[Sermon preached on 4 November 2018, 24th Sunday after Pentecost / 3rd year, ELCF Lectionary]
Some years ago, we needed to get a little home renovation done. I asked someone for a quotation. When he had given me the price, he added: “That’s without a receipt. If you want a receipt, I will have to add 22% to the price.” Why was that? Because without a receipt, the guy wouldn’t have to pay tax. Officially, that money would not exist in his bookkeeping.
In many trades, it seems to be common practice rather than an exception to evade taxes whenever possible. Even many Christians seem to be quite comfortable with the idea of doing business without receipts, without paying tax.
In today’s readings from the New Testament, Jesus and Paul have a clear message concerning the obligation to pay taxes. But paying tax is not the main issue. They are just examples—case studies, if you wish—concerning obedience and submission to the authorities: to the state, the city, or the church. The underlying principles go much deeper than the question of whether we pay our taxes or not.
Both Jesus and Paul could actually build a compelling case for not paying taxes. When addressing the question of temple tax, or “two-drachma tax”, Jesus asks his disciples the generic question of who should and who should not pay tax. Should the children of the king pay taxes? Of course not, they are exempt. Why? Because they are his children. Since the temple tax was imposed by God, and since Jesus is the Son of God, he should not have to pay the tax, strictly speaking. And yet, Jesus decided to pay anyways. Why?
“So that we may not cause offense…”
In other words: Let’s not fight and argue, and maybe even go to court over an issue of money—five to ten euros. It’s not worth it. Jesus calls us to avoid offending others, including the authorities, if it is just a matter of money. It may cost us a bit more. But on the other hand, the miracle of the fish shows that, in the end, it is God who provides. Everything belongs to him, whether it is in our wallet or in the treasury of the king or the temple. Case closed.
The situation in Rome is different. Here, the tax was imposed by the Emperor. Some Christians considered that paying tax was simply their duty, and they thought no more of it. But to others, it felt like betraying their true king Jesus Christ. For them worshiping king Jesus implied that they had to boycott everything even remotely connected with Emperor worship. And that included paying tribute tax.
So as far as paying tax is concerned, Paul and Jesus had the same message: “If it is just a matter of money, don’t unnecessarily offend others. Just pay what you are due.” But in both cases, paying tax was not the real issue at stake. It was one concrete application of a general principle. That is why in Romans 13:1–7 Paul addresses the larger issue of submission to the governing authorities.
In essence, Paul says this. You are under the authority of the Roman government. The Roman government is God’s servant, appointed by God, and under the authority and supervision of God. The Emperor is accountable to God. Therefore, if we pledge loyalty to God, we must also submit to the civil authorities. In other words: disobedience to the Emperor is disobedience to God.
Paul’s argumentation leaves many of us all with very mixed feelings. We can see many cases and areas where such arguments apply without any problems. In traffic, for example, you must observe the traffic rules of the country and the traffic signs precisely. If you speed or drive through the red light, the state has the right to fine you or to take your driver’s license. No problem there. Laws are primarily imposed on us in order to provide protection and security and to make life smoother and better. So far, so good.
But think of a country like North Korea. There, it is forbidden by law to gather for Christian worship and to evangelize people on the street. People are compelled to worship their great leader, Kim Jong-un. As a Christian, does the obligation to obedience apply there also—without any question marks or exceptions? When the law compels Christians to act against the ethical principles and guidelines of the Bible, should they obey?
It seems that, in Romans 13, Paul says “Yes”. If we follow his logic, Kim Jong-un is God’s minister, appointed and authorized by God, so it seems. And yet, our conscience says “No”. So where does the problem come from? Why do the Bible and our conscience seem to crash on this issue?
I believe that the problem is that we have taken Romans 13:1–7 out of its historical and textual context.
We are often being told that, when Paul wrote this letter to the Romans, Rome was ruled with an iron fist by a violent madman called Nero. Nero wanted Christians to give up king Jesus. He wanted them to worship himself as their only ruler and as their only god. And therefore, he persecuted Christians. Paul seems to suggest, then, that Christians should simply submit themselves to this cruel and unjust Emperor and his government, even if they were demanded to bow down and worship him as their god.
Over the centuries, this picture has often been held up before Christians who were subjects of cruel and violent rulers. For example, in Nazi Germany, Romans 13 was used to convince the church to fully submit to the authority of the madman Adolf Hitler, no matter what he demanded from them. After all, Hitler was no worse than Emperor Nero. So if Romans 13 applied to the church under Nero, it should also apply under Hitler—unconditionally. That was the argument.
However, that is a very poor and misleading historical analysis. I am sure that Hitler wanted the church to take that intellectual shortcut and jump to precisely these conclusions. But the truth is that, when Paul wrote this letter in the year 57 AD, the situation in Rome was very different. At that time, there was actually great hope and optimism for the church in Rome.
Three years earlier, Emperor Claudius had been killed. It was Claudius who had expelled the Jews from Rome and confiscated their property, and who had persecuted Christians. But one of the first things that his successor Nero did was to allow all the Jews to return to Rome and return their property to them. He was trying to create a lot of goodwill in those first years of his reign.
It is to this positive side of Nero and his regime that Paul responds in Romans 13. In effect, he is saying this: “Now that there is peace under the new Emperor, don’t unnecessarily offend him by civil disobedience! Don’t rock the boat! Because, if you behave well, you may have a period of peace and relative freedom ahead of you—a period when you can freely live out your calling as Christians and freely share the gospel with others. Therefore, pay your taxes. Pay tribute to the Emperor—but not as a god, but only as an emperor.”
