Today's scripture reading is from Romans 13, 1 through 7, and it's page 977 in the
Bibles in the back of the pews.
Let everyone submit to the governing authorities, since there is no authority except from God.
And the authorities that exist are instituted by God.
So then, the one who resists the authority is opposing God's command, and those who oppose
it will bring judgment on themselves.
Your rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad.
Do you want to be unafraid of the one in authority?
Do what is good, and you will have its approval.
For it is God's servant for your good.
But if you do wrong, be afraid, because it does not carry the sword for no reason.
For it is God's servant, an avenger that brings wrath on the one who does wrong.
Therefore, you must submit not only because of wrath, but also because of your conscience.
And for this reason, you pay taxes, since the authorities are God's servants.
Continually attend to these tasks.
Pay your obligations to everyone.
Taxes to those who owe taxes, tolls to those who owe tolls, respect to those who owe respect,
and honor to those you owe honor.
This is God's word.
After reading that scripture, does anyone want to just leave?
No.
There's the door.
All right.
This is God's word.
I love that we end our scripture reading with that, because we can't run for the door.
This is God's word.
But we do have to contend with it.
This morning, we're going to explore a concept that's fundamental to our lives as Christians
and as members of society.
And that is how do we interact with the idea of authority?
Authority.
Our sermon series is called Authorize.
So we're going to kind of tear that apart and look at it this week, and then we'll pick
it up again next week.
As next week, we talk about three particular spheres of authority, as well as next week
maybe where you find a lot of the answers to the, yeah, but, dot, dot, dot questions
that are going through your head right now.
What about this situation or that situation?
So hold on.
It's a two-week series, and we're going to talk about authority.
When we hear the word authority, I think most of us think of power.
Authority equals power, the ability to control and command.
Now, growing up in my family, me and my siblings, we called our dad Papa.
We still do to this day.
He's Papa to us.
It's kind of weird as you're an adult, though, saying it in front of other people.
I don't know why, but that's gotten weirder over time.
But calling him Dad is even more weird to me and very strange.
Well, I remember one time my kids and I were talking, and they call me Dad, which isn't
strange at all.
So it's wild.
But we were talking, and they asked me, what would I like to be called?
If I had my way, what would I like to be called?
And I told them that I would, henceforth, like to be called Master and Commander.
Each and every time they addressed me, Master and Commander.
But they've yet to do it.
They've yet to honor me in that regard.
But authority is so much more than command and control or being the Master and Commander.
At its core, authority is about legitimacy.
It's the moral rights to exercise power, something that we might call authorization.
Here's a definition.
I think we have a slide for this one.
Here's a definition you can consider about authority.
Authority is the God-given moral right to make choices.
As we delve into the topic of authority, we'll discover that God has delegated authority
to us humans, and he's done it for a very specific purpose.
So if you're taking notes, the first thing I'll have you write down is the nature of
authority.
I have lots to cover.
The first one is the nature of authority.
To understand authority, we need to grasp its true nature.
And authority isn't about brute force.
At least legitimate authority.
Let's distinguish between authority as we have come to understand it or know it or feel
it versus legitimate God-given moral right to make choices.
There is illegitimate authority after all.
The legitimate authority is not about brute force or mere power.
It's about legitimacy.
It's the right to make decisions and exercise influence within a certain sphere.
There's a reason we call God Almighty.
There's a reason we call him the Almighty Sovereign.
It's because his ability to make choices and decisions covers all things, all places, all
spheres.
But ours as humans will always be limited to a certain number of spheres that God has
delegated that authority.
That's important to remember.
If you think about authority, it comes in various scopes and sizes.
Some people have authority over nations, others over large organizations, others have authority
over a household or a classroom.
And at least, at the very least, each one of us has authority over our own thoughts
and actions.
And this brings us to a crucial point.
Everyone has some form of authority.
Now you might feel power, you've power, powerless or not feel powerful in the conventional sense,
but you have been given a God-given domain in which you are to exercise and rule through
your choices and actions.
