Submission To Government

Romans 13:1-7

Introduction

Well, the time has come. Between now and the end of April, we will all have that wonderful relationship with the government that comes every year when we get to file our taxes. Is this a happy experience for you or a troublesome one?

There was a time in ancient Rome when many people were so upset with the Roman system of collecting taxes that they engaged in a tax revolt. As I understand it, part of the problem was that the government subcontracted tax collection and these sub-contractors often collected way too much and were corrupt, like Zacchaeus who was such a tax sub-contractor. It got so bad that in 58 Nero reformed the tax system. Some people have suggested that Paul’s reason for writing Romans 13:1-7 may have been that some in the congregation were participating in the tax revolt.

Whether this was the issue, or something else or if Paul was simply teaching the people how to have transformed thinking in the difficult tension which exists for Christians relating to government, the teaching of this passage is certainly applicable to us today as well. We relate to government on many levels all the time. A nurse’s strike seems imminent and that will impact us – both those who are nurses and those who may be patients. Whenever we get behind the wheel, we are relating to the laws made by the government. Farmers have been involved with the government in regards to the Canadian Wheat Board’s monopoly on buying grain. So, as we can see, we all relate to the government and so we need to think about how our faith in Christ impacts that relationship.

The Bible actually has quite a bit to say about government and about our relationship to government.

Jeremiah 22:16, speaking of king Josiah says, “He defended the cause of the poor and needy, and so all went well.” In John 19:11 Jesus warns Pilate, “you would have no authority if it had not been given you from above.” In these passages we see that government is accountable to God.

I Peter 2:13 is one passage that calls for submission to government, but Acts 5:29 is an example in which Christians engaged in civil disobedience.

Today our focus will be on Romans 13:1-7, so let us read it and then examine it together.

Government: Ordained or Ordered?

One of the questions which this passage raises is the relationship of the government to us and to God. How is that relationship structured?

This question arises because of the different ways of translating Romans 13:1b. We have been reading NIV which says, “there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.” In the King James Version we read, “…there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.” That is even a stronger reading with the use of the word “ordained.” The Good News Bible, however, says, “…no authority exists without God’s permission, and the existing authorities have been put there by God.”

It seems to me that there is a significant difference between “ordained” of God and “put there” by God. What is the difference and does it matter?

Government = God

As we think about these things, we need to remember that the context in which this was written was one in which the government was perceived to be equal with God. Statues of Roman emperors and even the coins minted by them commonly indicate the belief that “Caesar is Lord.” Jonathan Reed, in a book I have been reading in preparation for our trip to Israel, writes, “The real son of God, according to almost every coin minted in the Roman Empire, was the Roman emperor. Julius Caesar was divinized by the Senate upon his death, and his son Octavian, later named Augustus, proclaimed that a comet over Rome was Julius Caesar taking his place among the gods, and featured that star prominently on his coins. Augustus then called himself the son of god…”

If the government or the emperor is God, then Christians have a terrible problem when they declare that only Jesus is Lord. The problem which Paul and those with him had in Thessalonica, when they were there, was that they refused to acknowledge that Caesar was Lord. We read the accusation of those bringing charges against Paul in Acts 17:7, “They are all defying Caesar’s decrees, saying that there is another king, one called Jesus.”

Romans 13:1 establishes first of all that God is above government. When we read that “The authorities that exist have been established by God” we understand that no government has the right to claim to be God and no government has that kind of authority. How bold of Paul, then, even to write such a statement. We know that it was this understanding which caused many believers to be persecuted.

Separation Of Church And State

In 313, Constantine embraced Christianity and since that time Christians have not had to face that problem, but the difficulty of relating to God and government has continued. After Constantine, in most European countries, although God was not seen as equal to government, there was a very close relationship to government. In most places, belonging to a certain state implied that you belonged to a certain church. Our forefathers did not believe that this was right and one of the things we have been known for is an understanding of the separation of church and state. In North American societies today, that separation is the way in which most people look at the relationship between themselves, God and government today.

