The Kingdom Perspective

 

 Standard Podcast [6:20m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (11)

Now that the voting is over and we know who will be our next president, the Scriptures make it clear what the church’s first responsibility is: Prayer.  In Paul’s first letter to Timothy he gives instruction to the church:

 1First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, 2 for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. 3This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, 4who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 5For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time. 7 For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth. 8I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling… (1 Timothy 2)

What does this mean for us in our contemporary situation? Yesterday, we saw what we are to do (i.e. pray and give thanks for those leaders that God has placed over us) and to what end we are to pray (i.e. we are to pray for our leaders, so that we might be able freely and peaceably proclaim and practice the gospel).  In today’s Kingdom Perspective, we want to explore why we are to do that. 

What is the justification for such an attitude of prayer? Why are we to pray in this way? At least three reasons are given to us in verses three and following. First, we are to pray this way because God desires all sorts of people to be saved; God is no respecter of persons. Now, the use of this word “saved” tells us something significant about the nature of our relationship to God. It tells us that our coming to know the truth of God is not a matter of our moral, cultural or spiritual status but a matter of God’s grace. We do not reach God’s kingdom by our resume, but by His rescue. In other words, to find “qualified candidates” for salvation, God doesn’t look at our moral, racial, spiritual, political pedigree or positions. He simply looks at our need. It is only our pride that would lead us to judge and exclude others from the reach of God’s mercy—a maneuver, by the way, that tacitly denies the grace we profess to possess.  God is an equal opportunity Savior.

So, we pray because God is no respecter of persons (He desires all sorts of people to be saved). But, secondly, we pray because there is, in truth, only one king. What do we mean by this? Notice that Paul in verse 5 refers to Jesus with His title in front of his name.  He says “Christ Jesus” and not “Jesus Christ”. This is really helpful, because it disabuses us of the notion that “Christ” is Jesus’ last name. It is not. It is a title. And what does that title mean? It means “anointed king”. So while Paul is calling us to pray for “kings and all who are in authority” he reminds us of the King of kings and His authority over the affairs of men.  In effect Paul is saying that there’s only one sovereign God, only one ruler on earth—and His name is King Jesus. All other “authority” is derived from Him—King Jesus gives it and King Jesus takes it away. Therefore when we call on the Caesar of Heaven and not merely complain to Caesar of Rome, we are actually petitioning the highest authority.

So, we are to pray this way because God is no respecter of persons, and because Jesus is the highest authority. Finally, we see that we are to do this because it is the way of Jesus. Notice that Paul just doesn’t say who Jesus is but also what Jesus did. Jesus gave himself as a ransom for all. We see here again that Jesus didn’t merely act for the sake of a particular ethnic, political, or cultural group. Rather, He did this for all kinds of people—a diverse group that no man can count.  Jesus “was slain, and by [His] blood…[He] ransomed a people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation” (Revelation 5:9).  But how did He ransom this diverse group? Did He do so at a distance or with little cost to Himself? No. He did so up close and personal. He did so at the cost of His own blood, His own life. So we too are to sacrifice our comfort, our convenience, for the sake of our friends and neighbors, whomever they may be.  As the church, we are to engage our world as Jesus did, not seeking the place of prominence and privilege but service and sacrifice. 

And what is the first task in this sacrificial service?  Prayer!

“First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people…” (1 Timothy 2:1) 

Something to think about from “The Kingdom Perspective”.

 

 Standard Podcast [3:11m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (6)

A few more thoughts on the elections…   

Now that the voting is over and we know who will be our next president, the Scriptures make it clear what the church’s first responsibility is: Prayer.  In Paul’s first letter to Timothy he gives instruction to the church:

 1First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, 2 for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. 3This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, 4who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 5For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time. 7 For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth. 8I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling… (1 Timothy 2)

What does this mean to us today? Allow me to emphasize three main points: 1) What we are to do 2) To what end are we to do it, and 3) Why we are to do it.  I will address points one and two in today’s Kingdom Perspective, and then point three in the next.

First, Paul calls us to pray for all people, but particularly rulers (i.e. kings and all…in high positions). What is amazing is that Paul was writing this as one living under the rule of Rome, a government that would eventually behead him and had already crucified Jesus. By Christian standards, Rome was often oppressive and cruel. Yet, Paul calls the church to pray with “thankgivings”(v. 1) and not with “anger…or quarreling” (v. 8).  If this were true in that ancient context, how much more for ours! Regardless of what you may think of McCain or Obama and their policies, or Bush for that matter, they all look pretty good compared to Caesar.

So, we are to intercede for our rulers with thanksgiving, praying that we all “may lead a peaceful and quiet life”.  This is the second main point. What are we to pray for? To what end? We are to pray for peace and harmony in our world. Presumably in Paul’s mind this peace is not an end in and of itself, but rather a means to an end, for he adds “godly and dignified in every way”. In other words we pray in this way, so that we may be able to more fully proclaim the gospel and live out its implications in our world.

Are you thanking God and praying for our elected officials, “godly and dignified in every way”?

Something to think about from “The Kingdom Perspective”.

 

 Standard Podcast [2:55m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (7)

Some of you will be familiar with the song “Tom Sawyer” by the 1980’s rock band Rush. One line in particular typifies the autonomous spirit of our age. The lyricists, Neil Peart, referring to “today’s Tom Sawyer” says that “…his mind is not for rent, to any god or government.” In other words, individual autonomy is the modern ideal.

This shunning of any external authority has deep roots in  Western thought, going back at least to the 18^th century Enlightenment, particularly in its French form.

One of the key players in the French Enlightenment was Voltaire (aka François-Marie Arouet, 1694-1778).  Voltaire was significantly influenced by a lesser known figure Jean Meslier (1664-1729), a Roman Catholic priest and closet atheist. (Meslier’s atheistic writings were not discovered until after his death in 1729.) Voltaire said of Meslier that he was the most important of “the meteors” to strike a deadly blow “to the Christian religion.” Voltaire was fond of quoting a quip from Meslier:

Man will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest. 

Behind this graphic statement is the peculiar Enlightenment belief that the source of all evil and oppression is not evil in the human heart but rather evil in the social structures.  Thus, if we can just change or throw off the social structures, then the natural goodness of the human heart will be free to express itself and produce the harmonious society for which we all so desperately long.  In the words of Voltaire’s German counterpart Immanuel Kant, people need to be free to use “their own reason confidently…without outside guidance.”  

But does such a notion of liberty really lead to freedom and harmony? Sadly, it did not in the France; it led to violence and chaos.

Unjustly condemned to the guillotine during the French Revolution, Madame Roland paused to pay homage to the statue of liberty in the Place de la Revolution, saying:

Liberty, what crimes are committed in your name! 

Our efforts at freedom are fragile, and our latch on liberty elusive. Why? Because true liberty doesn’t grow from within us, but is a gift granted by our Creator.

Something to think about from “The Kingdom Perspective”.

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

~2 Corinthians 3:17 NASB