We've all been given authority in somewhere, at least in our thoughts and our actions.
And this universal possession of authority is part of what it means actually to be a
human or made in God's image.
God exercise ultimate authority.
He delegates authority, legitimate authority to his creation.
That leads us to the second point, which is the purpose of authority.
Side note, I was listening to a Timothy Keller sermon recently and he joked that he makes
his first point really quick so everyone gets a sense that the sermon's moving along really
fast, but the second point is always really long.
So let's see where we go.
Now why did God give us authority in the first place?
The answer lies in his own nature and his own actions.
God who possesses all authority uses his authority to do what?
He uses his authority and choice to create, to arrange, to author, to organize, to put
things in order for maximum good and for flourishing.
That's what God does.
So when God delegates authority to us, he's delegating authority out of the authority
he already exercises.
In other words, we can't use authority legitimately except that it aligns with the way that God
himself uses authority and God uses the all authority that he has to create, arrange,
author, and organize and put things in order for maximum good and flourishing.
So all delegated legitimate authority has to do the same.
And he's inviting us to participate in this creative ordering process.
In fact, we're called to be as his people co-rulers with him, stewarding this great
creation of his.
And the cool thing is this applies whether you're organizing a community event, you're
managing a team, or you're looking after your family and your weekly schedule as a family
and what you do and what you don't do, you've been delegated authority to create, to organize,
to arrange and author and put things in order for the maximum good of those you have authority
over.
So every time we use our authority to bring order out of chaos in order to nurture growth
or facilitate flourishing, we're aligning ourselves with God's purpose.
We're aligning ourselves with the way that God uses authority.
And we're fulfilling our role as the image bearers of the almighty God.
Now authority as we know it, as we've experienced it can be used wisely or it can be used unwisely,
right?
How many of you guys know where authority has been abused?
Have you ever heard a story or experienced something?
How many of you know that it's really difficult to participate in our country's political
scene?
Because no matter what, there's some corruption, some evil, some wrongdoing, some wickedness.
It's almost impossible to find a godly person.
We look to and fro and we don't find it.
Authority can be used wisely.
It can also be used foolishly.
Some of the last words that David recorded, it's actually recorded in 2 Samuel chapter
23, under the heading in your Bible probably says the last words of David.
Listen what he said.
He said in chapter 23 of 2 Samuel beginning in verse 3, the God of Israel spoke, the rock
of Israel said to me, the one who rules the people with justice, who rules in the fear
of God is like the morning light when the sun rises on a cloudless morning, the glistening
of rain on sprouting grass.
What David is saying is the Lord told him, showed him that when authority is used wisely,
when authority is used in line with the way that God uses his authority, that it brings
life.
It brings growth.
It brings flourishing.
It creates an environment where others can thrive.
That authority according to God's mind is not about domination.
It's not about domination, but it's about service and stewardship.
Service and stewardship.
It's about caring for what God values and serving other image bearing creation like
other humans.
In your own life, I would ask you to think about areas where you have authority.
Start to think about the spheres of authority that you have.
Maybe it's you own your home.
It's your home.
And that's a place where you exercise authority.
Maybe you have a job where you've been given certain responsibilities.
Maybe you're an accountant and your job is to order and arrange numbers in such a way
that the business you're working for can flourish.
These are all ways that we use authority for good.
How can you use that authority to foster growth and flourishing?
Maybe it's in your family or your workplace or your community.
You can use that God given authority for the benefit of others.
But we all know that authority can be used foolishly as well.
If you contrast David with the king that came before him, Saul, right there you'll see the
two differences.
David had his flaws, absolutely, and he abused his authority on many occasions.
But he always desired and sought and repented and sought to lead as God would have him lead.
Whereas Saul over and over again misused the authority that he had out of fear, out of
jealousy and out of self interest.
And I think fear, jealousy and self interest still plague the usage of authority, whether
at the highest levels or at the lowest levels.
