Quote from Forum Archives on November 29, 2004, 3:12 pm

Posted by: bhfbc <bhfbc@...>

THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD #1/5
LIVING IN DARKNESS
November 28, 2004

Text: Matthew 2:13-18

I’m going to get political this morning. “Oh, no!” you might think.
“Pastor Chuck, the elections have been held; the campaign ads have ended;
we’re done with all that until the next time. Besides, leaders can’t talk
about politics in church.”

Second objection first. Yes, there are limits placed on not-for-profit
religious organizations when it comes to talking politics. The limits,
however, specifically prohibit religious organizations from endorsing
particular candidates. With the recent election over, there are no
candidates to endorse. Nevertheless, no church or any other religious
organization is prohibited from discussing publicly specific issues, even
if those issues are included in the contemporary public political forum.

First objection. Yes, the election is over and campaign ads are not
bombarding the airwaves, but political thought and speech is far from
over. In fact, I would guess that it is more voluminous now than during
the campaigns. A great deal of this political thought and speech has been
directed toward the Christian community. That’s me and you, folks, and we
need to know about it, and we need to talk about it.

Besides, Christianity has always been intertwined with politics. I have
reflected on this a lot, and here are some of my conclusions concerning
the Christian faith and politics. First, Christianity is not a political
movement. It never has been. It is a belief. Specifically, it is a belief
that leads us, through faith, into the loving relationship provided for
us by the Living God. Therefore, it makes no difference to Christianity
if a person lives under a monarchy, Communism, totalitarianism, a
democracy, or any other system of government we can think of. Belief
through faith in the salvation from Jesus Christ is equally available
under any of those forms of government. Now we readily recognize that it
is easier to live under some forms of government than others; I
personally prefer the freedoms granted by our government than living
under a dictator someplace else. Nevertheless, one can believe in Jesus
and live according to him under any political circumstance.

Second, politics - or more correctly, government - almost always reacts
to Christianity as if it is a threatening political movement.
Spiritually, Jesus was condemned and executed to save us from our
personal and corporate sin. Secularly, Jesus was condemned and executed
because he posed a perceived threat to the ecclesiastical rulers in
Jerusalem and the Roman rulers of the empire. In other words, those who
were already kings or emperors could not abide the rise of another king.
We know, of course, that Jesus was not interested in replacing any
religious leaders, governors, kings, or emperors, but that is not how
these worldly leaders responded. Because of their political motivation,
they moved to remove this perceived threat.

Well, that political event came at the end of Jesus’ adult life. We begin
our advent season with an account of a political event that took place
many years prior to any of Jesus’ public teaching or ministry. Decades
before anyone could become aware of anything about faith in Christ, Herod
made the political decision to “kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its
vicinity who were two years old and under.” This is what happens when
those with power are living in darkness.

In The Interpreter’s Bible commentary, Dr. Sherman Johnson writes, “The
account fits the character of Herod, who for political reasons murdered
many people, including his son and other relatives. Augustus is said to
have remarked that he would rather be Herod’s pig than his son.” (Sherman
E. Johnson, “Matthew,” The Interpreter’s Bible, vol. 7, Abingdon Press:
Nashville, 1951, p. 260). In spite of the unjust and unrighteous darkness
that Herod caused, God still used those events to accomplish His will.
Two Messianic prophecies were fulfilled. “Out of Egypt I called my son”
from Hosea 11:1, and “A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great
mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted,
because they are no more” from Jeremiah 31:15. Living in darkness, man
has always tried to destroy God; sending His light, God always prevails
and overcomes evil’s darkness.

In America, we are not yet at the point where a king or other leader is
calling out his police to kill young male children in order to try to
eradicate the Christ-king. Nor are we at the point where Christian
believers are being taken to an arena for execution. Ever since the
election, though, Christians have been the object of much ridicule,
scorn, and assault. This is where I need to get political, because those
assaulting the Christian faith are politically motivated. Syndicated
columnist David S. Broder writes, “The exaggerated reaction to the
election among many liberals was set off by the belief that Bush owes his
victory to a bunch of religious zealots bent on imposing their views on
the whole society. That impression was based on exit polls showing that
Bush won overwhelmingly among the 22 percent of voters who said moral
values were the most important issue to them.” (David S. Broder, “Dark
age? Get a grip, people,” Sunday, November 14, 2004,
seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/opinion/2002089456_broder14.html) A
firestorm of opinions has been issued against those claiming and
practicing the Christian faith, otherwise known as “religious zealots,”
ever since the news broke about the factor that values played in the
election. Those living apart from Christ - those living in spiritual
darkness - are reacting much the same way that Herod reacted: they are
fearful that their sinful natures will be overcome and replaced by the
holiness of God, and they are fighting to keep that from happening.

