Romans 14:1-12
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Prayer - City of Sumner
This month we are united in prayer for our city. And since our passage this morning has to do with government, we’re going to spend time praying for those in authority in our city.
Prayer for Mayor Kathy Hayden, city council, and those who work for the city.
Prayer for Police officers - protection, perseverance, wisdom, strength.
Intro
I feel inadequate to preach on such a big topic.
Let’s just skip this one and talk about something easy like sex.
I need the Lord’s help to speak his words and we all need his help to hear him this morning would you pray with me.
Lord your word says that the grass withers and the flowers fade, but the word of the lord stands forever.
There are millions of hours of political content we could find on the internet or on cable to hear about how we should engage politically in 2025.
And yet we have your word with us this morning that has outlasted and will outlast any human opinion.
Help us hear you.
Help us love you in the midst of competing affections.
Help us obey you.
I did some quick math this week and I believe I said the pledge of allegiance roughly 2,000 times growing up.
I grew up in public school. Anybody else?
Maybe you were in home school and I don’t know what you guys were doing - but the bell would sound, someone would come over the intercom and we would say the pledge of allegiance.
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america…for to the republic for which it stands…
How easy was that for you?
It rolls off the tongue.
The pledge of allegiance is set in my mind.
And I’m thankful.
Both my grandpa’s were veterans, one was 18 when he was in Germany and after the Battle of the Bulge he helped build the fences around the German POW camp.
I’m thankful we can worship here freely without fear of the government shutting us down.
Michael and Amanda Eash are getting ready to head to a country in West Africa to serve as missionaries where that is not the case.
It’s a dangerous calling and that’s why we are partnering with them to support them.
Paul’s words to the Roman church in Romans chapter 13 create tension, don’t they?
All governments have been instituted by God. All of them?
Whoever resists the authorities resist God. Really? What about protests? Can we never push back against the government?
We’re calling our series through Romans 12-15 Gospel Culture.
What does the gospel look like in every day life for us, namely as citizens of Sumner, Bonney Lake, Enumclaw, Puyallup, and the United States of America?
What does gospel culture look like in our political climate?
As we study Romans 13:1-7, we will hear that we submit to the government because we pledge allegiance to the King.
We submit to the government because we pledge allegiance to the king.
So we’ll see Paul sets up a main point in verse 1 - we submit to the government, and then gives us three reasons why.
A main point and then three reasons.
And then we’re going to end with a question.
Body
1 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities.
We are not reading government propaganda. This is divinely inspired Scripture.
We’re studying Romans 12-15, which is a sequel to our series in January where we studied Judges.
Judges was all about what happens when God’s people do what’s right in their own eyes and forsake God as their king.
But now the heavenly king has come. And so has his heavenly kingdom. It’s invading earth.
This is the gospel. And we want it shape every part of our life together. Hence, we’re calling this series gospel culture.
So, what does gospel culture have to do with politics?
Well, like us, the Roman church was diverse.
There were different people from different backgrounds and different perspectives on life.
And this is God’s design! Diversity is a gift.
And so do you think Jews and Gentiles viewed the Roman government a little differently?
Picture a Jewish mother in the Roman church - for the last few generations of Jewish people - they’ve viewed the Romans as the ultimate evil. For those Jews who don’t follow Jesus - they’re still waiting for the Messiah to come and kill the Romans!
If you read the gospels, you know the Jews did not enjoy being occupied by the Romans. They didn’t want to pay taxes. The Jewish prayed for a military leader who would help organize a violent revolution against the Romans. Some were called Zealots - Jesus even had one as a disciple. Jesus had a diverse political group in his own followers.
Picture a Greek woman in the Roman church - I imagine she doesn’t see Nero and company in the same light as her Jewish sister in Christ. Do you think their different perspectives might cause trouble in creating gospel culture?
Has anyone here not had relationships changed and broken because of politics in the last 5 years?
