Pray for those in authority (Romans 13:1-14)
Billy Milton - July 17, 2005
What a week! Who could believe that a city could go from such an incredible high on Wednesday to such a bewildering low on Thursday? From Live8 last weekend and the hundreds of thousands of peaceful protesters in Edinburgh to the G8 conference in Gleneagles with its indiscriminate black-hooded violence. What a week! The old hymn is so true and such a comfort in weeks like this – “We have an anchor that keeps the soul, steadfast and sure though the billows roll. Fastened to the Rock which cannot move. Grounded firm and deep in the Saviours love.”
As I watched the violent thugs that routinely turn up to events such as the G8 conference (no, that’s not a reference to Jacques Chirac!) and revolt against authority, and as the horror of the terrorist attack on London unfolded, I couldn’t help but think of the passage that was occupying my thoughts this week - Rom 13:1-2, “Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities… he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted.” Now, in our society these commands normally don’t present too much of a problem in our daily lives. In fact we strongly resent those who flaunt this command because we instinctively recognise that for society to run smoothly it should be this way. But, what if you are a Christian in Saudi Arabia or Iraq or any other of these countries that are so anti-Christian in their ethos? Does this passage mean what it appears to mean at a surface reading? Is Paul suggesting that a Christian must sit idly by and watch as a cruel Nazi regime, for instance, kills over 6 million Jews? Is the Christian supposed to support an Idi Amin, a Saadam Hussein, a Pol Pot, a Robert Mugabe, or a Chaechesku in Romania just because they have forced their way into power? We’ll look at these questions in a few minutes, but first let me tell you a true story of rebellion against a despot government and tell me what you would have done…
TELL STORY OF GINA AND PETRU AND THEIR PART IN THE DOWNFALL OF CHAECHESKU’S REGIME IN ROMANIA – TIMOUSHWARA A PRAYERFUL REVOLUTION.
The question I want to ask is, were Gina and Petru wrong to do what they did? They clearly broke the rules of their country and directly disobeyed the soldiers who were trying to preserve law and order. Were they disobeying Rom13:1?
I don’t believe they were …but to understand why we need to go back a chapter. In Romans 12 Paul explains to us what our 4 basic Christian relationships are all about. In 12:1-2 it is our relationship with God that’s under the microscope; in 12:3-8 it’s our relationship with ourselves; in 12:9-16 he talks about our relationship towards one another; and in 12:17-21 deals with our relationship to our enemies.
As we begin to look at chapter 13 this theme of relationship continues and in vv1-7 it’s the state – we have to be good citizens in all ways; in vv8-10 its our neighbour and our duty is to love them; and in vv11-14 its our relationship to the day of the Lord’s return – i.e. living out our relationships in such a way that we are ready at any time when Christ returns.
Christianity, as you know, is not about following rules; it’s about living in relationship. Our relationship with the state is a very important one but notice also in vv1-7 that our relationship with the state is built upon the state’s relationship with God. If the state is submitting to God’s authority and serving God in this way then they must be obeyed – simple as that. We may not like the congestion charge but we must pay it. We may not approve of Tony Blair’s stance on the Euro vs. the Pound but it does not give us the right to bomb the Bank of England. However, one of the rights enshrined in a democracy is the right to protest. Peaceful protest is another thing altogether and any democratic government accepts that.
The problem arises though when the government in question is quite obviously not honouring God in any way. Are we obliged to obey them? I don’t think so. One rule of Bible interpretation is that it is dangerous to build a theology based on one verse of the Bible when others may have something to say about it as well. For instance Jesus taught that it was right to honour Caesar and pay taxes to him but he balanced that command right away by saying but also give to God what is due to him. And if the two are in conflict we have a dilemma. Remember the command by Pharaoh to kill all the newborn Hebrew boys? Was Moses’ mum wrong to disobey that command and hide her baby son? No, she was obeying a higher calling regarding the sanctity of life. When King Nebuchadnezzar ordered all his subjects to worship his golden image were Shadrach, Meshack and Abednego wrong to disobey. No they were obeying a higher calling to worship the one true God. When the disciples were ordered to stop preaching the gospel or risk imprisonment, were they wrong to disobey? No, they were obeying a higher calling to preach the gospel. Were Gina and Petru wrong to pray for the downfall of Chaechesku’s evil regime? No they were obeying a higher calling to build God’s church and preach the good news of freedom in Christ. In each of these examples civil disobedience involved great personal risk, including possible loss of life. In each case their purpose was to demonstrate their submission to God, not defiance of government. Let me REPEAT THAT.