When we misuse our authority, we create dysfunction and harm.
We stifle growth instead of nurturing growth.
We bring disorder instead of order.
But even in those negative examples, there are lessons for us as well.
Every time authority is misused, it reminds us of the responsibility we have with the
authority that God has given us.
And so, number three, write down our response to authority, the nature of authority, the
purpose of authority and our response to authority.
And so now let's consider how we should respond to the authority that God has instituted,
especially when we find ourselves under someone else's authority.
And this is gonna bring us back to Romans 13 that Laurie read, verses one through seven.
First Paul, who's writing Romans, he establishes this fundamental principle for us to remember,
that all authority ultimately comes from God.
He said, let everyone submit to the governing authorities since there is no authority except
from God and the authorities that exist are instituted by God.
Now this doesn't mean that every leader is godly by no means.
We know that.
Or that every decision that they make is right.
But rather it means that the concept of authority itself is established by God and it's part
of his ordering of human society.
After that, Paul draws a startling conclusion that resisting the idea of authority means
that you are resisting God's arrangement.
And in truth, you're resisting God.
And this is a challenging idea, especially when we disagree with those who are in power.
But Paul is reminding us that even imperfect human authorities serve a purpose in God's
plan.
There is not a human authority that you can think of right now whose name is like pollution
on the tongue that did not serve some purpose in God's plan for bringing about maximum good
for his creation.
Think of a name.
I can think of a bunch of them.
The 19th or the 20th century had quite a few names.
Mao in China.
Stalin in Russia.
Hitler in Germany.
Go down the list.
There are many names that we immediately go, yeah, but what about?
And rightfully so because their actions and their behavior was appalling.
And yet Paul is saying even in that condition, even in those states, they can serve a purpose
in my grand plan to bless and flourish my creation.
So we'll put a thumbtack on that and come back to that a little bit later.
But next, Paul outlines the primary function of governing authorities.
And this is something else to remember in regard to a legitimate authority versus illegitimate
authority.
He says that authorities exist because God instituted them.
And the one who resists the authority is opposing God's commands.
Why?
Because rulers are not a terror to good conduct but to bad.
Do you want to be unafraid of the one in authority?
Do what is good and you will have its approval.
You may go, that doesn't, that's not how it works in the real world.
We do good all the time and the authorities don't have approval.
They don't approve of what we're doing.
They resist us and persecute us.
Again, you must understand that God institutes authority and gives them the mandate to do
good.
But like every human, including yourself, you have a choice.
God's ideal or your way.
And before any of us point our finger, see, the reason we know the names that I mentioned
is because of the consequences that they had with their authority.
Because they were monumental, the stats are huge.
They're in the millions of people that they hurt.
But before we go pointing too many fingers out there, mothers have misused their authority
in their family and hurt their children.
Fathers have misused their authority in the family and hurt their wives.
Church authorities have misused their authority and hurt their congregation.
And they may not be on millions and millions of numbers, right?
The consequences may not be seen in the same light.
But nonetheless, it's all illegitimate use of authority.
And yes, someone who has a lot of authority and power over who can command armies, we're
definitely going to hear about it in the news.
But what we're not going to hear about is the wife who abused her authority in the house
with her kids and ended up creating monsters.
Or the husband who did not love his wife as Christ loved the church and laid himself down
for her and in her created bitterness and hardness of heart.
You're not going to hear about that in the news.
All of that is illegitimate use of authority.
All of it.
The Paul says the primary function of governing authorities is to command good and punish
evil.
This is what God wants authorities to do.
This is the ideal, and this is what he wants you and I to do in the spheres of influence
that we have.
That we would command what is good, punish what is evil.
And this is ideal.
But human governments always fall short.
But when authorities fulfill this role, then they're acting as God's servant for the good.
And they ought to be commended as well.
Something that is important to note as we look at Romans 13, you may be inclined to
say, yeah, but, dot, dot, dot, Joe Biden, for instance.
