God's Servant for Your Good
Grace to
you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!
The IRS.
The FBI. City Hall. The Mayor. The Governor. The
President. Even the
names of governing authorities can
stir frustration, disappointment, betrayal, distrust, or fear. In angry and divided times,
many assume that officials at every level are not to be trusted. That is why
St. Paul’s words sound so startling: “Let every person be subject to the
governing authorities.”
Many
Christians—on both sides of the political aisle—take it for granted that
governments are corrupt and dehumanizing and that it is part of our marching
orders as followers of King Jesus that we should offer serious criticism and
opposition even, if necessary, at any cost to our personal prospects.
Sadly, our
text has been used—and abused—by many people in power as a way of telling their
subjects to keep their mouths shut and step in line even in the face of
flagrant abuse. But when we put these verses back into their context, right
here in the letter, we start to see what Paul is getting at. He has just said,
strongly and repeatedly, that private vengeance is forbidden for Christians.
This
does not mean, on the one hand, that God does not care about evil or, on the
other, that God wants society to collapse into chaos where the bullies do what
they like and get away with it. In fact, even in places where people hate the
authorities and fear the police, when someone commits a serious crime, everyone
affected by it wants the authorities to find the culprit and administer
justice. That is a basic, and correct, human instinct. We do not want to live
by the law of the jungle. We want to live in an ordered, properly functioning
society.
This is Paul’s central point: Christians do not advance the
Gospel by becoming lawless rebels. Jesus is the true
Lord of the world, so His followers need not
pick unnecessary quarrels with lesser lords. They honor governing authority not because every ruler is
good, but because God uses government to restrain evil and preserve order.
If we
followers of Christ become known as lawless rebels concerning the authorities,
then what will a watching world think of us with respect to obedience to Christ
Himself? True, we are indeed a revolutionary community, but if we go for the
normal violent and lawless revolution, then we will be playing the Empire game
on Empire terms and that is always a losing proposition for the Gospel.
But,
while making this point, Paul is making one or two others of great interest. To
begin with, he declares that the civic rulers and authorities have been put in
place by God Himself. This would be news to Nero and the other emperors, who
believed (or claimed to believe) in their own divinity, certainly that they
held power in their own right rather than as a gift from the One Creator God,
who was, in fact, their sovereign. They would have laughed at such a
suggestion.
Christians
are called to believe, though, that the civic authorities are there because the
one true Lord wants His world to be ordered, not chaotic. This does not
validate particular actions or governments. We retain the right to make bad
decisions and vote for bad officials and pass bad laws which we enforce badly.
God is not at fault for our faults. Rather, it is merely to say that some
government is always necessary in a world where evil flourishes when unchecked.
Of
course, Paul knew that quite often one might do the right thing and find the
rulers doing the wrong thing. You only have to read the stories of his exploits
in Acts to see that. But notice in those stories that, precisely when the
authorities are getting it all wrong and acting illegally or unjustly, Paul has
no hesitation in telling them their proper business and insisting they should
follow it. Hardly the way to become popular, but completely consistent with
what he says here.
Paul stands within the Old Testament tradition, where
prophets denounced pagan rulers yet also confessed that God could work through
them for His people’s good. That tension reaches its climax when Jesus stands
before Pilate. Though Pilate acts wickedly and unjustly, Jesus declares that
his authority has been given from above.
It is a
profound truth: there is no authority except that which God has established.
God’s overriding concern in establishing governments is to bless us with an
orderly and peaceful existence, hence it is the duty of God’s agents to
encourage and commend those who do right. But when the peace is jeopardized by
lawbreakers, God’s representatives need to step in to restore order and punish
evildoers. Earthly leaders are God’s servants for good, His avengers of wrath.
Paul’s teaching does more than explain the place of
government; it exposes our sin. We live in angry, cynical times, and contempt
comes easily. Scandals multiply, rumors pass for news, political debate
collapses into name-calling, and slogans promise either to “drain the swamp” or
to “burn the whole thing down.” In such a climate, God’s command to honor His
servants confronts every one of us.
