Dual Citizenship

Sermon manuscript for Green Lake Church of Seventh-day Adventists

March 29, 2014

Jeremiah 29:4-7

Romans 13:1-7

Synopsis.

Jesus set an exalted ideal: view every human as deserving of care and sustenance, even when they are our enemies. In Jesus' vision, there are no particular societies. Nations and national identities become invisible. Other voices and other characters in the Bible, including Abraham, Joseph, Jeremiah, Daniel and Paul acknowledge the value of specific societies and social structures. We serve God best by serving particular communities and working with concrete social structures. So, today, to fully live out the ideals of the Kingdom of Heaven, we must engage in the society of earth.

Daniel in the Lions’ Den

1 Darius the Mede decided to divide the kingdom into 120 provinces, and he appointed a high officer to rule over each province. 2 The king also chose Daniel and two others as administrators to supervise the high officers and protect the king’s interests. 3 Daniel soon proved himself more capable than all the other administrators and high officers. Because of Daniel’s great ability, the king made plans to place him over the entire empire.

4 Then the other administrators and high officers began searching for some fault in the way Daniel was handling government affairs, but they couldn’t find anything to criticize or condemn. He was faithful, always responsible, and completely trustworthy. 5 So they concluded, “Our only chance of finding grounds for accusing Daniel will be in connection with the rules of his religion.”

6 So the administrators and high officers went to the king and said, “Long live King Darius! 7 We are all in agreement—we administrators, officials, high officers, advisers, and governors—that the king should make a law that will be strictly enforced. Give orders that for the next thirty days any person who prays to anyone, divine or human—except to you, Your Majesty—will be thrown into the den of lions. 8 And now, Your Majesty, issue and sign this law so it cannot be changed, an official law of the Medes and Persians that cannot be revoked.” 9 So King Darius signed the law.

10 But when Daniel learned that the law had been signed, he went home and knelt down as usual in his upstairs room, with its windows open toward Jerusalem. He prayed three times a day, just as he had always done, giving thanks to his God.

11 Then the officials went together to Daniel’s house and found him praying and asking for God’s help. 12 So they went straight to the king and reminded him about his law. “Did you not sign a law that for the next thirty days any person who prays to anyone, divine or human—except to you, Your Majesty—will be thrown into the den of lions?”

“Yes,” the king replied, “that decision stands; it is an official law of the Medes and Persians that cannot be revoked.”

13 Then they told the king, “That man Daniel, one of the captives from Judah, is ignoring you and your law. He still prays to his God three times a day.”

14 Hearing this, the king was deeply troubled, and he tried to think of a way to save Daniel. He spent the rest of the day looking for a way to get Daniel out of this predicament.

15 In the evening the men went together to the king and said, “Your Majesty, you know that according to the law of the Medes and the Persians, no law that the king signs can be changed.”

16 So at last the king gave orders for Daniel to be arrested and thrown into the den of lions. The king said to him, “May your God, whom you serve so faithfully, rescue you.”

17 A stone was brought and placed over the mouth of the den. The king sealed the stone with his own royal seal and the seals of his nobles, so that no one could rescue Daniel. 18 Then the king returned to his palace and spent the night fasting. He refused his usual entertainment and couldn’t sleep at all that night.

19 Very early the next morning, the king got up and hurried out to the lions’ den. 20 When he got there, he called out in anguish, “Daniel, servant of the living God! Was your God, whom you serve so faithfully, able to rescue you from the lions?”

21 Daniel answered, “Long live the king! 22 My God sent his angel to shut the lions’ mouths so that they would not hurt me, for I have been found innocent in his sight. And I have not wronged you, Your Majesty.”

23 The king was overjoyed and ordered that Daniel be lifted from the den. Not a scratch was found on him, for he had trusted in his God.

24 Then the king gave orders to arrest the men who had maliciously accused Daniel. He had them thrown into the lions’ den, along with their wives and children. The lions leaped on them and tore them apart before they even hit the floor of the den.

25 Then King Darius sent this message to the people of every race and nation and language throughout the world:

“Peace and prosperity to you!

26 “I decree that everyone throughout my kingdom should tremble with fear before the God of Daniel. For he is the living God, and he will endure forever. His kingdom will never be destroyed, and his rule will never end. 27 He rescues and saves his people;

he performs miraculous signs and wonders in the heavens and on earth. He has rescued Daniel from the power of the lions.”

28 So Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and the reign of Cyrus the Persian.

New Living Bible, accessed through blueletterbible.org.

It can be complicated, living with dual citizenship. But that is our calling. We are citizens of the kingdom of heaven and citizens of the United States (or China or Nigeria or Canada or Mexico).

But let's be clear. For us dual citizenship does mean exactly equal allegiance to two kingdoms. Here in church we unabashedly declare our supreme allegiance is to the Kingdom of Heaven. That's one reason we do not have an American flag in our sanctuary. In this space—in this house, in this family—particular national identities are unimportant. My precious American birthright gives me no status. In this house of prayer for all nations, an illegal immigrant from Guatemala has equal claim upon God and upon the affection and support of the community.

