As a pastor, there are two things I try never to talk about in church: religion and politics. Well, here we go! Not only talking about both subjects, but wedding them together in a message series. Let me offer some disclaimers as we begin. This will not be a message series that “takes sides” in the political arena. First United Methodist Church is a congregation with a diverse range of views on a number of issues. We honor that as being part of the body of Christ, and as Americans. A second disclaimer is that this message series is not designed to make us an issues-centered congregation. We’re not going to get into issues. What we are going to do is look at how the biblical narrative counsels the disciple of Jesus Christ to live and engage in the culture around them.
So, why faith and politics? It’s not just because we’re in an election year, and we’re headed toward the election of a new president. It helps, certainly, to keep us relevant, but more importantly, over the past several election cycles, religion has played (or at least sought to play) an integral part in the outcome of elections. Why is that? Should it be that way? Should politics even matter to the disciple of Jesus Christ? These questions matter because being a disciple of Jesus Christ should influence every area of our lives, and that includes how we view politics and engage in the community. In this series we’ll look at a disciple’s obligation to engage in the political realm, as well as the clash of cultures, not only in our communities, but in our world. We’ll also reflect upon some biblical advice in how we choose our leaders, and we’ll discuss the most important aspect of a disciple’s engagement—the power of prayer. But, we start this week with a look at the role of government in our lives.
I think it is safe to say these days there is a healthy amount of skepticism concerning the government. President Ronald Reagan once quipped, “I think you all know that I’ve always felt the nine most terrifying words in the English language are ‘I’m from the government and I’m here to help’.” His cynicism reflects our own. That’s one of the characteristics that endeared Reagan to so many. Whether one agreed with his politics or not, he could capture and communicate the thoughts and feelings of most Americans. The cynicism has not waned although Ronald Reagan hasn’t been President in almost thirty years. As we read the Apostle Paul, though, we discover that the government really is here to help, the great bureaucracy of any government notwithstanding.
As we think about the role of government in culture, one of the things we must do is try to take off our American lenses. We talk about government and our minds focus, quite naturally, upon our federal government, our state government, or our local community governmental structures. The Apostle Paul didn’t have any of these in mind when he penned the words we read a few moments ago. As we work through the passage, we’ll contextualize it certainly. That’s the only way we are able to make it relevant to our lives. Paul, however, was living in a vastly different culture than our own, yet even then he could council disciples that the government was there to help.
Paul was living in a world dominated by the Roman Empire. Yes, Rome was considered to be a republic, and there are some ways ours is modeled after the Roman government at the time, but seriously, in the first century A. D., Paul’s council was somewhat shocking to the Christians living in Rome. The Roman Empire was one of the most evil and cruel empires to ever rule a larger part of the world. The emperor at that time was Nero. He took pleasure in killing Christians. In fact, historians say that he burned many Christians as torches to light up his garden parties. Yet, in spite of its cruelty, immorality, and persecution of Christians, Paul said to submit to the government in Rome. His instruction to submit is front and center in this passage. We’re not going to dig into that this morning. We’re looking instead at the reasons for obeying the government. Paul’s words give us insight into God’s vision and role of government, and his words still speak to those of us who seek to be faithful disciples of Jesus Christ.
Paul can’t help but remind the Roman Christians that God is the one who establishes governments. Three times in two verses Paul states the fact that God has established all government authority. A quick reflection of biblical history confirms the fact. When God wanted to take his people out of Egypt he broke the will of Pharaoh with ten plagues. In God’s dealings with his people he used the governments of the world to bring blessing or punishment as needed. The biblical writers acknowledged that God used the Assyrians to destroy Israel. Later God used Nebuchadnezzar to take his people into captivity in Babylon as punishment for their disobedience. There they repented and returned to the Lord. Then God brought in Cyrus, king of the Medes and Persians, to set his people free and place them back in the Promised Land. The Old Testament indicates that the Lord blessed all people through Cyrus.
In the New Testament God’s pulling the strings of kings and governments continued. God’s timing is always right! Luke’s gospel tells us “At that time the Roman emperor Augustus…” God’s Son was to enter the world just as the emperor issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. It was a time when the world had the best roads, an efficient postal service, safe travel, and some semblance of law and order. Paul’s appeal was based on the ultimate idea of the sovereign nature of God, and if we believe nothing else, don’t we believe ultimately, God is in control?
But, you ask, what about the evil governments? Is God responsible for the power of the communists who tried to stamp out the gospel? What about Adolf Hitler? What about Saddam Hussein and others? Or, how about those immoral, corrupt, and crooked politicians that are found in our own government? Is God responsible for their power? Here we see the power of sin at work in God’s creation. The fact that any leader, as sinful humans, take authority and abuse it is not God’s fault. If I might paraphrase philosopher and theologian Ravi Zacharias: The problem with a theocracy is not with God, but with those who represent God when they begin to think they ARE God. This holds, too, for our own government. We must be careful that those in our own government don’t assume that they have taken God’s place. Government is not God. Government is a tool given that God uses for God’s purposes.
