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Cape Elizabeth Church of the Nazarene |
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Texts:
Romans
13:1-7
If you asked me when I was ten years old what I wanted to be when I grew
up a likely answer would have been: a police officer.
A shiny badge, a wrinkle-free, crisp uniform and a special police car
caught the attention of this ten year old!
Let it be clear that my understanding of being a police officer came more
from the screen of the television than the face of real life.
Seeing those images of police officers eating donuts constantly and of
harassing vagrants to the nodding approval of the greater community enraptured
me. My imagination ran wild.
And in that wild imagination I found myself flashing my lights and
sounding the siren whenever I was tired of sitting in traffic.
In that wild imagination I found myself flashing my badge when I might
get pulled over for speeding while off duty -- knowing that I’d be extended a
professional courtesy.
This is in no way an attempt to disparage or discredit or denounce the
integrity of police officers. Rather,
it illustrates the ramifications and conclusions draw up in the imagination of
an immature ten year old boy. A
vivid imagination breaks away from what is real and begins living life within
it’s own created world.
And this is exactly Paul’s point in these first seven verses of Romans
13. An immature understanding of
freedom in Christ runs the potential of disregarding an ordered society
resulting in chaos and anarchy -- which is the very antithesis of God himself!
God brought order out of the chaos when he created. God is bringing order out of the chaos while he redeems.
God will bring order out of the chaos when He returns in glory to judge
the living and the dead!
Paul feared that immature Christians might go around flashing their
“I’m free in Christ” badge. Whenever
they would get pulled over for not following the rules of the road -- they’d
flash the badge expecting to get let off the hook.
Whenever they would get arrested for disobeying the laws of the land --
they’d flash the badge expecting to get let out of jail free.
The results of an immature understanding of freedom in Christ runs the
risk of being extremely detrimental the Gospel itself!
Paul has gone to great lengths to suggest that freedom in Christ does not
mean that we should ignore the law so that sin might about and the grace of God
might increase. In fact, Paul
writes: “What then are we to say? Should
we continue in sin in order that grace may abound?
By no means! How can we who
died to sin go on living in it?” (Romans 6:1-2).
Freedom in Christ is not egocentric.
It is never centered around ourselves, our kingdoms and our desires.
Rather, freedom in Christ is always Christocentric.
That is, it is always rooted in Christ, the very self-revelation of God
and that is holy love. And this ultimate freedom -- being freed to love -- is
actualized in the ongoing act of being filled continually with the very Spirit
of Christ. This reality is why Paul
has painstakingly written this letter. Freedom
in Christ is the message. But the
message is not necessarily a license to sin in order that God’s grace might
abound (See Romans 6). Rather, being set free by Christ is a license to love.
This license to love is obvious from the greater context of these verses.
Chapter 12 speaks of love (let love be genuine, love one another with
mutual affection) and the verses following verse 7 continue the love theme. “Owe
no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has
fulfilled the law. The
commandments, “You shall not commit adultery; You shall not murder; You shall
not steal; You shall not covet”; and any other commandment, are summed up in
this word, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of
the law” (Romans 13:8-10). Because
of this flow of thought some suggest that Romans 13:1-7 was inserted at a later
date and wasn’t an original part of Paul’s composition.
Several reasons abound for this conclusion, such as: (1) verse 8 flows
right out of verse 21 in chapter 12, or (2) there is no use of theological
language in this portion of the letter which makes it stand in sharp contrast to
the rest.
As I have wrestled with these verses I’ve come to conclude that these
verses are illustrative. That is,
they illustrate a crucial argument and clarifies the relationship between the
law and grace. In fact, it appears
to be a rehearsal of the “I don’t live under the God of law but live under
the God of grace” fiasco that remains on-going to this day.
This fiasco began with Marcion who lived in the first century.
He insisted that the Gospel message had been obscured by combining in
with Judaism. Marcion maintained
that the God of the Old Testament and of the Jews is an evil God.
He taught that this God had given a stern and inflexible law, demanded
obedience to it, was rigorous in his enforcement of it, and was arbitrary in his
choice of favorites.
Marcion held that in contrast the God of the Jews there is a second God,
hidden until he revealed himself in Christ.
