“Every Authority?”

1 Peter 2:13-25, Romans 13

Preached by Dan Brown on October 22, 2006 at Stony Brook Community Church

When Christians take on the question of submitting to government authority two things inevitably happen. First, we very quickly try to find exception clauses. We immediately dig up situations in which it would seem impossible to submit to authority. In other words, we change the topic. Rather than talking about how we should submit to government authority we prefer to discuss when we should not submit to authority.

The second thing that inevitably happens in discussions of Romans 13 is that someone brings up speed limits. And with good reason. Speed limits are a simple and ubiquitous reminder of government authority. Flashing blue lights are an even more potent reminder.

So let’s ask this question: Do we really need speed limits? Imagine that we set up a new town. The members of Stony Brook will be the only residents. We are the founding fathers and mothers of this new town. Call it New South Hadley. In New South Hadley, since we are the only residents, will we need speed limits? Why should we? All of you are responsible drivers. I’m sure you are careful drivers. Instead of speed limits in our new town, why don’t we simply obey the law of love. The law of love will require that you always drive carefully because you want to do no harm to your neighbor. If you drive through my neighborhood, where there are small children, you will drive slowly because you don’t want to harm children. If we were to obey the law of love, speed limits would be entirely unnecessary. If I really love my neighbor I’m going to voluntarily do more than the speed limit requires of me -- that is drive safely, carefully and responsibly at every moment. I will never be in a hurry at someone else’s expense, I will never drive selfishly, I will never take foolish risks.

Now let’s expand the experiment. If New South Hadley can do without speed limits, why would we need police officers? We shouldn’t. We’re Christians. Am I going to break into your house? The only reason I can think for breaking into your house would be to drop off groceries for you. Why would we need authorities at all?

So why should Christians bother themselves about government authorities? Martin Luther asked this question in his essay “On Secular Authority.” The essay is worth reading. Luther argues, rightly, that Christians have a higher authority and a higher law that make secular authority and secular law redundant. If we obey God and honor the law of love, secular authority should be irrelevant to us. Indeed, Christians in other parts of the world might have every reason to believe that they would be better off without secular authority. Secular authorities often cause more trouble for Christians than they do good. Authorities tax us for things that we don’t want, or that are evil. They make rules that we don’t need. They are often corrupt, and in many places in the world, they are hostile to the Church. Is there any reason why Christians should not just dismiss secular authorities as at best irrelevant and at worst a source of great evil? Why should we not respond like the Rabbi in Fiddler on the Room who is asked, “Is there a blessing for the Czar?” To which he responds: “God bless the Czar--and keep the Czar far from us.” Why shouldn’t Christians have the same response? “God bless the government and keep the government far from us.”

And if we’ve been reading carefully in I Peter up to this point, the problem will be reinforced. What has Peter been doing in this letter? So far, he has been saying things like, chapter 1:1, “To God’s elect strangers in the world…” or in chapter 2:11, “Dear friends I urge you as aliens and strangers in the world…” He also said in chapter 1:15, “But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do. For it is written, ‘Be holy for I am holy.’” In chapter 2:9, the culmination of his argument in these first two chapters, Peter writes, “but you are a chosen people, a holy nation, a royal priesthood, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who has called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” The theme is inescapable: In every way, you don’t belong here. You are a separate people. You are strangers. You are set apart to be holy. So, again, why should we worry about the government? We have our own King. We have our own law. What do we need with the emperor, the empire, rulers and governors? That would seem a logical conclusion coming out of I Peter so far.

So, it should come as a surprise that Peter, immediately after arguing that we are separate and different, that we have our own kingdom, that we are strangers, tells us: “Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every authority instituted among men.” Why should we? Why not just withdraw from the game? This is essentially what the Amish do. They seem to get along quite well, basically making their own rules separating themselves from the wider society. Why shouldn’t all Christians do this?

Let’s go back to Romans chapter 13, verses 1-4. What’s the point of government? And what does the sword represent? The sword represents the right and responsibility of government to punish evil. By extension, though this is not in the text, the sword can be used to commend, as when someone is knighted. The sword punishes; the sword commends. These are the two basic functions of government in Romans chapter 13. Government exists to restrain evil and promote good, to punish and to reward (Although how far we take the promotion of good, and in what ways, is, I think an open question.)

So we have two clear conclusions.

First, the church should have no need for the sword. Do I need to wield the sword in church? I never expect to face a situation where there is a need to execute a church member. Within the church, the restraint of evil should be unnecessary and the sword, should not only sheathed, but should be left outside altogether. We don’t need police officers to come in here to help us settle fistfights. We shouldn’t be having fistfights to begin with. We don’t need police officers to come in here to figure out who it was that pick-pocketed the person next to them. This is the church, and secular authority is unnecessary in the church. We are told very specifically in scripture that we should not be going to secular judges to settle our disputes. We don’t need them. God has given everything we need within the church in order to deal with the affairs of the church and of the community of believers. So, we simply don’t need secular authorities. This is the New South Hadley.

