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Hey, everybody. Welcome, uh, to, uh, Prairie Lakes. I know we've probably said that to you a couple times already this weekend, but I want to say it again. And I also wanna say something that maybe you've heard us say a time or two, and that is, that is this, uh, we're really glad that you're here, and here's why. Um, because when you decide, like you have today to, uh, to just show up, just put yourself in a position like you're doing today. Um, as simple as that might sound, God really can do some amazing things and, uh, um, and sometimes not so amazing. But, uh, he, he can do, he can do something because you're, you're here. So we're really glad, we're really glad that you're here. Um, hey, we are, uh, this weekend we're kicking off a new series, uh, that we're calling Not In It to Win It, okay?

Not in it to win it. And, uh, basically it's about, uh, Hawkeye football for, for, no, it's, uh, it is not what it's about. Okay? What it, what it is about is actually, it's kind of a little hard to explain. Um, so, so here's where we're gonna start, uh, this weekend start, uh, start with a little bit of a story. I don't know if you have had, uh, this experience or not, but whenever I watch, like a newer movie or a newer show, whatever, and that show depicts what it was like to live through the pandemic.

Whenever I'm watching something that depicts that time, could be comedy, drama, fiction, whatever. Um, but if it's set in 2020 and I'm watching it, whenever I watch a show like that, I almost get sick to my stomach. Literally, I've noticed that. Um, I'm wondering, do you have that experience? Have you had that experience? I, I, I get a little irritated. I get a little anxious even, um, I, I just find that I, I do not wanna relive that time in my mind. I just don't, uh, even if, even if it's just by watching some dumb show. Like, I don't wanna go back in my mind and, and remember what it was like, I remember what I felt and blah, blah. I just don't, I just don't. Um, and may, maybe that's your experience too, you know? Um, maybe, maybe you know what I'm talking about.

So here's why I start with that fun walk down memory lane. Um, uh, I am a little worried that history is gonna repeat itself, okay? I'm a little worried that history is gonna repeat itself. Now, before you go, oh, man, four weeks on the job, Jesse, and the, uh, the wheels are coming off. You are, you are already, you're already losing it. Um, maybe, maybe, um, but, uh, just to clarify, I'm, I'm not worried about the pandemic repeating itself.

I'm not going all doomsday on you here, okay? Um, not the kind of history that I'm worried about repeating. It's, it's more like this. And here's what I mean. I'm, I'm a little worried, um, uh, about how the church will respond to the next crisis. That's what I'm a little worried about. Okay? Um, I know none of us want to, but let's just kind of walk down memory lane real quick. Okay?

2020 was a year of crises, right? It was a year of crises, big crises, of course, with the pandemic and, and all of the, the deaths. And, uh, with the lockdowns and all of that loss, and all the uncertainty and the, the tensions about what the government could and, and couldn't do. We had all of that. Um, we had tensions around the vaccine, and is it safe? Is it not safe? And should you do it or should you not? All that. Um, of course, we had the murder of George Floyd that same year, all the demonstrations and unrest. Um, maybe you forgot about this one.

46 million acres of Australia burned before our eyes. Um, uh, you probably remember the election of that year, how contentious that was, of course, leading to a riot in the, in the capitol. Uh, murder hornets. Murder hornets. That was a fun one, right? It's just one crisis. Just one crisis after another, after another. And as I think back, uh, and try to reflect and remember how, how did we respond? How did the church respond to some of those?

And as I recall, it was kind of a mixed bag, okay? Um, from my perspective, I think some, some of us responded pretty well, pretty Christ-like even as best as we could. None of us were perfect, myself included. Um, but some, some, some good stuff. But here's the other thing. I watched happen. It just happened all too often during some of those crisis. I, I watched the church just, just divide, just, just divide. And, and the church divided along the same lines as everybody else, as everybody else. Um, some of us lost friends and family to the virus. Some of us did. Um, almost all of us lost a friend or a family member to a different tribe, so to speak.