What does gospel culture have to do with politics? A lot. Even though we’re people of heaven, we still live on earth amidst the authorities on earth.
The last verse of chapter 12 was a command to not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
This applies to evil governments. Like Nero. Caligula. Pilate.
Wouldn’t you expect the gospel - the news of God’s heavenly kingdom invading earth - to lead us to revolution? It does, just a different kind.
1 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities.
Every person
Literally, all souls.
No exceptions.
Not just Jews. Not just Americans.
Everyone. Just as we were commanding to let love be genuine, now we are to let every person…
Be subject
Submit. Lower yourself.
I always picture the king from Hamilton here - my sweet submissive subjects, my loyal, royal subjects.
We don’t use this word but it’s the idea that an employee is subject to an employer. The first baseman is subordinate to the manager. Students are to be subject to the teacher. Citizens are subject to…
Governing authorities
The good ones? Just says the ones that are.
The powers that be.
In gospel culture, we submit to the government.
That raises a lot of questions, doesn’t it.
What about when the government tells us to disobey God?
Does that mean we can never speak up against evil?
Is Paul just blinded by his own Roman citizenship?
What about when the government is evil and kills innocent people?
We submit to the government, and Paul gives us three reasons.
Reason 1 - We submit to the government because we pledge allegiance to the King.
For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.
God is the source of all authority.
There is no separate source of power.
We pledge our allegiance to him.
There is no rival entity that can create power on it’s own.
Before we deal with the confusing parts, let’s sit with the comfort here - no evil regime, government, or authority, is outside God’s sovereign control. He is not threatened by it or worried about it.
This would be just as true if Kamala Harris were president.
It will be true in 2028. Jesus reigns.
But this is a staggering statement.
All authorities - governments, republics, monarchies, oligarchies, have been determined, chosen, put there by God.
Hitler? Putin?
Let’s remember that God used King Nebuchadnezzar from Babylon - incredibly evil leader - to discipline his sinful people.
God put Caesar in power and Pilate in power so that Jesus would be wrongfully convicted as a criminal and die for our sins.
11 Jesus answered him, “You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above….
Rather than being angry by the people in power and question, “How could God allow such evil people to have power in our world?” We can pray, ‘Jesus, you reign. I don’t know what you’re up to. Please help me trust you.’
Therefore…
If we resist the government, we are in essence, resisting God and will receive judgment.
We’ll talk about this more in a second but I believe this resistance has more to do with violent rebellion than never speaking truth to those in authority.
The kingdom of heaven has invaded earth, but we are not to load our guns.
This both raises and lowers the place of government in the life of a Christian.
It raises it because it reminds us that we are beneath the government.
God has put the government above us. That is his design. It has power over us because God made it that way.
It lowers government because we’re reminded that no human leader is above God. No matter who wins an election, Jesus reigns.
We are to submit to the government as a sign that we pledge allegiance to the king.
Paul wasn’t the only one to say this. He’s not blinded by his Roman patriotism.
Another apostle, Peter, who did not always see eye to eye with Paul on everything said this -
13 Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme,
1 Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work,
This is a clear teaching in the New Testament to submit to the government as a witness to the King.
By the way - this is why during COVID we asked you to wear masks.
To pledge allegiance to the king, we submitted the government.
But we live in a society that values free speech, does that mean we can never peacefully resist?
Paul is not speaking to a Roman church that would have the option of peaceful protest. It was either take up arms, or submit.
And given those choices, Paul says submit and trust God.
But as we’ll see of Jesus in John 18 and 19 later, we as Christians ought to be ready to speak truth when confronted by evil governments.
And we live in America where we can vote, we can protest, we can speak out against injustice. And Paul said earlier, if possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.
The January 6th takeover of the White House was sinful and against God’s will in Scripture.
Violent revolution is not the way of Jesus.
What about when the government commands us to disobey God?
