A Civil Religion?
Notes
Transcript
But when it was day, the magistrates sent the police, saying, “Let those men go.” And the jailer reported these words to Paul, saying, “The magistrates have sent to let you go. Therefore come out now and go in peace.” But Paul said to them, “They have beaten us publicly, uncondemned, men who are Roman citizens, and have thrown us into prison; and do they now throw us out secretly? No! Let them come themselves and take us out.” The police reported these words to the magistrates, and they were afraid when they heard that they were Roman citizens. So they came and apologized to them. And they took them out and asked them to leave the city. So they went out of the prison and visited Lydia. And when they had seen the brothers, they encouraged them and departed.
Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. And Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ.” And some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a great many of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women. But the Jews were jealous, and taking some wicked men of the rabble, they formed a mob, set the city in an uproar, and attacked the house of Jason, seeking to bring them out to the crowd. And when they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city authorities, shouting, “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also, and Jason has received them, and they are all acting against the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus.” And the people and the city authorities were disturbed when they heard these things. And when they had taken money as security from Jason and the rest, they let them go.
The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived they went into the Jewish synagogue. Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. Many of them therefore believed, with not a few Greek women of high standing as well as men. But when the Jews from Thessalonica learned that the word of God was proclaimed by Paul at Berea also, they came there too, agitating and stirring up the crowds. Then the brothers immediately sent Paul off on his way to the sea, but Silas and Timothy remained there. Those who conducted Paul brought him as far as Athens, and after receiving a command for Silas and Timothy to come to him as soon as possible, they departed.
We are in the middle of Paul’s second missionary journey. He was accompanied, at this point, by Silas, Timothy, and likely Luke. They were about 1,000 miles to the west northwest of Jerusalem. To get here, we’ve read how Paul had a dream and God had funneled them toward Macedonia, or modern-day Greece. Today’s reading starts at the star in the middle of the map, if you can see it, the city of Philippi. It’s believed Luke may have stayed behind there. From Philippi, Paul ministered in Thessalonica, the next star over to the west, and then a short distance farther, the city of Berea. Remember, our group has been in Philippi for some time, but we last time we were here, we heard Paul and Silas were in jail for “disturbing the peace.” At night, they were miraculously freed, but kept the jailer from killing himself and preached the gospel for he and his family’s salvation. These two were still considered imprisoned, though, and then this happened.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, back in March, I think it was our last Sunday before we went to online-only worship services, we looked at a couple amendments of the United States Constitution. I want to return our attention to that document today, to think about one of the most cherished amendments for American Christians, the first amendment. It begins, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…”
We begin this morning in a bit of an unusual place, but hopefully it makes sense as we go. We’re looking at the status of Christianity in America. As we just celebrated the 4th of July, we usually think about the year 1776. 244 years ago, the Declaration of Independence was signed. The Constitution was ratified in 1787; the first amendment along with the rest of the Bill of the Rights in 1791. In terms of being an official nation, that’s not that long ago. Yet, to really go back to the first settlers on American soil in what we know today as the lower 48 states, we go back 455 years to 1565. Decades before the Mayflower came to Plymouth Rock, there were already immigrant settlements in Florida.
I bring that timeline up to remind us that there were over 200 years of immigrant history on American soil that factored into the culture and drafting of these founding documents for our country. We can add to that, of course, the history and the relationships with the native populations that were already here. When we think about the founding of our country and the documents that come from 1770s on, it wasn’t just the ideas of the well-known founding fathers or of the 13 colonies in their day. There were multiple generations of immigrants and residents when these ideals were put forth.
So, we have to remember their context—for most, it went back to Europe. In Europe, individual countries and regions laid claim to specific religious traditions and held expectations for their citizens. We’re not talking about a variety of religions with all different gods, but rather identifying as Catholic or Protestant and the division that entailed coming out of the Reformation era. Many of us were probably taught how at least some immigrants in that period braved the trip across the Atlantic and the unknowns of this land seeking freedom from religious persecution.
When the first amendment was put forth, its opening words were protecting against that. Congress, those who create the laws of the land, cannot make laws about an establishment of religion nor can they prohibit the free practicing of religions among citizens. Of course, that’s been interpreted and challenged in different ways throughout our country’s history. We have the language of “the separation of church and state,” which isn’t in in the Constitution, but which some of its signors at least connected to it. Essentially, one’s religious beliefs should stay personal and uninfringed by the government. Churches’ leaders shouldn’t be looked to as political authorities.
