Which Comes First?
Rev. Kenneth M. Locke, Interim Pastor
Orchard Park Presbyterian Church; Carmel, IN
November 3, 2024; All Saints Sunday
When you think of someone with extreme devotion, full-throttle commitment to some one or some thing, who do you think of? When you think of someone being zealously committed to some person or some cause, who do you think of?
I don’t mean being a fan of someone, like Taylor Swift or the Indianapolis Colts. Fine people, nothing against them. But being a fan is not the same as extreme devotion.
So who is someone you think of as showing fierce, extreme devotion? Maybe your parents? Looking back, maybe you realize your parents were making serious sacrifices for you. You realize how much your parents were devoted to you.
Maybe you know a couple where one partner had serious, chronic health problems. Maybe early onset dementia or suffering a horrible accident leaving them paralyzed. And the other partner hung in there with them. Never batting an eye, never turning away, remaining fully devoted, fully committed to the very end.
Maybe you think of military personnel or first responders. The ones who go rushing into combat or running into a burning building. Fierce, fierce commitment.
When I think of extreme commitment, I think of Ruth. In going with Naomi, Ruth is turning away from her family, her kinsmen, her country – everything that gives her any sense of identity. She’s trading everything for a new country where she knows she will be despised and resented, and for a God she knows nothing about.
Orpah is normal. Orpah is traditional. Orpah’s culture would have praised her for doing the right thing and turning around. She would have been a role model.
Ruth is extreme! Ruth has gone beyond reasonable and crossed over into extreme, trading everything for a mother-in-law who can do absolutely nothing for her. She even swears an oath. May God strike me dead and damn me to hell if I ever leave you.
Another example of bold, fierce commitment is Jesus’ description of loving God. Love God fiercely! Love God with
everything you’ve got. Be committed to God with your entire being. Jesus is telling us to be more committed to God than to ourselves, our family, our community.
Jesus is telling us our commitment to God should be even greater than Ruth’s was for Naomi. Our zeal for God, our devotion to God, should be even more extreme than Ruth’s was for Naomi.
So far, I imagine, most of us are saying, “Yes, pastor. You’re right. It’s important to be committed to God. Not just fans of God but extreme fierce commitment. Yes! We agree!”
But here’s the rub. Being committed to God in the abstract is easy. Loving God with all we’ve got? Sure! But what about making it personal? What about getting down to brass tacks?
We all know our country is holding an election next week. If all the pundits are correct, it’s going to be an important election. If you haven’t voted yet, I hope you will.
Let me ask, who matters more to us? God or our candidate? Who are we more committed to, who are we more zealous for – God or our political party? Over the last few weeks, who have we spent more time thinking about and talking about? God, or our preferred candidate?
If our party moved away from God, would we leave our party or would we leave our God? If we realized our party and our candidate were moving away from the Kingdom of God, would we cling to the Kingdom of God, or our preferred candidate?
Talking about religion and politics is always a little fraught, but I take heart in knowing Presbyterians in America have been involved in politics since our very beginning. In our Revolutionary War, there were so many Presbyterians involved that in some circles it was known as the Presbyterian revolt. The Presbyterian revolution.
We Presbyterians should proudly note the only ordained minister to sign the Declaration of Independence was a Presbyterian. That’s right. Rev. John Witherspoon signed for New Jersey. He was President of Princeton University. I think John Witherspoon would be quick to remind us God comes before country. God always comes before country or political party.
We here at Orchard Park may be Republicans, we may be Democrats. We may vote for the Green Party; we may vote Libertarian. There is room for us all.
But first and foremost, Christians are never first and foremost Republicans, Democrats, Greens or Libertarians. As Christians,
first and foremost we are all monarchists. We are all monarchists. Jesus Christ is our King. Jesus is our King. We are all subjects of the Kingdom of God, both in heaven and on earth.
Beloved, love your family. Be committed to our country. Be a fan of Taylor Swift or the Colts or whatever you like.
But as Christians, first and foremost be committed to God and living lives God wants us to live. Let us love God with everything we’ve got; being more committed to God than Ruth was to Naomi.
Which comes first? God or self? God or family? God or political party or candidate?
We Christians know which comes first. May we be an example to the world. Amen.