Rahab lied to the government when they asked her to give up the Jewish spies.
Daniel continued to pray to God when it was against the law.
In Acts 5, the authorities commanded Peter and the apostles to stop preaching the gospel.
Peter said - we must obey God rather than men.
We pledge allegiance to the king, first and foremost. And there are instances where the King’s will and the government’s will will be opposed. And so we, as Paul says in Romans 12, we need to renew our minds so that we know God’s will and can discern when that moment arises.
And if we are called to obey God rather than the government, it may cost us. And Paul will go on to say in Romans 14, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.
Why do we submit to the government? Because we pledge allegiance to the source of all power, the King.
People love to be government watchdogs in 2025. We talk about politics to no end.
As Christians, we don’t stare at screens and watch the government, we watch Jesus. We talk about him to no end.
And our King died at the hands of an unjust government.
He died under the thumb of Rome. And now Jesus is alive and Rome has been thumbless for 1700 years.
We submit to the government because (first reason) we pledge allegiance to the king. Second reason…
Reason 2 - it is God’s servant for our good.
3 For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, 4 for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience.
Political leaders are given their power to stop wrongdoing.
By and large, if you are an upstanding citizen, paying your taxes and not harming others, the government is not going to come after you.
But, if you are a thief, a murderer, then God has designed governments and given them power to stop evil.
Whether it’s in 2025, or AD 1025, if you murder someone or steal from your neighbor, there are leaders in place who will come and get you.
Human authority is a gift from God to stop evil and to carry out God’s anger on injustice.
It’s our job to be citizens who do good, and the government’s job to do it’s part in limiting evil.
And, as Christians, we should not only want to do good to avoid, punishment, but because of our conscience. Because of the Holy Spirit, we should be people who want to do good!
But what about when the government is not only a terror to bad conduct, but also to good?
What about when the authorities give their approval to evil?
It’s not our job to be government watchdogs, but to know our Bibles and our God closely so we can preach the truth to ourselves and others.
And since we live in a free country, we can use our free speech to speak out, without violent resistance that Paul condemns.
Paul is speaking to a Roman church that was likely under the reign of Nero, a man who killed Christians for sport.
Even in that environment, gospel culture means being godly citizens.
And even though the Roman government persecuted Christians and condemned Christ, Paul is saying that’s not a license for evil behavior.
We want the government to promote justice.
But sometimes it doesn’t.
And we remember that the church flourishes under persecution.
Our King was killed by his government.
Paul will say in chapter 14 of Romans - whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s.
By and large, we submit to the government because it’s a servant for our good.
Why submit to the government?
Because it’s a servant of God for our good.
Jews and Gentiles didn’t agree on politics just as much as we don’t. But Paul is saying, regardless of your stance, gospel culture is about doing good for the community, because God has created government to restrain evil.
We submit to the government because we pledge allegiance to the king and because it is God’s servant for our good. Third reason
We owe it to them.
6 For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. 7 Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.
The Roman world said Caesar is Lord.
But Christians said Jesus is Lord.
Well, if Caesar isn’t Lord, why pay taxes to him?d
If anyone had a right to skip taxes, it was Jesus.
15 Then the Pharisees went and plotted how to entangle him in his words. 16 And they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are true and teach the way of God truthfully, and you do not care about anyone’s opinion, for you are not swayed by appearances. 17 Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” 18 But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why put me to the test, you hypocrites? 19 Show me the coin for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius. 20 And Jesus said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” 21 They said, “Caesar’s.” Then he said to them, “Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” 22 When they heard it, they marveled. And they left him and went away.
Jesus pays taxes to the men that will kill him. He funds his own execution.
If anyone had a right to say - I don’t owe you anything, it was him.
Paul was writing to Jews who were mad at the government.
They hated the Roman government.
And Paul is saying no matter how frustrated you may be - since Jesus paid his taxes, we should too.
We owe it to them.
