Timestamp
- 9:48 - Welcome and Intro
- 16:28 - Message from Mark's Gospel.
- 17:21 - Religion and Politics
- 18:10 - Mark 12:13-17
- 29:08 - The lost are of political debate
- 23:03 - Engaging with those that vote differently to you
- 25:00 - Should we pay tax?
- 27:55 - Honouring our leaders
- 29:26 - Are there times when we can disobey the government?
- 30:41 - Give to God what is Gods.
- 32:38 - How can I do both things?
- 34:06 - Questions to think about
- 36:50 - Worship explanation
- 40:30 - The Lion and the Lamb with Lyrics
- 46:38 - Catchup
- 52:25 - What's coming up
Church and Politics. It’s a famous mantra, isn’t it? Never mix religion and politics! Church and state should be separate! And as we look at Mark today I want to talk about just that, religion AND politics. How does faith affect how you behave towards your government, how does it affect the way you vote, the way you protest and more?
The Herodians we know very little about – only mentioned three times in the Bible. We do know about Herod, the King of the Jews who the Herodians followed. He saw Jesus as a threat – the fact that Jesus was being proclaimed as the Messiah, the saviour, was a huge political threat to Herod, the current king. So the Herodians are trying to prove that Jesus is a threat.
Who sent them?
The Sanhedrin sent them (Matt mentioned them a couple of weeks ago). The religious authority in Jerusalem who have been in conflict with Jesus. Again they don’t like him, they feel threatened by him. And their goal is to trap Jesus, to catch him out, to find an excuse to arrest him or even execute him as a rebel.
The lost art of debate
This is something that still happens with powerful figures today. Think about the US election we have just had. Questions asked to candidates are so often not for answers but ammunition... to try and knock them off, depopularise them... can we get a sound bite that makes them look really bad. Exactly the same thing happening here with Jesus.
Jesus knows exactly what is going on, he isn’t soft, he wasn’t born yesterday.
“Why are you testing me?” he says
He cuts right to the core of their attitude, not their actual question. Why are you testing me? What is going on in your heart? He knows, no matter what he says, they are not really interested in a discussion. And I think there are many today, online in particular, that are coming from a similar position, they are closed to debate.
Did you know that if you get a lot of your news and information online the algorithms on most browsers and social media platforms are designed to give you information that is similar to what you have shown an interest in already? You get the same point of view, the same bias. You get the impression that most people out there agree with you, so there is no need for open debate and discussion.
In fact, I want to go right out there and suggest to you that even if you are a Christians you can fall into this trap of thinking all other Christians must agree with you and if they don’t then you are right and God has something he needs to teach them. The truth is that within any group, even amongst Christians, you find people who support different political parties, vote different ways, for different reasons. I personally wouldn’t dream of telling you how to vote because I think that depends on what issues are closest to your heart and also what policies are in fashion for any particular election. But I would suggest that you keep an open mind and engage in debate and try to understand someone else’s reasons for voting differently to you.
How do you respond when people vote differently to you?
This is my first challenge in terms of politics. How do you respond to that? Do you respect someone’s right to think differently? Are you interested in someone else’s point of view? Or just on stating your own view? Do you want to have a great political debate? Or do you just want to see the people you disagree with trip and fall?
That’s not Jesus’ attitude, he doesn’t want to see people humiliated and he was prepared to engage in conversation and debate with those who disagreed with him. He didn’t write these guys off as idiots or get angry at them. Yes, he calls out their motives but then he engages with them and answers their question.
So how does Jesus answer? He engages by using biblical principles that inform his teaching.
He takes the issue – out of the political debate – and applies it to God and God’s Kingdom, God’s way of doing things. And that’s what we need to do with our politics. Let’s look again at the story:
‘They came and said, “Teacher, we know that you are a man of integrity. You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are; but you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Is it right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar or not? Should we pay or shouldn’t we?”
They flatter him to put him at ease and then they lay it on him – shall we pay taxes? This is a huge topic for them a very controversial question – the sort of question that could start riots - should we pay Caesar Taxes?!!
Should we pay tax? And other questions for our politicians
Should we pay Caesar Taxes?!! What questions are like that today?
- Should we follow the covid guidelines, or go further, or do less?
- Should we allow abortions or campaign against them?
- Does it matter if the NHS is privatised or not?
- Should we be in Europe or out?
- There are loads more.
It’s easy for us to give answers. And Jesus could have just said, yes pay taxes. But for Jesus, the issue wasn’t the issue. He uses the opportunity to teach about God’s perspective on things.
He says “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?”
“Caesar’s,” they replied.
Then Jesus said to them, “Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s
He is answering with a principle.
Take a huge issue today – abortion
If someone asks me, do I agree with abortion? I could just say “on the whole no” That’s an answer. And it is quite closed and doesn’t explain much.