What has happened in many places because of this separation of church and state is that people have compartmentalized their lives and have separated their relationship with government and God into two different spheres. So they relate to government in one sphere of their life and to God in another sphere of their life. They try very hard to keep the two sphere’s separate.

However, this is a very difficult way to live. One of the problems is that, inevitably, one of these spheres becomes dominant.

For many Christians, God becomes dominant and the relationship to government diminishes. This is how our forefathers have tried to live. They have avoided government as much as possible and not become involved in politics and tried to hide in their little corner of the world as much as possible. But this is almost impossible. Somewhere along the line one has to relate to the state. The other difficulty is that it can result in an attitude shift by which people begin to judge the government and obey only those laws which suit them.

Others have gone to the other extreme and that is to see government as more important than God. The danger on this side is that those who want to follow God find it very difficult to obey government and also to obey God, especially when the government outlaws following Christ.

The very fact that Paul is explaining that government is of God and that we are called to submit shows that this is not an acceptable way of looking at this relationship?

God Has Ordained Government

Another way of looking at it is that which is implied when we translate this verse as the King James Version does, “…there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.” The implication of this is that God has put every government in place and that government is ordained of God. This implies that the government is the representative of God, is especially blessed by God and has the authority of God without question.

There are problems with this way of looking at government. One problem is that if the government is ordained of God, then we must obey it. In fact, it would mean that the way to obey God is to obey the government. If that is our understanding of this passage then even when the government does things that are against God’s will, we need to obey them. When the government calls for us to participate in war or support abortion, we are called to go along with these things.

If that is our understanding of this relationship, it becomes very difficult to know how to relate to oppressive and ungodly governments. It is difficult to see how Nazi German or Communist Russia could be “ordained” of God. These were evil regimes and one can hardly believe that God ordained them. We can understand that He permitted them and that even they were there to provide order for society, but we could hardly imagine that God ordained them and blessed all they stood for. In Revelation, quite opposite to what we read here in Romans, these governments are described as a terror to good instead of a terror to evil. In such a case, we would hardly want to say that government is ordained of God.

God Has Ordered Government.

These are not the only options and I would suggest a fourth option. The Greek word which NIV translates “established” and KJV translates “ordained” is translated “put there” in the Good News Bible . The Greek word is best translated “ordered.” In John E. Toews’ commentary he makes a direct translation which goes, “For not there is power except from God, and the ones being, from God have been ordered.” Interestingly the word “submit” has the same root and so a good way of understanding this passage is that government has been placed or ordered by God and we place ourselves, or order ourselves under the government. The advantage of this kind of an understanding is that although government has been placed by God to rule over us, they are nevertheless still accountable to God and at the same time, we order ourselves under government, but understand that we are primarily accountable to God.

John E. Toews writes, “Paul does not talk about powers being ‘ordained’ or ‘appointed,’ that is, somehow specially blessed by God, as in most translations. Rather, he talks about the powers being ordered, or literally lined up like troops for battle, and people’s relationship to the powers as properly ordered…or…intentionally lined up improperly.”

If we understand the text in this way, then several things become clear. First of all, it is clear that government is accountable to God because it has been put in place by God to create order in the civil world. Secondly, we are accountable to government and to God. Thirdly, we can speak to government and hold them accountable to God. Above all, however, our first allegiance is to God.

Our Response: Obedience Or Submission?

With such an understanding of our relationship to God and government, how do we respond?

What Is The Difference?

The word which Paul uses in this text is the word “submit.” Why does he use this word instead of the word “obey” and is there any difference?

If government is ordained, then obedience is expected. Obedience implies unthinkingly doing whatever the government says including obedience to that which is against God’s will. Is this what God wants? If we think of how our children respond to us, we know that children can obey what we as parents tell them to do. They can obey reluctantly or willingly, but I think we would agree that we would rather have a child who submits. I would understand submission to imply a thoughtful choice.