As a result, the gloves of decency, politeness, and even political
correctness have come off as the opponents of God show themselves for who
they are. On their website, Slate political writers responded to the
Democratic Party’s defeats. Jane Smiley, an author of many essays and
novels, attributes it to ignorance. She writes, “Ignorance and bloodlust
have a long tradition in the United States, especially in the red states.
[Red states refers to those states in which President Bush received the
electoral majority]. Here is how ignorance works: First, they put the
fear of God into you — if you don't believe in the literal word of the
Bible, you will burn in hell. Of course, the literal word of the Bible is
tremendously contradictory, and so you must abdicate all critical
thinking, and accept a simple but logical system of belief that is
dangerous to question. A corollary to this point is that they make sure
you understand that Satan resides in the toils and snares of complex
thought and so it is best not try it. Next, they tell you that you are
the best of a bad lot (humans, that is) and that as bad as you are, if
you stick with them, you are among the chosen. This is flattering and
reassuring, and also encourages you to imagine the terrible fates of
those you envy and resent. American politicians ALWAYS operate by a
similar sort of flattery, and so Americans are never induced to question
themselves.” (Jane Smiley, “Why Americans Hate Democrats - A Dialogue:
The unteachable ignorance of the red states,” Thursday, November 4, 2004,
slate.msn.com/id/2109218/) Whether Christian or not, insults
hurled at those who did not vote for Senator Kerry include, as reported
by Joseph Curl, “homophobic knuckle-draggers from Wyoming.” (Joseph Curl,
“Blue states buzz over secession,” November 9, 2004,
www.washingtontimes.com/national/20041109-122753-5113r.htm).

Quite a few of these attacks come from stars in the entertainment
industry. This is hurtful because there are those artists who I respect
for their abilities. Two I have enjoyed myself over the years have been
quite vindictive. Female vocalist Linda Ronstadt said during the
campaigns that “it's a real conflict for me when I go to a concert and
find out somebody in the audience is a Republican or fundamental
Christian. It can cloud my enjoyment. I'd rather not know." (Reported by
WorldNetDaily, November 18, 2004,
www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=41513). Radio
personality, storyteller, and author Garrison Keillor “says he is on a
quest to take away the right of born-again Christians to vote, saying
their citizenship is actually in heaven, not the United States. Keillor,
host of the popular National Public Radio show ‘A Prairie Home
Companion,’ made the comments during a speech at Chicago's Rockefeller
Memorial Chapel and during his radio monologue the Saturday after the
election. According to a transcript of the show, Keillor said, ‘I am now
the chairman of a national campaign to pass a constitutional amendment to
take the right to vote away from born-again Christians. Just a little
project of mine. My feeling is that born-again people are citizens of
heaven, that is where there citizenship is, is in heaven, it's not here
among us in America. ..." Even though his remarks are passed off as
humor, it is not too difficult to recognize as much animosity in them as
in the others that are meant to be flagrantly offensive. (reported by
WorldNetDaily News, “Blue-State Blues,” Monday, November 15, 2004,
www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=41462).

As if these verbal and written assaults are not enough, another legal
assault is developing in California. Reuters news agency reported on
November 24th that “a California teacher has been barred by his school
from giving students documents from American history that refer to God --
including the Declaration of Independence.” (Dan Whitcomb, “Declaration
of Independence Banned at Calif School,” Reuters, Wed., November 24,
2004,
www.reuters.com/printerFriendlyPopup.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=6911883).
That’s right, a fifth grade teacher cannot use the Declaration of
Independence in his classroom. Needless to say, this is being challenged.
But this is how far the enemies of Christ have come, and what they expect
to do.

Why are such people so upset over and frightened by the Christian faith?
For the same reason they have been throughout the centuries. The light of
Christ exposes their dark deeds. In our contemporary culture, where we
have the right to clash in public debate, those opposed to the Christian
faith express their fear that placing active, practicing Christians in
government will threaten their freedoms. Well, I agree with them; some of
their freedoms will be threatened. But let us consider what freedoms are
so precious to them that they would launch such attacks.

Some of their freedoms include the “right” to abortion on demand at any
time during a pregnancy and the use of federal tax dollars - our money -
to fund them. Their freedoms include permissive, irresponsible, and
bizarre sexual activity. Their freedoms include the “civil right” of
homosexual marriages. But they do not stop there. They include rights for
those who are bisexual and transgendered and any other group that they
now refer to as the “sexual minority.” Their freedoms include the
relaxation of penalties for recreational drug use. Their freedoms include
their “right” to not be offended by being subjected to talk about God,
even when done in the context of teaching the history of America. These
are some of the freedoms that these people believe are threatened if
Christians should be allowed to become active in American public life.