Or I could say, well the Bible tells us that life is from God and it all tells us to do whatever we can to look after the vulnerable, and in the issue of abortion the unborn baby is vulnerable and unable to speak for themselves. So no, I believe in defending the unborn babies right to live when that is possible and reasonable.
We use Biblical principles – to guide our answers...
So Jesus here addresses the biblical principle but he also answers the question - “give to Caesar what is Caesar’s”
Ok so we should pay our taxes, so what?!
I think that there is a wider principle in what Jesus is saying: almost all of the time we need to obey the law of the land that we are living in. In fact, brace yourselves for this one, but I think he is actually saying that we need to honour our government even if we don’t like them.
The Roman government was a colonial oppressor, they ruled Israel because they had won violent battles. The Romans believed in slavery, oppression and colonial expansion and those taxes, the ones Jesus says should be paid to Caeser, they are going to fund all of these bad things. But Jesus does not say “It’s ok not to pay your taxes because they use your money for bad things” He is saying that your responsibility is to follow the law. You are to pay taxes and you're not responsible for how they are used. You’re responsible for paying them. That’s how it works.
Honouring our Leaders
So this verse in Romans is actually going even further. It is saying not only should you obey the government but you should also respect and honour them. Ouch!
- What if I don’t like Boris?
- What if I think he is wrong?
- What if they don’t look after my city?
- What if they don’t care for the families who live on next to nothing?
Jesus is saying that we are called to radical submission, obeying the government and giving them respect and honour as our leaders. They are after all in positions of huge power and responsibility. That can be hard to do. Particularly with leaders like Boris Johnson or Donald Trump who are both like marmite, some people love them but others hate them. What if you don’t think they are worthy of your honour?
I heard something once that’s stuck. We are to respect and honour the rank if not the person. That’s what that passage in Romans is all about that, God has allowed this person into power and we need to honour the position they hold. Pray for the person in that position. Cry out to God that he would pour out his wisdom, pray for a change in leadership. But ultimately we need to submit to and respect the leadership that we have. Whoever they are.
But are there any exceptions? Are there times when we can disobey the government?
Are there times when we can disobey the government?
Well, yes. When following the government undermines you fulfilling the core principles of faith I would say yes. Think of Daniel who didn’t worship Nebuchadnezzar but worshipped God. He did that so as not to violate the 10 commandments. In Nazi Germany – there were people who hid Jews in their home. I would say that was following the higher principle of valuing and protecting life from a government that was clearly going against God.
But these are exceptions. They are not the rule.
For most of us most of the time we are not facing murderous governments intent on genocide. For us, it is more about seeing the personal transformation that then changes systems from within.
But do you know what Jesus actually goes even further though – with a higher principle?
Give to God’s what is God’s
“Give to God’s what is God’s”
What has God’s image on it? According to Genesis that is us! We are made in God’s image. So if we are giving to Caesar what is Caesar’s and giving to God what is God’s, that means Jesus is asking us, ‘is your whole life given to God?’
Jesus calls out their motives. He answers their question with a Biblical value, and then he challenges them with a greater principle – are you giving your whole life to God? Or are you just about obeying God but also trying your best to assimilate into the society around you?
People often say that religion should be left out of politics, but I think Jesus is saying that religion should absolutely be bought into politics. That you are called to use your body, your voice, your vote, your talents and skills to stand up for God and his principles and sometimes that can make you stand out from the crowd and make you unpopular. Take my view on abortion, that is not popular, part of me didn’t want to admit it online, in public. But I am suggesting that view is biblical and therefore if I am giving my life to God then I need to be bold and say what I really think is a Kingdom principle.
How can I do both?
Ok so you might be thinking “I am confused”. You are saying I should obey and even respect the government even if I don’t like them. But you are also saying I should stand out from the crowd and stand up for biblical principles. How can I do both? How then do we bring change if we are told to submit?
If you think about it you absolutely can show honour and respect while also being deeply challenging.
Look at Dr Martin Luther King Jr - he was hugely challenging to the US government in the 50s and 60s. He played an integral role in seeing US society transformed. He caused government to change the law. But he also treated leaders with respect and was committed to obeying all the laws of the land in which he lived.
I mean if you know about the civil rights protests then they did break Jim Crow state laws which dehumanized black people when protesting. For example, he encouraged black and white people to share interstate buses or sit at the same table in a restaurant when that was part of an organized protest. But in his day-to-day life, he obeyed the laws of the land in which he lived even when it was humiliating and dehumanizing to him personally.
What I am getting at is that we can be radical and respectful at the same time.
Questions
- What is your issue? Do you want the government to do more to protect the environment? Would you like to see better healthcare for the elderly? Or maybe more food support for children living in poverty. What’s your motive? Are you open to conversation and respectful of what someone else thinks?
- What is the biblical principle on that issue? What’s the biblical principle on the issues that are important to you?
- How can you use your gifts and talents to bring change in a way that still shows respect to the government just because they are the government? Your life belongs to God, can you stand up and be his agent for change, even political change in our country?