We have already seen that God has ordered government into place and instead of obedience, we are called to order our lives under the government. This means that we consciously choose to understand who the government is and understand that they are accountable to God and so we place ourselves under the direction of the government while all the while placing ourselves under the direction of God.

John Ziesler says, “submission is not the same as obedience.” John Toews says, “The call for submission is not a call for obedience. Submission means to accept the claims of, to be subject to, to be properly lined up or ordered…”

Why Submission?

So, in this text, we are called to submit to the government. Romans 13:5 gives two reason for such submission. The first is because of possible punishment. This is a summary of all that Paul has said in Romans 13:2-4. The argument is quite clear and simple. The role of government is to punish those who do wrong in order to maintain order in society. If we are the ones doing wrong, we should not be surprised if we are punished by the government.

Government has been placed in order to establish order. If it is not there, it is amazing how quickly things can deteriorate. I recently read Lord of the Flies which is a text in high school English. The story is about a group of boys whose plane crashes on a tropical island. There are no adults around and the boys have to fend for themselves. The story shows how quickly a society can deteriorate to anarchy if there is nothing in place to provide order.

In Romans 13:2 when it says, “will bring judgment on themselves, the question is, “whose judgment, the government’s or God’s?” There is good reason to believe that it is God’s judgment. Because government has been placed there by God, when we disobey government, we are not only in danger of experiencing judgment from them, but also ultimately from God. This is a powerful reason to submit.

The second reason mentioned is “because of conscience.” Conscience is that inner voice which helps us understand what is wise and good. As human beings we have an understanding that it is right to submit to government and that it makes sense to do so. As Christians, that conscience has been sharpened by the Holy Spirit and for that reason we should be even wiser and more intentional about submission.

Practical Submission

So what are the practical aspects of submission?

First of all, the text tells us in Romans 13:6,7 that we are to give to the government what they are owed. Tax and revenue were technical terms for the two different kinds of taxes. Taxes were the direct taxes collected by the government. Revenue was the indirect tax collected by the tax contractors. Even though the tax revolt which was happening at that time was due to the indirect tax, Paul encourages them to pay both kinds of tax. When Jesus was asked if he paid taxes, he replied that although he had no reason to pay them, he nevertheless did, so as not to give offence. So as we fill out our T1General, it is a submission called for in Scripture and, therefore, we must fill it out honestly and willingly.

But as we read on, we see that paying taxes is not the only way of exercising this submission. We are also called to show respect and honor. This tells me that we need to place ourselves under the government and with honor and respect follow the laws of government, recognizing that they are there to bring order to our world. I believe, that in the context of transformed thinking, we as Christians must be model citizens. I think another part of honor and respect is the willingness to pray for our leaders. I Timothy 2:1,2 gives such an instruction when it says, “I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone - for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.”

However, if we have the understanding I suggested that we order ourselves under the government, with the recognition that God is the ultimate authority, then there is also a place for us to hold the government accountable to God.

This means that when the government proposes legislation which is contrary to the will of God, we need speak to government, not only as citizens of Canada, but also as citizens of God’s kingdom. Of course, we need to be wise in the strategies which we use to speak. We need to have a clear understanding not only of why this legislation is not God’s will, but also of why it is not wise for the country. Furthermore, we also need to be careful about the way in which we communicate. To be belligerent or obnoxious is not helpful. To assume that government will operate from the perspective of obedience to God is unrealistic, but that does not mean we cannot speak to them with wisdom about what is righteousness. Gentleness, clarity and wisdom should mark this kind of correspondence and we are called to this kind of communication.

