There are those who have that gift, that touch of matchmaking. They can look at two people and just see how everything would fit together. Perhaps we’ve all had a friend who loves setting their friends up on a blind date. They say to us, “I have the perfect person for you.” But first, we’re a little skeptical. But they seem so excited we might consider it until we start asking questions. We start to hear more about this person. And we are nothing alike. But they keep saying to us, “It’s like two poles of a magnet. Opposites attract.”
And we’ve all known those couples. He is the social butterfly, shaking hands, working the room. He has a bad case of FOMO, not wanting to miss out on anything ever. But she’s more of a homebody. She wants to recharge her battery by hanging in a hammock and reading a book. Or he is impulsive and spontaneous, never following a plan or balancing a checkbook. But she is organized, color-coding her calendar and making plans six months in advance. Or he is a risk-taker, a long bucket list, jumping out of airplanes and running with the bulls. But she’s more cautious. She wears a bright yellow safety vest when she goes walking in a quiet neighborhood at 10 o’clock in the morning. That they are different in every way. And we all wonder, how is this gonna work?
But then, 30 years later, we’re standing in a room full of friends and family celebrating their anniversary. And it dawns on us. All those differences that seemed so problematic were all on the surface. That as we listened to friends and family stand up and give toasts, we realize how much they share in common. Shared values, aligned commitments, that they bring the best out of one another.
And there have been countless matchmakers throughout history trying to set the church and the state up on a blind date. They wanted to be the next power couple. But every single time it is tried, we learn again how the separation of church and state is beneficial for both. Because they don’t bring the best out of one another.
It is as Isaac Backus, that Baptist pastor during the era of the American Revolution, says: “Religious matters are to be separated from the jurisdiction of the state, not because they are beneath the interests of the state, but quite the contrary, because they are too high and holy, and thus are beyond the competence of the state.”
If we ever wanted to do research on Baptists in America, Buddy Shurden suggests that we start with court proceedings, search warrants, and prison records. Because in the early colonies, for most of them, it was against the law to attend a Baptist meeting. It was against the law to do what we are doing right here in this room. It was against the law to baptize believers instead of infants. Baptists had to get together in secret. All those state-sponsored churches thought Baptists were heretics.
And on August 8, 1635, Roger Williams stood in front of the General Court of Massachusetts for the fourth time in two years. It’s quite the rap sheet. And he was charged with “preaching diverse, new, and dangerous opinions.” But all those diverse and dangerous opinions are the very foundation of the Baptist tradition in this country. Because Roger Williams started the first Baptist church in America, in Rhode Island, the only place that had true religious liberty at that time.
And both the church and the state are vitally important. We just should never set them up on a blind date. It’s why John Leland, Baptist pastor and abolitionist, urged James Madison to include religious liberty in this new Constitution, which became the First Amendment. And later, John Leland said, “Government has no more to do with the religious opinions of people than it does the principles of mathematics.”
But despite all this wisdom, there are still matchmakers who want to set the church and the state up on a blind date. But every time that happens, we end up with a theocracy, God and government woven together. But as James Dunn reminds us, “The problem with a theocracy is that everyone wants to be Theo.” Everyone wants to be in charge.
The psalmist reminds us, God’s power is different: “The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. The Lord is good to all and God’s compassion is over all that God has made.” Our faith in God should shape our voices as citizens. We should never set the church and the state up on a blind date.
It’s why the Gospel of Matthew simply invites us as the church to follow the ways of Jesus. It is an invitation. Jesus stands on the shore and says, “Come, follow me,” and we can go or we can stay. It’s not a matter of control. And when we follow the ways of Jesus as the church, we find our way. It’s why it’s described as an “easy yoke,” because we can let go of so many other distractions that it gives us clarity and focus about what matters the most.
And if all of this sounds like diverse, new and dangerous opinions, I understand why. Because the freedom that we find in God’s love can feel that way. Anthony de Mello was not a Baptist. He was a Jesuit priest, but he writes about this freedom that we find in the love of God. He says, “A sheep found a hole in the fence and crept through it. He wandered far and lost his way back. Then he realized he was being followed by a wolf. So he ran and ran, but the wolf kept chasing him until the shepherd came and rescued him and carried him lovingly back to the fold. In spite of everyone’s urgings to the contrary, the shepherd refused to nail up the hole in the fence.”
That in many ways this is a retelling of the parable of the lost sheep, where the shepherd leaves the 99 in order to go and find the one who is lost. And then when the sheep is found, there’s this grand, wonderful, beautiful celebration. The question still lingers. Why doesn’t the shepherd prevent the sheep from getting lost in the first place? Why not nail up that hole in the fence? It is because love never coerces or controls.
And whenever the church and the state get together, we lose sight of that. We confuse control and love. Love always lets go of power. And it’s why the separation of church and state is beneficial for both. Amen.