I grew up saying the pledge of allegiance in elementary school. The word allegiance refers to one’s loyalty. Of course, a Christian’s ultimate loyalty is to Jesus and his example. Jesus inaugurated the kingdom of God through his life, death and resurrection, and God’s people are to be a picture and a taste of that heavenly kingdom. God’s kingdom has not been fully and finally established and won’t be until the return of Christ. So for now we wait for something more. Until then, God’s kingdom isn’t simply American or western. His kingdom is composed of people from all tribes, tongues and nations. One of the sweetest Christian experiences you can have is worshiping God alongside brothers and sisters who speak a different language than you. You are reminded that Jesus came to make all people everywhere foreigners in their own land and ambassadors of his kingdom.
Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.
1 Peter 2:11
While God dwells with His people now by power and the presence of the Holy Spirit, we are still waiting for the kingdom to be consummated when Jesus returns. Until then, we live as strangers in a foreign land. While we are certainly called to honor, obey and influence the laws of the land, America is not our home. It is not “the Promised Land,” but in more and more ways actually resembles the famed Babylon of old. Yet we do have many blessings in these United States. I read about a poor man from India who said that his dream was to live in America. When asked why, he said, “I want to live in a country where even the poorest people are overweight.” We have abundance but we are still living in exile. We are very much “east of Eden" and at the same time, we have a very direct mandate from the place to which we call our true home. Let’s read Peter’s words again and add the next verse...
Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.
1 Peter 2:11-12
No matter who wins or loses in any election season, we have an allegiance to one who is far greater. We are the people of God. As your pastor, I'm going to ask you to commit to the ethics of God's kingdom. In this way, we will be presenting our good deeds for those who haven't yet been transferred from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light.
