A Father was trying to teach his fifth-grade son the value of tithes and offerings. The boy listened attentively, and then he went on to say, “I still don’t understand why you have to pay taxes.”
To this the Father replied, “Because the Bible says we must give unto Caesar what belongs to Caesar and unto God what belongs to God.”
His son looked puzzled. “That’s what I’m trying to tell you, Dad. Caesar died a long time ago.” (Taken from Jeff Hughes sermon Pomp and Circumstance on Sermon Central)
Ah the age old question, ‘As Christians what is our duty to our government? How do we treat our leaders especially if we don’t like them so well? If we are citizens of Heaven then what does that mean about our citizenship here? Do we owe a duty to our nation or is that secondary. Today, on July 3rd as we continue our series through the book of Acts we come to a passage that speaks to all of these questions if we are willing to listen to it.
To understand what it says we have to know who the people are that are mentioned, when you do that and then look at the words and actions of Paul I think that we get a clear picture not of how he would tell us to act as citizens of our nation, but a clear picture of how he actually acted as an apostle of God and a citizen of the Roman Empire, even towards people who maybe didn’t warrant respect in human terms.
As we begin to look at these people and this passage I think we can be informed by keeping the words of Paul in Romans 13:1 in mind. Paul wrote, “Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established.” The words of Paul speak to a respect for the authorities in our life both on a personal and on a national level because God is the one who has put them there.
Act 25:1-12, “Three days after arriving in the province, Festus went up from Caesarea to Jerusalem, where the chief priests and Jewish leaders appeared before him and presented the charges against Paul. They urgently requested Festus, as a favor to them, to have Paul transferred to Jerusalem, for they were preparing an ambush to kill him along the way. Festus answered, ‘Paul is being held at Caesarea, and I myself am going there soon. Let some of your leaders come with me and come with me and press charges against the man there, if he has done anything wrong.” After spending eight or ten days with them, he went down to Caesarea, and the next day he convened the court and ordered that Paul be brought before him. When Paul appeared, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him, bringing many serious charges against him, which they could not prove. Then Paul made his defense: ‘I have done nothing wrong against the law of the Jews or against the temple or against Caesar.’ Festus, wishing to do the Jews a favor, said to Paul, ‘Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem and stand trial before me there on these charges?’ Paul answered: ‘I am now standing before Caesar’s court, where I ought to be tried. I have not done any wrong to the Jews, as you yourself know very well. If, however I am guilty of doing anything deserving death, I do not refuse to die. But if the charges brought against me by these Jews are not true, no one has the right to hand me over to them. I appeal to Caesar!’ After Festus had conferred with his council, he declared: ‘You have appealed to Caesar. To Caesar you will go!’”
Those are the words of Paul but as we look at this passage the life of Paul carries with it the same message. Let’s look at the people that are involved in our passage today. First we have Festus. Festus was the new governor of the province, from history we see that he was just and efficient, from the passage we see that he was still a politician. To those people who say that the Bible is too old to be relevant we have this passage to show us that people are still people, no matter when they lived.
When this passage opens Festus has just arrived on the job. I say that we know he is just because that is what the contemporary historians of his day said about him. See as we look at this passage we are looking at the lives of real historical people, they lived. But we will also see that he was just by the wisdom and restraint that he shows in this passage.
I say he was efficient because of the amount of time that passes between the various tasks that he has to do here in this passage. Look at how the passage begins, verse 1, “Three days after arriving in the province, Festus went up from Caesarea to Jerusalem, where the chief priests and Jewish leaders appeared before him…” He’s only been there for three days and he’s on his way to see the main city he is in charge of and meet with the key players in that city. Later we read in verse 6, “After spending eight or ten days with them, he went down to Caesarea, and the next day he convened the court and ordered that Paul be brought before him.” So he completes his tours and meetings in the city, in other words he gets done what he felt needed to do. Then he went the Caesarea and the next day he goes to work on the trial of Paul which was certainly one of the more emotional issues that he had to deal with. You’ll remember that you had a group of guys who had vowed to kill Paul. You’ll also remember that the previous governor had kept Paul under arrest for two years. The next day must have felt like a whirlwind to Paul.
