Worship

Pastor Jon Enter                 SalemLutheran.org

Theme: Christian Citizens—in that order

Text: Romans 13

Yesterday, we celebrated the United States turning 250 years old! Happy Birthday to the Red, White, and Blue! 250 years ago on July 4, 1776, the 13 colonies declared our independence from England. Fun facts, did you know the founding fathers actually voted to declare independence on July 2? They decided to make a several changes to the document and approved those changes on July 4. Had there been no change we’d be celebrating on July 2 for the past 250 years. And they didn’t actually sign the document on July 4. George Washington wasn’t in Philadelphia on July 4; he was in New York preparing for war. The Declaration of Independence (to break us free from the rule of a king) was signed on August 2, 1776, by 56 brave delegates. Because of their boldness, we now have a president we elect, not a king.

TIME magazine asked nine presidential historians to rank, from best to worst, the 17 American Presidents of the 20^th century. The panel first decided what standard would be used to measure each president’s time in office asking themselves: What do we expect from our leaders? Are effective presidents also the most significant ones? What constitutes greatness? After a lengthy discussion, the presidents were ranked. We are noting the top three and bottom three on the list.

Top Three US Presidents of 20^th Century:

1. Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933-1945) – Greatest Accomplishments: rescued country from Great Depression; led US through WWII.
2. Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1909) – Greatest Accomplishments: Broke up trusts; expanded public lands; increased US influence.
3. Woodrow Wilson (1913-1921) – Greatest Accomplishments: Created Federal Reserve System; led country through WWI; League of Nations.

Bottom Three US Presidents of 20^th Century:

15. Richard Nixon (1969-1974) – Biggest Blunder: Watergate—only US President to resign from office.
16. Warren Harding (1921-1923) – Biggest Blunder: Teapot Dome oil-leasing scandal; other instances of Administration inappropriateness.
17. Herbert Hoover (1929-1933) – Biggest Blunder: Signed Tariff Act; ineffective in pulling nation out of Great Depression.

You might be wondering where George W. Bush, Barak Obama, Joe Biden, or Donald Trump landed on the list. They didn’t. This list was made up of presidents of the 1900’s and these four modern presidents didn’t serve until the 2000’s. But if they were ranked, I’m certain there would be great debate about where they should land on the list.

Every president has advocates and adversaries. No one knows the phrase “You can’t make everyone happy” better than a US president who governs a land with Freedom of Speech. Political cartoons have been around for well over a hundred years. Whatever is in the news finds its way into a cartoon sketch. Sometimes the president is a hero and other times he is a “zero”. And when there isn’t anything newsworthy to poke fun at, the physical appearance of the President becomes the target.

With the advent of the internet and programs like Photoshop and now AI, the number of political cartoons has skyrocketed. The internet is flooded with images mocking the President, the Vice-President, the Speaker of the House and other political figures. What do you think would happen to the people who create these often disrespectful political cartoons if they didn’t live in the US? What do you think would happen to someone in Iran if they mocked President Masoud? They’d be jailed at the least or have an “unfortunate accident”. What do you think would happen to the people of North Korea if they would create and forward along political cartoons mocking Kim Jong Un? They would not be laughing so hard during their torture or imprisonment. Do you remember the name Otto Warmbier? He was jailed and his body so brutalized in a North Korean prison for stealing a poster off a hotel wall that he died. For taking a poster. What do you think would happen to someone who mocked the leader of North Korea?

We are blessed in America with the Freedom of Speech but that does not give us the license to abuse it!

