The Man
- Date: Sunday, September 18, 2011
- Speaker: Dusty Thompson
- Series: Romans
- Scripture: Romans 13:1–13:7
Lots of tend to think of government in a negative sense- its “the man” or the machinery of the bureaucracy or getting pulled over for going 4 miles over the speed limit, etc. It was actually worse than that 2000 years ago when this letter was written. Keep in mind, the Roman government killed Jesus and would eventually kill the author, Paul! So this wasn’t written in an utopian political climate- that will be very important for us today. How do we relate with “the man?” If our goal is to worship Jesus in all of life, then this is a super valid question. We aren’t phantoms. We are people with bodies and checking accounts that pay taxes and who don’t want to be invaded and who want some sense of equality and justice to be present and the means for this is government in all of its forms. But we also have a deeply ingrained distrust of the man and is fueled by our resistance to ANYONE who tries to tell us what to do.
Let’s look and see how to worship God in our relationship with the man. 1Let 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. 2Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. 3For 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, 4for 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. 5Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God's wrath but also for the sake of conscience. 6For the same reason you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. 7Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.
Sometimes it may feel like God is asleep at the wheel and allowing all sorts of evil to go unchecked. But that’s not the case. He uses means all of the time to accomplish His aims. For example, you became a Christian through a friend, a sermon, a conversation- which was part of God’s sovereign will- but these real means were agents of how this was accomplished. While God will bring final justice in the last day, one of the main ways he executes His justice right now is…you guessed it…the man. It helps us for two reasons.
1. First, when you have been wronged seriously, you can now forgive them. If you know God will be the one to bring vengeance and that might even have a here and now consequence, you can trust him and know that no one truly gets away with anything.
2. The existence of government will keep us from overreacting and saying, “because God forgives, let’s not punish anyone for wrongdoing.” The government is God’s instrument of tangible, earthly justice
2 Main points of this text
1. God has given power to all civil authorities. (1-2) All? Yes, good ones and even bad ones. Let me walk you through a texts to show you how this works.
*See 2 Samuel 12:8 about David, God’s anointed. 8And I gave you your master's house and your master's wives into your arms and gave you the house of Israel and of Judah.
*Daniel 2:21 says it probably the best. 21He changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding
*Isaiah 45:1 identifies Cyrus (a foreign unbelieving king) as His anointed.
*Jeremiah 27:5-6 is incredible enough, but even more powerful when you consider that Nebuchadnezzar is NOT a good guy. But see what God does with him. 5"It is I who by my great power and my outstretched arm have made the earth, with the men and animals that are on the earth, and I give it to whomever it seems right to me. 6Now I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, my servant, and I have given him also the beasts of the field to serve him.
Whether a governmental leader acknowledges God or not, God has placed them there to accomplish all sorts of things- at the top of the list is a sense of justice in the land they govern. I am sure that a question comes to mind and I think it is a fair one. What about Hitler and other bad regimes? Well, like I said, this passage was not meant to be an end-all type deal. It was written to encourage transformed believers to trust God with vindication both on the last day and today. Because of this, civil authorities are not to be despised when things are normal. I am not talking about utopia here, but most of the time, I think you would agree that the people that need to be afraid are the bad guys. But, yes, there are some times even in the Scripture where you should not obey the command of a civil leader. Think about the book of Daniel. The 3 Jewish guys wouldn’t worship a statue of the king so they were thrown into the fiery furnace. A believer shouldn’t take the mark of the beast on the last day no matter who is commanding you to do it. A person in an Islamic nation shouldn’t renounce Christ just because the law of their land commands them to do so. But, even a person in those circumstances should still pay taxes and know that even while corrupt, almost all governments try to stop murder, rape, and financial corruption even if their motivation is to make their rule easier/make more money. Therefore, even unholy Christ-persecuting regimes are still likely being used to punish evil. And what happens if the regime does things that need to be punished? Well, that might be a case for war. That would be interesting to discuss if we were to break up into groups, wouldn’t it??!! More importantly and with absolute certainty, it will be a case for God’s judgment on the last day.
2. Christians should submit to civil authorities because we recognize they are God’s servants (knowingly or unknowingly). (3-7) Have you seen what happens when this form of God’s common grace is removed? Did you guys see any footage of New Orleans when the police were gone? Afghanistan and western Pakistan is basically ruled region by region with the group with the most guns. That is one way those in power serve God’s purposes. This has implications for us.
I think the picture is becoming clearer on why we should submit to these people. They are God’s servants for the purpose of executing a tangible justice right now. Can you see why we are urged to live in such a way as to avoid being a recipient of this judgment? 5Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God's wrath but also for the sake of conscience. You will be free from the future judgment because of Christ. Be free from the present one, too. We aren’t to be the ones always pushing back against the man! Submission and obedience to laws should mark us as worshipers of Jesus.