So we’re told that this man was considered just, that’s much nicer then what those same historians had to say about his predecessor, Felix. But you understand that he is still a politician. Look at verse 9, “Festus, wishing to do the Jews a favor, said to Paul, ‘Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem and stand trial before me there on these charges?” He spent 8 to 10 days in Jerusalem, I’m willing to bet that with just a little bit of asking around he could have found out how badly the religious leaders disliked Paul. The Romans also kept pretty detailed legal records and notes, if he didn’t have a chance to talk with Felix before he got there I’m sure that there was a note or someone around who could clue him into the fact that this was a blood feud. But he wants to do a favor for the Jews. Can’t really blame him, the man is a politician and they haven’t changed that much.
Next we find out that there was a new high priest named Ishmael ben Phiabi but the attitude was the same. We know about this change from historical records not from Luke who simply lumps these guys into the phrase, “The chief priests and Jewish leaders.” Why does he do that, because the names had changed but not the agenda, look at the rest of the verse, they “appeared before him and present the charges against Paul. They urgently requested Festus, as a favor to them, to have Paul transferred to Jerusalem, for they were preparing an ambush to kill him along the way.” I don’t know if this is the same group of guys from Acts 24 because they had to be really thirsty by now. After all they had taken an oath not to eat or drink until Paul was dead whether it was the same group of guys or not, the attitude was the same, they wanted Paul dead.
Finally we’re going to see that Festus is visited by King Agrippa and Bernice. King Agrippa was descended from the infamous line of Herod the Great. Bernice was his sister. On the surface these seems to be fine. I mean we can’t be held accountable for the actions of our ancestors. But people do tend to be a reflection of their parents. So you realize that Herod the Great, did build a lot of nice things, but he also ordered the death of the boys of Bethlehem. His son Herod’s dad was the Herod mentioned earlier in Acts who was praised as a God and not as a man, so God, the real God, had some worms eat him. That’s got to be a really bad way to go. As for these two well it is alleged in history, and basically accepted as a fact, that the reason that this grown man is still traveling with his sister is because they were more intimate then a brother and sister should, ever, ever, ever, ever be. By the way, her first husband was also her uncle. I mean these two are not exactly pillars of moral righteousness in their community. But these are the people, the government representatives, that Paul has to work with, and he does.
So let’s look at it. When Festus first arrives as the new governor, he goes to Jerusalem to meet with the religious and political leaders, but he does not allow them to pressure him into a rushed decision. Look at verse 3, Festus comes to Jerusalem, presumably to look at the city and to meet with the leaders, which he does. When he meets with them the first item on the agenda is not just to discuss Paul but to hammer him. Verse 3 says, “They urgently requested Festus, as a favor to them, to have Paul transferred to Jerusalem, for they were preparing an ambush to kill him along the way.”
Why the urgency? Paul has been imprisoned for two years, he hasn’t had a chance to get out and cause a riot. Not that he ever did, but clearly he hasn’t in the last two years, why the urgency now? Simple, it wasn’t that they were concerned with what Paul had really done but with who Paul was, and what they were afraid that he would do. They had decided that Paul should die and so that was all there was going to be to it.
They had a new governor and so they saw this as a new chance. If we can get to this man before Paul has a chance to speak with him, then we can kill Paul. Let’s take advantage of him while he’s still new, before he get settled in. So they ask him for a favor. It’s just a small thing right? Paul is in prison already just move him to prison here. He’s supposed to get a trial right, just have the trial here. It’s such a small thing some people might have fallen for it. Some people might have been willing to compromise in order to curry favor with the “important” people in order to get what they want. This was a temptation for Festus, that’s why he floats the idea to Paul later. But he is wise enough to at least not give in right away. There is justice to this man. There is a desire to be a wise leader and to do things correctly. So even though they try to rush him into making a mistake, he doesn’t do it. He at least waits until he has a chance to meet Paul and talk with him.
So next we read that he returns and he talk to Paul the next day. He tells Paul the charges that are being made against him. Paul’s response is simple, verse 8, “Then Paul made his defense: ‘I have done nothing wrong against the law of the Jews or against the temple or against Caesar.’” He simply says, “I haven’t done anything wrong.” In his case it was the truth. That’s why the religious leaders wanted to have him ambushed and murdered, because they knew they had no case.
