There are those who think that religion does have a stake in what goes on in our public life. They look to government to support their agendas, and they engage in political action in order to influence public policy. On one end of the spectrum, there are religious folks who want the government to do something about abortion and gay people. At the other end of the spectrum, there are religious folks who want the government to eliminate nuclear weapons and end social injustice. We may have separated religion and politics for good reasons.
Religious tyranny is just as bad as any other kind.
And though we may not think of it this way, at the heart of our politics is the question of worship. Perhaps today's Gospel lesson can help us sort out those questions. As Greg aptly pointed out in last Sunday's sermon, the Gospel lessons we have been reading for several weeks now come from the week between Palm Sunday and Good Friday. In these episodes, the tension is great. Jesus is being challenged by religious authorities, and they find his words provocative.