Artisan Politics

Acts 5:12-29

Sunday June 4th, 2023

Rev. Rhonda Blevins, pastor

Now many signs and wonders were done among the people through the apostles. And they were all together in Solomon’s Portico. None of the rest dared to join them, but the people held them in high esteem. Yet more than ever believers were added to the Lord, great numbers of both men and women, so that they even carried out the sick into the streets, and laid them on cots and mats, in order that Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he came by. A great number of people would also gather from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those tormented by unclean spirits, and they were all cured. Then the high priest took action; he and all who were with him (that is, the sect of the Sadducees), being filled with jealousy, arrested the apostles and put them in the public prison. But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors, brought them out, and said, “Go, stand in the temple and tell the people the whole message about this life.” When they heard this, they entered the temple at daybreak and went on with their teaching. When the high priest and those with him arrived, they called together the council and the whole body of the elders of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought. But when the temple police went there, they did not find them in the prison; so they returned and reported, “We found the prison securely locked and the guards standing at the doors, but when we opened them, we found no one inside.” Now when the captain of the temple and the chief priests heard these words, they were perplexed about them, wondering what might be going on. Then someone arrived and announced, “Look, the men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people!” Then the captain went with the temple police and brought them, but without violence, for they were afraid of being stoned by the people. When they had brought them, they had them stand before the council. The high priest questioned them, saying, “We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and you are determined to bring this man’s blood on us.” But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than any human authority.”

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Have I ever told you about the time I was almost thrown in international prison?

It was the summer 1999. I was serving as a campus minister at the University of Georgia. At that time I was a single minister with no kids, so I always volunteered to lead the extended international mission trips with college students. That year my job was to lead a team of six students for seven weeks on an immersion experience to a country where Christian missionaries are banned. That’s we called it an “immersion experience” because taking students on a “mission” there was illegal. We lived on a college campus and studied the language and culture, but make no mistake—our purpose was evangelism. Each of us brought two Bibles with us—one in English and one in the national language. We would leave the Bibles there, illegally of course.

During our time there, one of the students, Jessica, an art student, developed a friendship with a local art student. One evening while our team was hanging out with a group of local students on the campus lawn, Jessica gave that student a Bible in broad daylight. Oh my.

The next day the government leader on campus called me in for a meeting, which actually was an interrogation: “What is your purpose here?” “How many Bibles did your team bring?” “Why did you give a Bible to one of our students?” “What will you do with the remainder of your Bibles?” It was tense. Unlike anything I ever experienced before or since. I felt threatened. I began to wonder if I might be arrested. Thankfully, imprisonment wasn’t on the interrogator’s mind. However, an early deportation was considered. “If you weren’t leaving so soon I’d send you home early.” I left that meeting shaken, and needing to change my skivvies.

Apparently, my team’s brazen attempt to spread the gospel felt threatening to the government officials. But it turns out we weren’t the first Christians to have a run in with the authorities.

Enter: Peter and the apostles. Just to recap, we’re only in the fifth chapter of Acts, and Jesus has ascended to heaven, the Holy Spirit has fallen among the gathered believers, thousands of people have become followers of Jesus, and the believers have started sharing all they have with one another. Peter and the apostles have been teaching and healing at the Temple, and have received a stern warning from the High Priest and the Sanhedrin.

Let’s stop here and discuss the Jewish government as all of this was taking place. All of Palestine, including Jerusalem where the Temple stood, answered to the Roman Empire as a province of Rome. A Roman prefect (Pilate) had ultimate authority, but a Jewish High Priest (Annas) was appointed by Rome, a political appointee, to lead internal affairs. The High Priest served as the presiding officer of the Sanhedrin, akin to our modern-day Supreme Court. But you see the problem here, right? The High Priest answered to the oppressive regime. The main job of the High Priest, in Rome’s eyes, was law and order. Rome didn’t want any uprisings or rebellions to break out and challenge their power.

And now here’s Peter and friends preaching, teaching, and healing at the Temple, and the movement is growing and gaining momentum. The High Priest feels threatened. They’ve already received a stern warning, so this time they throw Peter and friends in prison. But that night, the Bible says an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and directed them to keep telling the good news. The next day, Peter and friends went back to the same spot and continued preaching, teaching, and healing.

This part of the story is hilarious to me as I imagine the High Priest scratching his head. It must have felt like Groundhog Day to him. “Didn’t I just throw you in jail?” So Peter and friends were arrested. Again. I love their answer when pressed about their continued defiance: “We must obey God rather than any human authority.”

Have you ever felt, like Peter and the apostles, that your commitment to God put you at odds with the law?

