“God Bless America”
1 Timothy 2:1-4

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Pastor Kevin Vogts
Trinity Lutheran Church
Paola, Kansas
Sixth Sunday after Pentecost—July 5, 2015

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.  Amen.

As we celebrate our nation’s Independence Day this weekend, it is a good opportunity to look at what the Bible says our attitude as Christians should be toward government.  Our text is from today’s Epistle Reading in 1st Timothy.  St. Paul writes:

“I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone—for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.  This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.”

In 1776, the founding father Thomas Paine wrote in his famous pamphlet “Common Sense”:  “Government, like dress, is the badge of our lost innocence.”  He meant that, just as Adam and Eve did not know their nakedness and had no need for clothing until after the fall into sin, humankind in its innocent state in Paradise also had no need for any kind of government.  For, the very purpose of government is to restrain the forces of evil released into our world by mankind’s fall into sin.

God promised already to Adam and Eve to send a Savior to crush Satan and triumph over evil.  God fulfilled his promise when he showed his love by sending his only-begotten Son as a sacrifice to pay of the sins of the whole world, that whoever believes in him shall not perish by have eternal life.  He bore your sins in his body on the cross.  He was put to death for your transgressions and raised to life for your justification, to make you right with God.  Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved.  And at the Last Day he will come again in glory and give unto you and all believers in Christ eternal life.

Human government is a TEMPORARY arrangement until that Last Day.  Human government exists only from the time of the Fall into sin until the Second Coming of Christ.  Government was not needed BEFORE the Fall; it came into existence after the Fall into sin brought evil into our world.  And human government will no longer be needed AFTER the Last Day; it will go out of existence when Christ comes again and puts all things right and creates a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.  Government is a fixture only of this “in-between age” in which we now live, the time between the Fall into sin and the Last Day.

The question that determines our attitude as Christians toward government is this: Is government just a human arrangement, or is it divinely established by God?  You recall that after Adam and Eve knew their nakedness they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves.  But, later the Lord himself clothed them in garments HE made from animal skins.  You could say that government is NOT like the fig leaves; it is NOT the creation of man.  Rather, government is like the garments of animal skins; made by God himself and given to fallen humanity for our good.

St. Paul puts it this way in Romans: “Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.”

So, government is not a mere human arrangement or a sociological phenomenon invented by men.  Governments are established for our good by GOD himself, and government leaders and authorities are appointed by God.  That is what Jesus meant when he told Pontius Pilate, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above.”

Of course, in our democratic form of government, God gives us the privilege of helping to select our leaders through the democratic process.  But, still, those who are appointed through this process are ultimately appointed by God.  As St. Paul says: “There is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.”

The primary, basic duty and task which God has given governments toward their citizens is to protect them, to maintain social order, to restrain the forces of evil, to hold back the chaos that would engulf our world and destroy us all if we did not have this power of government to constrain sinful humankind.  To accomplish this, the Lord has given to government what the Bible calls the power of the sword, to mete out punishment upon those who do wrong.  As St. Paul says in Romans: “the one in authority. . . is God’s servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God’s servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer.”  St. Peter puts it this way: “Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every authority instituted among men . . .  sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right.”

As far as our duties toward government, the Bible states very specifically what we as Christian citizens owe the government:

First of all, we owe the government OBEDIENCE and SUBMISSION.  As St. Paul writes in Romans: “Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.  Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. . .  Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities.”  St. Peter says: “Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every authority instituted among men.”  And St. Paul instructs Titus, “Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient.”

There is one exception to obeying the authorities: whenever they command what God’s Word forbids, or forbid what God’s Word commands.  Then we are forced to disobey, and respond as the Apostles did in the Book of Acts, when they were forbidden to preach about Christ: “We must obey God rather than men!”

Until recently, I would have never imagined this situation would develop here in the United States of America, with our nation’s strong Christian heritage, and historic emphasis on what our Bill of Rights calls “the free exercise of religion.” 

Soon, we will celebrate the 150th Anniversary of the founding of this congregation, by many of our ancestors, including my own great-great grandparents, who settled here at Block in 1865.  You may not be aware that the early founders of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod debated back in Germany whether to emigrate to America or Australia.  Some choose Australia, and so there is a large Lutheran presence there today.  But most, including my ancestors and probably yours too, chose the United States of America, for a very specific reason: the First Amendment, and its guarantee of “the free exercise of religion.” 

Germany had a liberal state church, and many of our ancestors were persecuted for their conservative, “old Lutheran” beliefs and practices.  The founding president of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod,  Dr. C.F.W. Walther, said it was one of the greatest blessings of God in all of human history that this new nation had been founded with the guarantee of “the free exercise of religion” enshrined in its constitution.

But, now it seems that the time is coming—perhaps not within my lifetime, but probably within the lifetimes of my children—that the government will try to force Bible-believing churches such as ours, through legal action, and fines, and revoking of tax-exempt status, to abandon the Bible’s teachings on issues such as marriage and human sexuality.

In the Book of Acts, after the Apostles were released from being imprisoned and savagely beaten because they preached Christ, it says something truly amazing: “they rejoiced that they were considered worthy to suffer disgrace for the name of Jesus.”  It seems the time is coming when Bible-believing Christians even in the United States of America will be “considered worthy to suffer disgrace for the name of Jesus.”

On the one hand, we must always do everything we can to submit to the governing authorities, right up to the line of violating God’s Word.  But, we must not cross that line.  Once the government begins commanding what God forbids, or forbidding what God commands, God grant that we and our descendants after us, in this congregation, and the entire Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, and other Bible-believing churches, will remain faithful in an unfaithful world. 

God grant that when coerced by the government to abandon the teachings of the Bible, we will declare with the Apostles, “We must obey God rather than men!” and rejoice that we are “considered worthy to suffer disgrace for the name of Jesus.”  As Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven.”

Secondly, citizens owe to their government whatever TAXES the government imposes.  St. Paul says in Romans, “This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing.  Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes.”  And, of course, when Jesus himself was asked if it is right to pay taxes, he commanded, “Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s, and unto God that which is God’s.”

Thirdly, in our democratic system we own to our government not only taxes but also our PARTICIPATION in the democratic process.  It is never my role as a pastor to tell you HOW to vote, but it is my role to urge you TO vote, to exercise this special privilege you have been given by God in our system of government.

Fourthly, we owe unto our government RESPECT and HONOR.  As St. Peter says, “Show proper respect . . . honor the king.”  And St. Paul writes in Romans, “If you own respect, give respect; if owe honor, give honor.”

The commandment “Honor your father and your mother” really also commands us to show honor to the government. For, the family is the basic unit of human government.  And, just as God wants us to honor our parents within our own family, he also wants us to give honor, serve and obey, and hold in love and esteem the rulers he has placed over all of us in the larger family of our nation.

Finally, we own to our government the highest service that we as CHRISTIAN citizens can render: PRAYER.  As St. Paul commands us in our text:  “I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone—for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.  This is good, and pleases God our Savior.”  This is your greatest duty as a CHRISTIAN citizen: to recognize government as God’s gift; give thanks to him for our government; and pray to him for our nation, its citizens, and our rulers. 

There is an old saying, “The world is like a brick building, and the prayers of Christians are the mortar, holding the bricks together.”  We know what great challenges and problems our nation faces.  Doesn’t it sometimes seem our country is like a brick building falling apart because of a lack of mortar?  Our country, and its citizens, and especially our rulers need the mortar of your prayers, as St. Paul says: “I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone—for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.  This is good, and pleases God our Savior.” 

“God bless America, land that I love; stand beside her, and guide her, through the night with the light from above. . .  America! America! God mend thine every flaw.”