The text this evening is from Paul’s first letter to Timothy, the second chapter:
First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.Thus far the text.
My dear friends in Christ,
The Revolutionary war, when neighbor fought against neighbor. The Civil War, when brother fought against brother. The fight for racial equality, which is still ongoing. The battle for women’s suffrage, which we just take for granted. Our country has a history of battling against each other. And, even today, we’re still as divided as ever. In some corners, even to say the name of our president, Donald Trump, is to invite groans and hisses. Of course, eight years ago, the name of our former president, Barack Obama, invited some of the same. We don’t really have a great history of getting along with people in our nation.
But that’s kind of the way of the world. The world likes to battle each other. It hasn’t ever really been any different. Nation rises against nation, people against people. We’re no different. We shouldn’t expect anything different. Even think of online social media. There’s a comic that goes around every so often where a guy is sitting at a computer and his wife asks him to do something. He responds with, “I can’t; someone’s wrong on the internet.” We want to be right, and we want to fight. It gives us a reason.
But Paul is trying to show us a better way, the way of Christ. It’s a life of quiet submission to all that is around us. It’s a life of praying for those who are in authority over us. It’s a life of thanking God for all the people He has put in our life, not just those whom we love, but those who are hard to love. And why? Because it is good when we’re quiet. It’s good when we live at peace with others. It’s good when we’re godly and dignified.
What does this mean? Well, first, you have to realize that all authority has been placed over you by God. Fathers and mothers, police and government, bosses and leaders. God has put all these authorities in your life to care for you, and, whether they’re doing a good job at that or not, because God has put them there, we are to ask God to bless them, pray for them, come to God on their behalf, and, this is the big one, thank God for them.
What of Hitler, I always get asked. Yes, God did put Hitler into power. God let him rise up in the German government, not for the purpose of murdering tens of millions of people, but that he would exercise the authority of the government for the good of the people of Germany and even the world. God put Hitler there, but Hitler abused that power so heinously that we have a hard time believing it. This is why the 20th century theologian, Dietrich Bonhoeffer had such a difficult time. A Lutheran pastor, trying to confess the truth of Scripture in its purity, saw Hitler’s attack on the Church and decried it. His sister married a Jewish man, and Bonhoeffer knew Hitler would soon come for them, too. When Bonhoeffer was given the opportunity to join a resistance group to try to assassinate Hitler, he was greatly troubled by it. To kill Hitler would protect millions and ensure that the Church could continue in the State without the Reich-worship. But to kill Hitler would also to violate the authority God had given to Hitler. We think it’s such a clear-cut case and, yes, we would kill Hitler, but it’s not that easy. Eventually, Bonhoeffer did attempt to do so, and got a bomb in a meeting with Hitler, but the bomb exploded on the wrong side of a thick, wooden table leg, merely giving him cuts and bruises. For his troubles, Bonhoeffer was executed right before Germany’s surrender, but it was a punishment Bonhoeffer knew was deserved, for he broke the law and was willing to pay the State for that trouble.
It’s a difficult thing, too, when we consider the American Revolution. Those patriots over 200 years ago decided to overthrown the English government in America, a rightful government ordained by God, as all governments are. But they cast off their shackles of taxation and rose up to fight, ultimately resulting in 25,000 deaths and England releasing the American colonies. We live in a wonderful country, with an amazing system of governance, but we were built on the back of the sin of breaking the fourth commandment.
We should honor our father and mother so that it goes well with us in the land. From this commandment, we see that all government comes through the authority of the family. And when we obey our families or our government, we are keeping this commandment well. Yes, we are called to obey God rather than men, so when the government places demands on us we cannot keep or else violate God’s commands, we must disobey them. But, until that time comes, we obey as much as we are able. That’s why these questions can be so difficult.
You can see then, if we as the Church could have such conflicted thoughts when these seemingly easy things comes up, why the world loves to fight when more difficult issues present themselves. Killing Hitler seems like a no brainer, but when a Christian theologian was actually presented with the opportunity, he struggled for months over it and was quite conflicted. We enjoy America as it is, it’s hard to call our founding something that was based on sin.
Paul isn’t advocating some sort of withdrawal from society, that we’re disengaged from that which is around us, but to be at peace with those who want to war. Christians in these conflicts should take care of the wounded, love the oppressed, serve those in need. And they have, and we always will. But it is hard. That’s why we pray for our government each week and those who protect us. We are working to be trained to go to God with our needs, with our concerns, and to learn to trust His care and provision for us through our government. But today, we also need mention that we give thanks for our government.
Now, we do live in America. Though we were founded through something that was morally dubious, God has ordained this government system, and even those whom we elect, to serve as our leaders. We are to obey them, hear them, pray for them, and give thanks for them. We give thanks to God for giving us such men and women, even the system of government we live under, for He has given them to us. When we give thanks, we learn to love those who serve us through their leadership and rule. When we give thanks, we learn to see who it is that has provided for us.
When you get a present, you write a thank-you note to the giver. If you don’t, it might be assumed by the giver you aren’t really thankful for it. When someone helps you, you thank them for holding the door, or carrying your groceries, otherwise it just feels like you’re taking advantage of another person. When we thank God for all He’s given us, we’re showing Him and ourselves and others, that we recognize the source. We thank God for food, which we truly enjoy. We thank God for breath and air and beauty and family and friends. When we thank God for those whom He has put over us, we are showing that we recognize His authority to rule us through them. It teaches us then to serve with the government and work with them, that we might indeed lead peaceful lives.
Moreover, it teaches how to see our neighbor. It teaches us to see that we’re all in the same boat. And it teaches us to see that we’re all in need of Jesus. God desires that all people would be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth of Jesus Christ. There is not one person for whom Christ did not die. When we are peace with our government, we’re not busy doing the wrong thing; we can be busy sharing Jesus with others. We should. Thanksgiving leads us to evangelism. It’s true. Not just by our lives, where people want to know why we can live so peaceably, which is a well-lived life, but, in that peace, in that quiet, in that dignity, we will be granted the opportunity, not to fight, but to share.
And what is it we share? We share the hope that we have in Jesus Christ, that God came in human flesh to bear my sin and be my Savior. So He has done for you. He has taken your sin and welcomed you into everlasting righteousness. He has given to you eternal life, life lived under the authority of God forever, life lived under the King of the Universe. We are to thank God for that, as well, and seeing His work in this world now prepares us for seeing Him as He is to be revealed in the world to come.
Indeed, thank God this day for all good gifts. Thank Him for the bounteous food He has given. Thank Him for good friends and family. Thank Him for our government and rulers, even as we pray for them and lift them up before God. And thank Him for Christ, whom He sent to bring you from the darkness of this rebellious world into His marvelous light. You are beloved by God, even where He has given you all things. Yet all these things fade away in the light of the Son, whom He has given to you to treasure. He is yours, thank God. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Now may the peace of God which passes all human understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord! Amen.
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