When We Get Bored with Our Messiah
Who is Lord?
Once we get bored by the actual Messiah, we will look for others. Once we lose our awe at the kingdom of God, we will look for other kingdoms.—Russell Moore, editor at large of the Evangelical magazine, Christianity Today.
Lent is the Christian season focusing on the events leading to the death and resurrection of Jesus. It’s a season of reflection and repentance, as we reconnect with the radically upside down Kingdom of God (see Luke 1:46-55).
Often lost in the story is the on-going conflict between following Jesus and following political power.
As Jesus stood next to Pontious Pilate, representing the might and “justice” of Rome, he asked if he should release Jesus. The religious powerbrokers, in response, cried out for the execution of Jesus.
Note what happens next, from John’s Gospel (chapter 19):
If you release this man, you are no friend of Caesar. Everyone who claims to be a king sets himself against Caesar.”
13 When Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus outside and sat on the judge’s bench at a place called The Stone Pavement, or in Hebrew Gabbatha. 14 Now it was the day of Preparation for the Passover, and it was about noon. He said to the Jews, “Here is your King!” 15 They cried out, “Away with him! Away with him! Crucify him!” Pilate asked them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar.”
Did you catch it?
We have no other king—not Adonai/Yahweh/LORD God—but Caesar!
For political expediency these particular religious powerbrokers chose an earthly kingdom over the kingdom of God.
(To say that anyone other than Caesar is Lord was treason punishable by death.)
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Standing on a podium in a Florida convention centre on the night of the election, a row of American flags behind him and a jubilant crowd looking on, Donald Trump declared: “Many people have told me that God spared my life for a reason, and that reason was to save our country and to restore America to greatness.”
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A whopping 80% of evangelicals voted for President-elect Donald Trump in 2024.
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Half of evangelicals believe Trump is anointed by God
(Messiah means ‘anointed one.’)
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When we get bored with our Messiah, to use Russell Moore’s phrase, we exchange grace for partisanship; love for grievance; concern for the least of these for political favors; and our moral/spiritual compass for political expediency.
When we get bored with Jesus, we surrender the plot of the Gospel, exchanging the God who loves the world with a narrowly defined political agenda that creates divisions and enemies.
Lent is the reminder that when we say, Jesus is Lord, we are taking a political stand for the Kingdom of God and its agenda over against the self-serving agenda of the Empire/Partisan Politics.
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In other words, Lent asks the deeply unsettling question:
Who is our Lord?
Pastor Tim, if Lent is truly the focus of your message as your headline proclaims, perhaps one should actually focus on the meaning. origins, edifying thoughts on self-reflection and how it may be employed as a time for improvement spiritually.
But your liberal petticoats are showing a bit too boldly to deny your distraction with civil matters. Rather than dwelling on the liberal agenda that the evil Donald Trump is the only real issue in our lives, how about let President Trump be the civil leader, which he's doing very well at, and stay in your anointed lane that God assigned you to be a messenger. Often the tell for His design is the gifting that we exhibit.
When 80% of the evangelicals think Trump is sent by God after all his ongoing evil acts which are all well known, I truly question their faith in Christianity and the word of the lord. This has nothing to do with liberalism but everything to do with following the love and acts of good will Jesus proscribed as a way to live. Thank you Pastor Tim for you focus on the word of God.