But what about old South Hadley? This leads us to our second conclusion. Imagine that in the old South Hadley, there was no sword. No police officers. No speed limits. What happens if we lift the restraints of authority? What would happen if everyone drives as fast as they want without any fear of authority? You know what will happen. People will race up and down our little dead end street at 70 mph. People will die. We will not be happy about it. But there’s no rule against it, so what can we do? There’s no police station to call. If we could shoplift, without fear of prosecution, then there would be a lot of people shoplifting. What happened in New York during the Great Blackout? What happens in a large city whenever restraints are lifted and people suddenly feel able to do whatever they want?

St. Augustine, followed by Luther, describes two kingdoms: The kingdom of God, represented by the church, in which there is no need for the sword; And the kingdom of this world, in which the sword is absolutely essential to restrain evil. Two kingdoms. In one the sword is unnecessary; in the other the sword is absolutely necessary. But in this world the two kingdoms are mixed. We’re not separated out into isolated communites. We live amidst the world. So why is it that we are called to submit to and honor secular authority? It’s not because Christians need it, and it’s not for our benefit. We honor secular authority because the world needs it. As an act of love for neighbor, we support authority. Not because we desire the protection, but because our neighbors need the protection. My neighbor needs to be protected from people robbing him. If there are no police and someone robs me, the command of Jesus is clear: If someone wants your coat, give him your tunic. If he slaps you on the face, then turn the other cheek and let him slap the other one. That’s the command to Christians. If we take Jesus’ command seriously, then we will say, “Well actually the secular authority isn’t here to protect me. It exists to protect my neighbor who I am called to love.” So, we support authority as an act of love for our neighbor.

We also support authority as an act of love for God. When Peter tells us to submit ourselves to authority, he adds “for the Lord's sake.” Not for my own sake, but for the Lord’s sake. Submit, because God has a purpose in restraining evil in the world.

So what does it mean then, in a positive way, to submit to authority or to honor the king? It is not uncommon that God will test a pastor in the week before he preaches a sermon. Earlier this week, I had the pleasure of taking my car for inspection. It was overdue. There was a small problem with the reverse light, but I had taken care of that. I thought everything was going to be fine, and I was sitting having a very nice conversation in the waiting room. I met a woman there whose husband had died recently. It was a wonderful opportunity to offer some encouragement and comfort. Then the inspector comes back with the car, and there’s this big red ‘R’ on it. I was called me up to the counter. On the report, the inspector had enumerated no less than five failures. I had somehow discovered the most zealous inspector in the whole Commonwealth of Massachusetts. I was not happy. I didn’t do anything illegal. I did not start a fight. I didn’t even say anything particularly rude. I just seethed. And after I left I talked about the inspection angrily with anyone from whom I might get some sympathy. It wasn’t hard to find people to sympathize.

So here’s the questions: In that situation, what would it have meant to honor authority? Mine is not a positive example. Although outwardly obedient, inwardly I was anything but submissive to authority. I was feeling as rebellious as I have ever felt.

To honor authority is much more that outward obedience. To honor authority is to actively and freely support the God given purposes of secular authority. It is to say, “this authority is legitimate and must be honored and treated as right even when I don’t like the results.” That inspector, although low in the hierarchy of “every authority,” nevertheless, had the god-given authority to reject my car. Christians are never to be subversive to authority, never to undermine authority, and never to treat it as illegitimate, but always to support, to serve, and to build up authority towards its legitimate aims.

What if authority goes bad? That’s not as difficult a question as we might think. When authority is corrupt, or rewards what is evil, or punishes what is good, it’s not a hard call. God never calls us to support evil or injustice, or to obey when we are ordered to do evil. But even when we do oppose evil, and the evil done by authorities, God still calls us to do so in a way that honors the King’s legitimate God given role. Even as I oppose the evil, I still acknowledge that the authority has a positive God given role. It just happens that the particular authority is forgetting it. Sometimes, honoring authority leads to suffering. (Read 1 Peter 2:19) So, our unwillingness to do evil may put us up against authorities, and we may suffer, but the willingness to suffer is a way of honoring authority.

Most of our problems with authority, however, don’t center on injustice and evil. Mostly we don’t want our sins to be revealed. Next time you see those flashing blue lights as you’re driving along, think, “What does it mean to honor authority?” Or when you go by the church parking lot and you see the big ‘R’ in my windshield what should you do? Here is a suggestion: Pray. Pray for the police officers. Pray for those in authority in other ways. As you anticipate the election that’s coming up, pray for our elected officials. Thank God that we have a government. Often even a bad government is better than no government. Look at some of the places in the world where there is no government. There is fear and terror because of it. Thank God that we have a government. Don’t just gripe and don’t withdraw. Pray. Praying is the most positive and most direct way to honor authority. Honor by praying for our leaders. In Peter’s last sentence he says, “Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king.” You don’t need to fear the King, rather, fear God. And you don’t need to love the King, either. Rather love God, and love the brotherhood of believers. What you do owe the King, for the Lord’s sake, is honor.