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To The Exiles



Cut From The Mountain: God and Government in Daniel

Christian political thought is a balancing act between competing allegiances.  On the one hand, the state is owed our allegiance as an authority anointed by God for a certain purpose.  On the other hand, our allegiance to the state is subservient to our allegiance to God.  We render to Caesar what is Caesar's, but never from what we owe to God.  

It is a difficult balance, even in the best of times, with nations limited by biblical principles.  But it's made even harder when the state arrays itself against God.  How does a Christian swear allegiance to God when he can't also swear allegiance to the state?  How does a Christian thrive in exile?
The book of Daniel is God's gift to his people in exile.  The tension between God and empire will be settled, and the empire of the Lord will prevail, and God's people will bear witness to its presence even now as his kingdom spreads like a stone cut from a mountain, which will become the great mountain, and fill the earth (Daniel 2:31-35).
Words of Comfort
Though we may be emerging from the pandemic, many of us are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel with feelings of fatigue and fear. This past year made clear to us all the weakness of our institutions, the frailty of our lives, and our desperate need for grace. In times like this, calls to action can fall flat because we’re simply struggling to get out of bed.
But Christ is not just the Lord of the Great Commission, but he is the gentle and lowly Shepherd. For the next four Sundays we want to take time to remember the great words of comfort that we have been given - for security, for hope, for courage - and spend time abiding in the goodness of Christ, which lasts longer than the trials at hand. 

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