in litigation that may drag on for years.

2. Consider the other stories. In California, several retired women living in subsidized housing were told by the bureaucracy that because they lived in " government property," they could not  make displays of religions expression," including bowing their heads for prayer in the common dining area. Despite repeated threats and browbeating, they continued their group prayers at mealtime and had to seek legal protection from harassment or eviction. ‘

In Reno, Nev. a 21 year old man was passing out tracts and New Testaments in an area of town popular with young people. A police patrol drove by and told the assembled group to disperse. When the officers returned later and found the man still discussing his faith with teens on the sidewalk, they threatened to arrest him. He politely refused to move on, pointing out that he was not noisy or stopping traffic, and therefore was not in violation of any law. The policeman arrested the man anyway, charge him first with disorderly conduct and then with blocking the sidewalk (after it became obvious that the first charge would never stick). His attorney said," They just wanted to stop this activity, and they searched around to find an offense to make that possible. It is unbelievable what happened to this guy. This is the reason why the Separatist came to this country. This is what America is all about.

3. There are a number of examples in the Bible of obeying God rather than the state or society. Moses  as alive because his mother disobeyed the command of Pharaoh to kill the male babies. The book of Daniel is filled with examples of obeying God rather than the immoral laws of the state. In the New Test. Peter was told to quit preaching, but his reply was: "Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to obey you rather than God. After the Bible, Polycarp was burned at the stake for refusing to say that "Caesar is Lord." He could only proclaim that Christ is lord. John Bunyan found time to write Pilgrims Progress while sitting in Jail for his refusal to buy a preaching license. Russian Christians broken the law during the Soviet era in teaching their children at home about Jesus.

4. There are some steps we may consider in raising the questions of conscience. First, seek the whole counsel of Scripture. 2.Make sure you are prayerfully listening for the Spirit’s guidance. 3. Seek godly counsel from those who know you and know the Lord. 4. Get practical counsel from an organization like the Christian Legal Society. 5. Ask yourself if you have exhausted all avenues of appeal. A higher court, a higher administrative official. Paul did this as a Roman citizen by appealing to Caesar.

III. What Belongs to God

1. Our worship and commitment. We must not have laws establishing one religion over another. This is one of the future threats of Islam should they grow and  multiply as they are. There is no Muslim country that allows religious freedom. In many of them there is no toleration of other groups. (contrast freedom and toleration) We must stake out the matter of establishment of religion.

2. We owe God obedience rather than the state. We can witness of your faith. You don’t have to do it with bullhorns necessary. You are commanded to pray, but must that be done at a high school graduation? This obedience implies a relation with some form of the state for the good of society. Now God has commanded us to pray for the leaders of the country. The Bible does not state that we are to pray only for the Republicans. Nor only the democrats. Rather, we are to pray for the leaders of our country that even they might be confounded by the good that they do even without intending it. I must confess to you that I have never prayed for Gov. Finney. But I have been negligent. To be obedient to a God means I must pray for the governing officials.
Now politics is so unpredictable and selfish in its nature that we may throw up our hands in despair and say "the only thing left is prayer. " This is like saying "when all else fails, seek God’s help. However, God should be the first resource, not the last resort.

3. We owe God our stewardship. This includes not only our giving, but a portion of our time in living out our faith. There are great blessings in giving money as his servants. But there is also a blessing in giving ourselves in relating to others. One of my friends is a pastor and he used to comment that he dreaded going out to visit people in their homes. He had to make himself go. But once he did it he would always come home blessed and joyful about doing it. He would ask himself the question of why he was so reluctant to go visiting. There is a lesson in this for all of us. There are lots of spiritual activities we can do, and we drag our feet in doing them, but discover that God blesses us in a unique way when we are faithful in our stewardship.

4. There are many things that belong to God, but let us include our witness as a last one. We have been sent to witness of the Good News of Jesus Christ. How great it would be if we had the power of Pentecost in our lives and the courage of Peter as he  addressed the Council in Jerusalem. They warned him not to speak in the name of Jesus anymore, and he said, "You yourselves judge which is right in God’s sight--to obey you or obey God." We are squeezed in by the culture of the world and our fear of people around us, but God does call us to witness for him .... fearlessly. May he help us.

Concl.:

1. We must not make the mistake of identifying the will of God with the future of America. We have been blessed because of our previous commitments. If secular America continues in its direction it will be bad news for Christians. Then the words of Jesus will become more sharply in focus in our decision making .... in rendering unto God that which is his and unto the Government that which is rightfully its own. Hopefully, we can always side with the words of Peter that we must always obey God rather than man.                                  9-94