Battle lines were drawn, you know, mask or no mask vaccine, or no, uh, vaccine climate catastrophe or climate hoax, you know, red or blue, right? And if you were on the other side of that line, whatever the line was, if you were on the other side of it, um, you felt like you were the problem, or you felt like the other side was the problem there and there, and there wasn't, again, there wasn't much of a distinction in how the church approached some of these things and how the rest of the world approached them. It, it, it, it was pretty similar. And so now, here we are, okay, 2023, um, almost done, and 2024 coming.

And we've got different crises. Uh, we've got the war in Ukraine. We have this war erupting in the Middle East. Um, we have another election cycle about to go into full swing, uh, not to mention the increased contention around social issues like gender and, and sexuality, and what are schools teaching and where's culture going, and, and who knows what else we're gonna face. Okay? So I, I am I'm just, I'm, I'm saying confessing to you. Um, I'm, I'm worried specifically, how are we gonna respond?

How are we gonna respond? Will we, will we respond similarly, similarly to what we did three, four years ago? Or will, will we be different? Um, and here's the thing. You know, there's, there's never a shortage of voices telling us how we ought to respond, right? Isn't that weird? Um, here's how the church should respond to the next crisis.

Whatever it is, right? No, no shortage of voices. Our our country is in crisis. So here's who you should vote for. Um, our world is in crisis. So here's how you should think about the Middle East and Israel and Palestine and all that. Um, here's who you should be for. Here's who you should be against. Which side are you on? Right? Don't be a fence sitter. Uh, enough of this, both sides isms, right?

We're in crisis here. Uh, there's just no shortage of voices telling us that, and telling us to, uh, to pick a side in whatever, whatever's coming. And, and this isn't a new phenomenon, okay? Um, let's, let's not act like it just started in 2020, right? This, we're in crisis. And how are you gonna respond? Which side you on? It's not, it's not a new phenomenon.

That pressure gets applied and has gotten applied for a long time now. In fact, the same tactic was used on Jesus himself. And we have, we have the story, um, open up your Bibles with me to Matthew 22, okay? Matthew 22 is where we're gonna be, and we're have it on the screen here for you.

But we really would encourage you to open up your own Bible. Maybe it's your phone, you use that, or, or maybe you brought one or in the seats, but find Matthews in the New Testament. It's a little bit closer to the back than the front one of those books that tell the story of Jesus' life. Matthew 22 is where we're gonna be. Here's, here's the story, okay? They meaning the Pharisees, um, from the context, the Pharisees sent their disciples, so not Jesus's disciples, but these are Pharisees disciples, people who followed the Pharisees.

The Pharisees sent their disciples to him, to Jesus, along with the Herodians. And we'll talk about that too. So two groups, the disciples of the Pharisees and the Odians, they're gonna see Jesus teacher, they said, we know that you are a man of integrity, and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren't swayed by others because you, you pay no attention to who they are.

Like, you're not a people pleaser. You, you, you, you say the hard things. You, you, you stand for what's right. Um, so tell us then, what's your opinion? Which side are you on? Is it right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar or not? So there it is. Okay? Same, same, same phenomenon. Look at, look at the setup again. You're a man of God, right? Jesus, of course you are.

You're a man of integrity. Aren't you sure? You are. Uh, you're a man of principle, aren't you? Absolutely right. You're not someone who's worried about what other people think. I'm, I'm sure you're not. You know, uh, you're, you're, you're, you're someone who's not afraid to say the hard things, right? Um, so, so tell us, take a stand. What's your stance?

Which side are you on? And so let's, let's talk about some of the details here just for a second. 'cause we, you gotta kind of unpack what I think we get that phenomenon. But what's going on here? First of all, this interaction happens in the city of Jerusalem at a time of year when tensions in Jerusalem, political, religious, societal, whatever they are, are super high. And here's why.

Jesus is just days away from being crucified, although nobody's thinking that except for Jesus. But everybody's in Jerusalem and tensions are high, and he's actually about to get crucified because everybody's there to celebrate the largest and most holy of religious festivals of the year, the Passover. Okay? Um, and it's usually at this time of year, every year, they all descend upon Jerusalem. They pack it out to celebrate it.