It was simple defense, it was true. But Paul had a bigger problem, he was facing a politician. No matter how just this man had been offered something that was important to him, the opportunity to do a favor. He could start off with something simple like just changing the venue of a trial, but the result would be that the Jewish leaders would owe him a favor that he could collect later. He wanted that. So we read his response in Verse 9, “Festus, wishing to do the Jews a favor, said to Paul, ‘Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem and stand trial before me there on these charges?”
Look at how Festus frame this, it was probably in part to give himself peace in his own mind. You will stand trial before me. It won’t be the Sanhedrin, it will be me. I’m not going to allow you to be railroaded. If you’re truly innocent, go up and give a defense, here or there what’s the difference? Of course we know what the difference would have been and so did Paul. He wasn’t going to survive the trip in order to give a defense.
That’s why we read what happens next. When Paul realizes the dire straight that he is in he uses the system not only for his advantage but also to follow God. You sometimes we rant and rave about our government and our systems. Sometimes we should. Here’s Paul, unjustly accused, wrongfully incarcerated for two years, and now this politician, the representative of the government is offering to help, by putting him in a situation that will probably end his life. I think at this point Paul might have echoed the words of Ronald Reagan when he said, “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, “I’m from the government and I’m here to help.”
Paul could have ranted and raved, he could have bemoaned his fate he could have done a lot of unproductive things, but look at what he did instead. Verses 10-11, “Paul answered: ‘I am not standing before Caesar’s court, where I ought to be tried. I have not done any wrong to the Jews, as you yourself know very well. If, however, I am guilty of doing anything deserving death, I do not refuse to die. But if the charges brought against me by these Jews are not true, no one has the right to hand me over to them. I appeal to Caesar!’”
I believe that this was a calculated move. Where most of us might have been tempted to feel sorry for ourselves, I believe that Paul sees the hand of God at work and allows himself to be given over to that hand. Why, because you’ll remember that when this all started, when Paul was first put into prison God came and told him what he needed to do next. Remember Acts 23:11, “The following night the Lord stood near Paul and said, ‘Take courage! As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome.’”
I think that Paul now understood that his next destination was Rome, that the door for ministry in Israel at this time. So here has the opportunity, not just to get away from the religious leaders, but also to get his trip to Rome paid for by the empire, not just the travel and meals, hey he was even going to get an armed escort. The ability to appeal to Caesar, meant Caesar’s court, not necessarily Caesar himself, but it had to be in Rome not one of the provinces in Rome. This practice was implemented to protect citizens, which Paul was, from incompetent governors, which Festus probably wasn’t. To get around this Paul raises the stakes and bring up death. He treats it as a capital case. Legally it may not have been, but since the religious leaders were plotting to kill him it was. When Paul puts it to this level, they have to send him to Rome. Paul could have raged against the system and against the unfairness of it all but instead he accepted it, learned it, and then used it to his advantage as best he could
Of course this caused a problem for Festus because if you referred someone to Rome for trial you had to accuse little things that the charges and he didn’t really have any. So we see him do something else good, Festus is willing to get help from other people. This is a good thing, he’s asking for help from not just another leader, but one who is part Jewish and is at least familiar with their religious practices.
So that is the background. The people that are involved in this passage, and the events that lead up to the trail that Paul is about to under go, again. Poor guy has had formal hearings, informal hearing, no one can say what’s he’s done wrong, but they won’t let him go and the religious leaders what to kill him. If anyone has had a reason to be frustrated with his government it was Paul. But what we see from Paul in this story instead is a pretty good outline of how we should behave as citizens of Heaven living temporarily as citizens of an earthly county as well.
