Religion and Politics: "Christian Values, Common Values"

Religion and Politics Sermon #4
“Christian Values, Common Values”
Rev. Cynthia O’Brien
September 28, 2008
Smith Memorial Presbyterian Church


Galatians 5:13
You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. 14 The entire law is summed up in a single command: "Love your neighbor as yourself." 15 If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.

Biting and devouring. These days, that make me think of some of our political campaigns. Accusations about how much they paid for leather office furniture or collectible golf club. These mailers – “He doesn’t care about your safety.” “He’s misrepresenting me.” I don’t think anyone will easily recover from some of the negative campaigning we’ve seen around here in recent years. The Lord says, stop biting and devouring each other.

Likewise, we are not to bite and devour each other in the church. It happens all the time in some churches, and it happens some of the time in all churches. We have to keep reminding ourselves: Love your neighbor as yourself. So here, Paul explains how we will do that.

Galatians 5:16
So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. 17 For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.

Here is a list of sins to refresh our memory.

Galatians 5:19 The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

If you break them down, you’ll see the first three and the last two are about sex and self-indulgent partying. (Sexual immorality, impurity, debauchery, drunkenness, orgies.) There are two about worshiping the wrong gods. (Idolatry and witchcraft.) Then there are eight sins that are offenses against the unity of the church. According to this list, one of the worst things you can do is sow discord in the body of Christ.

I knew a woman in a previous church who complained about everything. She attended the 8:30 service. She didn’t like the guitar music. She didn’t like the way we came forward for communion. I sat down with her and listened to he and tried to give her some options. Why not go to the 11:00 service? There are different musicians at the 11:00 service, and we use the trays to serv communion. She said, “No, I like to go at 8:30 so I can go out to breakfast at 9:30 with my friends from the Congregational Church.” Then she said, “They do everything just the way I like it at the Congregational Church. They do music right. They do communion right. All my friends go there.” And I discovered that when there had been a split in our church several years before, a group of married couples had left and joined the Congegational Church. The whole group left except this one lady and her husband, who had stayed at our church.

So I said, “It sounds like all your friends go to the congregational church and you prefer the way they worship, so have you thought of going to church there?”

She got this fiery look in her eyes and she said, “The church is the building, not the people, and no one’s going to run me out of my church!”

She was in a lot of pain. And as she held on to misguided values, she made herself and everyone else miserable.

Paul recommends living by the Spirit. What does it mean to live by the Spirit? Kind of an intangible term, it means living in a manner of which God would approve, asking God for wisdom, showing humility and deference to God.

Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

When we are evaluating candidates for public office, we can benefit by applying this list of character qualities, because these are not exclusive to Christians. They describe the best of what humanity was made to be. Is the candidate patient, or does he make rash decisions? Is he good, or is he corrupt? Is he faithful, or does he betray trust?

One of the reasons to be a Christian is finding the strength to live this way.

24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other … Galatians 6:22 Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.

When I’m thinking about who to elect, here’s one question I ask: Will she help me to carry each other’s burdens? I think about one of Jesus’ most important values: caring for the poor, healing the sick and releasing the oppressed. How does the candidate think that we should treat the least among us, from the unborn child to the homeless family? What is the plan to provide for public safety and to help people not become addicted to meth? Can she bring us together to do for our community what no individual or business can do by itself?

This is where I have to apply both Christian values and common values. Sometimes Christians identify one or two issues and test every candidate on those issues. It’s our right to do that, but it might not produce the best result. Take the race for county commissioner, for example, which is one I understand well. The County Commissioners are in charge of allocating money for social services, managing our jail system, bridges and libraries. My choice of a candidate should focus on the skills needed for those responsibilities. I should choose the one who can make the best decisions for the county at large and also make sure that East County gets its needed share.

3 If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. 4 Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else, 5 for each one should carry his own load.

Here’s another value: personal responsibility, which is often held in contrast to public welfare. Let’s apply it to this question: How should we lift up the poor?

I’m painting with a broad brush now, to show you how two Biblical perspectives can be polarizing.

A conservative approach is typically individualistic. Here are some of the statements that would commonly come from a conservative.

Poverty is caused by individual failures or shortcomings.
If you are addicted to drugs, you should free yourself from it.
Transfom your heart, and don’t reoffend.
Marriages need strengthening, so spouses should be faithful to each other.
Parents should be more loving and responsible for their kids.

These solutions are largely an individualistic way of solving social problems. “Individuals can achieve if they get up and do it.”

A more liberal view might say that poverty is caused by unjust systems, and personal failings like alcoholism or teen pregnancy wouldn’t happen if it weren’t for the environment that people are living in. They would say, we need to fix the structures, address the injustices that force people to live in these conditions. They say, it takes a village, and we all need to be part of the solution Government helps us pool our resources and do more than we could do alone.

These two views have been polarizing. But the Bible, and Jesus in particular, advocates a mixture of both personal responsibility and community cooperation. Families, neighborhoods, schools, churches, city governments, state and national programs, all need to work together in a perfect balance, which is difficult to achieve but worth the effort.

Yesterday morning about 75 people from various churches showed up at the Gresham City Hall parking lot to help eradicate graffiti. We had about 10 from our church. There was a group from St. Henry with Father Charles, one from Columbia Life Center in Troutdale, a big group from a Hispanic church on 181st, and more. One person I know had invited a family member to come help, and this relative had said, “Why would I want to take my Saturday morning to do that?” Why? Because it’s the right thing to do.

Cathy Harrington is the city employee who is in charge of graffiti. When she got up to speak to the group and give us our assignments, she was really choked up with emotion at how many people had come from the churches to help. It was a beautiful thing.

Galatians 6:7 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 8 The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.

Most everyone believes this: You reap what you sow. Do good in this life and it will generally come back to you in this life, and in the life to come.

9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. 10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.

We have been promised eternal life, so Paul says “let’s keep doing good.” while we have opportunity. There is some time left – before we’re too sick to do anything, before we die, before Jesus returns. Let us do good to all people, especially to our family of believers.