OPEN: August 1994, as a Korean Air jet plane was landing it skidded across a rain soaked runway and rammed a safety barricade. There were 160 passengers on board and just before the plane exploded into flames they all escaped to safety. What was the cause of the accident? According to news reports, the pilot and the co-pilot had gotten into a fist fight…over who was in charge of the landing controls.
(The Best of Uncle John's Bathroom Reader)
Now, you’d have thought they’d have figured that out before they left the ground. But because they forgot who was in charge, they endangered their lives, the lives of their crew, the lives of their passengers, and they destroyed a fairly expensive piece of aircraft. All because they didn’t know who was in charge!
Conflict (many times) comes about because people forget who’s in charge. And in our text today God clears it all up for us.
“Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience.” Romans 13:1-5
Now, before we get too far into this sermon let’s ask a very basic question:
WHO’S IN CHARGE? (Answer: God is)
If I Trust God, and if God is charge then I must be willing to submit to the authorities over me. Why? Because God is bigger and badder than any authority of man.
But if I lose my trust in God - if I don’t look to Him for my deliverance, my temptation will be to grab the controls. My temptation will be to fight to have MY way.
ILLUS: Frankly, there isn’t an earthly ruler that would do everything the way I’d do it myself. My daddy used to say that the most efficient form of government was a benevolent dictatorship… and was willing to apply for the job. But aside from that, the chances of you being totally satisfied with the decisions of any earthly authority are slim.
II Peter 2:9-10 “…the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment, and especially those who indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority. Bold and willful, they do not tremble as they blaspheme the glorious ones”
Did you catch what God is saying there? God is bigger and badder than anything, and He knows how to rescue the godly from trials. We don’t have to panic… we don’t have to grab the controls. And we definitely don’t want to be like the unrighteous - because the unrighteous despise authority. If we forget that God is in charge… then we run the risk of crashing and burning.
God puts obedience to earthly authority on the same level as honoring Him. In Exodus 22:28 God declared “You shall not revile God, nor curse a ruler of your people.” He literally puts both concept on the same level playing field. God no more expects you to curse Him than He would expect you to curse your rulers.
ILLUS: In Acts 23 we read about Paul being arrested and brought before the Sanhedrin. Paul’s first statement to the group was to say: “Brothers, I have lived my life before God in all good conscience up to this day.” At which point the high priest Ananias commanded those who were next to him to strike him on the mouth. That doesn’t sit too well with Paul and he angrily says: “God is going to strike you, you whitewashed wall! Are you sitting to judge me according to the law, and yet contrary to the law you order me to be struck?”
At that point someone next to him says: “Would you revile God’s high priest?”
You can almost sense Paul backing up a step or two as he declares: “I did not know, brothers, that he was the high priest, for it is written, ‘You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.”’ Acts 23:3-5
Do not speak evil or curse the ruler of your people. What that means is – if you’re a Democrat you don’t curse Republican leaders. If you’re a Republican you don’t curse Democrat leaders. You don’t belittle them on Facebook, you don’t make fun of them around the water cooler at work and you don’t rejoice when they do stupid stuff (and we all know the leaders in the other party are more prone to do stupid stuff than the folks in the party you support).
Now, if you don’t trust God curse them all you want. But if you trust God you’re not going to do that because: “…there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.” Roman 13:1-2
Now, what’s interesting is – God seems to play by the same rules He asks us to abide by. In the book of Exodus we read about the fact that Israel had been in Egypt for over 400 years and they are slaves in that land. Finally God sent a man named Moses to go to Pharaoh and declare: LET MY PEOPLE GO!
When Moses appears before Pharaoh for the 1st time Pharaoh says: "Who is the LORD, that I should obey him and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD and I will not let Israel go." Exodus 5:2
Pharaoh mocks God and mocks Moses saying “Who is this LORD that I should obey Him?” And so for the next few weeks God introduces Himself to Pharaoh (PAUSE) with one plague after another. Every time a plague was let loose in Egypt, Pharaoh knew who had caused it and so he’d approach Moses and ask for him to make better. And every time he came to Pharaoh it seems Moses said the same thing over and over again: LET MY PEOPLE GO!!!
Now, why does Moses do this? Why bother to ask Pharaoh to let them go? Why not simply pack the Israelites up and head out? I mean, it’s not like Pharaoh could have stopped God from rolling over his army on the way out.
Well here’s the deal – God was asking Pharaoh’s PERMISSION for Israel to leave. And it was not until Pharaoh gave that permission that ISRAEL left Egypt:
“At midnight the LORD struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sat on the throne, to the firstborn of the prisoner, who was in the dungeon, and the firstborn of all the livestock as well. Pharaoh and all his officials and all the Egyptians got up during the night, and there was loud wailing in Egypt, for there was not a house without someone dead. During the night Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, "Up! LEAVE my people, you and the Israelites! GO, worship the LORD as you have requested. Take your flocks and herds, as you have said, and GO. And also bless me." Exodus 12:29-32
God did not allow Israel to leave their slavery until Pharaoh gave permission. Pharaoh was the AUTHORITY in Egypt, and God was setting us an example that even HE allowed Himself to be subject to the governing authorities (in this case, Egypt’s Pharaoh).