The Law
for this day may seem mundane, only because it is broken so often and so
easily. We live in angry, cynical times. We are troubled as a nation by
upheaval. News reports detail scandal after scandal among politicians,
substituting rumor and “unnamed sources” when the news day is slow. There’s
little trust in elected officials, and lots of calls to “drain the swamp” or
“burn the whole thing down.” Political debate is reduced to name-calling and
mudslinging.
Now, I’m
not naïve. I’m aware of corruption and trouble in the government. I know about
immorality among politicians, both in their personal lives and in legislation
proffered. As a citizen, I’ve got a few opinions. But I’m not in the pulpit as
a citizen; rather, I’m here as a called and ordained servant of the Word. And
the Word says, “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,
says the Word, exercise Christian care in how you treat those placed in
authority. You’ll be tempted to be angry that the officer is pointing the radar
gun in your direction when you’re in a school zone, running late. You’ll find
that glee comes easy when a politician you don’t care for gets his or her
comeuppance. These are the times in which we live.
This obedience is not absolute. When rulers command what God
forbids or forbid what God commands, Christians must obey God rather than men.
Yet even then, the Christian does not delight in contempt or chaos; he bears
witness, accepts the cost, and continues to pray for those in authority.
But this is not merely about human contests for power. Those
in authority hold offices God has established for our good, even when they
exercise those offices badly. Therefore, Christians may oppose injustice and
call rulers to account, as Paul himself did, without surrendering to hatred,
contempt, or delight in another’s downfall. Where criticism becomes spite,
where disagreement becomes scorn, and where another’s ruin becomes our
pleasure, repent.
Furthermore,
pray for these authorities, whether you agree with them or not. Pray that they
resist temptation, act with integrity, repent
of positions that contradict Scripture, and serve their neighbors in love. Pray also for their families. Their failures do not excuse
contempt, and mere disagreement does not release you from obedience. Unless a
law requires you to sin against God, keep it. Where you neglect prayer and
choose scorn instead, repent, for sin against those God appoints is also sin
against God.
That may sound strange because we rightly hold God’s
representatives in the Church to the standards of their office. But civil
government belongs to God’s rule of this fallen world, and He often permits
deeply flawed people to hold office. Nero ruled when Paul wrote Romans, and he
became a brutal persecutor of Christians. Even under such a ruler, Paul
commanded Christians to be subject, pay taxes, and accord honor. Nero’s
authority came from God; Nero’s evil did not.
And who sentenced Jesus to death? Pontius Pilate, a Roman
governor who abused the authority entrusted to him. Yet Jesus acknowledged that
Pilate’s authority had been given from above, and He willingly submitted to the
cross. There the worst injustice in history became the instrument of your
salvation. Christ bore your sins, suffered God’s judgment in your place, and
died so that you may have everlasting life.
In this
Gospel, rejoice. Earthly authorities are sinners: they fail, break promises, and often seem far removed from those they govern. Jesus Christ, your eternal King, is
without sin. He does not
remain distant. He
promises, “Where two or three are gathered in My name, there am I among them” (Matthew 18:20). He is among you
today in His Word and at His
Supper, keeping every
promise He has made.
Jesus
does not come into your midst to take from you, but to give—to give you grace
by His Word of Holy Absolution, to give you His very body and blood for the
forgiveness of your sins. He does not come to you with power and sword to give
orders and say, “If you obey these laws, then you can be My people.” He comes
in grace and says, “I have obeyed the laws for you where you could not; and by
My obedience and My death I have made you My people.”
And
where many rulers fall prey to the temptation of believing that they exert
power over others for personal gain, the Son of Man—the King of
Kings!—continues to serve you with grace and mercy, even as He came in the
flesh not to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for
many. He gave Himself into death to appease God’s wrath for sin. He truly is
the Servant for good!
Because
Jesus gave His life as a ransom for you, your sins are
forgiven and the kingdom of heaven is yours. Until He comes again, He gives civil rulers to
preserve order and restrain evil; some will serve faithfully, and others will
not. Pray for them, obey them where you can do so without sin, and accord their
office the honor due. Yet place your final hope in none of them. Your eternal
King has conquered sin and death, and His kingdom is yours forever.
In the
name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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