It's at this time of year that the chatter around the Roman Empire and the politics of that, and their under oppressor, and we're God's chosen people and da, da, da, right? Um, the chatter starts to go from a whisper to more of a public kind conversation. And maybe there's this messiah that God's gonna send to come and overthrow the Roman rule and to lead us back, okay? And Jesus, in this particular week is right in the center of that.

He's right in the center of that speculation about him being God's chosen one being that Messiah again, has gotten real loud, and it's gotten so loud that they started shouting hosanna welcoming him as king into the city. That's just happened. So tensions are through the roof. The city's kind of a powder keg. But these Pharisees and these odians, they don't wanna see any of that happen.

They don't wanna see Jesus welcome as king or anything else like that, because, um, well, actually for, for, for very different reasons, okay? So the Pharisees, maybe, you know, like Jesus has this long, confrontational history with them. Um, he, he, he, he's calling them out in their hypocrisy. He's saying, you guys are, are so intent on following the letter of the law, but you do, you do nothing that captures the heart of it. Um, you know, you're all about making the sacrifices and, and doing the washings and wearing the right clothes or whatever, but you don't love, you don't show mercy. You don't pursue justice.

And so Jesus let him have it. And the Pharisees hated Jesus for that. So they didn't wanna see him be king. Now, the Herodians are very different. Um, they don't care about any of that. Um, they, they were Jewish people like the Pharisees, but they were Jews more by race or culture, not really as much by faith. And, and, and really who they were, they were Israelis who cooperated with Rome.

Um, they were the Rome, they were the ones that Rome selected to govern, okay? And so they were puppet leaders, but they were pretty, pretty rich and powerful puppet leaders. And, and so the last thing they want is to, to see a king that, that the people love more than, than them. And so they hated Jesus, but obviously for a very different reason than, than the Pharisees do, which makes this particular interaction here in Matthew around this particular topic, paying taxes.

So fascinating, right? Because Pharisees and Herodians were mortal enemies when it comes to a topic like this, right? They, they think very differently. They, they fight all the time. They're on, you know, the Pharisees, I'm sure are anti-tax. The Texas should go to the temple and Israeli interests. It shouldn't be going to Rome. Not some foreign leader who, you know, props up and worships these foreign gods, and even envisions himself as one, probably, probably pretty anti the road, the Herodians probably very much pro tax, right? Uh, Caesar was their patron.

And so more taxes to Caesar meant more cash in their pockets. And so these, these two groups are, couldn't be more polar opposite and, and, um, hateful of one another when it came to this particular topic. And yet, in Jesus, they had found a common enemy. And so both of them saw an opportunity. And so we get to this little gem of them coming together and essentially posing this question to Jesus. Hey, Jesus, Which Side are you on?

Because there's a right side. Of course, of course there's a right side. Um, Which means there's a wrong one. And, uh, and you better choose. You better choose, right? Tensions were high. Um, you know how the crowd wants him to answer, right? They had just welcomed him as king. Uh, tell him, Jesus, you can tell Caesar where to stick his taxes, you know, go do it. Um, I mean, you can't possibly support such a, a pagan practice, right?

Giving money to a government who stands against everything that we believe in. I mean, that's, that's immoral. I mean, they have no right. Take up your crown. Jesus, take up your sword. Stand for what's right. Pick a side, pick the right side. Um, Pick our side.

The, it's not a stretch to say this, okay? They, they, they really did want Jesus to go to war, Um, Really, uh, a war against Rome, uh, a war for Israel, which of course was a war for God and his ways. Um, and of course, it meant against, uh, a war against, um, their culture and, uh, a war against their neighbors.

And a war against Roman ideological and theological stances. You know, it was a war against everybody. They wanted to make and envision as their enemy. And it's, it's actually really, really common to see war language used in, in any kind of crisis. Um, I mean, think back here, just in, in our context, uh, pandemic and lockdowns were a war on freedom.