I read in John Stott’s commentary on Romans the following moving example of the church defying the state. In 1957 just before Hendrik Verwoerd (Firvourd), became Prime Minister of South Africa, he announced the Native Laws Amendment Bill. Its ‘church clause’ would have prevented any racial association in ‘church, school, hospital, club or any other institution or place of entertainment’. The Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town at that time was a gentle scholar called Geoffrey Clayton. He decided with his bishops, although with reluctance and apprehension, that they must disobey. He wrote to the Prime Minister that, if the Bill were to become law, he would be ‘unable to obey it or to counsel our clergy and people to do so’. The following morning he died, perhaps under the pain and strain of civil disobedience. There are times when a Christian has to take a stand against a corrupt government and obedience would require compromising their faith.
The principle that arises from this passage and others is that when the state and God are in conflict we should always seek to honour G.od, whatever the cost. At the same time let me also add that I am not proposing anarchy. We should always seek to honour the state wherever possible.
And very quickly. Let me repeat something that I know Mike said a couple of weeks ago concerning love. Funnily enough it was repeated last week by Graham Poland on our weekend away. V13 “Let no debt remain outstanding except the continuing debt to love one another.” Do you remember Mike’s triangle that highlighted the way of agape. SHOW POSTER Undershoring everything was sincere love. Not a false, sugary sweet love. Not a sensuous lust. Not a love that ebbs and flows with our feelings. But a sincere love that we can never fully discharge. What Paul is saying is quite simply, pay your taxes, pay your mortgages or rent. Do not be in debt in any area of your life except for one area. Sink yourself as deeply in debt as you can in the area of love. It would be nonsense to say, “Okay I have loved this person enough. I’ve been married over 25 years. That’s enough for anyone. From today I stop loving that person.” Similarly in the church. We should be looking for ways all the time to try to discharge that debt of love knowing that we never shall. Can you imagine what that would do to a church, to a town, to a country, if we tried to love each other in that way? In the aftermath of the bombs on Thursday we got a little taste of a city trying to love each other. But let’s not get too sentimental. Most of that took place without any particular acknowledgement of God on behalf of those suffering.
I listened to a man, who was on the tube when one of the bombs exploded, telling how when he came out of the station entrance the bomb on the bus in Tavistock Square exploded in front of him and he described the absolute terror that engulfed him as he began to think that wherever he ran a bomb was going to go off. He said, “I had nowhere that I could run to that was safe so I just cowered against the wall.” PAUSE We can always run to God! We can always turn to the rock of our salvation! Let’s pray that just as New York, and indeed much of America, sought comfort in God and repented of their indifference towards him, for a while, so the people of London and the UK might do the same. Somehow I can’t see it – we seem to be too far gone in our unbelief. I sincerely hope I’m wrong to be so cynical. But if it teaches us something of unselfish love then at least something worthwhile will come out of this horror.
In fact Paul says in vv8-10 that if you can fulfil this command to love each other you will have fulfilled all the law. Think about it, if you love your neighbour you won’t steal his wife. Or damage his car. Or kill his family out of jealousy. Love for your neighbour when practised sincerely would clean up our society. I guess that’s the gospel in action, isn’t it?
Finally we come to the last little section, which after the evil deeds of this week are soberingly relevant. READ vv12-14 One of the greatest Christians who ever lived became a Christian through reading this little section. Augustine was a man fleeing from the truth. He had been brought up by a Christian mother called Monica who prayed for him every day. He was a highly intelligent man but also a man who had immersed himself in the sensual things of life. Despite him pursuing the life of a philosopher, he was regularly drunk, and we all know that even today a person who is regularly drunk rarely makes anything of their lives. One day as he was walking alongside a garden with high hedges around it he heard a child’s voice crying out, ‘Tolle, lege’ – Take and read. He somehow perceived it as a command from God and he went immediately and found a Bible and opened it randomly at Rom 13 where he read the verses we have just read. He came under the conviction of the Holy Spirit as he read about his debauched lifestyle right there in the Bible and then saw what the solution was.
Do you see the solution in v14? ‘Clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.’ Can I ask you this morning – is your whole life about fulfilling your own desires? Are you coming to a realisation that ultimately that lifestyle is futile and indeed without any certainty? Then follow the example of St Augustine and give your life to Christ this morning. Put on Christ like a protective suit of armour and find rest for your fearful and troubled soul. As Christians we know that terrorists may well take our lives but they can never take our hope in Christ.