In 1971, maybe some of you remember how things were around then, there was the Lemon v. Kurtzman Supreme Court case. The court determined the provision of state funds for non-public, non-secular schools—so private, including religious schools—is allowed, but they “must pass a three-pronged test.” To not infringe on or violate the first amendment” “The statute must have a secular legislative purpose, its principal or primary effect must be one that neither promotes nor inhibits religion, and it must not foster ‘excessive government entanglement with religion.’”
Maybe you saw this week how the Supreme Court issued two more decisions that impact religious institutions. In the Little Sisters of the Poor case, which has been drawn out over the last several years in different courts, the majority of the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that with regard to the Affordable Care Act, exemptions can be given that do not require employers with religious or conscientious objections to the funding or provisions of contraceptives to provide coverage for those services. Employers do not have to provide coverage for birth control medications and others which induce abortion. The other ruling from this week supports the freedom of private, religious schools to expect particular religious beliefs to be held or taught by their faculty, and schools can hire or fire based on those expectations without necessarily being accused of discrimination.
There is a tricky balance here in the United States between politics and the practice of religion. While Christian citizens enjoy the freedom to practice our faith without much of the fear and hostility that exists in other parts of the world, Christianity cannot be declared the official national religion. While our faith may have been the dominant religion around our nation’s founding and has tended throughout our history to be the religion that most Americans associate with, the first amendment permits and protects people of other faiths to practice equally.
Some of you and many American Christians feel very strongly about being a nation “under God,” and understanding that God to be our God, the one true God. As we look at denominations and who we’re willing to associate with and who we agree with when it comes to beliefs—there can be a question of who do some people claiming Christianity actually believe in? Yet because of the freedom American citizens have and that Congress cannot infringe on them, those who follow a different god or faith, or no God, while we may say they’re wrong—their arguments go back to some of this. It’s complicated when it comes to practice. If a religion was built around murder or violence, criminal law would probably still outweigh religious freedom; yet certain practices, which are illegal otherwise, have been allowed for some groups by religious exemptions. The status of Christianity in America is one religion among many. Despite it’s being frequently seen or alluded to by politicians and lobbyists and citizens, it’s in a bit of a confusing place.
Let’s return to God’s word, and consider the status of Christianity in the ancient world, particularly Macedonia. Unlike the sentiment we might hear or use today of being a “Christian nation,” there was no categorization like that back then. Christianity and Christians were in the minority in the population and cultures. As we’ve worked through Acts and the variety of places the early church went, we keep hearing how groups of people in certain places accepted the gospel hospitably and without any recorded persecution. Other places, though, like Philippi and Thessalonica, there was persecution, either by individuals or authorities. In some places, like Berea, where there hadn’t been persecution, people from other cities came to cause trouble.
That trouble often tangled with the “civil”—that which has to do with citizens, their rights, and laws. At the end of chapter 16, Paul essentially accused the magistrates and officers of breaking the law while trying to deal with their alleged lawbreaking. As Roman citizens, they hadn’t been treated fairly, according to their rights. Every commentary I looked at alluded to the reason for Paul doing that was not vindictive or out of spite, but this connection might provide some protection for the church he had started there. We also heard in Acts 17 verse 7, the charge against the missionaries, “‘These men who have caused trouble all over the world have now come here…They are defying Caesar’s decrees, saying that there is another king, one called Jesus.’”
That is how the church looked at Jesus in that day and how those outside of the faith were hearing and interpreting the gospel. Christians believed Jesus was their king, he reigns, and he has a kingdom. Whatever our mindset or our leanings politically or how engaged we are, we cannot forget or neglect this understanding of who Jesus is. Jesus is king is true for all of history. Perhaps we think back to Jesus’ birth, when Herod was seeking to snuff out any potential rival king; he wanted to kill the baby boys and specifically to kill Jesus. God protected his Son, though, and after ascending, Jesus rules with authority that belongs to him alone and cannot be taken from him.