Or maybe you're on the other fence and you're like, yeah, but Donald Trump might win.
Paul is writing into a context where the reigning emperor over Rome is Nero.
When he says, honor the governing authorities, and he's writing it to the church in Rome,
the governing authorities are the local governors and ultimately the emperor Nero.
And because we have a mixed audience of ages here, we're not going to go into details about
Nero, but you can take all of those other names I mentioned and set them aside in view
of some of the atrocities that Nero committed even against Christians, the way that he treated
them.
And so whatever your interpretation of Romans 13, if you want to set it aside and say, I
don't get it, it doesn't make sense, whatever it is, you have to grapple with the fact that
he's writing to a people who are under a very oppressive, not tolerant regime who wants
to kill them and hurt them.
And he's still saying these words.
And I think that may be one of the most important things that Romans 13 tells us is it's not
easy.
You have to grapple with the reality of it.
It's not as easy as saying, oh, but he believes in this.
You guys, if you've been around at all, you know my position on abortion.
You know that I am vehemently, adamantly against it.
I will say on all sides though, I'm against the medical procedure of abortion.
I'm against the abortion pill.
You can send it back to the states for them to decide.
And what I want the states to decide is no pill because that's abortion as well.
And if you believe abortion begins at conception, then in vitro fertilization is also a form
of abortion because it fertilizes embryos, freezes a lot of them, uses a few of them
and then throws the rest away.
And so pro-life is a much bigger issue than just I'm against this guy because he wants
this.
You have to look at the bigger picture.
It's so much more.
And that's why it's not as easy as saying I'm on this team or I'm on that team.
I think the Bible doesn't allow us to say we're on this team or that team.
It creates a whole team unto itself.
I says, I'm on that team.
And it has a different view.
And sometimes it aligns over here and sometimes it may align over here, but it's never imperfect
alignment.
Not to where I would ever want to be identified with it.
I want to be identified with Christ in his way.
Nero is known for his cruelty.
He's known for his cruelty toward Christians.
And yet Paul still affirms the principle of submitting to authorities.
And this doesn't mean blind obedience or approval of their wrongdoing, but it does mean that
we respect the office of authority, recognizing that's one of the ways that God is bringing
his kingdom to bear on this earth.
The last thing Paul points out in Romans 13 is that there's two reasons for submitting
to authority.
The first one is to avoid punishment.
We all know that we don't like a speeding ticket and we certainly don't want anyone
to come and arrest us.
But the second one is a matter of conscience.
And the second one goes deeper as Christians are obedience to legitimate authorities.
This it directly contradicts God's commands is a part of our witness and our trust in
God as sovereign.
You hear me?
Our obedience to authorities, even imperfect authorities, respecting the office of authority,
humbly appealing to those authorities when we disagree with them, humbly going to them
without maligning them or slandering them, but humbly going to them, recognizing that
God put them there.
I mean, you don't, yes, I probably, probably shouldn't say it so plainly, but I will say
it plainly because I'm already in.
Joe Biden is our president because God instituted him into that place of authority.
Joe Biden had an opportunity in being instituted to that place of authority to decide whether
he would align with God's purposes or not.
And I'll leave it to you to decide whether he's done that or not.
I think it's pretty clear to me that he hasn't, but he had the opportunity because God put
him into a place of authority.
And that's how we ought to view this world and the governing authorities.
There's a second century writing that was sent from one Roman to the tutor of Marcus
Aurelius, the, the emperor of Rome.
And this one writer was trying to explain to him, Christians, he was trying to explain
your kind of people, you people to the Roman emperor in the first century, the second century
AD.
So the early one hundreds, just after Christ and the apostles had passed away.
And here's how he decided that he was going to explain you kind of people.
He said this of Christians for the Christians are distinguished from other men, neither
by country nor language, nor the customs, which they observe for they neither inhabit
cities of their own.
They didn't have Christian cities nor employ a peculiar form of speech.
