Sermon Tone Analysis

“Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good.

For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people.

Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God.

Honour everyone.

Love the brotherhood.

Fear God.

Honour the emperor.”

[1]

One aspect of Christian teaching that contemporary believers seemingly find odious is the command to cultivate a submissive spirit.

Submission is neither natural, nor is it a popular characteristic to be cultivated in the lives of contemporary Christians.

We resist even the thought of nurturing a submissive spirit; we are constantly urged to exalt our personal “rights.”

Consequently, we admire assertive individuals, counting those who reveal a submissive attitude as wimps and wusses.

Any message that calls for a submissive attitude is inimical to a generation imbued with the concept of self-esteem and that is so thoroughly inculcated in modern life.

During pre-marital counselling for a wedding I performed some years ago, the bride-to-be informed me that she would not publicly commit herself to submit to her groom.

In light of her views, I suggested that perhaps she should refrain from marriage since submission is a biblical mandate for wives.

In the Ephesian encyclical, Paul writes, “Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord” [EPHESIANS 5:22].

She decided against calling the marriage off, and she did commit to submitting to her own husband.

Without question, a Christian wife is expected to submit to her husband; but that same attitude of submission is expected to be exhibited of all Christians.

In the verses preceding his instruction to wives, the Apostle wrote: “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.

Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.

And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with all your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ” [EPHESIANS 5:15-21].

Wise saints will be submissive to one another—church members are to be submissive to church leaders, and Christians are to submit to governing authorities.

SUBMISSION TO GOVERNMENT REFLECTS UNDERSTANDING OF GOD’S WILL — “Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good.”

Christians must respect the governing authorities.

This is not to say that every law produced by Parliament or that every piece of legislation passed by a provincial legislature is good and worthy of respect; it does mean that we are to make every effort to be obedient so long as that obedience does not bring us into conflict with the will of God.

This is not a plea for Christians to submit blindly to every state-sponsored idea; there are official positions that a Christian must conscientiously reject and refuse to obey.

However, the Christian must willingly accept the consequences of his or her actions.

During the past several decades, I have listened to or read many speeches that were delivered by Martin Luther King.

I am humbled to have arrived late at appreciation of the thoroughly biblically saturated position Doctor King promoted in resisting a moral cancer in his nation.

I am not saying he was a paragon of virtue, but he did draw his understanding of the place of the citizen in society from a sound understanding of divine purpose for mankind.

King reluctantly assumed leadership of the civil rights issue.

Many people don’t realise that Doctor King’s views were strongly opposed by other black leaders.

Thurgood Marshall believed that King was “an opportunist and a first rate rabble-rouser.”

Ann Coulter, citing Juan Williams as her source for information, writes, “When asked about King’s suggestion that street protests could help advance desegregation, Marshall replied that school desegregation was men’s work and should not be entrusted to children.

King, he said, was ‘a boy on a man’s errand.’”

[2] Nevertheless, Martin Luther King was a powerful voice for civil disobedience against unjust laws.

What made Doctor King so powerful against his foes was the moral correctness of his position, a position strengthened by resolute willingness to suffer the consequences that attended civil disobedience.

I am not saying that Doctor King was a good man, his propensity toward immorality is too well documented to argue the point, but I do say that he was a great man because he fought the right fight, and he fought it in the right way.

In one extemporaneous speech that stands out in my memory, he speaks quite plainly of the consequences arising from civil disobedience.

He warned that some listening to him that evening would be jailed—and they were jailed.

Some would be beaten—and they were beaten.

Some, he said plainly, may be called to die at the hands of cruel and callused assassins.

Only days before he spoke these words, Medgar Evers had been murdered—shot in the back before the eyes of his children waiting their daddy’s return.

The following summer, three young civil rights workers—James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner—were murdered and their bodies buried in an earthen dam.

The power of Doctor King’s words lies in his willingness to accept the consequences of disobedience.

The deliberate nature of his actions coupled to the willing acceptance of the consequences shamed supporters of those wicked and unjust laws.

During the Second World Warm the French mountain village of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon united to resist the evil of the Nazi occupiers.

Pastor Andre Trocme urged his parishioners to hide Jewish refugees.

The villagers did so knowing that providing sanctuary for Jews was punishable by death.

