Recreate Church, Pastor Michael Shockley—Service, October 27, 2024

The Elephant, The Donkey, and The Lion. Today, Pastor Michael is talking about politics but not talking about politics. This is a timely segue due to next week’s elections.  Far greater than any political position is this: Jesus Christ, the son of God, lived a perfect, sinless life. He gave that life on the cross, He spent three days in the grave and rose to immortality, and whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life. That IS the message…the Good News. So, in our message today, the Pharisees are up to trying to trip Jesus up by trapping Him into saying something.  And, of course, Jesus’s answer is perfect: yes, we have responsibilities to our government (State and/or Caesar).  But more important is the second part of His reply, being loyal to the things of God. More than anything, here’s the key idea:  When choosing between the Elephant and the Donkey, choose the Lion!  Choose Jesus. CSB Bible—Matthew 22:15 - 22. The Pharisees intended to trap Jesus in a position that granted loyalty to Caesar and not to God. They wanted to level a charge of blasphemy against Jesus. By getting him to declare non-loyalty to Caesar, they could get him charged with a civil crime. Both attempts failed. Jesus’s response does not resolve all of our questions regarding the responsibilities we have with church and state, but he does provide some beginning places to inform us. His answer implies that we do have responsibilities to the state. These extend only to those “things that are Caesar’s.” A yet higher authority commands our allegiance. We must be faithful to those things of God. Today’s verses can be found in Matthew 22: 15 - 22. Scripture quotations marked CSB have been taken from the Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible® and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.