Politics, Taxes and the Lordship of Jesus - Submitting to Authorities in Romans 13

Thank you Father for making yourself known to us and showing us the way of salvation through faith in your son. Teach us through your word and equip us for every good work for the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Common wisdom says that if you want to have a peaceful dinner conversation there are three topics you must avoid. Politics, religion and money. Today we're tackling all three. So hang on to your seats and hopefully it doesn't get too tense. The reason why we're talking about this is because Romans 13 addresses all three of these taboo topics. And so the question is how ought we as Christians today, people like you and me whose faith is in the Lord, relate to our government? It's an increasingly relevant question. The narrative in the news at the moment is about how there is so much mistrust of the government. Governments on both sides of the political divide are proposing and passing laws that go against God's word. In the areas of Christian freedom to preach and even to pray and in moral areas of life and death and sexuality. So let's talk politics and religion and just so things don't get too tense. We're going to leave money for later in the sermon. Now as we read Romans 13 we need to remember that the Roman government, especially in the first century, was not a friend of Christians. Jesus when he lived, he lived under the governing authority of Rome and its king. And when the religious authorities handed Jesus over they handed him over to Rome and they crucified Jesus. It was the government of Rome that often was the initiator of Christian persecution and yet we read in Romans 13 God's teaching to us through the Apostle Paul on how we are to relate to the governing authorities. Verse one, let everyone be subject to the governing authorities. Now we'll unpack what that means in a moment. But before we do it's helpful to put this passage in context. Because when we do that we see that this command to submit or be subject is part of a broader exhortation in Romans chapter 12 and 13 to live our whole lives for Jesus. To bring glory to Jesus in all that we do. To live with renewed transformed minds as the Holy Spirit works in us. Not conforming to the pattern of this world. And we can only do that through faith in Jesus. Jesus was crucified by Rome. He died for our sin. And he was raised so that we could have eternal life. Romans chapter 6 verse 23 says the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. What a father's they gift. The ability to put our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and have eternal life. And this means that the command to be subject to the governing authorities is in the context of our worship of Jesus. And of us being saved by him. And here this morning we need to remember that as we serve Jesus that Jesus is the one who has the greatest authority. Throughout the letter to the Romans Jesus is called our Lord. And Romans chapter 10 verse 9 a Christian by definition is someone who declares that Jesus is and believes that God raised him from the dead. Jesus is the Lord above all Lords. In the Great Commission Jesus tells us himself that all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to him. And one day when Jesus returns every knee will bow every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord. We as a church here this morning recognize the Lordship of Jesus as we seek to worship him. As we think about submitting to the governing authorities this has two implications. The first is that as we submit to Jesus our Lord we're actually being political. Michael Jensen has written a book called subjects and citizens and this is one of the major points that he makes. He says by calling Jesus Lord we are saying that our governing authorities whoever they may be are at best second in charge. They are not the ultimate authority. Jesus is. The second thing that's worth noting is just to remember how Jesus exercised his authority while on earth. He did so through humble service, through love, through sacrifice. Through dying on the cross for our sins so that we could be forgiven. And here in Romans Jesus does not call us to war with the authorities but to submit. So that's our context. We're living with Jesus as Lord. Well let's now look at our governing authorities. As we think about our government's local state, federal it's helpful for us to understand what God's intended purpose for them is. Especially as we're called to submit to them. So if you don't already it'd be great to have your bibles open at Romans chapter 13. Now we're going to look at what our governing authorities are and then we're going to look at what they are not. First in Romans chapter 13 verse 1 our governing authorities are established by God. Verse 1, let everyone be subject to the governing authorities for there is no authority except that which God has established. While we can easily point to the human ways governments are established like the process for voting, pre-selection of candidates etc. God is the one who ultimately establishes all governing authorities. It means in verse 4 because they are established by God they are God's servants whether they realize it or not. Just because a leader doesn't acknowledge God doesn't mean that they are outside of God's authority. So they are instituted by God. The second thing our governments are is they are maintainers of justice. In verse 4 they bear the sword and are agents of wrath to punish the wrong doer. Our governments are there to administer justice, to restrain evil. In Australia it means police, courts, laws, regulations, fines. It doesn't mean that they will do justice perfectly but in general a governing authority will maintain