The text for our meditation on God’s Holy Word is the epistle lesson. I bring you grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
Survey after survey has shown that of all the professions, public servants, and especially politicians, are among the least respected people in our country. And some of the more cynical among us might say that there is a good reason for that!
Our nation is confronted with an unsustainable level of debt—Afghanistan looks more and more like Vietnam—and hundreds of thousands of gallons of crude oil pour into the gulf.
All of this and much, much more tempts us to believe that our government is inept deserving only of scorn while our leaders are worthy only of our contempt.
What we learn from God’s Word today is that this attitude of scorn and contempt that we have for our government and its leaders is a sin. What we learn is that the state is a blessing that God gives for our good and we are to receive it as such, honor our leaders, and do our best to be good citizens.
As we reflect on God’s Word to us, I want three basic biblical principles to guide us 1. Government is instituted by God to be his servant and opposition to it is not just a legal problem but a sin that harms our relationship with God. 2. The primary purpose of government is to promote what is good for its citizens and to hinder what is evil and force is permitted by God to this end. 3. And finally, we have a duty, not just as citizens, but as Christians to render to government its due while remembering that our ultimately loyalty is to God. The Bible says that:
Every person must be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.
God’s Word teaches that the state—and governmental authority-- is not a human invention but has been established by God for the good of mankind. It began as part of the covenant that God made with Noah when God said: “Whoever shed’s man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God he made man.” This command did not authorize private vengeance-- but entrusted Noah with the public responsibility to protect human life as God’s sacred gift.
The form of government was not prescribed by God. Noah and Abraham ruled as heads of large, extended families. There was the rule of Moses as a lawgiver and then the judges and then the Davidic kings. Paul wrote these words while Rome was ruled by pagan emperors. And in our own day there are democracies and republics and monarchies.
It is not the form that the state takes that makes it valid and worthy of our obedience and submission as Christian citizens, but rather the fact that the state is the gift of God-- and because he is the Giver, to rebel against the state is to rebel against God—and so every person—especially the Christian—is to be subject to the governing authorities. The Bible says that:
Whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.
No doubt all of us think of ourselves as pretty much law-abiding citizens. But when we speed from one place to the next—when we use “creative” accounting methods on our tax forms—when we choose to ignore copyright laws—we are rebelling, not against some arbitrary law that can be ignored as long as we can get away with it, but we are rebelling against God himself—sinning in God’s sight.
God’s Word teaches that breaking the laws of the land is a direct violation of the Fourth Commandment that commands us to obey our parents and all in authority over us.
God commands our obedience whether the government is legitimate or not in our judgment—whether the laws are just or not in our mind—whether or not we are ruled by those who share our Christian faith. Under terrible persecution from pagan rulers, Peter wrote to his flock and said this:
“Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, or to the governors who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right.”
Those who disobey the state can expect only judgment: both in time and eternity-- for the government is God’s servant by which he rules the affairs of men in the world—protecting the innocent and punishing the evil. The Bible says:
Rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is 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.
God’s Word teaches that not only are church-workers God’s ministers, but so are those in authority over us in the state: elected officials, judges, soldiers, policeman, all those who serve in the government for the common good are God’s servants no less than the Christian minister, though their tools and responsibilities and sphere of action differ.
Where church workers serve God for our eternal good, preaching the Good News of Jesus Christ crucified and risen from the dead and administering the sacraments so that we might have peace with God--state officials serve God for our temporal good-- protecting and punishing so that we might have peace with one another.
When the state builds roads and hospitals—when they regulate food and building safety—when they protect us from evildoers and punish those who do wrong-- they are doing God’s work as his servants so that we can lead quiet and peaceable lives here on earth.
That is why God has given the state the right and the responsibility to wield the sword—to command its police officers, military personnel, and executioners to dispense justice in the harshest possible ways when those around us in the community and in other nations treat human life with contempt and destroy it without reason.
Just wars and capital punishment do not show a callous disregard for human life as opponents maintain—they show just the opposite. They show how much God treasures human life-- and so a Christian can serve with a clear conscience in those professions that wield the sword even when they are called upon to use deadly force to protect human life—knowing that they are acting as God’s ministers for our good.
Very simply God has given us his good gift of government to the world so that which is good among our fellow citizens might flourish and that which is evil would be restrained. That is the proper, God-given function of government.
Far too many Christians are confused on this point and so listen carefully: It is not the work of the government to make people Christians. The state’s God-given tools of reason, law, common-sense, and the sword cannot cause anyone to be born again.
A properly run state can make the spread of the Gospel easier by building roads and maintaining external peace and protecting travelers like the Romans did in the apostolic age-- but the work of making Christians is the work of the church. Only the church has the God-given, Gospel means of preaching, baptism, and Holy Communion necessary for that eternally important work of making disciples for Christ.
Both the state and the church exist side-by-side in this world—both are gifts of God—both are God’s servants--but church and state have very different purposes and very different tools to accomplish their God-given purposes and because of this our Lord says, Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar and to God the things that are God’s.
It should go without saying that first and foremost, before our love and loyalty to our nation, our love and loyalty to God will come first. And so if the day ever comes when our government calls upon us to do something that is against God’s laws-- or if it ever calls upon us to yield a greater loyalty to the nation than to the Lord—it must be resisted.
The LORD alone deserves our worship and faith. He is the One who has created us and redeemed us by the blood of his Son and brought us to faith by the power of the Holy Spirit and for who he is and what he had done and continues to do—he must always come first—even before our love of country.
But as his people, we also are called to be good citizens of the state giving our government and its leaders their just due as well. So what are some of the things that Christians ought to render unto Caesar? The Bible says:
One must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience. For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. Pay to all what is owed them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to who respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.
When it comes to our responsibilities as Christian citizens, the Bible teaches first of all that we are to give the state and all governmental authorities our submission and obedience so long as they do not ask us to deny God. We do not obey because we don’t want to get caught but because we are Christians. Our government is not perfect, we know that some of our laws may be unjust, but we obey the law and those who make them and enforce them, because as Christians we know that the state is God’s servant for our good.
Secondly, we pay the financial obligations, whether taxes or revenues or fines, that are placed upon us by the state. To deceive and steal from the government is still stealing.
Thirdly, we show the honor and respect to our government and its leaders that is due them. When the president steps off of Air Force One the marine honor guard salutes him. It doesn’t matter if he agrees with his policies or not. The president is the commander-in-chief and because of his position, receives the marine’s salute. So it is to be with us. To speak and act with scorn and contempt for our elected leaders is a sin.
Fourthly, we give what we owe to our government as citizens: service on juries or in public office or in the military when called upon to do so. We share our wisdom and insight and perspective at the ballot box by voting for those candidates who in our view are the best equipped to rule with wisdom and intelligence and godliness.
Last but not least, the greatest service that we can render to the state as Christian citizens is to pray for our nation and its leaders. The bible says that:
Requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving should be made for everyone-- for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.
Every week this congregation prays for our nation and its leaders knowing that God hears and answers our prayers on account of Christ.
Today we thank God for his good gift of government. We re-commit ourselves as Christian citizens to making sure that our nation is pursuing a course that provides the best framework for sharing the Gospel so that all would hear the Good News and come to faith in Jesus.
And we remember that at the end of the day, we are aliens and strangers in this world—that we have a higher citizenship in the kingdom of heaven through the blood of Jesus who set us free and made us his own. Amen.
And now may the peace of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus unto life everlasting. Amen.
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