If legislation passes which is contrary to God’s will we have a further responsibility when we understand our relationship to God and government in the way in which I have described. If we are required to obey legislation that would involve a compromise of our faith in God, then we are called to civil disobedience. Because our first allegiance is to God, we are called to obey God rather than men. When Peter was told by the government not to proclaim the gospel anymore, he responded in Acts 4:19, “Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to obey you rather than God.” There are still situations in which civil disobedience is called for. Some of you refused to participate in the military during WW II because it violated your understanding of what it meant to obey to God. We continue to support such a choice. Today I suspect that there are times when nurses or doctors may have to make such a choice if called to participate in an abortion. If anyone among us engages in civil disobedience, we should help those who do to make wise decisions about this and if they choose to disobey, let us also support them. When we do engage in civil disobedience, submission means that we must be prepared to place ourselves under the punishment the government will carry out, knowing that we are not then under the judgment of God, but rather have God’s blessing.

Conclusion

In Romans 12:1,2 we began to talk about having our minds transformed. Romans 13 is still a part of that theme. We are recipients of grace and have made a covenant with God. He calls us His children. How then do we live in our world?

Transformed thinking requires a different way of thinking about how we relate to government. Government is not equal to God, it must not be separated into a separate compartment apart from our relationship to God and it is not ordained of God. It is put in place by God and thus a gift from God for bringing order to society, but at the same time still accountable to God.

Since that is the case, we are called to respond by being exemplary citizens because we place ourselves under the order mandated by the government while all the time remembering that our first submission is to God.

May God give us wisdom and guidance to do so.

Overcome Evil With Good

Romans 12:17-21

Introduction

When I was in grade 8, there was a boy in the school I attended who wanted to beat me up. I don’t remember why he wanted to beat me up. Fortunately, I had friends who protected me from him. At the time, I do remember thinking about how I would respond. I was serious about living my faith and I thought about whether I would fight back or turn the other cheek. Because of the friends who protected me, I never had to actually make a decision. However, that was not the last time I had to think about how I would respond to persecution, hatred or the hurtful actions of others. I know that several times, sometimes when driving, sometimes in financial transactions, others have wronged me and I have had to think about whether I would do what I felt like doing or respond with forgiveness.

Hurt happens. Like any other person, we experience hurt from those we interact with at school, in business and even in social circles. Christians are also persecuted, severely in some places, but even here in Canada. Hurt also happens in the church. I have observed church leaders who are very effective, but in the process step on other people. When MCC first introduced seminars to talk about spousal abuse, I wondered why they were doing it because I didn’t think such things happened among Christians, today I know that they do. When hurt happens, how do we respond? If there is anyone – in your family, in your circle of friends, in the church family, among your acquaintances – who is against you, has hurt you or wronged you, how do you as a Christian respond?

Why We Respond With Mercy

Although our personality will predispose us to different reactions, there are some feelings and responses which are pretty natural to every human being. Most of us will feel hurt. Some people bury their hurt feelings and in their heart there is a slow burn. Others will respond with angry outbursts. A desire for vengeance is often strong. Sometimes that desire for vengeance is made noble by thinking of it as a desire for justice. The thought is often expressed, “we can’t let them get away with this.” Sometimes the desire for vengeance is much stronger than that and we want to actually hurt them. Any of these feelings can devolve into hatred. One response of hatred is to determine to never talk to them again. I have heard people express strategies of avoidance. They will go out of their way in order not to have to meet or even see those who have hurt or wronged them. Such reactions to wrongs done are common and rise in our heart quickly and quite naturally.

A few weeks ago we talked about the profound difference which occurs because we are recipients of the mercy of God. In Romans 12:1,2, we were challenged on the basis of the grace which we have received in Christ Jesus not to be “conformed to the world,” but to “be transformed by the renewing of our mind.” In every area of our life, we are called to make choices between living in the way of this world, the way that comes naturally to us or that which fits with the kingdom of God. Because we have been shown mercy, we are also called to think differently about how we respond to wrongs done. We need to think about whether the normal human responses fit with the kingdom of God. What is transformed thinking when it comes to being wronged?

