JESUS FOR MESSIAH | Week 3 | Sermon · Rewind

JESUS FOR MESSIAH | Week 3 | Sermon · Rewind

Pastor Bill Bush · Oct 21, 2024

Big Idea

Does your citizenship on earth reflect your citizenship in heaven?

As Christians we hold a dual citizenship, and Jesus shows us how to hold it well: participate fully in our earthly society but never let it become our priority. When we give God what belongs to Him — all of ourselves — we can be good citizens here without being ruled by fear, anger, and division.

Key points

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1Jesus refuses to be trapped by a fear-driven, us-versus-them political trick.
The Pharisees and Herodians, bitter rivals on Rome and taxes, unite in their hatred of Jesus and try to force Him into an either/or answer that will get Him killed by Rome or discredited before the crowd. Pastor Bill points out this is exactly how modern political debates work — not seeking truth, just baiting the other side into looking foolish. Jesus exposes their hypocrisy by asking for the very coin with Caesar's graven image that they claim to reject but happen to be carrying in the temple.
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2Be wise and don't compromise — don't let worldly wisdom, not God's word, drive how you act as a citizen.
Pastor Bill cites A. W. Tozer's line that compromise is the devil's word, explaining Jesus refuses the either/or trap because the answer is both/and, guided by scripture rather than by whatever gets a desired result. He warns against being Machiavellian, letting the ends justify the means, in politics or in being a neighbor.
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3Participate in your earthly citizenship, but don't prioritize it.
Pastor Bill says Christians should vote, engage, debate, and try to win people over — that's being a good citizen — but warns that fear-based political engagement reveals a wrong priority. He walks through how fear leads to anger, anger to hate, and hate to suffering, crediting the insight to the book of James (and jokingly to Yoda), and uses his own road-rage story and an HOA weeds story as examples of misplaced priority.
James 1 (fear, anger, hate progression)· related
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4Give to God what is God's — prioritize your citizenship in heaven, which means giving Him all of yourself.
Drawing on Hebrews 11's description of people who lived by faith without seeing the promise fulfilled, and Philippians 3:20, Pastor Bill explains that being made in God's image means we belong fully to Him and to the body of Christ. He says Christians are sent into the world on mission, not to withdraw from it, and that prioritizing heaven's citizenship means growing in faith, community, and living intentionally to point people to Jesus.
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5The Titanic's lifeboats, not the ship's speed or luxury, are the real mission.
Pastor Bill retells the Titanic disaster as a picture of prioritizing comfort and appearance over saving lives — not enough lifeboats, boats launched half-full, crews afraid to go back for people in the water. He applies this to the church being afraid to get 'too crowded' or to let the chaos of the world pull it down, when the real call is to reach out and pull people into the boat.

Application

Pastor Bill frames the charge as give to Caesar what is Caesar's, but give to God what is God's — participate in your earthly citizenship without letting it become your priority.

Vote and engage, but with biblical wisdom
Pastor Bill says Christians should vote, discuss issues, and try to win others over, but let biblical theology drive political methodology rather than forcing scripture into a cultural mold you already feel strongly about.
Check where fear and anger are driving you
If you find yourself furious about politics, a neighbor, or an HOA dispute, treat that anger as a signal that you've made something other than God the priority, and examine why.
Stop making people the enemy
Rather than stereotyping people who disagree with you as liberals, conservatives, or 'that person,' remember they are not the enemy, and respond with the love of Christ instead of rhetoric or punishment.
Prioritize your citizenship in heaven
Give God all of yourself this week — grow in knowing Him, get into real community rather than just attending, and live intentionally with your time, talent, treasure, and testimony to point people to Jesus.
Help build the lifeboats
Serve, give, and make room for the people coming to Christ, including sacrificially tithing and volunteering in ministries like Children's Ministry, so the church can reach and hold more people rather than staying comfortably half-full.

Take it into your week

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7-day devotional

A personal reading plan from this message — scripture, reflection, and prayer for each day.

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Day 1

The Pharisees came to Jesus with a trap dressed up as a question. Pay taxes to Caesar, and you look like a collaborator. Refuse, and you look like a rebel. Either way, they win. But Jesus didn't take the bait. He asked for a coin, turned the question back around, and walked out of the trap entirely. 'Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and give to God what belongs to God.' The crowd was amazed — not because Jesus was clever, but because His answer came from a completely different place than they expected. He wasn't playing their game. Pastor Bill pointed out that Jesus modeled something we desperately need right now: wisdom that doesn't get cornered by false choices. The political and cultural pressure around us constantly pushes us toward either/or decisions — you're with us or against us, you care or you don't, you're a good person or a bad one. Jesus refused that framing. He held two true things at once, without anxiety and without compromise. That kind of wisdom isn't instinctive. It has to be cultivated. It starts with recognizing when fear — or the desire to belong to one side — is doing the thinking for you rather than the Spirit.

For reflection

Where in your civic or political life do you feel most pressured to take a side in a way that doesn't feel fully honest? What would it look like to hold that tension with wisdom instead of anxiety?

Pray

Pray for the kind of wisdom Jesus modeled — the ability to see clearly without being driven by pressure or fear.

Small-group discussion guide

For leading a group conversation about this message.

Open

In Matthew 22, Jesus is handed what looks like an impossible either/or question — and He refuses to take the bait. This message invites us to think about what that kind of wisdom looks like for us as citizens of two kingdoms.

Discussion questions

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In Matthew 22:15-22, the Pharisees try to trap Jesus with a question designed to force Him into one of two bad options. What do you notice about the way Jesus responds — and what does it suggest about how He viewed the either/or framing they were offering?
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Jesus says, 'Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and give to God what belongs to God' (Matthew 22:21). Pastor Bill connected 'what belongs to God' to the image of God stamped on every person. What does it mean, practically, to give God your whole self rather than just a portion of your life?
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Pastor Bill described the world's political environment as running on fear, which then produces anger, broken relationships, and suffering. Where do you see that cycle playing out, and what makes it so easy to get pulled into it?
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The believers described in Hebrews 11:13-16 are called 'strangers and foreigners on the earth' who were looking for a better, heavenly homeland. How does that identity — passing through rather than settling in — change the way a person might engage with civic life without withdrawing from it?
5
Pastor Bill used the image of a lifeboat: Christians pointing people to Jesus rather than pointing their opinions at people. In Philippians 3:20, Paul grounds that posture in the fact that 'we are citizens of heaven.' How might a community of people who genuinely hold that conviction look different from the surrounding culture during a politically charged season?
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Pastor Bill challenged us to ask honestly why we get so worked up about earthly political outcomes, and suggested that intense fear can be a signal about what actually sits at the center of our priorities. How might a community help one another notice that drift — and reorient — without it becoming shame-based?

Pray together

Wisdom and courage to hold our heavenly citizenship first — engaging the world with love rather than fear, and becoming a lifeboat for people around us

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Topics

Being a Lifeboat Civic Engagement Dual Citizenship Fear-Driven Politics Heavenly vs. Earthly Priorities

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