They didn't have a Christian language nor lead a life, which is marked out by any singularity.
The course of conduct, which they followed has not been devised by any speculation or
deliberation of inquisitive men, nor do they like some proclaim themselves the advocates
of any mere human doctrines.
But inhabiting Greek as well as barbarian cities, according as a lot of each of them
has been determined, that's a way of saying wherever God has planted them and following
the customs of the natives in respect to the way they dress, the food that they eat and
the rest of very ordinary conduct.
They're just like everyone else.
They display to us their wonderful and confusedly striking method of life.
They dwell in their own countries wherever they live, but simply as sojourners.
As citizens, they share in all things with everyone else, like all other citizens, they
participate in the things that citizens participate in, and yet they endure all things as if they're
foreigners.
They're treated like foreigners among the people that they're with.
Every foreign land is to them as their native country and every land of their birth is like
a land of strangers.
They marry as they do all, as all do.
They beget children, but they do not destroy their offspring.
This was a common practice at that time.
If you did not like your child, or particularly if your child was a girl, you could take your
child to the outskirts of the city, outside of the wall and place her there and go back
into the city and hope that some wild animal would come and consume her.
That was just normal.
He said, they beget children, but they don't destroy their offspring.
Abortion was actually a thing at this time.
It's in the Didache, the Christian writings of the first century.
They talk about Christians must not abort.
They must not kill their children.
They have a common table, but not a common bed.
It was not uncommon in that time to share your bed with anyone, to have many, many partners.
They are in the flesh, but they don't live after the flesh.
They pass their days on earth, but they are citizens of heaven.
They obey the prescribed laws, laws of pagan countries, laws of immoral rulers.
Under the authority of those who hate them, they obey the prescribed laws and at the same
time surpass the laws by their lives.
They live better than the laws.
They love all men and are persecuted by all.
They are unknown and condemned.
They are put to death and restored to life.
They are poor, yet make many rich.
They are in lack of all things and yet abound in all.
They are dishonored and yet in their very dishonor are glorified.
They are evil spoken of and yet are justified.
They are reviled and blessed.
They are insulted and repay the insult with honor.
They do good, yet are punished as evildoers.
When punished, they rejoice as if quickened into life.
They are sailed by the Jews as foreigners and are persecuted by the Greeks.
Yet those who hate them are unable to assign any reason for their hatred.
Those are our people.
Those are our people and that's the legacy that we carry on today.
Would that be said?
Could that be said?
Is that said nationally of the people of God?
This passage challenges us to view authority differently.
It calls us to respect.
You know what the main command throughout the word of God is?
What you're supposed to do with those who are in authority over you.
You're supposed to pray.
You're supposed to pray for them.
You're supposed to pray when the president gets on television and your heart is moved
as he tries to navigate a difficult debate and clearly something's not right with him.
You're supposed to pray for him.
To get on your knees as a human, as an image bearer of God, as one who was given the opportunity
to exercise authority and maybe he did chose differently on multiple occasions and has
dishonored God and yet me, you, us pray.
Pray to uplift him.
Pray that God would redirect him.
Pray that he would turn his heart to the Lord, that he'd be humbled.
Pray that he would be restored, that he would change his ways, that he might be the sort
of source of revival in our country because his heart is changing.
If he can change, anyone could change.
Are we burdened with that burden?
I feel like that's in line with our forefathers and foremothers and those who went before
in the faith.
In our current climate of political division, the words of Paul are more relevant than ever,
I think.
They call us to the highest standard.
If you heard in that description of Christians, they obeyed the laws, they did everything
and then they went above.
They went out of their way to go over the top so as not to profane the name of Jesus.
They were marked by respect.
They prayed for their leaders.
They were hated by everyone, even the ones they were doing good to.
And yet they prayed for them and they didn't return evil for evil.
These scriptures tell us to honor and respect the authorities God has instituted.
This is how God envisions his kingdom on earth.
This is how God envisions his kingdom people living.