Let’s take a look at how he acts for a guideline of how we should act. First we owe respect to our government. It doesn’t matter if we feel that we, it doesn’t matter if they deserve it. As Paul would write in his letter to Romans in our background passage, “Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established.” It’s not just he wrote it, he lived it. Paul has been put in a position where now he’s going to stay under arrest until he is taken to Rome. It’s going to work out for him in a sense, but you’d still be frustrated. But before he goes he has to have one more trial, before a guy and his sister who don’t exactly have a great reputation. They come from a line for people who don’t have a great reputation. Compare that to Paul is able to stand up, in the temple and in court and profess his righteousness. But look at how he greets them in Chapter 26 starting in verse 2, “King Agrippa, I consider myself fortunate to stand before you today as I make my defense against all the accusations of the Jews, and especially so because you are well acquainted with all the Jewish customs and controversies. Therefore, I beg you to listen to me patiently.” We have to treat our government and our leaders with respect. We may not always agree with them, in fact the price of leadership is that people will not always agree with you, but we should always respect them. That is not just what Paul says it is what he does.
Next we need to tell them about Jesus. By respecting them we get the right to be listened to. When they’re listening our message needs to be Jesus. That is our mission as a church and the people of God we need to tell them about Jesus. Paul has done this so well and so often that even the religious leaders communicate the point for him. Look at verse 19, “They had some points of dispute with him about their own religion and about a dead man named Jesus who Paul claimed was alive.” Festus now has heard the center of the message, he doesn’t know what to do with it, but he has heard it. Paul is going to tell them all what to do with it in chapter 26.
But here’s the point for us, may that be our central message. Too many times in the churches recent past when it comes to politics our message has been about so many other things except Jesus. I’m not saying that all of those other things aren’t right. I’m not saying that they aren’t important. But the central message of the church needs to be Christ, the one whose name we bear. We need to introduce people to Him and when we do that then they become His disciples, then He will change their hearts and the other things will come into line. Some of those other things are vitally important but until people accept Christ into their lives they won’t accept His authority. The central message of the church, the central message of our lives must be Jesus, first and always.
See when we’ve told them about Jesus, when they know Him, then we can move to the next step, we need to call people to righteousness, and do our best to live a righteous life ourselves. Sometimes, I see the way that we live as a nation, I see the way that some people who would call themselves Christians live and I want to ask the question, “What ever happened to sin?” It’s not that it’s gone away it’s that we don’t talk about it anymore. There are some things that we’re not supposed to do. Yes we serve a God of grace. Yes He died on a cross so that our sins could be forgiven, but that doesn’t mean that we are supposed to indulge in them. We get into relationships that we know we shouldn’t. We take the money that we know God has told us to give to Him and we spend it on us. We use those words that we know better then. We’re mean and judgmental when we’ve been commanded to love. We greet one person at church and ignore someone else, when we know better. We need to call our nation to righteousness and the live that way ourselves.
The famous French philosopher Alxis de Toqueville is credited with this quote about America from the 1800’s, “I sought for America’s greatness. I found it not in her fields and forests. I found it not in her mines and factories. I found it not in her Congress and great tribunals. It was only when I entered her churches and heard her pulpits thundering against sin and preaching righteousness that I discovered her greatness. America is great because America is good. If America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.”
We can discuss later the accuracy of his statement given the current state of both our countries morals and its economy. But the lesson for us to take is that we are supposed to call the people around us to righteousness with our words on our lives. Paul didn’t just preach Jesus, he lived it, notice that the cornerstone of his defense is that he could say that he had done nothing wrong, that he had lived a righteous life. If we want to see America be great again, we, the people of God who gather in the church of God, must follow in his footsteps an live an preach lives that reflect the righteousness of God.
Finally we need to pray for our nation. Paul was praying for these people, in 26:29 Paul says, “Short time or long-I pray God that not only you but all who are listening to me today may become what I am, except for these chains.” His prayer was for salvation for all people, even his nation. That is what our prayer should be.
2 Chronicles 7:14 is a famous passage it reads, “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” We quote this verse people often correctly say that the answer for America is in prayer. But may we never overlook who God is calling to prayer. It is not the people of the nation it is His people within the nation. He is saying when My people pray, when My people humble themselves, then I will hear from Heaven and Heal their land. We need to be in prayer for our country. It doesn’t matter who the President is, or if we like him or not. It doesn’t matter if we like the party that controls one or both houses of congress. As Christians, as the people called by His name, our duty and calling is to pray for our nation and our leaders. If we do that then God will bless America.