(PAUSE)
Now as I was preparing this Sunday’s sermon I remembered a question that has plagued many American Christians for decades. The question: IF Christians should be subject to their authorities AND IF America’s Founding Fathers were mostly Bible-believing God-fearing men - why did they rebel against King George? WHY was there a Revolution? Didn’t they trust God?
I found this meme on the internet (https://i.imgflip.com/16u9g5.jpg - it says “Happy Treason Day. Ungrateful Colonials”). This cute graphic embodies the problem for us. You see - at the time – America’s colonies were subjects of the British Empire. King George WAS the authority over the colonies.
A few things complicate this issue: First, there was the fact that much of the call for Revolution came from pulpits of churches throughout the colonies. The preachers were robed in black and were often referred to as the “Black Robed Regiment”. King George said he feared them more than colonial soldiers in the field.
2nd – the American Revolution was either one of the only, or the ONLY, revolution to have turned out as well as it did. The majority of revolutions tended to be like the one in France. Thousands of people were executed there (most often publicly by guillotine) and there was unbelievable graft and corruption. America’s revolution was a remarkable exception to the rule.
On top of that, there’s the undeniable fact that God seemed to repeatedly intervene in support of the Revolutionaries. For example:
ILLUS: In October of 1780 (4 years into the Revolutionary War) a storm known as the "Great Hurricane" pounded the West Indies for 7 days. On October 10th, the hurricane 1st struck Barbados with winds estimated at 200 mph, and destroyed nearly all the houses (including those made of stone). British forts were demolished and there was not a single tree that remained standing. And this storm not only destroyed things ON the islands… it also struck ships offshore. The British fleet which was in harbor at St. Lucia lost eight of its 12 ships and 100s of sailors (one British warship was dumped down on top of a hospital). Historians believe that the ships lost in this disaster led to Britain's defeat at the Battle of the Chesapeake which ultimately allowed George Washington to force the British Army to surrender. The Great Hurricane's costly damage to Britain’s forces also reinforced the argument by London's pro-peace faction, which had long been in favor of quitting the long and expensive Revolutionary War. Ultimately that persuaded Parliament to grant the Americans their independence.
(Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader, History’s Lists, p. 482)
So why would God seemingly honor the American Revolutionaries? I’m only guessing here… but I have think I have an idea. You see, America’s revolutionaries started by appealing to God
• Prayers were constantly offered in the churches, the statehouses and especially in the Continental Congress appealing to God for guidance and protection (one prayer at the Continental Congress went on for 3 hours… and that was very much the norm).
• America’s leaders constantly appealed to Britain for relief. As late as April of 1775 the Colonists still did NOT want to become independent - they just wanted to have their grievances resolved
• 3rd - even when war was declared… they were STILL appealing for peace. When the English forces were bottled up at Boston on January 1, 1776, George Washington raised a new flag on Prospect Hill for British forces to see. It’s called the “Grand Union Flag” (https://www.hpsd.k12.pa.us/archives/clausen/flags/revolution/images/R10a.jpg). Do you see anything unusual about this flag? That’s right in the corner (where our flag displays stars) was the British Union Jack. Even at this juncture, this flag was Washington’s way of saying they were firmly united in their determination to fight for their liberty and yet reluctant to defy the mother country. (R.Digest 9/69 p. 143)
Now I’m not trying to say that America’s leaders were necessarily perfect in all that they did, but at the core of the Revolution was an appeal to God and appeal to England for peace.
Now I said all that… to say this: When dealing with those in authority you must ALWAYS treat them with respect. This is non-negotiable. No matter who they are, what they’ve done, or what they stand for you are obligated as a servant of the most High God to show them respect.
2ndly - you and I must ALWAYS look to God for your protection. You’re welcome to write your congressman, defend yourself in court and file briefs and motions till the cows come home, but you EVER take your eye off of God… you’ll fail. Guaranteed. Because God promised that in Psalm 127:1 “Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain.”
CLOSE: After the Revolution was won America had a Declaration of Independence, but still did not have the Constitution that our nation so reveres. And that Constitution almost didn’t get approved. At the Constitutional Convention in 1787 the representatives of the new nation gather to vote on that document, but the problem was – now that they’d won the war, many of them found they didn’t like each other all that much. The room seemed constantly filled with rancor and hatred and name calling. There was not a man present who had any real hope of finding an effective solution. It was then that Ben Franklin rose to speak.
“In the beginning of the contest with Britain, when we were sensible of danger, we had daily prayers in this room for Divine protection. Our prayers, Sir, were heard, and they were graciously answered. All of us who were engaged in the struggle must have observed frequent instances of a superintending Providence in our favor.... And have we now forgotten this powerful Friend? Or do we imagine we no longer need His assistance?
I have 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 man." And 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 that build it. I firmly believe this. I also believe that, without His concurring aid, we shall succeed in this political building no better than the builders of Babel; we shall be divided by our little, partial local interests; our projects will be confounded; and we ourselves shall become a reproach and a byword down to future ages. And what is worse, mankind may hereafter, from this unfortunate instance, despair of establishing government by human wisdom and leave it to chance, war, or conquest.
I therefore beg leave to move that, henceforth, prayers imploring the assistance of Heaven and its blessing on our deliberation be held in this assembly every morning before we proceed to business.”
(The Light and the Glory Peter Marshall, David Manuel, p. 342 quoting In God We Trust edited by Norman Cousins, p. 42)
INVITATION