When Jesus was on trial before Pontius Pilate he corrected Pilate’s false understanding of government authority. Remember that Pilate said, “Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?” Jesus responded, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above” (John 19:11). Sin is a powerful thing, and the same sin that touches the depth of our hearts can touch the depth of even the best human government. One of the biggest hurdles for us to cross in order to have the attitude that Paul described in these verses from Romans chapter 13 is to see the governing authorities as being established by God. When the Holy Spirit works that conviction in us, then we will want to submit to the governing authorities. A glance at history, and a look at God’s Word, will convince us that God establishes all authority.
Benjamin Franklin believed this idea. Franklin said, “I’ve lived, sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth—that God governs in the affairs of men. If a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid? We have been assured, sir, in the sacred writings, that ‘except the Lord build the house they labor in vain who build it.’ I firmly believe this, and I also believe that without His concurring aid, we shall succeed in this political building no better than the builders of Babel.”
God’s establishing government is not without purpose, and Paul discloses at least two tasks of government. First, he indicates that government’s responsibility is to order society. Take a moment and think about what the government does for us. We have state and federal highways. It is the government that provides libraries, schools, and universities. Those in authority provide law and order through police departments and the justice system. We have fire protection. We have freedom to worship and practice our religion. The government ensures free trade and fair business practices. Those in authority maintain an army to protect our borders from invasion. William Barclay says it this way: “To the state ordinary people owe a wide range of services which individually they could not enjoy. It would be impossible for every man to have his own water, light, sewage, transport system. These things are obtainable only when men agree to live together. And it would be quite wrong for a man to enjoy everything the state provides and to refuse all responsibility to it. That is one compelling reason why the Christian is bound in honour to be a good citizen and to take his part in all the duties of citizenship.”
Government, or should I say good government, is nothing more than a body of people who have covenanted together to maintain certain relationships between each other by the observance of certain laws. Without these laws and the mutual agreement to observe them, evil and selfishness would win the day. Each of us owe our security to the government, and are therefore under a responsibility to it.
As Paul notes, part of that ordering of society is the idea of the government’s responsibility to execute justice. Justice is a delicate issue. It always raises the question of whose justice are we talking about. Justice is often about perspective, I suppose. The government was greatly used, I believe, by God through the 1960’s and the civil rights movement. There were many injustices that were corrected through government action. Thanks be to God! And, the 1860’s, too. Again, in the U.S., and prior in England, government was a tool of God used to abolish the institution of slavery. In all those instances, there were those who debated, argued and fought and even died for justice sake. As we reflect back on those times in history, dare any of us say that justice did not prevail? The church’s voice was integral in all of those struggles. No matter the political climate, we must never let the voice of the church be silenced in the fight for justice.
The struggle for justice continues even today, as well it ought. Survey the twenty-four hour news cycle and we can hear the cries of those who plead for justice. The church must hear their cries, and must be ready to respond in the name of justice. I remind us all, though, that what the people of God seek is righteousness…that is how justice is defined. Just because something can be justified does not make it right. God seeks righteousness, from his people and in his creation. Justice and justification are not necessarily the same thing.
It has been suggested that Paul was writing these words concerning justice and aiming them at the Jewish people. You might recall the Jewish people were quite the rebellious bunch in the first century near east. Insurrections were not uncommon, especially in Galilee. The Zealots give us an example (among which one of Jesus’ own disciples is numbered). The Zealots were convinced that there was no king for the Jews but God; and that no tribute must be paid to anyone except to God. They were not content with simple passive resistance. Their aim was to make any civil government impossible. They were known as the dagger-bearers. They were nationalists who employed terrorist methods that were not only directed towards the Roman government, but they also wrecked the houses and burned the crops and assassinated the families of their own fellow-Jews who paid tribute to the Roman government. Paul is saying, “No way! That’s not the action of a disciple.” It was Paul’s way of saying, “You reap what you sow.”
What is true for nations is also true for individuals. We think little of violating the speed limit until we are the one stopped for speeding. H. L. Menken said, “Injustice is relatively easy to bear; what stings is justice.” Here again, we see the power of sin in our lives. Here again, we see the need for grace. The source of all grace is our God, who ultimately showed us grace through His Son, Jesus Christ on the cross. Even there, it was the Roman government used as God’s instrument to get us to grace, as atrocious as it was, for, you see, grace is a messy thing. We try to sanitize it, in our lives, in our culture and even in our churches, but no matter, grace is messy. But, the Good News is God’s got a handle on all of it.
So, what are we to do? Paul says submit, but our submission is not really to the government, but to the sovereignty of God. We’ll not dig deeply into this subject now, for submission is the disciple’s obligation, and we’ll reflect on that subject next week. You’ll have to come back for that one.
