STM: Politics As Usual
Good Friday
Politics as Usual
You remember that before I went to the seminary, my vocation was in public affairs. I was a reporter, covering politics and government. And I was a congressional press secretary in Washington, D.C. There my job was to cultivate, to help create and sustain the image of my boss so that he appeared to reflect the views of the majority of the voting public most of the time, so that he could keep his job and so that the constituency he served would be happy and feel that they were properly represented. So, I spent a lot of time with politics.
I don't know if we really realize what a hand we have in creating the political leaders of our day. I don't know is we fully understand that more often than not, leaders are created in the image of the constituency they hope to represent. I think in large part President Bush was elected because he was not Bill Clinton, because people had an idea of who they were and who they thought the President ought to be. George W. responded to that image, that character, and it served him well. President Clinton was elected and reelected because he has the skill to respond to what an electoral majority of the voters in this country said they want, to fashion himself in that image, in fact he was famous for that. Someone relatively young and active, intelligent and competent. Experienced. Moderate on the issues. Despite what the strident voices on the right or the left say, most of these guys land regularly in the center. And those who demand of them a more leftleaning point of view are critical. They rebuke them and withdraw their support. Those who demand of them a more rightleaning point of view react exactly the same. Because they are not functioning as one created in or reflecting their image.
We came most recently, as you know, from Texas, where Senator Phil Gramm serves. He is a master at creating himself in the image of his constituency. Elected years ago as a moderate Democrat, the political landscape of Texas started to change to one more conservative, so he changed his stripes and staked out his turf as a conservative Republican. When he changed, he lost the original, declining constituency that elected him in the first place, but that was quickly replaced by another whose views he more closely now represents. His following changed.
In our democracy, in our republican form of government, it is the people who call the shots. It is the people who decide who leads them. And if we don't like what they see, if we don't like the leadership we have elected, we either require the leaders to change, or we throw the rascals out. That leaves leaders who will either be willing to change or be forced to seek another constituency. At least that's politics works on paper. It is selfinterest, voter selfinterest which drives our politics. It is the art of politics to create leaders in our image. And aren't we so often disappointed that that's exactly what we get?
There was a good deal of politics surround the final days of Jesus of Nazareth. The Sanhedrin found him to be outside the rabbinical mainstream, and he was seen as a political threat to the continuity of the Temple. The Romans pegged him as a poser King. The disciples never did quite catch up to Jesus' purpose. They resisted, they questioned how this man intended to proceed. Let's go back a bit to Peter's acclamation of Jesus as the Messiah. Remember that. "You are the Messiah!" Yet when Jesus continued, going on about suffering and dying, Peter, like a good confidant, took him asidedidn't want to demoralize the grouptook him aside and said, "Now, wait a minute. Let's not go off the deep end here. We've got a chance to win this thing. Crowds are gathering, people are following. We've got a chance to do this Messiah thing and get rid of those Romans once and for all. We have a chance to change the world. Don't blow it by all this talk about suffering and dying. What good are you to us if you're dead? What good are you to this movement if you're dead. Now knock it off. You're scaring the troops and undermining their confidence in your campaign."
But he received a tremendous rebuke in return. "Get behind me Satan." . What Jesus was trying to convey was that you must take me as I am. This is not an election. You say I am the Messiah. Well, I am the Messiah who goes to the cross. My victory is on the cross. His rebuke was so emphatic because he was warning Peter if you try to change who I am, then everything changes. If you try to change who I am then it changes who you are, who you are to become. Christ without the cross is just another wellspoken prophet, a finally forgettable voice from an ancient land. And without the Christ of the cross, then we are lost. We are simply the followers of an honorable man. But that's where it ends. We are the cheerleaders of a dead man.
The authentic Christ is the Christ of the cross, the Christ who suffers and dies on behalf of his people and triumphs through the hand of God in the resurrection. "What do you mean, what good am I to you if I die. I am no good to you unless I do die, so that my mission might be accomplished, so that your redemption might be complete.
The disciples, the synagogue, the Romans, the crowd, resisted this Jesus because he identified us as we are; those sinful people in need of redemption who can find no other way to an authentic relationship with God. Jesus identifies that part of us we are loathe to lead with, so that we what we truly need would be accomplished.
