Pastor Mark: We must live as exiles

The Godfather trilogy is on every list of the most outstanding movies ever made. It has special resonance with Americans because it is an immigrant story, and we are a nation of immigrants.

The central figure, the Godfather, began life as Vito Andolini of Corleone, Sicily. He left for New York City at the beginning of the 20th century as a 9-year-old refugee, an orphan without status, without the English language and without prospects. He had to choose a life course and determine his values in difficult and uncertain circumstances. As we know, he turned to violence, revenge, bribes, intimidation and seduction — preying on weakness and hardening his own heart.

1 Peter is written for sojourners (exiles). Like a Sicilian boy in New York, we must live in a difficult and uncertain place that is not our true home. We will either be co-opted by the world or we will be witnesses and servants who speak of something better. We are in this world, but we represent another kingdom. We serve another Lord and speak of love, not vengeance. We make different choices than the ones represented in the disturbing and tragic Godfather movies.

Lately, at my church, I’ve been preaching on this topic. The big idea is we are called as Christians to “Shine in Babylon.” Like Daniel and the Hebrew teenagers, we must live as exiles. In Daniel, chapter 2 verses 19-21, Daniel praised the God of heaven and said: “Praise be to the name of God forever and ever; wisdom and power are his. He changes times and seasons; he deposes kings and raises up others. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning.”

The key principle I take away from this passage is God is in control of who is in control. This is our hope as followers of Jesus! As we follow Jesus and His Kingdom, God puts up and takes down nations, rulers and kingdoms. Today as you read this, I want to encourage you to put your praise, your worship, your faith in God. As followers of Jesus, we belong to another kingdom. Our faith is not in this world or the systems of this world, but Jesus. The writer of Hebrews tells us that our hope is in Jesus and He is an anchor for our soul. Hebrews 6:19 (NIV) says we have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. This verse implies that we have a different hope than this world offers. We must look to the hope of Jesus and His Kingdom, not of this world. It anchors us!

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We will face trials and difficulties. Jesus serves as an example to us when we face unjust suffering. So we live as strangers, sojourners, ambassadors or representatives. The world is not our final home, but we take seriously the responsibilities of being representatives of His Kingdom.

Mark Ingram is the pastor of Stewart Road Church. He can be reached at contact@stewartroad.org.

This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Pastor Mark: We must live as exiles