It's how it was framed up. Um, and again, I I wanna be careful to say maybe you feel like that was the case. And I'm not trying to, again, I'm not trying to take a side. I'm just saying the language is used. Uh, the 2020 election was a war on democracy, and you saw both sides actually use that. Um, you know, we've seen, uh, people say there's a war on religious liberty. There's a war on families, or there's a war on Christian values. War language, um, is used pretty often when it comes to a crisis. And, and in a war, there are always two sides, right? And one side is good, and the other side is, is not so, so you have to pick. And, and that's why war language is so often used because it's really useful.

I mean, it's powerful. It gets people to move, it gets people to act. It gets people to join up, to speak out, to support, to give towards a cause because everything is at stake. Um, and they, whoever, whoever they is or are, whoever they are, they are coming. So here's Jesus, okay? He's in the middle of this thing. Here's the Pharisees, here's the crowds, here's the Herodians and all of Rome's armies behind him, and we're at war, Jesus. Which side are you on?

Back to Matthew? But Jesus knowing their evil intent said, you hypocrites, How are you trying to trap me? Show me the coin used for paying the tax. So they brought him a denarius, we just about a day's wage coin. And he asked them, whose image is this? Whose image is this?

Like he's pointed the coin, and there's someone's image on it, like our coins, right? It's like there's a face on that. There's a head on that. And whose inscription is it? Caesar's, they replied. Then he said to them, so give back to Caesar. What is Caesar's? And to God, what is God's? And when they heard this, they were amazed. And so they worshiped Jesus and, and repented and, uh, followed him.

I, No, no, they went away. So what, what do you, what do you think, what do you think Jesus meant by that phrase? Uh, give Caesar, what is Caesar's? And give God What is God's? What what did he, what did he mean by that? Well, I think the give to Caesar part, it's pretty clear we can get that from the context, right? The question is, should we pay the tax or not? Well, Jesus say it's his coin and his face is on it. It's his image.

Um, so yeah, it's his do, do what he, do, what he wants with it. Um, Jesus was a taxpayer apparent, apparently. But what, what did he mean by the second part? You know, like, give to God. What is Gods? What do you mean by that? Well, I think he gives us a clue when he's holding up that coin, and he, and he uses that word image, whose image is on that coin?

'cause Caesar's image was on that coin, it was his. And so Caesar got to govern its use. But that concept of image would've been a concept that the Pharisees were real familiar with. Um, in fact, that concept of image was embedded in their own Bible. And in fact, embedded in the very first story of their Bible is probably one of the earliest lessons they learned, centered around that word image. So from Genesis one, read with me, then God said, let us make mankind in our image and in our likeness so that they may rule.

And the connection there is rule. Like I would, if I'm gonna make you in my image, you ought to live, rule, interact, build, relate, love. You ought to do all of those things like I would do them, is what God's saying. So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God who created them, male and female. He created them, God bless them, and said, be fruitful and increase the number.

Fill the earth and subdue it. Rule as though I'm in charge. So Jesus points to this image on the coin, it's Caesar's image. So it's Caesar's coin. So Caesar gets to decide how it's used, but then implicitly Jesus is pointing to all of them and saying, God made you in his image. And so you are his.

So pay taxes, don't pay taxes. This side, that side, whatever you do, you have to operate as though you are gods. You think the question is tax or no? Uh, tax, right? ww GD who would God pay? That's not the question you should be asking, or how you should frame it up. I mean, for Jesus, okay, for Jesus, the question isn't whose side is God on never The question, Jesus is always pretty clear on that.

And it kind of assumes that you are too for Jesus. The question is, are you on God's side? One more time? Okay. For Jesus, the question isn't whose side is God. Is God on, on mask or, or no mask vaccine, or no was God? What was what? What would God, what face mask would God wear? No, no, no. Hey, are you on his side?

See, we have to be reminded sometimes we are in his story, not the other way around. We're in his story, not the other way around. He, he doesn't get bound up in things like tax or no tax elephant or donkey. He doesn't pick one of our sides, okay? God is a side. God is his own side Always, and he's always on his own side. That seems unfair. Mm. He's God, you know, and, and He's made you and me, and He's made us to be like him.