As a result, we would not choose him. In fact the people had a choice didn't they, a little election, and what did they say, "Give us Barabbas."
To follow this Christ is to put aside the vanity that we don't need that kind of a Messiah. To follow the Christ of the cross is to give up the notion of the Messiah King who ousts the occupying forces through force and elevates us as his captains.
Remember the temptations of Jesus, power and dominion, if he would just serve the tempter. If you would change who you are, says the devil, I will give you all these things that exalt you. Those same temptations are what will take us from the cross. The tempter's agenda has not changed. That's what Jesus warned against. Don't try to make me into something I am not, because it looks past who you are. I am the Messiah. Here is what this messiah does. The tempter would have us put ourselves at the center of all things, and then fashion a God in our own image.
If we go the way of our selfinterest, we will get a God that is no better than we are. We will get a caricature of Christ, subject to the whims of the world, of time and power and wealth and intrigue which misses the point of our need for redemption. If we choose selfinterest, we will get a politician for a Christ, a reflection of our limited sinful selves. Satan couldn't change this Christ, Peter and the disciples couldn't, the Temple couldn't, the crowds couldn't. We can't. And shouldn't. Somehow, if we try to do so, we make the terrible mistake of thinking that we chose him, that we elected him.
But the cross says, "This isn't politics as usual. I am no good to you unless I die, unless I suffer the cross. I am everything to you if I do, and, moreover, I am willing and able to do that for you." You see, the good news here, my baptized brothers and sisters in Christ, is that he has chosen us. He has chosen us. He has taken such a profound decision out of our hands and has chosen us. So that the Christ we follow will not fail us in the darkness, will nor abandon us in favor of another constituency, who will not be so like us that he makes our same mistakes and suffers our same failures and is finally concerned only with himself. He has chosen us, even as we are.
He is as the hymn says, the one who changeth not, abide with me. There is the prayer for Christ's continuity. . . . Not subject to term limits, impeachment, elections or the whim of culture. He is the one who has chosen us and bids us to follow him to the cross and through the cross to the fulfillment of the ancient promises of God made real in each grace-filled moment.
Thank God it's not politics as usual!
Copyright (c) 2002 by Pastor Robert J. Rasmus
Politics as Usual
You remember that before I went to the seminary, my vocation was in public affairs. I was a reporter, covering politics and government. And I was a congressional press secretary in Washington, D.C. There my job was to cultivate, to help create and sustain the image of my boss so that he appeared to reflect the views of the majority of the voting public most of the time, so that he could keep his job and so that the constituency he served would be happy and feel that they were properly represented. So, I spent a lot of time with politics.
I don't know if we really realize what a hand we have in creating the political leaders of our day. I don't know is we fully understand that more often than not, leaders are created in the image of the constituency they hope to represent. I think in large part President Bush was elected because he was not Bill Clinton, because people had an idea of who they were and who they thought the President ought to be. George W. responded to that image, that character, and it served him well. President Clinton was elected and reelected because he has the skill to respond to what an electoral majority of the voters in this country said they want, to fashion himself in that image, in fact he was famous for that. Someone relatively young and active, intelligent and competent. Experienced. Moderate on the issues. Despite what the strident voices on the right or the left say, most of these guys land regularly in the center. And those who demand of them a more leftleaning point of view are critical. They rebuke them and withdraw their support. Those who demand of them a more rightleaning point of view react exactly the same. Because they are not functioning as one created in or reflecting their image.
We came most recently, as you know, from Texas, where Senator Phil Gramm serves. He is a master at creating himself in the image of his constituency. Elected years ago as a moderate Democrat, the political landscape of Texas started to change to one more conservative, so he changed his stripes and staked out his turf as a conservative Republican. When he changed, he lost the original, declining constituency that elected him in the first place, but that was quickly replaced by another whose views he more closely now represents. His following changed.
In our democracy, in our republican form of government, it is the people who call the shots. It is the people who decide who leads them. And if we don't like what they see, if we don't like the leadership we have elected, we either require the leaders to change, or we throw the rascals out. That leaves leaders who will either be willing to change or be forced to seek another constituency. At least that's politics works on paper. It is selfinterest, voter selfinterest which drives our politics. It is the art of politics to create leaders in our image. And aren't we so often disappointed that that's exactly what we get?
