Mid-Lent 2
Table
of Duties:
Of Civil
Government;
Of Citizens
3/4/26
Can
a Christian be a soldier? At the time of the Reformation, those who were called
Anabaptists said that, no, I Christian can’t serve in this role because it
involves killing other people. In
response, Martin Luther described how God’s rule takes place in two different
but complimentary ways.
God’s
right hand rule occurs through the Gospel. It takes place through the
proclamation of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Church is the
means by which God carries out this work that gives forgiveness and eternal
life. There is no force or threat involved here. Luther objected to all
attempts that would coerce people into the Christian faith.
God’s
left hand rule occurs through the law. The government is the means by which God
carries out this work that retrains sin and wrongdoing. This has nothing to do
with the Gospel, for here force is the means that compels all who would
disobey. Luther emphasized that this
left hand rule was God at work, and so Christians can and should serve
in positions like being a soldier.
Last
week we heard about Pastors and Hearers. These were all vocations that were
directly tied to the Gospel. Tonight, we take up “Of Civil Government” and “Of
Citizens.” These by contract have nothing to do with the Gospel. But they do
involve the work of God. These topics are very straightforward. But they also confront us with challenging
questions – questions that the Christian faith answers in ways that are
different from the world.
The
Small Catechism’s Table of Duties
provides only one verse for the topic “Of Civil Government.” And to be honest it is really all that we
need. In Romans 13 Paul says, “Let every
person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority
except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore
whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who
resist will incur judgment.” Paul says
in a straightforward manner that governing authorities have been instituted by
God – he is the One who has provided them.
Since God put them there, to resist the governing authorities – the
civil government – is to resist God.
The role of the government is very
simple: it is to restrain wrongdoing and maintain order. Paul goes on to add: “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, 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.” Paul can even describe the government as “God’s
servant.”
Civil government exists because of
one reason: sin. It is the means God has
established to restrain and control evil. To understand how crucial this is,
consider what happened in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, or what we have
seen recently in Los Angeles and Minneapolis when crowds did not feel
constrained by police. The veneer of
civilization is a very thin one indeed.
When
given a chance, sinners will do terrible things. That is why God established
governing authorities. As Peter says in
the verse included under “Of Citizens”: “Be subject for the Lord's sake to
every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to
governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do
good.”
In
our present setting it is important to recognize that the Christian Church has
always understood that it is the role of the government to protect its citizens
by controlling the borders of a nation. It establishes laws about entry, and
enforces those laws. There will, of
course, be immigration and decisions about allowing entrance will seek to
balance the resources and well being of the nation with concern for the
outsider. But we must recognize that when government agents such as ICE enforce
the law in the proper manner, they are the instruments of God’s left hand rule.
The government is God’s
servant. The irony is that it plays this
role, even when the government itself rejects the idea of God; even when
individuals in the government do not believe there is a god. Remember, Paul wrote these words when the
government was the Roman Empire and the leader was the emperor Nero.
And
by the same token, since the government functions in this way, it is easy to
understand why it is entirely a God pleasing thing for Christians to serve in
the government, in the police, as corrections officers, and in the armed
forces. These are important vocations which carry out God’s work. With good reason Luther included good
government among the blessings listed under “daily bread” – life without a
functioning government is a frightening thing. Think of the disorder in a place
like Haiti.
Nothing is free, and so government
and what it does, costs money. From
ancient times, governments have raised money through taxes. The Roman world was
no different and so Paul went on to say in Romans 13: “Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath
but also for the sake of conscience. For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are
ministers of God, attending to this very thing. 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.” Paul told Christians to obey the authorities
God had placed over them,
and to do so by paying taxes. In saying
this, he was repeating Jesus’ own teaching when he said, “Give to Caesar what
is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”
Civil government is a great blessing
from God. It carries out a challenging
job as it restrains sin. And so Paul
said in 1 Timothy 2 that Christians are to pray for their leaders and
government as he wrote: “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.” When you were baptized, you became part of
the royal priesthood of God’s people. And part of your priestly service is
prayer. Certainly we do this together in the Divine Service each week. But prayer for our government and leaders
needs to be part of your daily life as well.
As
we think about Paul’s words regarding civil government, we see that in the
apostle’s death we learn something that we must consider as well. Paul probably wrote the words of Romans 13
during the first five years of Emperor Nero’s rule. They were good years as he was guided by his
teacher, the Stoic philosopher Seneca. However, as an unstable individual, Nero
eventually turned on Seneca and forced him to commit suicide. Nero’s rule soon descended into madness and
injustice. Before it was done he was having Christians burned as torches at
night. Paul himself was martyred.
Civil
government itself can be warped by sin into something that does wrong. It can become something that commands things
that are contrary to God’s will. When
this happens, the apostles were clear as to how Christians respond when they
said, “We must obey God rather than man.”
When
this happens, we are called to suffer. True, we work as citizens in our form of
government to bring about change. But
where this does not succeed, we are willing to suffer for what is true according
to God’s will. In the same chapter of 1
Peter in which the verse in the Table of Duties is found, Peter goes on to say
to slaves: “But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a
gracious thing in the sight of God. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for
you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he
did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.”
Our
Lord Jesus died on the cross and rose from the dead in order to win for us
forgiveness and eternal life. But Peter describes how his death does something
else. Jesus’ suffering provides a model for us by which he teaches us to
entrust ourselves to God. Now this is
not a model that we want. We don’t want to experience injustice. We don’t want to be wronged and harmed. But
Jesus is also the reason that we are
able to do this. The Holy Spirit who created faith in Jesus also enables us to
walk in faith. Christ’s death and
resurrection for us is the reason that
we know we can trust God in the midst of any circumstance. God the Father has
revealed his love and care in the death and resurrection of his Son. And
therefore we are able to trust him in the midst of all challenges.
Civil
government is a great blessing from God.
It restrains sin and allows us to live in peace. Our vocation as citizens is to obey the
government, pay our taxes, and pray for those who govern us. Yet when the government acts unjustly, or
when it commands things that violate God’s will, we are called to follow our
Lord in entrusting ourselves to God in the midst of suffering when he allows it. We do this knowing that, just as for our
Lord, this way leads to life and resurrection for us.
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