And he is commanded you and me to be like him and live like him. You know, he doesn't take one of our sides. We take His or, or we don't. But if we do, okay, I think all of us want to, if we do, here's what being on God's side is like God is on the side of loving your neighbor as yourself.

That's what it's like. God's on the side of doing unto others as you would have them do unto you. That's what his side is like. Always, always. It's never not that God's on the side of loving your enemies and blessing those who curse you always, always. God's on the side of justice.

He's on the side of holiness and he's on the side of purity, always. God's on the side of forgiving as often as needed. He's on the side of compassion and the elevation of the least of these always God's on the side of being quick to listen and, and slow to speak and slow to become angry.

That's what his side is like. God's on the side of humility and gentleness. He's on the side of faithfulness and peace. I mean, these are things that he's so very clear on, so very consistent on. That's What it's like to be on God's side, always. It's, it's always what it's like because he's always all of those things, all the time, all the time.

When Jesus says, okay, give unto God what is God's? He's inviting us, you and me. He's inviting us to stop taking sides and instead start living like we're on God's side. I don't wanna be confusing to you. You may feel pretty passionate about one particular side on something, and you may have very good reasons for that.

I'm not trying to say that anytime you do that, for whatever reason, you're, you're sinning or you're doing something. I'm not trying to say that. I know, I know. That's what this kind of sounds like. Okay? What I'm trying to say is this, we have to start here first, and sometimes we gotta stop there because we get real passionate about which side we're on, when we should be getting real passionate about whether or not we're on God's side. That's what I'm trying to say.

It's like Jesus is saying this, okay? Remember where the rest of the world draws the battle lines is not usually where God draws 'em. God's already drawn the lines. I mean, he's already told us what's most important to him and what should be most important to us.

The question really isn't whether or not God is on our side, whatever our side is. The question is, are we living like we are on His? Um, one of the books that I read shortly after the pandemic and shortly after, you know, some of the response to the crises of 2020 and beyond, um, that was just this book was so helpful to me, was a book by, uh, Andy Stanley, who's, uh, pastor of North Point Community Church down in Atlanta.

And North Point really is one of those churches that over the last 20 years or so, we pray Lakes, um, has, uh, looked to, um, at, at times as a model for some of our ministries and, uh, approach. So, but back in 2021, Andy wrote this book called Not And It to Win It, um, which is the book that inspired, um, this series and, and some of the content we're borrowing some of it from him.

But in a couple of weeks, actually, you're gonna get to listen in on a conversation that I was able to have personally with Andy himself, which is so cool. We were able to get in touch with him and his team. And after some back and forth wrangling schedules, I, I was able to interview him for like 30 minutes, um, and just interview him about what he saw and how did your church Andy navigate some of these things and what inspired you to write this book? And, and if you could tell us, you know, that was kind of, it was really cool.

I'm very much looking forward to you getting to, to to see that. But in his book, okay, in his book, one of the earliest chapters that he writes is on this tendency that we've been talking about this weekend. Um, this tendency we have to draw battle lines and go to war in ways that God doesn't seem to. And, and one of the quotes, here's, here's what he says, he goes, the problem with the culture war is that there aren't just winners and losers. There are casualties.

When the church takes a leading role in the fray, the casualty is always the faith of the next generation. Their faith is sacrificed on the altar of temporary power and political gain. And I gotta share a story with you that put a fine point on that quote, um, for me. Um, 'cause it was from that time and, uh, it still kind of breaks my heart, uh, to tell it today. So here's the context.

I had two friends, um, both who used to go to Prey Lakes and, uh, both of 'em had, had moved away before 2020 and all that craziness, they just moved away for jobs or whatever, okay? But, but they both attended Pri Prairie Lakes at the same time. They, they knew each other and they weren't really close, but they knew each other. And, uh, one of these guys was and is. But, but what he's a long time follower of. Jesus grew up, um, uh, kind of in the church. He's, he's pretty, uh, pretty politically conservative and kind of maybe, maybe outspoken. Um, but you know, him and his family super generous, um, both financially with their time and their talent. Just great guy, great dad, great husband, just great, great dude all around, okay? And the other guy, um, couldn't have been more different. Uh, not a long time Jesus follower, in fact, not a Jesus follower really at all.

