Pastor Thanael Certa-Werner
SCRIPTURE | ROMANS 13:1-14 (NIV)
13 Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. 2 Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. 3 For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and you will be commended. 4 For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also as a matter of conscience.
6 This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. 7 Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.
8 Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. 9 The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 10 Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
11 And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. 12 The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. 13 Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. 14 Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh.
Today is one of the best days for an American. There aren’t many Americans who don’t love Independence Day on the Fourth of July. What’s some of the best parts of the Fourth of July? Potato salad? Grilling out? Parades? Seeing family? Watching fireworks? No matter what your favorite part of the celebration is, there’s no doubt that we’re celebrating and this year especially, it feels extra wonderful to celebrate. 245 years ago, the Declaration of Independence was signed and formally created the United States of America.
As we celebrate the formation of our country, Americans everywhere celebrate what makes our country great. Interestingly, this idea of a national celebration of our founding and our identity as a country is actually something which is almost universal to the human experience. Of the about 200 countries in the world, only 9 do not celebrate a national holiday like this and in the ancient world, there were similar celebrations. Ancient Rome celebrated the ending of the Roman Kings and the institution of the Roman Senate. In fact, for much of our human history, we have celebrated our countries and lifted up our nations.
But, every so often, in the midst of these celebrations, Sunday worship happens to line up and all of a sudden this celebration of our country is mixed with a celebration of our King. When this happens, Christians everywhere and through all time have had to think about how our allegiance to worldly powers mixes with our allegiance to God. Many Christians point to Paul’s letter to the Romans as a helpful guide. Paul says, “Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. 2 Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.”
This seems rather straight forward: We need to obey the governments and powers of the world because all authority on Earth is an extension of God’s authority. By rebelling against authority on Earth, we rebel against God’s authority in heaven. Makes sense. But this spells trouble for us if we think too much about the way our country was founded: by rebellion. And for the Christians living in Rome, hearing this, this wasn’t great news either. Paul was saying that they should obey a government that wanted them dead. Rome, even at this point, wasn’t friendly to Christianity and would go on to persecute Christians for hundreds of years. Yet, Paul was saying that they should accept punishment and support through taxes a government which would go on to systematically kill Christians. And better yet, this government is supposedly an extension of God’s authority? It seems hard to swallow.
To understand how this all fits together, we need to go back to 597 B.C., when King Nebuchadnezzar conquered Judah. Judah, the southern half of the old Kingdom of Israel, now found itself a conquered nation, and worse, many of their men and nobles were taken to Babylon to live as servants to their new empire. How are the people of God supposed to take this? And how should they act towards their new government? On one hand, they are supposed to be God’s chosen people, who should be their own nation. On the other, all authority on Earth comes from God, including the authority of Babylon.
Some of the people of Judah take the route of integrating into the society of Babylon and completely accepting all the new ways; others go into complete rebellion. But God calls His people, through the prophet Jerimiah, to a third path. Jerimiah 29:7, “‘Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.’”
Here God is saying, work for the land you now live in. Work to make it prosperous and serve its leaders well. But also pray to the Lord. In other words, don’t forget who is still King. The third option is a blend between submission to the power of Babylon and subverting the power of Babylon. It is the faithful obedience to the authority which God has given the world while remembering that, that authority is still an extension of God’s authority which is the ultimate.
Just as the Jews living in Babylon, there are times when we are faced with challenges as a people living far from home. While many of us were born here in the United States, the reality is that we are not born into our homeland. Peter begins his first letter by saying, “To God’s elect, exiles scattered throughout the known world.” We are exiles living in a foreign land. Our reality is that our homeland is the Kingdom of Christ; our citizenship belongs to the glorious nation which beckons us come home. But we cannot yet return to our homeland.
We live exiled beyond Eden, waiting for the day when we can return home. This is what Paul reminds us of in our reading for today. He says, “And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. 12 The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.” The time is already coming. We are nearer now then we have ever been to our homeland. Jesus’ return and the opening of the gates to that sacred country is close so we should live as people preparing to return home.
What does this all mean for us as Christians living in exile, scattered across the nations of the earth? It means that we are called to remember to Whom we belong. We are Christian before we are American, just as the Jews were Jews before they were Babylonians. We have to realize that there will be times when our cultures clash with that of the nation we live in. There will be times when being an American will not line up with being a Christian – and in those moments, we get to choose our course of action. Do we assimilate? Rebel? Or take the third course of action.
When we think of politics, when we interact with our government, when we ask ourselves how we should act as Americans – we need to start by asking ourselves first, what does it mean to be a Christian. What does it mean to follow Christ? Proverbs says, “let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance—” In other words, the wise are wise because they know they can be wise. The great are great because they know they can be greater. The Godly are godly because they know they can be more like God. And this is what it means for all authority in Earth to be that of God.
It is not merely to mean that we should blindly follow wherever a government leads because their authority stems from that of God. Rather, our calling as Christians is to submit ourselves to the authority of God and to subvert all authority which misrepresents and abuses its source. Because all authority comes from God, all authority should look like God – and when it doesn’t, it is our work to live in a way which calls it to be. So, as Americans celebrating the founding of our country, We remember today that we have a calling – that our allegiance is to God first. Our nationality is Christian, our homeland is the Kingdom of God, and our calling is to submission and subvertence. Let us live out this call and in every decision, remember that we are not yet home but that we will be home soon. Amen? Amen.