In the 1960s the youngest man to ever be elected to the highest office of the land excited a nation with a challenge to go to the moon. He said, “We choose to go to the Moon...We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard; because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one we intend to win.” President Kennedy invited the nation to see space as a beckoning frontier and he called upon the people of our nation to live up to their pioneering heritage. The nation responded to the president’s challenge. By the end of the decade, as the world watched with anxious excitement, Neil Armstrong took one small step for man and one giant leap for mankind.
In the 1980s the second oldest man to be elected to the highest office of the land sat in the oval office and delivered a farewell address that inspired a nation. He said, “I've spoken of [America as] the shining city [on a hill] all my political life, but I don't know if I ever quite communicated what I saw when I said it. But in my mind, it was a tall, proud city built on rocks stronger than oceans, wind-swept, God-blessed, and teeming with people of all kinds living in harmony and peace; a city with free ports that hummed with commerce and creativity. And if there had to be city walls, the walls had doors and the doors were open to anyone with the will and the heart to get here. That's how I saw it and see it still.” President Reagan invited the nation to see America as a champion of peace and prosperity. The president’s vision inspired the nation and the world. By the end of the decade, as the world watched with optimistic enthusiasm, crowds of people with hammers and pickaxes tore down the Berlin wall.
There have been periods of history when we the people were proud to be Americans. We rallied around our presidents who challenged us to do great things and inspired us to be better people. However, you could argue that we are not currently living in one of those periods of history and it has been a long time since our country was led by one of those kinds of presidents. According to the Pew Research Center public trust in our government has hovered a near record breaking lows for the past decade.
A suspicious cynicism has infected the people of our country. The divide between right and left has grown so deep and so wide that it is hard to imagine that a bridge between the two parties will ever be built. It seems the left is constantly vilifying the right and the right is constantly vilifying the left. And, as the politicians bicker, we the people snicker. We mock our presidents with insulting nicknames like “Orange Julius” and “Sleepy Joe”. We post and repost disparaging remarks and obscene memes about them. We scoff at their attempts to govern us and challenge their authority over us.
It is especially important in times such as these that we look to passages like Romans 13:1-7. There we are reminded that we are subjects of God’s servant.
The book of Romans was written by saint Paul to a people ruled by a governing authority very much like our own. Rome was once a shinning city on a hill. The people of Rome enjoyed a period of unprecedented peace and prosperity called the Pax Romana. But lately the peace of Rome had been disturbed, especially if you were a Christian. It is likely that the emperor who sat on the throne when Paul wrote these words was Nero. Now, I don’t know how much you know about Nero, but as far as governing authorities go, he was one of the worst. He is most well-known for setting fire to his own city and then blaming the Christians for it. Nero punished the Christians for a crime they did not commit by having them executed. The Roman historian Tacitus describes the execution of the Christians with these words. “Covered with the skins of beasts, they were torn by dogs and perished, or were nailed to crosses, or were doomed to the flames and burnt, to serve as a nightly illumination, when daylight had expired.”
To the persecuted citizens of Nero’s Rome and to the suspiciously cynical citizens of these United States The Holy Spirit through saint Paul tells us, “1 Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities.” As Christians we are to submit ourselves to the governing authorities. Be they federal, state, or city authorities we are to be submissive to them. Later, in verse 7, Paul spells out for us what our submission is to look like. There He tells us to, “7 Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.” As subjects we owe certain things to our governing authorities. For example, we owe them the financial resources they need to govern us, and we owe obedience to the rules and regulations they establish for us. That is why in our gospel lesson from Matthew Jesus said, “give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s”[1].
Now I admit there are times when this submission is easier said than done. It is, as I have already indicated, possible that we are living in a time when our submission to the governing authorities takes a considerable amount of effort. Maybe it would help if we read the rest of verse 1. There saint Paul writes, “for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.” God established our governing authority. God established authorities to govern us for the same reason he created the angels. Both angels and politicians are used by God to provide for and protect His people. So, in a way, politicians are similar to angels (although admittedly they are considerably less holy). Like the angels, the authorities that govern us are servants of God. In fact, that is exactly what Paul calls them. Twice in verse 4 Paul calls our governing authorities, “God’s servant”.
