No audio (preached at Our Redeemer)
Note: This sermon was written without knowledge of what happened at the capitol during the day. I hadn't seen the news until just before the service.
In our Gospel reading this evening it says that when the
wise men came from the east to Jerusalem they asked, “Where is he who has
been born King of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to
worship him.” When King Herod heard this, he was alarmed, and all Jerusalem
with him.
Being alarmed at such a statement is not surprising. We grow
accustomed to the authorities that be. In our own land we have a very complex
system in place for our governance. There are local authorities in the city and
county. There are state authorities. There are federal authorities. Each has
his or her own place and jurisdiction. When the wise men came asking where the
king was, it seemed like all this law and order was suddenly pushed by the
wayside.
As you know there are a lot of ambitious people who spend
their whole lives trying to attain the most power and authority they can. They
do not want to be brushed aside. King Herod falsely assumed that his position
was threatened by this question from the wise men. You heard about the actions
that Herod took as a response in our Gospel reading on Sunday. When the wise
men didn’t come back to tell him exactly
where the Christ was, he ordered that all the baby boys in Bethlehem be killed.
Jesus narrowly escaped because Joseph was warned to flee in a dream.
Herod need not have worried, though, about Jesus trying to
take his place—at least not at that time. One day it will, indeed, be the case
that Jesus will push aside all earthly authority when he comes in power and
great glory on the last day. At that time there will no longer be a United
States of America, nor a president of the United States. There won’t be any
country or any ruler except Jesus Christ, the King of kings and Lord of lords.
But until that time, Jesus reign on earth as a king is in a
spiritual way, in people’s hearts. Jesus does not have ambitions of taking over
the earthly government. He tells Pontius Pilate: “My kingdom is not of this
world. If it were of this world then his servants would fight, but my kingdom
is not of this world.” Instead of ruling by the force of Law and of the
sword, Jesus rules in his spiritual kingdom by force of Gospel, by the
announcement of the forgiveness of sins.
In this way he warms up people’s cold, dead hearts, so that
they begin to be renewed from the inside out. Christians, properly speaking, do
not need the Law or the sword. Having been given new hearts by the Holy Spirit,
they do what is right, not out of fear, but out of love for their heavenly
Father. It is only insofar as we have not been renewed that we continue to sin,
and one day, when our renewal is complete, we won’t sin anymore. The reason why
the earthly government remains in place and must remain in place until the end
of this world is that not everybody is converted to faith in Christ. These
people must be ruled by fear of punishment. They don’t understand any other
language with their sin-sick hearts.
In fact, Jesus and his apostles are very insistent that
Christians obey the governing authorities. “Render unto Caesar the things
that are Caesar’s; render unto God the things that are God’s,” Jesus says.
Paul says, “Everyone must submit to the governing authorities. For no
authority exists except by God, and the authorities that do exist have been
established by God.” Peter says, “Submit to every human authority
because of the Lord.” So Herod need not have worried that Jesus was going
to take away his authority.
Yet, in another way, Herod did need to worry that something
was going to be taken away from him. There is a threat that Christianity poses
to earthly rulers. Ambitious, sinful people are never satisfied with what they
have been given. They always want more. And so it is also for those who God has
placed in authority. They often are not satisfied with providing law and order
so that people can leave peaceably with one another. Instead, they want to get
into people’s souls. They want to tell people what they are supposed to
believe. They want to mold and form people according to their particular view
of the world. There is a great benefit to doing this. They are not stupid. They
want fanatics on their side who will stick with them no matter what. Even if
these authorities tell their followers to do things that are positively
evil—such as murdering babies—they follow the orders. It is as though they
become God and expect to be unquestionably followed accordingly.
The desire to be seen as God or to think of one’s self as
God is deeply seated. It’s already there in that original temptation in the
Garden: “When you eat of it, you will become like God, knowing good and evil.”
Ever since that time people have wanted to believe that they were divine,
subject to no one but themselves and their own whims. This is particularly
something prevalent among those who are given great power and authority.
Anybody who gets raised up even one notch above anybody else just loves to
throw their weight around. Many kings, many generals, many presidents have
believed that they were divine.
The Roman emperors at the time of Christ and the couple
hundred years that followed all wanted to be worshipped as gods. This is the
main reason why so many early Christians were killed by the Roman government.
Patriotism to Rome demanded the worship of the state in the person of the
emperor. The Christians wouldn’t do it. They wouldn’t burn incense to the
statue of the emperor because the Lord God is one. There are no other gods
besides him.
Christians must necessarily be a little standoffish when it
comes to those things that our neighbors might give their whole heart, soul,
and mind to. Our heart, soul, and mind already belongs to somebody. We can’t
give it to some other entity or cause or ambition. We have a king. Him we will
worship, just like the wise men said that they wanted to do. We also urge anybody
who will listen to become obedient to this King, for in him is salvation. All
authority in heaven and on earth has been given to him. Therefore we make
disciples of all nations, baptizing in the Name of the Father and of the Son
and of the Holy Spirit; teaching them to observe all things that Jesus has
commanded; and Jesus is with us always, even to the end of the age.
Him we love. Him we worship.
Until Christ comes again and sets aside all earthly
authority, we will obey these authorities so long as they do not contradict
God’s commandments. According to those commandments we won’t give them our
heart. We won’t give them our minds. We won’t give them our souls. This spells
trouble, because this appears unpatriotic to those who don’t understand true patriotism.
Be that as it may, we will stay the course. “Take they our life, goods, fame,
child, and wife. Though these all be gone, our victory has been won, the
kingdom ours remaineth.”
No comments:
Post a Comment