Romans 13:1: “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.”
We have just had municipal elections. I had a number of friends running. Our Mayor was re-elected, of course she is married to Colin here, congratulations to the family. I also have a couple of friends of mine from Rotary and the community who were running and some have been elected and/or re-elected to different positions. There are also those for whom I wouldn't and didn't vote who were also elected. These are our new governing authorities. You may not have personally voted for them but they are now our authorities and, Romans 13:2-3a:
Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong…
This reminds me of one of my favourite stories that I don’t think I have shared with you yet. When Rebecca and Sarah-Grace were really little and Heather wasn’t even born, we went to Disney World. An encounter we had coming back reminds me of Romans 13:1-7 and 1 Peter 2:13.
When we went to Florida. It was not that many years after 9 11 and US security at aero ports was quite frankly scary: they had warning messages coming frequently over their loudspeakers letting you know that any perceived threat would not be tolerated; combine this with the images that were fresh in our mind then of Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo Bay and other US torture facilities and combine this with the fact that the USA has more of its own people behind bars than any other country and combine this with the fact that people – especially during the war on terror - can wind up in one of their prisons for things that we would just consider a ticket-able offense up here and it can be quite intimidating.
While we were there, we got quite a few souvenirs from Disney World and the girls each picked out a particularly special gift. Little Rebecca picked out one of these plastic imitation light sabers from Star Wars and it meant the world to her. The official operating the conveyor belt at aero port security, he stops us. He pulls out Rebecca’s plastic light saber and tells us that we can’t board the plane with it so he is confiscating it. Well, at this point like any submissive foreigner being intimidated by the Empire of our day, and especially while wearing my full uniform, and knowing full well the benefits of and scriptures about submitting to authority; when he confiscates Rebecca’s light saber and says she can’t take it on the plane, I reach over the conveyor belt and take it back. He reaches for it again. I pull it away from him. He says, “You can’t take weapons on the plane.”
I say, as respectfully as possible, “You do realize this isn’t a weapon, don’t you?
He says, “you can’t even have something on the plane that looks like a real weapon.”
I say, as deferentially as possible, “You do realize that Stars Wars is imaginary, don’t you? And that there is no such thing as a real light saber?”
Our passage today says to submit to authorities. So here I am in full Salvation Army uniform with my family, in front of a line of people, having a stand-off with US security and holding a plastic toy when he calls for back up. His boss comes. I explain that the security officer won’t let us on the plane with this toy that means the world to my daughter, and I explain to him that this isn’t a replica of a real weapon – light sabers are not real. Well, the security officer’s boss goes to speak to his boss, and to make a long story very much shorter, we got to keep the light saber.
So, everyone, the moral of this story: Be like the aero port security guy and do what your boss tells you and, oh yes… don’t be scared of plastic toys - they won’t hurt you and, as our text today says, Romans 13:1, 4-6:
“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. …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. Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also as a matter of conscience.”
That was in the Bible times. Now, the world is 2000 years removed from ancient Rome; so, the question inevitably arises: does this apply to us today? What do we do when the authorities in this country seem to be opposed to God? This is what one MP, David Anderson, in 2011, rightly said about a governmental attempt to privatize religion, to have it only as a personal relationship and no more; he said:
“No Person who has an active faith perspective keeps that as ‘private’ and separate from all other areas of their life. The idea is laughable – to live with one set of beliefs and to act in a way contrary to them has a name in our society – hypocrite. Had this perspective been in place in the past centuries the slave trade would still exist, child labour would be common, women would still be second class citizens and there would be no public school system
The court’s attempt to privatize all religious/faith perspectives must be opposed…”
But, Romans 13:1, “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.” Are we to still submit to the authorities? I think we are but there is more to it.
