9/1/2010 12:38:20 PM
It seems strange that in the same week we celebrated the 47th anniversary of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” sermon from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, Presbyterian denominational officials have declared that “faith is not a political issue.”
You cannot read the Old Testament, and you cannot understand the arrest, trials and crucifixion of Jesus apart from the continual interplay of politics and faith. The God of the Bible sent His chosen people to be a light to the nations. That call has both religious and political implications.Tell Moses, on his 10th trip in to demand the release of Jewish slaves in Egypt, that faith is not a political issue.
Tell Esther, who lived for “just such a time as this,” that faith is not a political issue.
Tell Daniel, who would not bow the knee to any king but God, that faith is not a political issue.
Tell John the Baptist, who lost his head as a political party token, that faith is not a political issue.
Tell Jesus, King of the Jews, who was executed by Roman authorities that faith is not a political issue.
That would be a good stopping point, but we need not stop there.
Tell the apostle Paul, who was jailed for voicing his faith and appealed to Rome on the basis of his citizenship, that his punishment was not a political issue.
Tell the apostle John, exiled to the island of Patmos, that his faith was not a political issue.
Tell the scores of Christian martyrs who have died under political regimes in every generation that faith is not a political issue.
Tell John Calvin, who was expelled by Geneva’s city council, that his faith was not a political issue.
Tell John Knox, who was exiled by the French and banished by Queen Mary, that faith is not a political issue.
Tell the Protestant pilgrims fleeing political persecution and the framers of the United States Constitution that faith is not a political issue.
Tell William Wilberforce that faith is not a political issue.
Tell the Nazis and then tell the Communists that faith is not a political issue.
Tell the pastors of the Confessing Church movement in Germany that faith is not a political issue.
Tell Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn that faith is not a political issue.
Tell Martin Luther King, Jr. and all those who followed his leading to transform this nation, that faith is not a political issue.
Tell Mother Teresa that faith is not a political issue.
Faith is a political issue because faith has implications for the way we live.
Where there are people of faith, politics are affected. And yes, where there are politics, people of faith are affected.
Praise be to God that we live in a land where freedom of religion means that people can freely exercise their faith without fear of government retribution.
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