God and the government
The Christian and the Government. Matthew 22: 21
"Though absent from the heavenly City, we are none the less its citizens, for the Church on earth and the Church in heaven are in truth one, and the Kingdom of Grace is but a suburb of the Kingdom of Glory."
--Melville Scott, The Harmony of the Collects, Epistles, and Gospels
As Christians we are all faced with living with one foot in the kingdom of heaven, of which we are a member by faith and profession as well as citizens of this era we live in. The testings we face here are always to be placed in relationship to our heavenly heritage. The epistle reminded us today, " our citizenship is in heaven." Philippians . When tested and tried by the Pharisees and the Herodians ( a Jewish group known for supporting Herod), Jesus was not caught as they tried to "entangle him." Matthew 22: 15. He asked them to show him a coin, and the famous quote we all know came out of his lips, " Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesars and unto God the things that are God's." 22:21
How do we render unto Caesar ? I Peter 2 says " submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers" Then he adds what the point of doing this is: " For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men." As Christians we want others to know God and His purposes, but we do not want our behavior to be a stumbling block for others so that they do not see good actions in our lives, and wonder how our faith impacts our actions. If a law is unjust let us try and change it. If it is just we must obey it, and try to obey all the laws of our land if we can.
As Christians we pay taxes, we serve in the armed forces ( as we remember all of our Veterans on this Veteran's Day weekend), and we too serve in the government. Christians have a place at the table as senators, congressman and judges and some of us get called to jury duty too . Our very country itself struggled with these issues as it was formed in the days of the revolution. Yet, I like what one of my favorite Anglican Bishops said, " Stand firm, Stand together, Never to Compromise, and Never to Sacrifice a single vital principle under the vain pretence of obtaining unity and peace." JC Ryle
Another passage on the government is Romans 13 reflecting much of what Peter has said. " Let every soul be subject ...the powers that be are ordained of God." Yet as one commentator has so nicely said, " The obedience which the Christian man owes to the State is never absolute but at the most, partial and contingent. ...in certain circumstances disobedience to the command of the State may not only be a right but also a duty."
This leads us to the second thing that our Lord said in his reasoning with the Pharisees and Herodians, " Render unto God the things that are God's." It is not easy to be a Christian in today's world when the substance of the faith as expressed in the ten commandments is no longer the basis of our society as it was once it can be argued. " Thou shalt have no other gods before me." We face ethical dilemmas all the time. Should I let my faith be the guide or just go along with the rest? The Hebrew midwives in the Book of Exodus faced such a challenge. ( as I noted in the Rector's Corner in the bulletin) They disobeyed the word of the king to kill all the newborn baby boys, and saved Moses by their fear of God.
Today we face similar challenges when the highest court of our land rules as did the Egyptian king to say to women to kill their babies before they are born if it is convenient for them. " Thou shalt do no murder" is another one of the commandments easily tossed aside by our society. We must put God first as the 1st commandment reminds us.
What are some other applications of " rendering unto God what is God's?" I was thinking about our bodies. I Corinthians 6: " Flee fornication. ....What Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's." vs 18-20. How do we treat our bodies? Do we eat correctly, exercise moderately, get enough sleep ? What are we doing with our time? It seems we have time for what we want to do. How much time do we spend reading the Word of God? Does it have a place in our schedule?
Let me conclude with a story that unites the government with God. Our morning reading on Friday was a day of joy for the nation of Israel. Who re-discovered the covenant God had made with Israel and the words in the book of the law? Not the priests, or the prophets, nor the people. The King (Josiah) " gathered unto him all the elders of Judah...and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of the LORD." 2 Kings 23. Then they renewed the covenant with God. They cleared out all the gods of the nations around them, Baal , and " put down the idolatrous priests.." They kept the Passover...."Surely there was not holden such a Passover from the days of the judges that ruled Israel."
Would our leaders would heed the instructions of God and His Word! That is the only thing that will bring our people and our nation as individuals prosperity. Would that we would do the same!