justice and restrain evil. Whether it's criminal justice, whether it's preventing oppression, whether it's making sure that poor are not taken advantage of. The third thing authorities are for is that they are for our good. History shows that without ruling authority society collapses into chaos, looting and anarchy where everyone does what is right in their own eyes. Even a flawed government is better than no government. And the fourth thing that governments are they are there to create peace in our times. We're actually going to jump to one Timothy chapter 2 where we see this where the apostle Paul says I urge you then first of all that petitions, prayers and intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people for kings and all those in authority that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. Good authorities have the ability to bring peace to our time and peace is good, isn't it? It's good for us generally but it's also good for the flourishing of the good news of Jesus. So governments are instituted by God for justice, for our good, for peace. And next time you go to vote we can think about the purpose of government from God's point of view. We want to vote for the person or the party that we think will be able to best deliver justice and peace. Different parties and people will think will have different ways of how they might achieve that. Some will stress deterrence, other liars underlying social causes, whatever it might be. Either way we can prayerfully consider who we're going to vote for. So we've seen what governing authorities are. What are they not? Well governing authorities are not perfect. You probably don't need me to tell you that. In fact some are just plain evil. All humans are sinful which means all humans are rebellious against God and that includes our leaders. In Psalm 2 a picture is painted of all the kings of the earth gathering together against God and against his King Jesus but at this God laughs because God knows how futile it is to resist him. The same authorities that God institutes for our good are still sinful, are imperfect. Their policies and decisions won't always bring justice, won't always bring peace. In fact often they may do the opposite. Think about Rome. They crucified an innocent man, Jesus as a criminal simply because it was politically expedient. There's no justice in that and this helps us to have a realistic view of our leaders. They are not Jesus. The second thing governing authorities are not is that they are not our savior. Jesus is. There's a tendency today to rely on our governments for that which only Jesus can give. In subjects and citizens Michael Jensen writes about desires for governments. He says, in our frustration and anxiety we want them to be preservers and transmitters of our national identity. We want them to give expression to our dreams and aspirations. We want them to build ideal or close to ideal societies. He's just highlighting that we can overemphasize the role of government by attributing to it what should be reserved only for Jesus, the ultimate authority. Our leaders hold office but Jesus holds eternity. Our governments may pass legislation but only Jesus is the one who will bring about true justice. And so our hope should never be in a change of government or in a change of government policy but always in Jesus. Now knowing what authority governing authorities are and what they are not helps us to have a sober view of governments but it also helps us to think about what it means to be subject to them. So we've talked about politics, we've talked about religion, now let's talk about the third taboo topic money. One key way we show our subjection to the authorities and in turn our worship of Jesus is by paying tax. Verse 6, this is also why you pay taxes for the authorities are God's servants who give their full time to governing. Give to everyone what you owe them. If you owe taxes pay taxes if revenue then revenue if respect then respect if honor then honor. I don't know about you but I've never met anyone who enjoys paying tax. Our last year I had a tax debt. It's one thing to pay tax when it automatically comes out of your pay slip each week. It's another when you have to press the button that says process payment on the computer screen and you're handing over your money to the tax department. And yet taxes they pay our officials but they do much more than that. They pay for our roads, our welfare, lots of things that make Australia a good place to live. But even when our government does not use taxes for our good when they are excessive or the money is being spent on things that we do not approve. And remember this is written in a context where tax collectors were considered the worst of the worst type of people because they charged more than they needed to. Part of being subject to the government's is paying taxes. Christians should not be known for exaggerating our tax deductions. Your accountant should see if you have one evidence that Jesus is your Lord in what you claim and don't claim. Legitimate deductions are completely fine to claim with a clear conscience. Our government allows that. That's fine. But we ought to deal honestly. We don't want to be pushing into that gray zone of maybe this is being deceitful, maybe it's not just to shave off a few dollars. We want to be honest to think about a couple of other areas where we submit to our government. What about when behind the wheel? They didn't have cars back when Romans was written so I think that's maybe why it doesn't get a mention here. Christians ought to be known for obeying the rules of the road. I don't know if you're like me we drove to Billow yesterday, no long straight roads, 100km speed limit. But if we drove just a little bit faster we would have