They acted as they did despite crushing poverty.

At times, Trocme had several children in his home, causing deprivation even for his own children who often had very little to eat.

At various times, government and even church authorities ordered Trocme to turn over any Jews hiding in the village.

Trocme was thrown into prison.

His cousin, Daniel Trocme, who also rescued Jews, was executed in a concentration camp.

Other villagers also died protecting Jews.

By the war’s end, Le Chambon was known to be a city of refuge for Jews.

The villagers were led to such disobedience by Trocme’s sermons, noted as biblically based with an emphasis on the believer’s power to follow God.

He stressed the obligation of Christians to protect the helpless, even in defiance of government authority.

The village was strengthened in its resolve by regular small group prayer meetings that were bathed in prayer.

And the villagers could identify with persecution, because their Huguenot ancestors were persecuted in Catholic France.

Thus, the villagers had cultivated habits of compassion, virtue and involvement in helping the helpless.

Rescuing the Jews was the fruit of these habits.

[3]

It should be obvious that for the Christian, there is a time to disobey some laws.

We must be cautious, however, that we do not fall into the trap of thinking that we are empowered to pick-and-choose which laws we will obey or which laws we will ignore.

Civil disobedience is exceptional; it is this exceptional nature that gives power to the action.

If civil disobedience were the usual course of action, it would have no significance when it is practised.

This begs us to ask, why should a Christian obey the law, and especially a bad law?

Why should Christians obey their leaders?

At any given time, some among us will dissent from obeying laws passed by a given government.

We live in a democracy, and the government of the day does not always represent our personal political leanings.

When a government passes legislation that does not represent our desires, why should we be obliged to obey their edicts?

It would be proper to speak of the need to obey to ensure political stability, though Scripture is silent on that particular issue.

I suppose I could even speak of the fact that we have agreed to accept the terms of the constitution; and that we are thus compelled to obey the laws of Parliament.

This demands obedience even to laws that are odious and not entirely to our liking.

That position, though also true, is not addressed by Scripture.

However, the Apostle clearly identifies the reason for our obedience when he writes, “Be subject for the Lord’s sake” to governments.

The child of God accepts that no government exists without God’s permission.

Because we are citizens of heaven [PHILIPPIANS 3:20], we make every effort to be good citizens of our own nation.

Underscore in your mind that in God’s economy, government is a gift to ensure stability.

Paul maintains that government bears responsibility to commend what is good and to punish those who do evil.

Protecting citizens from wickedness and from foreign invasion is a biblical mandate.

It is somewhat more difficult to justify regulatory activities through appeal to the Word of God.

Nevertheless, we have an obligation as Christians to be obedient to governing authorities “for the Lord’s sake.”

You will remember that the Apostle to the Gentiles urges believers to offer “supplications, prayers, intercessions and thanksgivings … for … all who are in high positions.”

The reason we are to pray for those who hold authority is to ensure that “we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way” [1 TIMOTHY 2:1, 2].

We are to pray for the welfare of those who govern, praying for God’s blessing on the government under which we live, so that we can enjoy peace.

There is an immediate benefit of social stability and moral restraint resulting from good government; and we are to obey the law so that we can enjoy peace.

However, if we stop reading at that point, we miss a vital reason for obedience.

In 1 TIMOTHY 2:3-6 Paul continues: “This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Saviour, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.”

We seek what is good for governing authorities, and we are obedient to those in authority, because good government permits us to do what we are supposed to do—point men and women to Christ.

Paul gives similar instruction in TITUS 3:1, 2. “Remind [believers] to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarrelling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people.”

Paul’s teaching supplements Peter’s teaching; together, they form a corpus of instructions for Christian social conduct.

The basis undergirding this “household code” is recorded in the verses preceding the text.

“I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.

Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honourable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation” [1 PETER 2:11, 12].

We must not live only for the moment, accumulating goods that are destined for dust.

It is not our goal to live in a futile effort to avoid upsetting anyone, contending that we are therefore godly.

God left us on this earth after giving us His salvation so that we could glorify Him.

For those who wonder what it means to glorify the Father, it means that we demonstrate the transformed life that reveals the presence of Christ, and it means we live self-controlled, godly lives that exhibit the will of God for all people.

Consider with me what the revealed will of God is for His people.