Our laws reflect our morals. A Gallup poll released a while back indicates that a record number of Americans see the state of U.S. morals as “poor.” Over 75% believe our morals are “getting worse.” Republicans and Democrats are now about equally negative on American moral values. But it seems to me, in this polarized climate, that people on the left and right use different measuring sticks when judging morality. The Gallup article summarized their findings this way: though the wording of the questions made “no reference to politics or the president, Americans seem to rate U.S. moral values through their own partisan lenses—with both Democrats and Republicans having become less negative after the election of a president of their own party over the past decade.”[1]

Sounds like most Americans understand morality through “partisan lenses.” I would suggest that we need to trade our “partisan lenses” for “Artisan lenses.” To see the world through the vantage point of God, the Master Artisan. To exchange our partisan politics for . . . “Artisan Politics.”

If you’ve ever been to the Salvador Dali Museum, you’ll probably agree that Dali had some interesting lenses through which he viewed reality. The Spanish painter is most famous for his surrealist art, often taking creative liberty with perspective. One of Dali’s master works at the St. Petersburg museum is the “Discovery of America by Christopher Columbus.” Rich with religious imagery, the image of Jesus on the cross is faintly depicted in one corner. The image pays homage to his earlier work, “Christ of Saint John of the Cross,” the image on the front of today’s bulletin.

If you’re not familiar with the piece, it is a heart-stopping depiction of the crucifixion with an unusual perspective from above—as if looking down on the scene from heaven—as if from God’s vantage point. But at the bottom of the painting, there’s a boat on a lake with mountains behind—at the level of the viewer—horizontal perspective, if you will. The double perspective—horizontal and vertical—makes the viewer feel that space is somehow curved. To see two perspectives simultaneously is disorienting and liberating.

Here’s how Dali described the inspiration for this painting: “In 1950, I had a cosmic dream. I saw this image in color in which, in my dream, represented the nucleus of the atom. I considered it the very unity of the universe—the Christ.”

As people of faith, we must become adept at seeing reality through at least two perspectives: we are citizens of the kingdom of God, while being citizens of our country. Inevitably there will be times when our commitment to following Jesus puts us at odds with the laws of the land. There are times when, like the Apostles, we must say, “We must obey God rather than any human authority.”

This week my husband and I watched the season (and possibly series?) finale of Ted Lasso. In a television industry currently saturated with stories of crime sprees and dystopian futures, Ted Lasso has been a breath of fresh air as the warm and affable soccer coach played by Jason Sudeikis.

Sudeikis created the character and was one of the writers for the show. He said in an interview that he changed the Ted Lasso character during the runup to the 2016 presidential election. He saw the vitriol and hatred emanating from candidates and their devotees, and he decided to recreate the persona of Ted Lasso as the antithesis of this binary ugliness. Originally the character was written as belligerent; Sudeikis changed Lasso into the epitome of kindness.

Sudeikis called the Ted Lasso character “wish fulfilment.” Paraphrasing Mahatma Gandhi, he said, “You know, ‘Be the change you want to see in the world.’” He went on, “Well, how about, ‘Write the change you want to see in the world.’” Ted Lasso was the kindness Sudeikis wanted to see in the world, not only for himself, but for his young son.[2]

Partisan politics inspired Sudeikis’ “Artisan politics.”

Don’t be deceived—this is not a “change our world” message. This is a “change ourselves” message. That’s where it’s got to start. In the words of the ancient poet:

“Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.”

The invitation today is to wisdom. To rise above the usual perspective and see the world through God’s vantage point. To recognize the poet’s wisdom—that the change we believe needs to be made is first and foremost within. Take that problem, small or large, personal or societal, and change your perspective. Defy conventional seeing. Change your perspective, change your world.

[1] Justin McCarty, “About Half of Americans Say U.S. Moral Values are ‘Poor.” www.gallup.com. June 1, 2018. http://news.gallup.com/poll/235211/half-americans-say-moral-values-poor.aspx?g_source=link_NEWSV9&g_medium=NEWSFEED&g_campaign=item_&g_content=About%2520Half%2520of%2520Americans%2520Say%2520U.S.%2520Moral%2520Values%2520Are%2520%27Poor%27

[2] https://www.cnn.com/2023/05/15/entertainment/jason-sudeikis-ted-lasso/index.html#:~:text=Jason%20Sudeikis%20says%20he%20changed%20his%20Ted%20Lasso%20character%20because%20of%20Donald%20Trump&text=Jason%20Sudeikis%20on%20March%207.&text=Ted%20Lasso%20is%20a%20nicer,on%20the%20Apple%20TV%2B%20series.