Three ways we don’t do that
We worship Jesus by respecting our leaders, being involved in whatever political process we can do in the country we live in, and by paying whatever taxes we owe. All of these things matter to God. Isn’t it great that God cares about all of our life? I want to talk about 3 ways that we don’t worship Jesus in the public sphere.
1. We don’t respect our leaders. We worship Jesus by respecting our leaders. Remember verse 7 that calls us to give respect…to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed. One of the biggest whippings in our country right now is the bipartisan, toxic rhetoric that comes from both sides of the aisle. People on the left lampoon Bush and Palin and make every conservative sound like a hillbilly that is uneducated and unenlightened. People on the right speak with contempt of Clinton and Obama. I’ve heard mocking lines in sermons from right wing pastors about those 2 at least a dozen times. And that’s probably light. These men and women are owed your respect because of the positions they hold. If you don’t like their leadership, see point number 2 and get involved in political processes to bring someone else into office. But worshiping Jesus and speaking with contempt another person because they have a different ideology isn’t the way.
2. We are either disengaged or expect too much of our political processes. Let me make a case here, if you’ll permit. Our respect and submission to the government that rules us has to be seen in a historical context. In the history of humanity, the only recourse for unjust governance was to revolt. Representative democracy allows for a bloodless changing of the guard on regular intervals. Therefore, our involvement is key to proper submission and respect for the government that we are under.
Because of this, I think its fair to say that this passage means that Christians work WITH their government, not subversively against it because God has placed them where they are. This, I think, implies some level of political interest to see things governed the most fair and helpful way possible. This is where some of us need to reconsider. The main political affiliation I’ve seen among Redeemer members: The Disinterested and Disengaged party. You familiar with that one? Lots of national or important state/local elections, I bet a tiny minority of our people even voted or familiarized themselves with the issues. This demonstrates that we feel like worshiping Jesus in all of life doesn’t overlap in the political arena, I suppose. Or maybe you don’t think there is any difference in candidates or that your vote matters. This text points to your conscience, so I will, too. Jesus isn’t saying that YOU are His agent for justice, but if our political systems allows involvement from people that want to see God’s justice become real here, then you’ll want to throw your $.02 at least.
I need to at least mention that the politically rabid among us need to continue your involvement but to ask if you are expecting too much through the political processes. People in both parties- Christians in both parties- can sometimes almost expect a salvation type experience if they get their people in office. That everything will be right and just and good…that will happen when Jesus returns. I’d even offer a piece of advice that we have to move beyond getting Christians in office- can they lead? What have they led? Do they know the law? What do they want to accomplish? Do they have the necessary people skills to work out compromises when there are impasses? These are important questions to ask and if you are expecting a Christianization (even only moral) through political means, I’d encourage you to think more carefully about this.
3. Tax Evasion. Take all of the legal deductions you can take, but taxes are needed to make all of this go! Even more, submit to the government because of the change God has made in you! It is interesting how, out of all of the things to say on the subject, Paul decides to talk about paying taxes. 7Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed. There are two different kinds of words used in this passage that include both direct and indirect taxation…so nothing is excluded. I think he knows this is where the rubber meets the road on the subject of Christians and their relationship with the state. One of the main ways we submit to the state as God’s servant is to pay the taxes that are due. On this note, let me ask you a question. Do you cheat on your taxes? Will you pay for some help under the table so you don’t have to pay your part of the FICA, etc? Your respect and your taxes are due them for God’s sake. Be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution (1 Peter 2:13) For the Lord’s sake!
Pulling this together
This passage says a lot about how God values authority…in other words, Himself. Christ proclaims after His resurrection in Matt 28:18 that all authority had been given to Him. It was given to Him by God who possessed all authority that can be given…to governments as agents of common grace, to parents, to husbands, to pastors, and to lots of people with people under their charge. If someone has authority, it is given by the one who truly possesses it! Which brings up an interesting issue for our generation: We resent authority. This passage shows us that when we push back against “the man” and hold any kind of authority in contempt- professors, pastors, presidents- is likely flowing from the same spring that resents God’s authority and rule over you. One of the biggest reasons people push back on our membership process is that it clearly makes them accountable to leaders- pastors- and its another expression of our rebellion against all forms of authority. All kinds of leaders, “the man” and others, will have to answer to Jesus. You’ll have to answer to Him on how you responded to His authority and one of its clearest expressions is in earthly leaders in front of us. While not all earthly leaders will be worthy, by themselves, of your respect, Jesus is. He has bought you and can be trusted! Because of the cross, we don’t have to have justice, that is in the hands of God! We pray for it, but we trust Him and obey those in charge of us as an outflow of our submission to Jesus.