Sometimes there is a conflict between the claims of the Kingdom of Heaven and the claims of a particular national identity. When that happens, the Kingdom of Heaven is the unqualified master of our souls.

When there is a law or custom that requires us to pretend that some earthly citizenship is supreme, we unhesitatingly reject it.

This story also illustrates cautions against an opposite idea held by some Christians: that heaven is all that matters. Believe and pray. That's all that matters. Just this week I was yet another article about the heart-breaking connection between a certain kind of Christianity and perpetual poverty with its accompanying phenomena of divorce, obesity, diabetes, domestic violence and general misery. True religion does offer comfort and consolation in the face of difficulties we cannot change. As I have said often enough: If you call religion and opiate of the masses, and you say that scornfully, it must be that you have never experienced severe pain. Genuine Christianity is a wonderful consolation.

And it is far more than that. It is a stirring call to cooperate with God in making the world better. The story of Daniel is a brilliant example of that. He was the best man in his world. This was recognized by the king and even by his enemies.

God calls us to be the best men and women in our worlds. In the heart of Babylon—that is the regular, old, secular world—God calls us to be indispensably good.

In serving the empires of Babylon and Persia, Daniel was following the advice God gave through the prophet Jeremiah.

[Jer 29:1-14 NLT] 1 Jeremiah wrote a letter from Jerusalem to the elders, priests, prophets, and all the people who had been exiled to Babylon by King Nebuchadnezzar. 2 This was after King Jehoiachin, the queen mother, the court officials, the other officials of Judah, and all the craftsmen and artisans had been deported from Jerusalem. 3 He sent the letter with Elasah son of Shaphan and Gemariah son of Hilkiah when they went to Babylon as King Zedekiah's ambassadors to Nebuchadnezzar. This is what Jeremiah's letter said: 4 This is what the LORD of Heaven's Armies, the God of Israel, says to all the captives he has exiled to Babylon from Jerusalem: 5 "Build homes, and plan to stay. Plant gardens, and eat the food they produce. 6 Marry and have children. Then find spouses for them so that you may have many grandchildren. Multiply! Do not dwindle away! 7 And work for the peace and prosperity of the city where I sent you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, for its welfare will determine your welfare." 8 This is what the LORD of Heaven's Armies, the God of Israel, says: "Do not let your prophets and fortune-tellers who are with you in the land of Babylon trick you. Do not listen to their dreams, 9 because they are telling you lies in my name. I have not sent them," says the LORD. 10 This is what the LORD says: "You will be in Babylon for seventy years. But then I will come and do for you all the good things I have promised, and I will bring you home again. 11 For I know the plans I have for you," says the LORD. "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. 12 In those days when you pray, I will listen. 13 If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. 14 I will be found by you," says the LORD. "I will end your captivity and restore your fortunes. I will gather you out of the nations where I sent you and will bring you home again to your own land."

This world is our home. God wants us to settle in and prosper here. God wants us to work for the prosperity of the larger society. Because it will thus go well for us, and because a prosperous society is God's dream for the world.

2011 was not a particularly good time to become governor of California. Unemployment was in the double digits. The state budget had a $26 billion deficit. And this was on top of a state debt that had already piled up to $35 billion. People were beginning to talk about bankruptcy. The problem appeared to be unsolvable.

The new governor, Jerry Brown, went to work. He did the unheard of thing of asking the voters to raise their own taxes. And they did it. He cut state spending. And it hurt. Now, three years later, the state budget is in balance. Employment is recovering nicely. And the state is again pursuing forward-looking environmental initiatives, futuristic transportation projects and bold water projects.

Part of Jerry Brown's history was several years in a Jesuit seminary training for the priesthood. He left the seminary and went to law school. His life has been in politics, not the church, not religion. But throughout his political career he has pursued some bright ideals. He's not perfect, of course. Not all of his ideas have worked. And not all of them are good. But his recent leadership in the State of California has moved the place away from the brink of bankruptcy, but into a place for dreamers and inventors.

And that's a good thing. That is the kind of work we are called to do.

Last Sunday, Krystl Mitchell and Mark Murphy were married here at Green Lake Church. It was a beautiful service with magnificent music. At the reception there were long speeches. One of which I will remember a long time. Krystl's dad talked of his memories of his “little girl.”

He talked of walking the Burke Gilman trail with Krystl when she was just a tyke. She carefully picked up every snail and moved it off the trail so it wouldn't get hurt. In school, she made a point of befriending kids who were outsiders. No amount of peer pressure could bend her. She was determined to make things better. Then she went off to law school, still committed to making the world better. And she hasn't stopped yet. Now she is working as a prosecutor in Grays Harbor, seeking to maintain justice.

Krystl is a beautiful example of dual citizenship. She is a citizen of what we call “the real world,” the world where snails get crushed and socially awkward kids and ugly people get shunned. She is also a citizen of the kingdom of God, the kingdom where snails are precious and awkward kids and ugly people are see in their real value.

God calls us all to do our own work of saving snails, maybe building “snail fences.” To use our mind and muscle to serve.

This is our highest honor.