Amen.
"Though absent from the heavenly City, we are none the less its citizens, for the Church on earth and the Church in heaven are in truth one, and the Kingdom of Grace is but a suburb of the Kingdom of Glory."
--Melville Scott, The Harmony of the Collects, Epistles, and Gospels
As Christians we are all faced with living with one foot in the kingdom of heaven, of which we are a member by faith and profession as well as citizens of this era we live in. The testings we face here are always to be placed in relationship to our heavenly heritage. The epistle reminded us today, " our citizenship is in heaven." Philippians . When tested and tried by the Pharisees and the Herodians ( a Jewish group known for supporting Herod), Jesus was not caught as they tried to "entangle him." Matthew 22: 15. He asked them to show him a coin, and the famous quote we all know came out of his lips, " Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesars and unto God the things that are God's." 22:21
How do we render unto Caesar ? I Peter 2 says " submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers" Then he adds what the point of doing this is: " For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men." As Christians we want others to know God and His purposes, but we do not want our behavior to be a stumbling block for others so that they do not see good actions in our lives, and wonder how our faith impacts our actions. If a law is unjust let us try and change it. If it is just we must obey it, and try to obey all the laws of our land if we can.
As Christians we pay taxes, we serve in the armed forces ( as we remember all of our Veterans on this Veteran's Day weekend), and we too serve in the government. Christians have a place at the table as senators, congressman and judges and some of us get called to jury duty too . Our very country itself struggled with these issues as it was formed in the days of the revolution. Yet, I like what one of my favorite Anglican Bishops said, " Stand firm, Stand together, Never to Compromise, and Never to Sacrifice a single vital principle under the vain pretence of obtaining unity and peace." JC Ryle
Another passage on the government is Romans 13 reflecting much of what Peter has said. " Let every soul be subject ...the powers that be are ordained of God." Yet as one commentator has so nicely said, " The obedience which the Christian man owes to the State is never absolute but at the most, partial and contingent. ...in certain circumstances disobedience to the command of the State may not only be a right but also a duty."
This leads us to the second thing that our Lord said in his reasoning with the Pharisees and Herodians, " Render unto God the things that are God's." It is not easy to be a Christian in today's world when the substance of the faith as expressed in the ten commandments is no longer the basis of our society as it was once it can be argued. " Thou shalt have no other gods before me." We face ethical dilemmas all the time. Should I let my faith be the guide or just go along with the rest? The Hebrew midwives in the Book of Exodus faced such a challenge. ( as I noted in the Rector's Corner in the bulletin) They disobeyed the word of the king to kill all the newborn baby boys, and saved Moses by their fear of God.
Today we face similar challenges when the highest court of our land rules as did the Egyptian king to say to women to kill their babies before they are born if it is convenient for them. " Thou shalt do no murder" is another one of the commandments easily tossed aside by our society. We must put God first as the 1st commandment reminds us.
What are some other applications of " rendering unto God what is God's?" I was thinking about our bodies. I Corinthians 6: " Flee fornication. ....What Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's." vs 18-20. How do we treat our bodies? Do we eat correctly, exercise moderately, get enough sleep ? What are we doing with our time? It seems we have time for what we want to do. How much time do we spend reading the Word of God? Does it have a place in our schedule?
Let me conclude with a story that unites the government with God. Our morning reading on Friday was a day of joy for the nation of Israel. Who re-discovered the covenant God had made with Israel and the words in the book of the law? Not the priests, or the prophets, nor the people. The King (Josiah) " gathered unto him all the elders of Judah...and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of the LORD." 2 Kings 23. Then they renewed the covenant with God. They cleared out all the gods of the nations around them, Baal , and " put down the idolatrous priests.." They kept the Passover...."Surely there was not holden such a Passover from the days of the judges that ruled Israel."
Would our leaders would heed the instructions of God and His Word! That is the only thing that will bring our people and our nation as individuals prosperity. Would that we would do the same!
Amen.
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