That his people would demonstrate proper submission to legitimate authority.
Now you might ask, what if the authority over me is misusing that position?
What if he's misusing his position of authority and the Bible totally acknowledges this possibility?
And yet, we are told to submit even if the legitimate authority over us is cruel.
First Peter chapter two says to household slaves, now you may think of slaves and immediately
think of what we dealt with here in America as slaves is those who were kidnapped and
forced into slavery.
He's addressing household servants in the Roman household.
This was a position within the Roman household and the head of the house was the master,
the legitimate authority over the person who was serving in the household.
And he addresses them and says, submit to your masters with all reverence, not only
to the good and gentle ones, but also to the cruel.
For it brings favor if because of a consciousness of God, someone endures grief from suffering
unjustly.
Let me read that one more time.
It brings favor if because of a consciousness of God, an awareness of God, a fear of God,
someone endures grief from suffering unjustly.
For what credit is there if when you do wrong and are beaten, you endure that?
No, but when you do what is good and suffer, if you endure it, this brings favor with God.
And here's how, here's his example.
Here's his illustration.
For you were called to this because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example
that you should follow in his steps.
He did not commit sin and no deceit was found in his mouth.
When he was insulted, he did not insult in return.
When he suffered, he did not threaten, but was entrusted himself to the one who judges
justly.
He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree so that having died to sin, we might
live for righteousness.
By his wounds you have been healed for you were like sheep gone astray, but now have
returned to the shepherd and overseer of your soul.
The example that Peter says, the example that he uses for a household slave under a legitimate
master who is receiving cruel treatment is remember Christ.
Remember that Christ endured suffering and cruel treatment unjustly for you.
Remember that so that you can bear up underneath it when it comes to you, even through a legitimate
authority.
First Peter chapter two suggests that temporary trouble caused even by a legitimate authority
who is misusing their position can actually be part of God's plan for revealing his kingdom.
So in conclusion, we've explored how authority is not about raw power, but about the God
given right to make choices that influence our world.
And whether we're leading a nation or managing a household or simply governing our own actions
and thoughts, we all possess some measure of divine delegation of authority.
Remember our authority is meant to mirror God's own creative and nurturing power that
when we use it wisely, we bring order out of chaos.
We foster growth and we enable others to flourish.
And this is how we fulfill our role as image bearers of the ultimate authority.
At the same time, we're called to respond to the authorities over us with respect and
honor to pray for them and recognizing even the imperfect human authorities serve a purpose
in God's grand plan.
This doesn't mean blind obedience, but thoughtful engagement that reflects our trust in God's
sovereignty.
We wrestle with it, we grapple with it.
It's not an easy choice or decision.
So I have three challenges as we close for you this week.
Number one, identify the areas where God has given you authority.
How can you use that authority to bring more of God's order and flourishing into your sphere
of influence?
Whereas God placed you as an authority.
Are you a legitimate authority using that authority for good?
Are you concerned day and night for the flourishing of those that are entrusted under you?
Do you consider your family or your work or the community that you're in and the authority
that you might have within those spheres?
You consider their good.
Number two, reflect on your response to the authorities in your life.
How can you honor God through your attitudes and actions, even in challenging situations?
Remember honoring God should be supreme above everything.
Honoring God should be supreme above opposition to something else.
We should be known by what we're for, not what we're against.
Many times we're known for what we're against, who we stand against, who we don't like.
Let's be known for who we're for.
Number three, pray for those in authority, in government, in your workplace, in your
community.
Ask God to guide them and to give you wisdom in your interactions with them.
We all need wisdom.
I can pull up social media and get sucked into that black hole for too long and get
to find my emotions going through the roof as I dislike that and I hate that and how
could they say that and he did what?
And then I have to separate and go, God, give me wisdom.
They'll give me wisdom how to spend my time, how to speak your truth and ultimately how
to be known for what I'm for, not who I'm against.
And that's why we should always be beginning to question ourselves.