This interpretation is in line with what Paul writes to Timothy:
I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.
And to Titus, he writes:
Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good.
Obviously, there were boundary conditions. There were limits as to how far Christians could go in their obedience and submission to the Emperor. Because, at the same time, they were citizens of a heavenly kingdom under the rule of King Jesus. But that heavenly kingdom did not cancel out the civil authority of the Roman Empire altogether. They were subjects of both kingdoms. And each of those two kingdoms could make their own legitimate claims on their loyalty. Only if they was a conflict of interests, should the Christian choose to obey God rather than man.
That is what we learn already from the apostle Peter in Acts 5. There, Peter was standing trial before the Jewish Council in Jerusalem, because he had healed a crippled man in the name of Jesus. The Jewish Council told Peter not to speak about Jesus anymore. And what does Peter reply?
“We must obey God rather than human beings!”
Peter had to draw the line right there. Obedience to the Great Commission left Peter no other choice than to disobey the Jewish Council in this specific issue.
But in modern life and modern society, the lines between obeying God and obeying human authorities are often very hard to draw. The issues that we face today are complicated. We can look at them from different angles and come to different conclusions. Therefore, the risk of mis-interpretation and mis-application of Romans 13 is very high. Today, even in our country and in our church, Christians are highly divided over many ethical issues where national law and personal conscience collide. Do we follow Paul in Romans 13 in submitting to national law and order, or do we follow Peter in Acts 5 in civil disobedience? And can we, at all, put an equal sign between our conscience and God’s will?
In the Bible study last Tuesday, we looked at several concrete cases. And we noticed a few things there. First of all, over time, the understanding of what is right and wrong has changed constantly. What was the ethical norm in Bible times, in Israel or in Rome, is no longer the ruling norm today. Secondly, common moral principles lead to different norms in different cultures. In African, Asian, European or Latin American cultures, there are different ways of understanding and applying many questions of right and wrong. And often, the churches on those continents are heavily influenced by their culture. In our international and multicultural community, you see that same spectrum of interpretations.
We can get a better understanding of Romans 13, when we look not only at the real historical context, but also at the textual context—at what Paul writes before and after this passage.
In the previous chapter, Paul urges his readers to offer their bodies as a living sacrifice to God, and to offer the gifts that they have received from the Holy Spirit for the benefit of the church. There are many different gifts, but the greatest gift is love. And from Romans 12:9 onwards, Paul explains what sincere love looks like in practice.
In verse 14 he says that love calls for the principle of non-violence:
“Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.”
Next in the verses 17 and 19, he calls for the principle of non-retribution:
“Do not repay anyone evil for evil. […] Do not take revenge, but leave room for God’s wrath.”
And in the verses 18 and 20 he challenges his readers to love their enemy:
“If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. […]
If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”
That is what love looks like in practice. And Paul concludes by showing his readers the potential of living out the good Christian life in an evil world:
“Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. […]
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
So, Romans 13:1–7 is meant to be no more and no less than a concrete application of these principles of Christian love in the context of secular government and society.
If the Roman Christians were committed to do what is right in the eyes of everyone and answer evil with good, they would fulfill the command of love. They would be effective witnesses of Christ: the salt of the earth and the light of the world.
And we see that Paul returns to this principle of love in Romans 13:8:
“Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law.”
In other words, don’t remain in debt to the government by not paying your tax. The only debt that may remain outstanding is the debt to love one another. Because you will never be able to pay off that debt—that obligation—, however much you love. But all other obligations, whether to God or to the civil authorities, you should take care of right away.
So what does that leave us with? What are the conclusions that we can safely make from Paul’s teaching? What are the lessons for us today? Let me give you three points, three lessons.
The first is this: We are citizens of two kingdoms. If you have answered Jesus’ call to follow him, you are a citizen of heaven. Jesus Christ is your king. You must obey him, you must follow him, and you must honor and worship him. But at the same time, wherever you live on the face of the earth, you are part of a secular “kingdom”. There are laws and rules and conventions that you have to respect and live by. You have obligations to meet, such as paying your tax.
Being a Christian does not relieve us from our obligations towards the secular government. Even though we are children of the King of Heaven, we should never consider ourselves above the secular authorities. On the contrary, we should voluntarily submit ourselves to them.
But we should never become blind and undiscerning in our obedience and submission to secular authorities. There may be times and situations when our commitment and obligation to Christ our King simply demands disobedience to the secular government.
The second lesson from Romans 13 is this. The way to further the kingdom of Christ is not primarily by civil disobedience but by living exemplary lives: by being a light to the world.
Some Christians consider it their great mission to criticize everything that is happening in society, and every law or rule that is set in place. Just look at their Facebook posts. It seems that they thoroughly enjoy discrediting and ridiculing the leaders of the country—or the leaders of the church for that matter—and the laws and regulations they enforce. They love to publicly offend others personally and seek to become martyrs of the faith—that is how they see themselves.
But that is not what we are taught to do here in Romans 13. We are called to live exemplary lives—lives of love and respect and obedience and submission, as far as our commitment to Christ allows. We don’t win people for Christ by offending them through our attitudes, our words, and our behavior. We win people for Christ when they can see Christ’s love in us. That’s the bottom line.
And thirdly, behind every command or exhortation in the Bible there is the ultimate commandment of love:
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. And love your neighbor as yourself.”
Jesus said that
“All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
If our acts of disobedience to secular law are based on anything else than love for God and for our neighbor, our motives are corrupted, and our decisions are wrong.
Let us pray, then, that God would give us love and wisdom as we seek our place and our role in our society. Amen.
