St. Paul writes in Romans 13, “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 judgement. 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. 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: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.”
Paul says governmental authority is a gift of God. Luther agreed and placed government under the category of the 4th commandment, an extension of the parental vocation by way of being God’s representative for the purpose of good order. Thus, from the top floor of the White House to the humblest civil servants, all are gifts.
As you go to the polls today, and then wait and watch for the election results, know this: whether you like or dislike a particular candidate or official-elect, they are God’s servant and representative - even if the politician fails to recognizes it. God even uses the American voter for His purpose. Take heart; fear not. He is God; I assure you, He is in control – even when He allows things to happen that are contrary to His will. He does care how government is run – it is His representative. He desires that it governs fairly, in justice, for good order, with eyes toward the weakest and most feeble. He desires that officials and citizens show love, mercy and compassion to each other in word and action. He uses government so that First Article blessings, such as protection and daily bread, can be administered. What God does not care about is who resides at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, or the governor’s mansion, or the mayor’s seat. He doesn’t care who has the majority in the county commissioners court or if there is more Red, Blue or Green in Congress. He uses whom He will.
You might be shaking your head. “That can’t be true; God surely doesn’t want so & so in office,” you think. Remember: Paul wrote Romans late in the first century when the Roman Empire was ruled by Nero who was considered a god. He was not just a heathen; he was wicked. He eagerly sought and persecuted Christians by the hundreds for sport. Yet, it’s as if Paul is saying, “Even this evil man who does wicked things to his countrymen and slaughters Christians for sport is an instrument of God.”
This does raise the question of how and why God would use someone so evil and unfaithful to be His instrument to represent Him. Why would God allow a man like Nero, or Hitler, or Pol Pot, or the leader of ISIS to be in control? It’s a question whose answer is largely hidden from us and we dare not answer where the Scriptures are silent. We know this is true: “Those who abuse their God-given authority…will come under the judgement of God,” if not in this lifetime, in the life that is to come. (ROMANS II, Middendorf, p. 1300 n53, © CPH 2016). It is also true that God is at work even when hidden behind someone who is, or who appears to be, wicked and opposed to God. Under Nero’s persecution, the church scattered, taking and spreading the Good News of Jesus with them. In the Old Testament, Esther’s husband, King Cyrus, who was Persian, rescued Esther’s fellow Judean countrymen from destruction. Daniel told King Nebuchadnezzar, who vacillated back and forth in faithfulness, “The Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom He will,” (Dan. 4:25). When He was on trial, Jesus told Pilate “You would have no authority against me at all unless it had been given you from above,” (Jn 19:11). We must leave the question with this: “it’s not the wickedness of individual rulers that comes from God, but the establishment of the ruling power itself,” (Ibid, p. 1299 n50).
Christians are called to be subject to the authorities. When it’s our party, our candidate, that’s easy (or at least easier) to do; when we disagree, it’s much more difficult. Conventional wisdom says line up with signs up! Protest! Burn, loot and plunder to show our displeasure! Spread ugly stories on social media, call them names, make politics personal. Defy those in authority, urge unrest, and dare them to arrest you until you get what you want. This is the way the world operates, not how you are called to live as people of God in the world.
There is much to repent of regarding out attitude towards the government. With our words, our actions, our social media posts, with the very thoughts in our hearts and minds, we sin against these men and women whom God places in authority for His purpose. We hold anger and hatred in our hearts. We seek to ruin reputations. It is easy and it is tempting to sling mud – especially in the relative anonymity of social media. We cast aspersions on those whom we don’t like. We lust for power for “our side.” We despise the other side when they are in control. We carry those thoughts about an official or a party and transfer it to their supporters. We identify people with whom we disagree as enemies; we “hate” them. We justify ourselves: it’s just words; not a big deal. Besides, the other side is doing it worse than me. We see people as enemies. How many relationships have been destroyed, how many families have been separated because of political disagreements? Jesus warns that it is as much a sin to do that as it is to assault the man or woman when He says if you call a man “fool,” you are guilty of murder.
More than that, we sin against God Himself. Ours is a sin of idolatry, gross idolatry in line with ancient Israel. A god is anything in which we place our fear, love and trust, and for all too many, government is god and our candidate, our politician, our party is its anointed savior. When we do speak of God, it is more of a nationalistic deism that we confess rather than the Triune God of the Christian faith. We misuse God’s name in pretending to speak for what He approves or disapproves.
Your submission to their authority doesn’t depend on opinion, agreement, party affiliation, or anything else. There are no qualifications given or exceptions made: submitting to God, you submit to the law man. If you choose to disobey the law, assuming it’s not contrary to God’s Word (see below), you disobey God. You follow the law of the land because those laws are established through the authority of God. If you don’t like the laws, the policies, the decisions of the government, then follow the law of the land in how to change those rules. Yet do it with the grace and compassion of a man like Paul who well understood what it is to suffer under the laws of the land for the sake of Jesus.
Don’t forget, God used an imperfect, earthly government to be the instrument by which His Son was sacrificed. Jewish and Roman law were both guilty of murder of an innocent Man who humbled Himself to be born under the Law of God and man. Jesus did not argue; He did not call down an angelic swat team to rescue Him; He did not summon the wrath of God to stop a corrupt political process. Instead, He prayed for the forgiveness of those who killed him. He prayed for the forgiveness of those whose sins He carried. He died for those who loved Him and stood at the foot of the cross weeping, and He died for the people who denied Him and mocked Him even to His dying breath.
Paul is deliberate and careful in his word choice. Subjection and submission is not the same thing as blind conformity and total obedience in every instance. The early church knew that there will be times that we must obey God rather than man (Acts 5:29). There will be times that the Church, the body of Christ, may choose to be noncompliant and directly disobey human authorities when they go against God and His Word. For the last 50 years, Christians chose to protest laws and the services who provided life-ending abortion services. Christians did so, knowing that various civil charges could be brought against them. Laity and pastors received a criminal record. Yet, their conscience told them that they must stand up for life and the Word of God regarding the sanctity of human life and against the rules and laws who said otherwise. But, even in their protests, they were usually gentle, compassionate, and eager to share the love of Jesus with those who needed to hear of His grace.
So, what are we to do? Pray for them. Not about them, lamenting and complaining to God, but for them, carrying their names and offices to the ears of the Almighty. St. Paul wrote to Timothy, “I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”
Again, notice – Paul doesn’t say pray for those whom you like. Without qualification, as you vote today, pray for all in high positions. Pray for the candidates and the officials-elect, for their wisdom to make Godly decisions, their compassion for the weak, their strength of character. Pray for the candidates and the officials-elect, that they stand against temptation for arrogance and resist corruption. Pray for the candidates and the officials-elect, that they listen and hear. Pray for the candidates and the officials-elect, that they understand their authority comes from God and that they are His agents. Pray for the candidates and the officials-elect, that they defend the innocent and seek appropriate justice against those who harm others. Pray for the candidates and the officials-elect, they are led to repentance for what they do wrong, knowingly or unintentionally.
Pray for the officials-elect, they govern with humility. Pray for your fellow citizens, that they see officials as God’s representatives. Pray that selfish idealism ceases. Pray that people stop seeing government, their party, their candidate as their god.
And pray that in the civil chaos of this day and the weeks ahead, you may be a witness to Christ – His Word, His compassion, and His love in a world that is evermore without truth, without mercy, and without grace. Pray that others see Christ in what you say and do, that they may too may be saved and know what true freedom is: eternal salvation through Jesus Christ, the true Savior of the world. Amen.
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