“Consequently”, Paul continues in verse 2, “he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.” To mock our president with insulting nicknames is to mock our God. To post or repost disparaging remarks or obscene memes about our politicians is to be disparaging and obscene about our God. When we scoff at the attempts of our government to govern us and challenge its authority over us, we scoff at, and we challenge our God. Here in America, we enjoy the freedom of speech. We have the right and the responsibility to disagree with and challenge our governing authorities. This is a defining characteristic of our governing authority. But we must not abuse that freedom and use our rights and responsibilities to sin. You can argue all you want why you believe you do not personally have to submit to the governing authorities. I have heard my fair share of arguments. One of my favorites is when people misuse the words of Peter when he said, “we must obey God rather than men!”[2] . We like to use that passage to justify our rebellion, but that passage is only referring to a time when the governing authority is forcing you to do something God has forbidden or forbidding you from doing something God has commanded. That passage has nothing to do with interest rates, speed limits, or building codes. You can use whatever arguments you like to pretend you are justified in your rebellion, but Paul could not be any clearer “he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.” You cannot call yourself a God-fearing Christian while at the same time refuse to submit to the God established authorities that have been placed over you. You cannot be obedient to God and rebel against God’s servant.
I know that is hard to hear. I know it seems unreasonably harsh. As I wrote these words, I was thinking of all the jokes I have told, all the grumbling and complaining I have done, and frankly the laws I have ignored, bent, and flat out broke. As I thought about all the ways I have rebelled against my governing authorities the word “judgment” made my conscious uncomfortably aware of my guilt. If, as you think about the ways you have treated God’s servant, your conscience has also become uncomfortably aware of your own guilt, then you will be happy to hear what Jesus did about our guilt.
Jesus perfectly submitted Himself to the governing authority that was placed over Him. Jesus, who is the LORD of lords and the KING of kings submitted Himself to a flawed government full of pagan politicians. He paid taxes and revenue, He showed respect and honor; Jesus gave His governing authority what was owed. But Jesus didn’t just give to Caesar what was Caesar’s. Jesus gave so much more. He gave His life. He offered His back to the punishing blows of the whip, He purchased our forgiveness with the blood that pooled at the foot of the cross, He gave up His breath to take away our guilt. The word “judgment” need not make us uncomfortable because Jesus has paid for all our rebellious sins against God’s established authorities with His perfect life and innocent death.
The realization that our governing authorities are God’s servants is enough reason for us to submit to them. However, there is one more thing that might make our submission easier. In verse 4 Paul writes, “For he (our governing authorities) is God’s servant to do you good.” Here in the United States of America, it is not hard for us to see the many ways that God uses the government to do us good. Our system of roads allows for ease of travel. The FDA keeps poison out of our food. Our basic morality and rights are protected by congress. When we are wronged, there is a system by which we might receive restitution. The Fire department and police department keep us safe. Our military stands as a wall of protection against those who would seek to do us harm. Even with all its flaws, corruption, abuse and moral decay, we can still see how God does good for us through our governing authorities.
I long for the days when our country is led by exciting or inspiration president. I have not given up hope and I pray you haven’t either. In fact, I pray maybe one of our young members here at Messiah will grow up to be the kind of president I long for. But as Christians, we do not submit to the governing authorities because our president excites us with a challenge or inspires us with a vision. We submit to the governing authorities because they are God’s servants. When we submit to them, we submit to Him and in that submission, we are blessed.
Tomorrow the citizens of the United States of America will celebrate the birth of our nation. There is no denying this nation has its problems and you can argue Lady Liberty isn’t what she once was. But she is God’s servant established to do us good. Therefore, we will join our fellow Americans and celebrate the authority that governs us. Today, as subjects of God’s servant we pray for our nation and the men and women who govern it. In the words of presidents Kennedy and Reagan we pray “God bless the United States of America”. Amen.
[1] Matthew 22:21
[2] Acts 5:29