There was a good deal of politics surround the final days of Jesus of Nazareth. The Sanhedrin found him to be outside the rabbinical mainstream, and he was seen as a political threat to the continuity of the Temple. The Romans pegged him as a poser King. The disciples never did quite catch up to Jesus' purpose. They resisted, they questioned how this man intended to proceed. Let's go back a bit to Peter's acclamation of Jesus as the Messiah. Remember that. "You are the Messiah!" Yet when Jesus continued, going on about suffering and dying, Peter, like a good confidant, took him asidedidn't want to demoralize the grouptook him aside and said, "Now, wait a minute. Let's not go off the deep end here. We've got a chance to win this thing. Crowds are gathering, people are following. We've got a chance to do this Messiah thing and get rid of those Romans once and for all. We have a chance to change the world. Don't blow it by all this talk about suffering and dying. What good are you to us if you're dead? What good are you to this movement if you're dead. Now knock it off. You're scaring the troops and undermining their confidence in your campaign."
But he received a tremendous rebuke in return. "Get behind me Satan." . What Jesus was trying to convey was that you must take me as I am. This is not an election. You say I am the Messiah. Well, I am the Messiah who goes to the cross. My victory is on the cross. His rebuke was so emphatic because he was warning Peter if you try to change who I am, then everything changes. If you try to change who I am then it changes who you are, who you are to become. Christ without the cross is just another wellspoken prophet, a finally forgettable voice from an ancient land. And without the Christ of the cross, then we are lost. We are simply the followers of an honorable man. But that's where it ends. We are the cheerleaders of a dead man.
The authentic Christ is the Christ of the cross, the Christ who suffers and dies on behalf of his people and triumphs through the hand of God in the resurrection. "What do you mean, what good am I to you if I die. I am no good to you unless I do die, so that my mission might be accomplished, so that your redemption might be complete.
The disciples, the synagogue, the Romans, the crowd, resisted this Jesus because he identified us as we are; those sinful people in need of redemption who can find no other way to an authentic relationship with God. Jesus identifies that part of us we are loathe to lead with, so that we what we truly need would be accomplished.
As a result, we would not choose him. In fact the people had a choice didn't they, a little election, and what did they say, "Give us Barabbas."
To follow this Christ is to put aside the vanity that we don't need that kind of a Messiah. To follow the Christ of the cross is to give up the notion of the Messiah King who ousts the occupying forces through force and elevates us as his captains.
Remember the temptations of Jesus, power and dominion, if he would just serve the tempter. If you would change who you are, says the devil, I will give you all these things that exalt you. Those same temptations are what will take us from the cross. The tempter's agenda has not changed. That's what Jesus warned against. Don't try to make me into something I am not, because it looks past who you are. I am the Messiah. Here is what this messiah does. The tempter would have us put ourselves at the center of all things, and then fashion a God in our own image.
If we go the way of our selfinterest, we will get a God that is no better than we are. We will get a caricature of Christ, subject to the whims of the world, of time and power and wealth and intrigue which misses the point of our need for redemption. If we choose selfinterest, we will get a politician for a Christ, a reflection of our limited sinful selves. Satan couldn't change this Christ, Peter and the disciples couldn't, the Temple couldn't, the crowds couldn't. We can't. And shouldn't. Somehow, if we try to do so, we make the terrible mistake of thinking that we chose him, that we elected him.
But the cross says, "This isn't politics as usual. I am no good to you unless I die, unless I suffer the cross. I am everything to you if I do, and, moreover, I am willing and able to do that for you." You see, the good news here, my baptized brothers and sisters in Christ, is that he has chosen us. He has chosen us. He has taken such a profound decision out of our hands and has chosen us. So that the Christ we follow will not fail us in the darkness, will nor abandon us in favor of another constituency, who will not be so like us that he makes our same mistakes and suffers our same failures and is finally concerned only with himself. He has chosen us, even as we are.
He is as the hymn says, the one who changeth not, abide with me. There is the prayer for Christ's continuity. . . . Not subject to term limits, impeachment, elections or the whim of culture. He is the one who has chosen us and bids us to follow him to the cross and through the cross to the fulfillment of the ancient promises of God made real in each grace-filled moment.
Thank God it's not politics as usual!
Copyright (c) 2002 by Pastor Robert J. Rasmus