Jesus is the Center
If you read the entire chapter of John 19 you will come across something that is prevalent today. I know you don’t want to hear about it or read about, but it’s important we name it: Christian nationalism. Christian nationalism is when people confuse following Jesus with following a political leader or political ideal that claims to be Christian (so I can’t be accused of partisan preference, such confusion does happen on the right and left side of the aisle). Christian nationalists would rather worship their country instead of Jesus—confusing the first with a religion and the second with a prop. If you’re not already worked up by what I’ve said so far, let me add that I grew up saying the pledge of allegiance every morning in a rural classroom with my hand over my heart. I love this country, I love the freedoms I have, I love that people with other values/ religions/ cultures are welcome here and I love that I can freely worship and follow Jesus. But pledging my allegiance to a flag? I’m pretty sure I was committing idolatry all those years. As a disciple of Jesus, I can honor a great nation (that still has some work to do) and I can honor the great people here. But I can’t pledge my allegiance, give my life, my loyalty, or my trust to anything other than God. I’ve heard people at Easter Lutheran tell me they don’t like it when I talk about politics (even though I’m talking about Christian living), so I’ll move on to the Bible reading.
The religious leaders in John 19 are caught up in a blurry mess of church and state. Living under Roman rule they were free to live as Jewish people—with their own values, expression of faith, and culture… so long as they didn’t get too loud and didn’t try to overthrow Rome. The religious leaders didn’t care for Jesus so they accused him of blaspheme (claiming to be the Son of God). Wanting to get rid of him they manipulate Pontius Pilate into having him executed. Pilate found no fault with Jesus but he can’t have an uprising on his hands. Further, in verse 12 they have said “If you release this man, you are no friend of the emperor. Everyone who claims to be a king sets himself against the emperor.”
Yikes. Pilate is between a rock and a hard place and knows he must crucify an innocent man or be removed from his post (maybe even executed by the emperor himself). In verse 15 the crowd shouts 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 the emperor.’”
Let that sink in. “We have no king but the emperor.” Who are the blasphemers? Who are the idolaters? The crowd denounces their thousands of years of following God with God leading them out of slavery into the promised land, with God being their God and them being God’s people. They threw it all away. They claimed Caesar as their king and not God. Just to have Jesus killed.
How much of our faith are we willing to throw away? How far are we willing to go to replace Jesus with someone or something else, especially when life gets difficult, divisive, or when things aren’t going our way?
As we prepare for Holy Week and Easter Sunday, I have a hope for all of us (myself included): I hope we can intentionally keep Jesus to the center of all that we are as a faith community and all that we are as individuals… individuals who are doing their best to faithfully follow Jesus during a very challenging time under very difficult circumstances.
I hope you will take some time this week to check out the “American Portraits” exhibit by John Noltner at our Hill and Lake locations. The exhibit guide is such a helpful resource to move you through the exhibit in a meaningful way. On Wednesday I hope you will participate in our community art project—answering the question “what can we create together” and getting a portrait taken by Noltner. I hope you will join us for Noltner’s unveiling of the project and keynote speech on Saturday at 6:30pm.
What DO we want to create together? More of what’s going on in our country where we are quick to blame, misrepresent, and villainize the “other” side of any issue without ever talking with someone who shares a different view or experience from ours? Or should we create something different—a community with Jesus at the center where all are included, loved, and welcome to grow in faith and carry on the work of Jesus Christ?