This repetitive conflict of Christians and the essentials of our faith against the kingdoms and politics of this world are not new to our day or our country. There have long been entanglements for what it means to be dual citizens. That is what we are, dual citizens, citizens of heaven and, for now, of earth. Before we go any further, we must understand throughout the New Testament period, to be under King Jesus is not tied to our nation or state or any other entity.
When we look at the Old Testament, God’s covenant relationship with Israel did involve their national identity. He governed their politics directly. He set the codes and laws for their lives and communities. He did that there as he did and has done in no other place. When Jesus came, no nation can and should claim that they’ve taken Old Testament Israel’s place. There is not a new Israel that can be assumed or proclaimed the way God had committed to those people in the past. That is because the new Israel is the global church. Christianity belongs to Jesus and his redeemed wherever they are located and whoever they are ruled by.
So, we come now to our final point, the question: Is Christianity a civil religion? Is it a religion or faith that belongs to the people of a political location or grouping? Is it a faith that a particular government can say, “This is ours, conform to our beliefs or get out”? The answer is no. Can a nation be governed by Christian principles? Yes. By teachings or even laws proclaimed in Scripture? Yes, that would be good! God’s laws are for our benefit, the way things are supposed to be. But is our nation, the U.S.A., or any nation today or in the future able to say that because of our national or political or kingdom identity, the one true God is ours and we are his? No.
Brothers and sisters, I know this may ruffle some feathers, perhaps there’s something clenching your heart and mind and voice because you’ve been taught or looked at things a particular way for so long. Perhaps my words sound like what some have in the last year started calling “communist” or “Marxist.” But again, consider what we’re finding in Acts 16 and 17 and the surrounding chapters of Scripture. Christianity isn’t just a religious practice; it is true faith. That is the purpose that it is meant for, by God. This cannot be sanctioned by our government or any government. No human authority or government has ever had the ability to tell people what to believe, and truly expect or assume that their assent is true faith.
The reason the gospel spread, why some we’re willing to listen unto salvation, willing to reason and hear the explanation and be persuaded by the proofs of the Bible and the testimony of Jesus Christ was not because they were citizens of Macedonia or any other country or background. It wasn’t because they were under any specific government. Maybe the noble-ness of the Bereans was a personality trait that made them more pleasant to be around as the gospel was preached, but the word of God spread and took root and flourished in peoples’ lives, for their justification and sanctification, for their salvation only by the Holy Spirit.
For some nations, under certain government types, Christian citizens can sometimes be identified as good or ideal citizens. None of what’s been said this morning is to take our beliefs away from how we live our lives, how we vote, what we encourage citizens or the government to do. Understanding the law of whatever community or state or country or kingdom we may live in, we can petition for things that make sense with the Christian faith, that align with God’s commands in Scripture. At times that may mean that we’re encouraging things that we know likely are or aren’t going to pass. At times, we may fight asking God to intervene and accomplish his will.
Yet were we to face persecution for our faith in America or another place we might hold citizenship, or elsewhere, that shouldn’t cause us to lose hope in God. While we may profess that the role of earthly leaders is to govern justly, wisely, righteously, and mercifully, whether or not they bear the faith that we profess, we must remember that they are not God. The President of the United States, the Prime Minister of Great Britain, a king or queen, a dictator, none of them in any country are anointed to that role in the same way that Israel’s kings were. God has appointed authority, but he is our King.
So, whether earthly rulers consciously lead in a way that we approve of and encourage or the direction of our nation goes against what we believe is most honoring to God, the civil authorities are not who we should cling to. What and who does your religion cause you to seek after? It’s not any political system or party that should be on the primary throne of our lives. Our World Belongs to God states in paragraphs 52 and 53, “We obey God first; we respect the authorities that rule, for they are established by God: we pray for our rulers, and we work to influence governments—resisting them only when Christ and conscience demand. We are thankful for the freedoms enjoyed by citizens of many lands; we grieve with those who live under oppression, and we seek for them the liberty to live without fear.” “We call on all governments to do public justice and to protect the rights and freedoms of individuals, groups, and institutions so that each may do their tasks…”
This brothers and sisters ought to inform our outlook as Christians who are citizens of a country that has given us great freedom to practice our faith. We don’t have to hide. We don’t have to fear. Let us honor the authorities whether we feel justly or unjustly treated, but may we never come to a point of placing our nation or certain rulers the place that Jesus the King alone holds and deserves. Amen.