The Saints’ Road: Trusting God Beyond Power and Control

Politics has a place, but politicians cannot be Jesus. Campaign promises disappoint, laws change, and hope built on political control feels like walking on quicksand. Christ is permanent. God’s people are called to follow Christ, whose command to love God and neighbor reaches deeper than another round of legislation. What the world needs is more love, more caring, and people willing to show up when help is needed.

The struggle beneath political conflict is the desire for control. Adam and Eve wanted to take over the garden. Empires wanted the labor and possessions of others. Children fight over a toy until it breaks, and adulthood often changes only the toys and the language. God offers another road. Believers can stop gripping the steering wheel as though everything depends on their control and trust that God is the better driver.

The saints show what that road looks like. Mother Teresa, Oscar Romero, and Desmond Tutu lived for a greater cause than themselves, serving others, bearing opposition, and seeking reconciliation. Their lives point toward the needs close at hand, where ordinary acts of help become shared work and shared joy. Wealth cannot replace that life together. A child surrounded by possessions may still ache to know her parents; money is a useful tool, but it cannot solve everything.

Jesus embodies the Beatitudes completely. His meekness, mourning, faithfulness to the cross, and peacemaking reveal a life of shalom: peace, goodness, wellness, and wholeness. Even those associated with occupation can enter the community by following God’s ways rather than Rome’s. Christ opens this road to believers and gives the Holy Spirit for the journey. The choice is not merely which power to support, but whether a life will keep grasping for control or become available for God’s good work.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Christ Remains When Political Rules Change. Political involvement has a place, but it cannot bear the weight of saving hope. Laws and funding priorities can change quickly, leaving those who depend on them standing on quicksand. Christ’s permanence gives believers solid ground without requiring them to pretend that public decisions do not matter. [42:26]
• 2. The Desire For Control Breaks Things. Children can pull a toy apart simply to keep another child from having it. Adults often carry the same struggle into possessions, power, and relationships, only with more sophisticated language. Trusting God as the better driver challenges the fear that life will fall apart unless every decision and outcome remains under personal control. [47:38]
• 3. Saints Serve A Greater Cause. The saints are not celebrated for getting everything they wanted, but for giving themselves to God’s work for the good of others. Service and reconciliation may bring opposition rather than comfort, as Oscar Romero’s life makes painfully clear. Their example directs believers toward the needs within reach, where help offered together can become a source of real joy. [50:20]
• 4. Jesus Gives The Beatitudes Their Shape. The Beatitudes take concrete form in Jesus’ meekness, mourning, peacemaking, and faithfulness to the cross. His peace makes room even for people associated with the occupying power, while calling them to God’s ways rather than Rome’s. The Holy Spirit enables believers to follow that same road of goodness and wholeness rather than remain trapped in the struggle to possess and control. [57:04]

Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [38:55] - Election Weariness and Political Promises
• [41:46] - Changing Laws and Permanent Hope
• [43:22] - Love That Fulfills the Law
• [45:09] - Control and the Fear of Letting Go
• [46:19] - From Eden to Broken Toys
• [48:25] - The Saints Show Another Road
• [50:20] - Service, Sacrifice, and Reconciliation
• [52:25] - What Wealth Cannot Provide
• [56:07] - Christ Brings a New Way of Being
• [57:04] - Jesus Embodies the Beatitudes
• [58:38] - The Holy Spirit and the Daily Choice

Bible Reading

Matthew 22:37-40
“And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” [43:50]

Matthew 5:3-12
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” [57:04]

Genesis 3:1-6
“Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.” [46:29]

Observation questions

1. In Genesis 3:1–6, what does the serpent encourage the woman to doubt about God, and what makes the fruit seem desirable?
2. What connection does Jesus make between the two greatest commandments and the rest of God’s commands in Matthew 22:37–40?
3. What examples from Jesus’ life show the meekness, mourning, and peacemaking described in Matthew 5:3–12? [57:11]
4. How do Mother Teresa, Oscar Romero, and Desmond Tutu illustrate service, faithfulness under opposition, and peacemaking rather than the pursuit of personal control? [50:20]

Interpretation questions

1. How does the temptation in Genesis 3:1–6 help explain why someone might find personal control more appealing than trusting God? What fears can make that temptation stronger? [45:35]
2. In light of Matthew 22:37–40, why can neither passing a helpful law nor winning an election replace the daily work of loving a neighbor? [43:59]
3. How does Jesus’ life help explain why meekness and peacemaking in Matthew 5:3–12 are not the same as weakness or avoiding difficult situations? [57:30]
4. What does Oscar Romero’s example reveal about the relationship between serving others and facing opposition? How does Matthew 5:10–12 challenge the idea that faithful service always leads to comfort or approval? [50:52]

Application questions

1. When political news brings you either relief or fear, what helps you notice whether your hope is resting in Christ or in a particular outcome? What might help you stay engaged without making politics carry the weight of your hope? [42:35]
2. Where are you finding it hardest to loosen your grip on control—a relationship, a decision, your finances, or something else? What might trusting God look like there while still taking responsibility for your part? [46:04]
3. Think of a recent disagreement. Were you mainly trying to help, to understand, or to make sure you got your way? What could loving your neighbor look like if that disagreement comes up again? [47:38]
4. Who within your reach could use practical help this week? What could you offer, and is there someone in this group you might invite to share in that work? [50:03]
5. Is there a relationship where gifts, money, or getting things done have begun to replace time together? What small change could help you offer that person your presence and attention? [54:38]
6. Which Beatitude feels especially challenging in your life right now? What is one situation this week where you could ask the Holy Spirit to help you follow Jesus in that way? [58:24]