Um, but while he was in the Cedar Valley, he, he took some pretty significant steps towards Jesus. And he's actually someone who became familiar with our church because we were contracting him for some different different services. Um, and, uh, so he'd, he'd come around the building and, and, uh, I'd get to know him and talk with him and, and started to see Jesus kind of mess with him a little bit and, uh, wouldn't have darkened the door of a church otherwise.

And then I started to see him kind of respond to Jesus and, and take steps closer to him. And then he moved away. You know, he took a job outta state. I I, I stayed in touch with him. I still do, actually. Um, But he, he didn't just take a step away from the Cedar Valley and Pray Lakes. He, he ended up taking a step away from, from Jesus. And, uh, the other guy was talking. He, he moved away to state and state, but he's outta town Connected To a church still following Jesus. Okay? So fast forward to 2020.

These guys are Facebook friends in 2020. Um, or at least they were, I'm sure they're not anymore. Um, but they were friends on social media because they knew each other from their time at, at, at Prairie Lakes. I don't think they knew one another's stories, but they knew each other. Only now in 2020, they're fighting on Facebook, of course. Um, and, uh, you know, remember, like there was a lot of that going on back then.

You know, some of us kind of look back and go, man, I wish I'd done that different, right? But we were all cooped up reading whatever we were reading. And the only outlet some of us had for our frustrations or our fears or, or whatever, was just posting things on social media. And these guys were going at it. And, uh, the out-of-state guy, um, was, was pretty firmly pro mask, pro-vaccine, you know, those kinds of things.

The in-state guy was of course the exact opposite anti mask, anti-vaccine. But they're going at it. And I'm watching this, and here's what I know. Um, I know that this out-state friend of mine be well before the pandemic has wandered away from his faith, And he is lost in my estimation. And his Soul Kind of hangs in the balance.

And he's not connected to a church where he is at. And I know his family situation, there's no support there. Um, and here he is locked in a battle with a guy Who's Following Jesus connected, but yelling at him, Calling Him, calling him his character out, Um, Drawing battle lines in a way that I just don't think Jesus would.

And I'll be honest with you, I got so, so mad with him. I just furious 'cause he did not see that the guy he was arguing With In a way that I thought Jesus Did.

He was just trying to win the argument. The things that mattered to him were mostly political freedom to live according to his own convictions, or say what he thought without reprisal, challenge, status quo. I mean, not bad things. But at no point did he, did he stop to think, what did the person on the other side of this argument really need from him?

And would it have even mattered? So I watched the argument play out of social media. I watched my outstate friend just shut down, shut him out, and shut himself off further from the church. And he even articulated that in one of his interactions. Now, I, I know that someone could probably tell a similar story about me.

And so I know God's grace is bigger than those stories. And I know that God is not done with my friend, but I do think it, I mean, it just happens all too often that we make it harder for people to come because we draw the battle lines where God does not. Uh, one more quote from Man's book. Okay? Um, oftentimes Jesus' refusal to take sides was not out of a lack of concern.

It was because what concerned him most precluded him from doing so or precluded him from taking aside meaning this for Jesus. A you always took precedence over of you. And so here's what we thought. Okay? You're out from the election. 2023 closes, 2024 begins. We're living in a world that's still not short of crises, man. What would it look like if we maybe see the next year as a potential? Do-over?

What if we didn't take sides? Uh, maybe we're on a side, but that's not what our platform is. Um, but instead live like we were on Jesus' side. What would that look like? How might we be different? Let me pray for us, father in heaven. Um, thanks for the, the, the challenge this weekend. The, um, God, it's hard. It's hard. It's hard for us to kind of go, Ooh, what's the difference? It feels like this is the battle line.

What's the difference? God, someone, it's something that's hard to discern. Help us to ask the right questions. God, help us to be open. Help us to look to you first. Jesus, give us what we need. In your name we pray, amen.