got there quicker. Or what about that red light when you're in a rush? You know, Rockhampton has got so many traffic lights. You get to that you're in a rush you come up and like that lights red I can make it. No, no I really can't but I'm going to anyway. Are you known as a Christian for obeying the road rules or disobeying them? A further point of submission and I think this is a particularly Christian one. It's not found in Romans but one Timothy again. We are to pray for our governments. In our prayer book we pray for our governing authorities. We are to pray for our leaders because God is active in world affairs. He can work in and through our leaders which he has instituted to bring about justice and good and peace. And so it's important that we continue to pray. I want to set you the challenge this week of at least once praying for the leaders of Australia. Pray for Anthony Albanese, pray for David Chrisifooley or Tony Williams, even if you didn't vote for them. Ask God to give them wisdom that they would rule to bring about justice and peace. Now why do we do these things? Why do we submit not just to be good citizens but because we've been saved by Jesus? He is our Lord. We are His subjects. Now this does raise the question what about not submitting? The general principle here is that we should submit to the governing authorities. We don't want to take away from that. However as we mentioned before we live with Jesus as Lord and by its very nature it is saying that there is a greater authority than our governing authorities in this world. And at times that's going to lead to conflict with the authorities when they ask us to deny the Lordship of Jesus and His directives. There are a number of examples in the Bible where worldly authorities are disobeyed because obedience to God was more important. Daniel and Babylon is ordered not to pray but he does. His three friends are ordered to bow down and worship a statue of the King of Babylon but they refuse. Peter and John in Acts are ordered to stop sharing the good news of Jesus something Jesus explicitly commanded them to do but they don't stay silent. In each of these three examples while defiant they're honoring Jesus as Lord but it's also noteworthy that they submit to the consequences of that decision. Daniel was thrown into a den of lions, Daniel's friends were thrown into a pit of fire and Peter and John were thrown into prison. And so there are going to be moments as Christians where the right thing to do is to disobey the governing authorities but we submit to the consequences. And so if the government orders us to stop telling people about Jesus we should not stop. If the government orders us never to read God's word again we should not stop reading and hearing from God's word and that may have consequences. It did for Jesus. Jesus submitted first to God. He knew that what was about to transpire as he went to the cross was going to save the world from their sin so that when we through faith put our trust in him we can have eternal life. But then he also submitted to the authority of the day. In Jesus as he went to the cross he could have called upon legions of angels to come and stop the miscarriage of justice that was happening but he didn't. He submitted. Now one of the things that's also different for us than from in Rome is that we live in a democracy that gives us certain freedoms. We have the ability to write to our MPs and say yes we agree with this policy no we think you're making a terrible terrible decision. We can and we ought to make use of that. We have the ability to vote our government in and out. We should make sure that we vote wisely, prayerfully. We should pray for elections that the person who does get voted in is someone who will seek peace and justice and our good. We have a lot of freedom. It's legal at times to even to protest. But even as we do that we want to make sure that we're doing it with an attitude of Jesus is Lord and we do so remembering this command that we are to submit to our governing authorities. I think there's definitely a point where Christians should not protest any longer but we can make use of the avenues that our government does give us for letting them know what we think. So we've covered all three of the taboo topics, politics, religion and money and the reason that Romans mentions these three is because a life lived in worship of Jesus affects all three. We might not want to talk about them but God does. We live with Jesus as our Lord that brings us great joy that will flow over into the way in which we submit to the governing authorities of the day. It's one of the ways we follow Christ who submitted himself even to death on the cross for our sin. And it's really helpful just for a little bit of perspective to remember that Jesus is Lord and he is Lord forever. Our future is secure with him. A governing authority whether they be good or bad they're only in power for a moment in history but Jesus is eternal and we worship him. Let's pray. Heavenly Father we thank you that Jesus is Lord of all. We thank you that he used his authority to come and become one of us, to die on the cross for our sin submitting to the Roman authority of the day. But we thank you Lord that he did not stay dead, that he has risen. That through faith in him we can have eternal life as we submit to him as Lord of all. We ask Lord that you would help us as we live with Jesus as our Lord to submit to our governing authorities. We also pray for the worldly authorities and of our time we pray for Anthony Albanese and David Christopher Lee and Tony Williams and we ask Lord that you would enable them to rule with wisdom that the laws that they introduce would bring about peace and justice. And we pray all these things in Jesus' name. Amen.