Remember that when and where Paul wrote this, the Christians were being actively persecuted by religious authorities, Jewish sects and also by Rome –the superpower- itself. Emperor Claudius had banished the Christians from Rome in 49 CE. Christians were persecuted by the authorities, the occupying forces, the Superpower of their day. Those in authority are not Christians; some of those in authority are attacking the church the same way some of our elected officials in this country seem to be attacking the church – most recently, but not exclusively by any means, in Quebec. Nero was probably Emperor when Romans was written and tradition has it that Paul was executed under Nero’s authority,so why does Paul say, Romans 13:1, “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”?
Reading Romans, 1 Peter, and Daniel, it seems to be that we are to submit ourselves to the authorities BUT at the same time, we are to stand up for what we say we believe in – otherwise we are just hypocrites. We cannot be ashamed of the Gospel (Romans 1:16,17). We need to stand up for what we believe but we need to make sure we do so in such as way that, as the scriptures say, we will silence our detractors instead of giving into our impulses to antagonize them. I have an example of this – needlessly making things worse – that we are to avoid. A friend of mine, Frank, likes to tell amusing anecdotes that end with, “…and that’s how the fight started.” Someone does something like we are talking about here … ‘and that’s how the fight started’. This is one story he told:
There was this fellow in a car and he rear-ends this other car. The guy in the other car gets out and he is livid; he comes storming to the fellow’s car – oh yah, the guy who gets out of the car is a midget. The midget gets to the fellow’s window, he’s livid, and he says, “I’m not happy”
“Which one are you then?” says the fellow, “Grumpy?” ...And that’s how the fight started.
The fellow’s response didn’t help things. We’re not supposed to push people’s buttons. We’re not supposed to antagonize those in authority over us especially. We are not to make nasty ‘tweets’ about them. We always need to stand up for God but when doing so, it is very important that we respect the authorities. Like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego did: when they stood up to the authorities (Daniel 3),they never insulted the king – they didn’t have ‘F Nebuchadnezzar’ bumper stickers. They were very respectful even though they were slated for state execution (Daniel 3:9, 28-30). As a result of the grace of God and through their deference to authority, the King ultimately declared, “Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who has sent his angel and rescued his servants! They trusted in Him and defied the king’s command and were willing to give up their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God. Therefore I decree that the people of any nation or language who say anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego [will suffer the consequences] …for no other god can save in this way” (Daniel 3:28-29).
We know too that Paul was respectful to the authorities even though he was to be ultimately killed for disobeying their laws by being a Christian. God used Paul’s deference and obedience to authority in his boldness for the Gospel and eventually the whole Roman Empire became Christian. We should never shy away from standing up for our faith but it is important that we are to do this effectively by deferring to authority (cf. Matthew 10:16).
Do you remember the story of Daniel in the Lion’s den (Daniel 6:21-28)? A new law was passed that if you pray to YHWH or anyone other than the king, you will be killed. Daniel always prayed publicly at his open window. The law passed and Daniel still continued to pray at the open window and when he is dragged in front of the King, he was still respectful of the King (Daniel 6:21). The King’s heart went out to Daniel even as he went in and out of the lion’s, in the end, the King was overjoyed at Daniel’s survival and issued a decree that in every part of his kingdom people must fear and reverence YHWH, the God of Daniel (Daniel 6:23, 26-27).
1 Peter 2:17, we are to “show proper respect to everyone, love the family of believers, fear God, honour the emperor.” Verse 15, “For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people.” And that is exactly what God did (Daniel 6:24). Jude relays the story to us as well of how the archangel Michael in confronting Satan did not get dragged into exchanging insults but rather left his rebuke to the Lord (Jude 1:9). Peter wrote how these same basic principles should affect every aspect of our lives and as we humble himself for The Lord, He will indeed lift us up and who knows, as we politely and deferentially have respect for our government officials, our bosses, and more; while at the same time, not shirking our responsibility to share the gospel with them. Maybe some of them like presumably Babylonian’s King Nebuchadnezzar; Persia’s King Darius; The Roman Emperor Constantine and others; maybe -in our boldness for Christ- as we submit to the authorities; maybe our political leaders and other authorities; maybe those in our lives who haven’t already made a commitment; maybe they will all accept Christ and, if they do, what a day of rejoicing that will be.
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