God's Gift of Government

Jesu Juva

Romans 13:1-7                                           

September 6, 2026

Proper 18A            

Dear saints of our Savior~

        When was the last time you heard something uplifting and encouraging concerning politics and government?  It’s no secret that many people hold fiercely negative opinions concerning those who hold civil authority.  Corruption, partisanship, and power plays seem to make daily headlines.  Lies, lies, and more lies.  It’s such a discouraging mess that many Christians just tune it out.

        But do you know that government is a good and necessary gift from God?  Ever since the fall into sin, God’s gift of government has been a necessary remedy for human depravity.  The first and foremost function of government is to hold sin in check.  That’s the primary point made by today’s epistle reading from Romans 13.

        Here the Apostle Paul give us a lesson in Christian civics—a primer on politics for the people of God.  And, boy, do we need it.  For regardless of your political persuasion, you’re not going to like everything you hear about government in Romans 13.  These words remind us that we Christians are called to live in ways that don’t come naturally—to do things that aren’t pleasant (like paying taxes and submitting ourselves to the governing authorities).  It’s not natural.  It’s not easy.  And you can’t do it without the help of God and the mind of Christ.

        Paul was writing to the Christians in Rome.  And Rome, in those days, was the seat of government for most of the civilized world—a place where power and politics permeated every aspect of life.  Hear these words from Romans 13: 

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. . . . 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. Therefore, one must be in subjection . . .  

 

        “Subjection” and “submission” are words that, by nature, we can’t stand to hear.  That’s because the Old Adam inside each of us is a natural-born anarchist who recognizes no authority other than his own selfish ambitions.  The same Old Adam who rebels against God’s laws, is even quicker to thumb his nose at human laws.  He wants to “burn it all down.”  By nature we hate government.  We hate rules and submission.  Even as baptized believers, we can never completely rid ourselves of the rebel inside.

        This is precisely why God has given us the gift of government.  And government is a gift.  The same God who gives clothing and shoes, food and drink, house and home, wife and children—that God also gives government.  According to the Catechism, good government is one of the things we ask for every time we pray, “Give us this day our daily bread.”  When we pray that petition, Luther writes in the Large Catechism that we are asking God to endow our earthly rulers and government officials, “with wisdom, strength and prosperity to govern well and to be victorious over . . . all our enemies” (LC III, 77).  Without good government, daily bread can quickly become scarce.

        Government is a good gift from God, designed to keep order and peace, to protect us, to resolve disputes, and to curb the rebel inside all of us.  Even if the whole world were church-going, Bible-believing Christians, we would still need a government to order and regulate our life together.  That’s because we are both saints and sinners at the same time until we depart this world in peace.

        However, don’t expect too much from the government.  The government isn’t God.  Our earthly rulers are God’s servants (whether they know it or not).  Behind every parking ticket and every fine—behind every just verdict and court decision—behind every prison sentence and death sentence stands the God of heaven and earth—punishing evildoers through our public servants.  They do not "bear the sword" in vain.

        Our form of government is rather unique in the history of the world:  of the people, by the people, for the people.  (We just celebrated 250 years).  There was nothing like it in the world when Paul wrote the book of Romans.  At that time, Nero was the Roman Emperor.  Late in his reign, Nero took to persecuting Christians to improve his poll numbers.  Under Nero, Saint Paul was beheaded, and Saint Peter was crucified upside down. No one made more martyrs than Nero.  Yet somehow, mysteriously, Nero was also God’s servant.

        When our elected leaders abuse or misuse their God-given authority, we can peacefully get rid of them via the voting booth and put others in their place.  Our founding fathers understood human sinfulness; and wisely didn’t place absolute authority into the hands of but one person.  They divided that authority between three branches of government and let them fight it out—sometimes to the point of gridlock.  And “gridlock” isn’t always a bad thing.  Communists in the Soviet Union and Nazis in Germany had no gridlock whatsoever.  And that “efficiency” led to mass starvation and to the slaughter of human beings on an unprecedented scale.  There are far worse things than gridlock and government shutdowns.

        God’s Word tells us what the purpose of government is:  to punish evil-doers and reward those who do good.  We must keep our expectations of government simple and Scriptural.  God didn’t give government to save us—to bail us out of every difficulty.  As the Psalm says, “Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation” (Ps. 146:3).   The idolatry of government—making government or any elected official into an idol—let’s just say it always ends badly.

        So, what does the Christian life look like with respect to the government?  It means that we pay taxes and revenue to whom it is due.  Who would have thought that filing your Form1040 is actually an expression of your faith in Jesus Christ?  When we show respect and honor to our rulers we are showing respect and honor to God.  When we dishonor and disrespect our governing authorities we dishonor and disrespect God.  As children of God, we also remember our rulers in prayer.  And we regularly do that right here—we pray for Donald our president, Tony our governor, and all who rule over us.  If we don’t pray for them, who will?

        Christians are always obedient to their rulers and laws—with only one exception (AC XVI:7).  When the government forces or coerces us to sin—to act or to speak in ways contrary to God’s commandments—well, then we can only confess together with the apostles, “We must obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29). 

        As a true man, Jesus taught us what it means to submit to the governing authorities.  Jesus perfectly obeyed the laws of His land.  He perfectly honored His mother and father—and every other authority placed over Him.  Jesus rendered to Caesar what was Caesar’s.  It was intrusive government and taxation that caused Mary and Joseph to journey to Bethlehem where Jesus was born.  Jesus was crucified under Pontius Pilate—the Roman governor who was Caesar’s local representative.  God used it all—government, rulers, partisan politics—used it for the salvation of the world—for the forgiveness of your sins.  Jesus was executed by the state—along with two evil-doers—bearing your sin, suffering your punishment, paying the penalty for your idolatry—a debt that you could never pay for yourself.

        Jesus didn’t try to change the world through government.  Nor did He try to overthrow the government.  We follow Jesus’ example.  We’re not looking to build a Christian nation, or to establish the kingdom of God on earth.  That’s because we are in the world but not of the world.  We live temporarily in this world as citizens of the United States.  But our permanent citizenship is in heaven (Php. 3:20).  Heaven is our home.  Jesus is preparing a place for you there with Him.  We pray for our leaders here on earth, never forgetting that Jesus is King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and at His name every knee will one day bow (Php. 2:10).

        We are but pilgrims here—on our way home, but not there yet.  This country is our temporary home.  We pray for it, vote in its elections, and pay our taxes.  Christians are by definition good citizens—the very best.  At the same time, we know that all the kingdoms of the world (including this one) will one day crumble.  Governments will end and all the rulers of the earth will be silenced before the crucified and risen king.  His crown is of thorns.  His throne is a cross. And His glorious kingdom is your eternal home. 

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.