This God is a God of love. This
demarcation led to Marcion eliminating the Old Testament writings from his canon
of Scripture and dichotomizing law and grace, as if the law of God and the grace
of God were polar opposites, as if they were mutually exclusive.
Rather, the grace of God and the law of God are two sides of the same
coin -- for the grace of God never eliminates the law but fulfills it.
Paul, in this very chapter (Romans 13) writes: “Love does no wrong to a
neighbor, therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law” (Rom. 13:10). The grace of God was as abundant in the Old Testament as it is in the New Testament. The Torah which means teaching includes the Law. The Law was to protect the people of God. It was never meant to serve as their means of salvation. And this is where they missed the mark. And this is where we can miss the mark. We can believe falsely that following the law is the means of our salvation as if our salvation depended on us. This is never the case. We are saved by grace through faith. It has been the same since the creation of the world -- just ask Abraham! Remember Romans chapter 4?
And this is why I believe Paul placed this parenthetical discussion of
submitting to and obeying governmental authorities in this letter.
Law and order is the antithesis of anarchy and chaos.
Submitting to the governing authorities is an act of faith.
In the act of submitting and obeying governmental authorities we embody
the Torah -- the teaching which included the Law.
That is, we live by grace through faith, yet fulfill the law by loving,
serving, obeying, and giving. Our
submission is a fulfilling of the teaching of God.
Let me state clearly and unequivocally that Paul is not suggesting blind
allegiance and obedience to governmental authorities.
Rest assured that governmental authorities will be accountable to God
himself just as you and I will be accountable.
Therefore, if one is abusive and corruptive in the exercise of authority
there will be an accounting! Down through the annuls of history revolutions have been a necessary accounting of governments. The Revolutionary War and the abolition of slavery, World War II and Holocaust, the Civil Rights movement with Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks, and Tienenamann Square all bear witness to this type of accounting! However, Paul is suggesting that obedience to the laws of the land is necessary for the ordering of society and that our God is a God of order.
My thinking about being a police officer has changed as I’ve aged and
matured. I suspect that at the
police academy they talk about integrity, honesty and credibility as much as
they do about high speed car chases, drunk drivers and making arrests.
I suspect that they might tell new recruits that a true police officer --
a mature police officer -- never compromises the integrity, honesty and
credibility of the badge. But we
all know that immature ones do so from time to time.
Paul reminds the recent Gentile converts (and he reminds us again) that
they (and we) can never compromise the Gospel by flashing our “I’m free in
Christ” badge as a license for our actions.
While we are in this world -- especially while we are in this world -- we
are to recognize and affirm that God has brought order out of chaos.
And for the Christian living a life of anarchy with an “I’ll do
whatever I please because I’m free in Christ” attitude is not an option!
I hate tax day -- April 15th!
I feel when I write my check made payable to the United States Treasury
that I am supporting things in which I don’t believe or with which I don’t
agree. Yet, sending my check and
paying my taxes is an act of faith. It
says that God is bringing order out of chaos -- even if I am skeptical and
cynical. So . . . even though I’m
free in Christ I’m still paying my taxes because in doing so I affirm that God
is bringing about his good in this world. (However,
let us be clear . . . paying taxes is an act of faith not an act of worship for
that is reserved for God alone!)
Even in this parenthetical conversation about submitting to the governing
authorities, Paul has reminded us time and again that authentic faith always
leads to obedience; to concrete action in this world.
Mature faith, rooted in the holy love of God, loves.
Loves God. Loves ones
neighbor.
Indeed, faith in Christ, rooted in the holy love of our Triune God, does
nothing that might compromise the content of the Gospel.
And Paul has gone to great lengths to clarify that message -- that
salvation is a work of God that is received by grace through faith.
Those who have received the free gift must never act in such a way that
might become a hindrance to that message.
That is, lawless behavior is not an option for grace energizes us to
fulfill the law of love. Lawlessness
is not an option for the Christian. And
that includes you and me -- so, as Paul says in verse seven -- it’s okay to go
ahead and pay your taxes for in doing so you are affirming that your God is a
God of order! “May
the LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face shine upon you and be
gracious to you; the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace” (Numbers 6:24-26).
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