For King and Country

“Would you give your life (like die!) in the service of Jacob Zuma?” I asked this question in a sermon recently and then asked for a show of hands. There was one person who tentatively lifted their hand. It turned out that he was a visitor and he felt pressured to raise his hand because he remembered that somewhere in the Bible it said something about laying your life down for your neighbour. What a noble fellow.

The truth is that we’ve become quite a cynical bunch (I include myself). We don’t trust our government, much less admire them. If I answer truthfully, I probably wouldn’t die for Jacob Zuma either (although I also seem to remember a scripture which implied that I should, hmm). I once admired Barack Obama. He seemed to be the kind of leader that I could follow, and even potentially die for. It turns out though that he’s just really good at making speeches.

What ever happened to the days of noble kings and adoring subjects? What happened to the days when the good knights would go charging out on their trusty steeds screaming “For king and country!” What about the hundreds of thousands of people who died during the World Wars in their defence of a good cause, they fought for the countries that they loved and for inspiring men like Winston Churchill, Franklin Roosevelt (and Hiltler?) What about “a sword for the Lord and a sword for Gideon”? What about David’s mighty men who broke through the Philistine lines to get him a drink of water?!

The next big question that leads on from this concerning slide from patriotism is, “Would you give your life for King Jesus?” I wonder if our cynicism toward government doesn’t spill over into our relationship with that heavenly king? I reckon it does. Jesus made it quite clear that he expects this kind of devotion from us. He says, “Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.” (Mat 10:38, 39) In other words he is saying that if we do not consider him to be a worthy enough king to die for, we are not worthy to be his servants.

This is pretty tough talk from someone in government. The way that I see it is, if Jesus were anything like Jacob Zuma I would not be prepared to follow him on these terms. But I have learned that King Jesus is not comparable to any other person in government that has ever lived. He doesn’t pander to people’s needs and promise them the world in well publicized election campaigns only to later deliver on none of them. He doesn’t claim to stand for one thing and then later sell out his convictions for more power. He doesn’t use his position of privilege to advance his own devious designs. Jesus doesn’t love himself more than his subjects. He always puts others before himself. He rules with compassion, justice, love and selfless-service. He’s the benevolent king that we have always needed. I have learned that he is absolutely worthy of being served, loved and obeyed. I would die for him a thousand times over, proudly. It would be my privilege. I hope that you would do the same.