Yet, these are the same people who cannot understand how high school
students could walk into a classroom and begin blazing away. They cannot
understand how educated, responsible adults at the top levels of
corporate structures succumb to vile deception in order to acquire even
more wealth at the expense of their employees and stockholders. They
cannot understand how ruthless, totalitarian dictators brutally torture
and slay their own people as a sport. They fight so hard to take away the
knowledge of the loving God, our Creator and Savior, and then fail to
comprehend why darkness descends upon us. Amazing, is it not?

Well, does this seem like an odd way to begin our celebration of
Christmas? I suppose it is, because we tend to think of it as a time of
peace and light and love as a special, precious baby is born into this
world. But let us not forget that the world was shaken by this birth. If
you think that we face tough times from the assaults I have already
mentioned, remember Matthew 2:16, “When Herod realized that he had been
outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the
boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in
accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi.” Living in
darkness.

So what are we supposed to do? What can we do? Are we helpless? I don’t
think so. Should we do anything about it? I think so. First, we pay
attention to the spiritual disciplines in our own lives. Those include
prayer, worship, Bible study, witness, fellowship, financial giving, acts
of love and charity, and any other disciplines that increase our
spiritual growth and maturity. We have to be walking with the Lord
ourselves if we expect to be able to stand up to the challenges ahead of
us. Like Brent has been encouraging the Pastor and Deacons for some time,
Christians need to get “out of the camp” by focusing on a “battlefield
mentality,” on “soldiering and duty,” and on individual Christian
witness. My loose paraphrase of what Brent has been saying and writing is
that while it is quite all right to ask God to do things for us, we
should be listening closely to what God wants us to do for Him. Spiritual
growth and Christian service.

Second, strengthen the local church. You know that one of my life-long
hobbies has been military history. In the study of such history, it is
easy to learn about the sweeping events from the “big picture” viewpoint.
In other words, sort of like the football diagrams of X’s and O’s, I can
easily picture major battles in terms of lines and symbols drawn on maps
to represent the movement of major military units. But when I dig deeper
into specific events, it does not take long to understand the importance
that smaller units, such as platoons, play in the “big picture.” Platoons
and other small units that are chronically under strength in personnel,
weapons, and supplies typically add up to major losses at the strategic,
headquarters level. Similarly, local churches that are constantly
struggling to survive and having a hard time keeping the doors open lose
sight of the larger spiritual war being waged all around. Soldiers in a
platoon squabbling over whether to wear green or brown t-shirts when the
enemy is gathering on the horizon is as dangerously silly as church
members squabbling over the color of carpet while members of the
community turn away from God. The local church in the local community is
where some of the greatest impact for Christ can take place. And little
things do add up.

Third, participate in the life of our government at all levels. I do not
necessarily mean run for office. But participate by being involved in
community affairs; speaking with or writing letters to our elected
officials, especially offering encouragement; countering false teachings
by writing letters to newspapers and other forums; voting; being involved
in ways that demonstrate the vitality and sincerity of the Christian
faith.

Fourth, continue to become educated on these issues. During his
presentations of “One Nation Under Christ,“ Peter Heck told us that one
reason that Christianity continues to be removed from schools and other
public places is that Christians have not developed the academic skills
necessary to counter the deceptions offered by the other side. Yes, we
are to study and grow in our Biblical knowledge, but we should also know
the history and philosophy of Christianity in the world and in our own
nation. There is no reason why any Christian in America should not be
knowledgeable enough to demonstrate why the “separation of church and
state” as applied today is a false and dangerous philosophy for America.

Fifth, try to support Christian organizations that are waging these
cultural and spiritual wars at the strategic levels. Peter Heck suggested
some at the end of his presentation. The local church is not to be
neglected, but we must also acknowledge that the other side is passionate
about forwarding their agendas, and they are not shy about funding
organizations that seek to trample the Christian message and the
Christian faith.

These are just some of the suggestions I could think of. The beauty of
Christian fellowship is that it incorporates the minds of many more
Christians who can bring creative solutions to bear on the challenges.

When Herod sent his forces to Bethlehem to do his dirty work, there was
nothing much the people then could do about it. I am sure that some hid,
some fled, and some fought back - and probably were slain themselves in
the process. We can thank God that we are not in such a helpless
position. We can still be involved and active in spiritual growth and
witness. Additionally, we have something which the poor, unfortunate
people of Bethlehem did not have: the assuredness that the Christ has
been born, and that he has completely defeated sin, the grave, and all
darkness. Whether child or man, Jesus is the light of the world.

Rev. Charles A. Layne, pastor, First Baptist Church, Bunker Hill, IN