Gospel culture means pledging allegiance to our king and remembering that he has given some of his heavenly authority to earthly leaders who deserve not just taxes, but our respect and honor.
We are to be people who fulfill our obligations as citizens.
What does this look like in Sumner, Bonney Lake, Puyallup, Orting?
Brian Doherty has walked thousands of miles cleaning trash in Sumner.
We want to pay our taxes because people like Scott Waller - leads the planning department for the city of Sumner. And we want Scott to make godly, wise decisions with adequate resources for the good of the people of Sumner.Gospel culture looks like living like godly citizens.
People with godly character.
Conclusion
We submit to the government because we pledge allegiance to the king, because it is God’s servant for our good, and we owe it to them.
I want to end with this question:
Who gets your allegiance?
Is it a political party? Is it an ideology? Is it yourself? Is it Jesus? Who gets your allegiance?
Jesus himself can empathize with us as we walk into the tension of this passage.
In John 18 and 19, Jesus stepped before Pontius Pilate, a man of great authority, who had the power of life and death in his hands.
Let’s read some of this passage together this morning.
Jesus has been betrayed by his friend and taken by the Jewish authorities to Pilate because they want him crucified, but the Jews can’t do that on their own power, they need Rome to do that.
33 So Pilate entered his headquarters again and called Jesus and said to him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” 34 Jesus answered, “Do you say this of your own accord, or did others say it to you about me?” 35 Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you over to me. What have you done?” 36 Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.” 37 Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” 38 Pilate said to him, “What is truth?”
After he had said this, he went back outside to the Jews and told them, “I find no guilt in him.
Later in chapter 19
6 When the chief priests and the officers saw him, they cried out, “Crucify him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and crucify him, for I find no guilt in him.” 7 The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he has made himself the Son of God.” 8 When Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid. 9 He entered his headquarters again and said to Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus gave him no answer. 10 So Pilate said to him, “You will not speak to me? Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you?” 11 Jesus answered him, “You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above. Therefore he who delivered me over to you has the greater sin.”
12 From then on Pilate sought to release him, but the Jews cried out, “If you release this man, you are not Caesar’s friend. Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar.” 13 So when Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called The Stone Pavement, and in Aramaic Gabbatha. 14 Now it was the day of Preparation of the Passover. It was about the sixth hour. He said to the Jews, “Behold your King!” 15 They cried out, “Away with him, away with him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar.” 16 So he delivered him over to them to be crucified.
Who gets your allegiance?
Jesus knows the tension of this question.
He submitted to the government because he pledged allegiance to the Father.
His death looked like a loss, but it was really his greatest achievement.
Jesus did not resist, did not speak a disrespectful word.
He submitted, pledged allegiance to his Father, and now reigns as king.
Who gets your allegiance?
Behold your king - who knows the difficulty of submitting to sinful and evil government.
But who also says take heart, for I have overcome them.
Have you given your faith, your trust, your love, to this king?
I want this passage to be in my mind and heart as I sit down with TurboTax in the near future.
That I would do my job as a citizen with my gaze pointed higher to the real king.
What would it look like for you to live as a godly citizen?
Maybe you need to remember that even within the church, where we - like the Romans, disagree on politics, we’re on the same team because we are those who give our allegiance to the King.
Would people be able to tell we give our allegiance to Jesus by the way we talk about politics?
We pledge allegiance to the king, and so we submit to earthly governments.
I said the pledge of allegiance nearly 2,000 times growing up.
And that shapes you.
We are to be shaped in our minds by God and present ourselves as living sacrifices for him.
How do we do that?
Well one way the church has done that for thousands of years is through the creeds.
Words that we recite in faith to renew our minds and remind us who we give our allegiance to.
So this morning we’re going to stand and recite the Apostles Creed this morning.
I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit
and born of the virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to hell.
The third day he rose again from the dead.
He ascended to heaven
and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty.
From there he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic* church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.
Communion
Benediction
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