The Lord commands us to use our speech not against the government but to support and to submit to the governing authorities. The Apostle Paul writes within our sermon text: “He who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.” (Romans 13:2)

Paul wrote these words in the winter months 57 years after the birth of Christ. He was finishing up his third missionary journey spending four years revisiting many of the churches he founded on his two previous missionary trips. While on this third journey, he was collecting a special offering for the congregation in Jerusalem that was under an economic collapse due to a bad drought and the oppression of the unrelenting Roman taxation system. Everywhere Paul traveled, he was under the angry, watchful eye of Big Brother Rome. Everywhere Paul went, he saw the abusive of a power hungry government drunk on its own arrogance. Despite the widespread corruption of government, Paul commands the people to honor their government—even an oppressive foreign government that was occupying them against their will for over a century now! He tells the people to thank the Lord for this government. (1 Timothy 2:1-2)

Do you do that? Do you thank God for the government? Do you thank the Lord for when you pay your taxes? Do you skip merrily to the bank with what’s left of your paycheck after your taxes go to the “ever-so-faithful-politicians” in Washington and St. Paul? Do you nod your head in agreement saying, “They deserve it; they work hard” every time you hear that congress passes for themselves another hefty raise despite our recession and high food/gas prices? Do you confidently say, “They are our leaders and they obviously know what’s best” when local, state, or national leaders pass a bill or policy that seems only good for the elite, for Fortune 500 companies and that a bill or policy that kicks the American worker while he’s already down on the ground? Does it make you happy to hear that the Ten Commandments are banned from County Buildings yet Minneapolis city hall just hosted a drag event? Does it make you pleased to know the fraud in Minnesota was left unchecked for so long and those who stole from us have little to no consequences?

There is no wonder why the public is fed up. There is no wonder why the American people don’t fully trust our elected officials—present and past. There is no wonder why political cartoons fly around the internet. Politics is a breeding ground for sin both in Washington and state and local offices because we elected sinful people. And because our hearts are sinful, we are selfish and disrespectful ourselves. Because of this political junk stinking up America, you’re MAD!

Before we point the finger at our elected officials saying, “They failed us; they’re corrupt!” We need to look at our own corruption. When you hear on the news about another Ten Commandments plaque or monument getting canceled, getting removed you get upset. I understand, I do too but do we honor those same Ten Commandments on how we talk about the government? You would be furious if you saw someone trampling on the American Flag and yet we trample both on the American Flag and on the Ten Commandments by the way we badmouth and abuse our government.

We break the First Commandment every time we ignore God’s command to submit to the governing authorities simply because we don’t want to comply to their laws.

We break the Fourth Commandment when we taunt the police to ticket us for breaking the law and then rant and rage against them after they have served us to keep us safe and in line with the law.

We break the Seventh Commandment as we steal from the government when we tweak the numbers in our favor on our tax returns.

We break the Eighth Commandment as we forward along email after email that bashes the character of our elected officials.

It goes without saying the only time God authorizes us to disobey the government is when we are allowed to or commanded by the government to sin against God’s Word (Acts 5:29). But even in that situation, we are still to keep our respect of the government. We all know we have broken these commands and have tried to cover them up with a bogus excuse, “Our government is corrupt.” Although that’s true of every government, that excuse crumbles under the commands of God.

Christ Jesus was under a corrupt government and yet He instructed the people to “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s” (Mark 12:17). Jesus was subjected to the wussy rule of Pontius Pilate and was sent to the cross because Pilate was an inept ruler. Yet Jesus did not complain. Jesus was brutalized by the Roman soldiers (dirty cops of their day). Yet Jesus was silent. Christ did not break any of the Commandments. He refused to rant or rage against the earthly government over Him. Christ knew their rule was only temporary as His blood shed from the cross would destroy the power of the devil, the world and our sinful flesh. And Christ knew that you and I would not be able to keep our mouths shut against the government so He has filled our mouths full of grace instead.

Christ calls on you to open your mouths and voices in support of your government. Mistakes will be made. Corruption will continue and the Bible says it will even get worse. But we are called and commanded to pray for our government. To support them. And to trust our Lord that no matter what happens on this earth, we are ruled by Jesus who has all rule, authority and power forever and ever. Dear friends, you are Christian Citizens—in that order. Live according to God’s will. Pray for and support your government. Pray that our nation lasts another 250 years and then another and another at least until the time when Jesus comes again. And pray that our nation honors God. That starts not in Washington. That starts in our homes. May God bless America. Amen.