The key to transformed thinking is to remember how God treated us when we wronged him. Paul has already spoken of that radical way of responding when he said in Romans 5:8, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” It is in the response of God to us that we need to search for our response to others when we are wronged. As we see how God responded, we notice some important lessons. First of all we notice that God does not sweep wrong under the rug. He does not ignore that wrong has been done. So also, when we are wronged, it is not appropriate to ignore the wrong done. On the other hand, God chose to respond to the wrong done with the willingness to sacrifice in order to bring reconciliation and the grace of forgiveness.

What are some of the details of how we respond to wrong done? Paul elaborates on this in Romans 12:17-21. Let us read this text and then examine it carefully.

Plan For What Is Good

The first word we find in this section is that we should not “repay anyone evil for evil.” Although this may sound like not taking revenge, I think there is a slight difference. The difference is that “repaying evil for evil” seems to have the idea of hurting them back, whereas vengeance is a concern for justice and making everything right. We will talk about not taking revenge in a moment. The difference may be slight, but let us think about this for a moment. If we understand that “returning evil for evil” is a way of hurting the other person because they hurt us, we know that we have come upon a natural feeling. We have been hurt and we want them to feel the kind of hurt that we have experienced from them. Everyone knows that such an action is less than noble, but everyone also knows that it would feel so good to do it. The Bible is very simple and direct – don’t!

Instead, we are encouraged to, “be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody.” The Greek Bible gives us a little different perspective on this verse. A direct translation would be “pre-think what is good before all men.” What NIV translates as “be careful” would be better translated “think” or even better “think before.” RSV and ESV come close to this when they say “but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all” and “give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all.”

It seems to me that this teaches us an important lesson about how to avoid the pitfalls of “returning evil for evil.” If we leave it to the moment in which we are hurt, we will probably be inclined to respond with the feelings, thoughts and perhaps actions which are natural to us. But if we give thought to what is noble in the sight of all, we will perhaps be able to respond in a way that has been transformed by the mercy of Christ.

So what would such forethought look like? It might mean that we think like this, “The next time someone hurts me, I will be bold enough to acknowledge in my heart that I have been hurt and that I am angry. Then I will grieve the loss or hurt that I have experienced. Then I will remember that God has forgiven me a huge debt of sin and I will make a choice, perhaps even against everything that my feelings are screaming, to respond in a way that acknowledges the grace I have received. I will give time for my feelings to catch up to my decision and then respond with good instead of evil.”

It is clear that such a response is founded upon a new set of values, which is precisely the point. In Christ, as recipients of mercy, we are able to live according to a new set of values.

Live At Peace

A second thought about responding to wrongs with a transformed mind is given in Romans 12:18, which says, “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.”

What does it mean to live at peace with everyone? We often have misconceptions about what this means. Once again, transformed thinking is required.

We understand that all out war is not peace. That much is clear, but what we sometimes don’t understand is that if calm surface water hides turbulence beneath, that is not peace. Living at peace does not mean that we bury disagreements. Unless we consider the disagreement so minor that it is not worth bringing up, peace does not exist if we refuse to acknowledge wrongs done or disagreements held. If we don’t agree with someone or have suffered a wrong and inside there is anger, hurt or a desire for revenge, but we don’t acknowledge it, that is not peace.

Living at peace also does not mean that one opinion dominates. I have observed situations in which a plan was carried out and everyone appeared to agree with the plan because of the power of the person proposing the plan. No one had the courage to express disagreement. There appeared to be unanimity, but there was not peace. In other words, dominance does not mean peace. Therefore, in a marriage when one person holds the power and whatever he(mostly he) says goes and the other person, seething with resentment, submits; that is not peace. Therefore in a church, when we disagree with someone else, peace does not mean refusing to acknowledge what we think.

Living at peace requires honesty. It means that we have the courage to say what we think, with gentleness and reverence. I like what John E. Toews asks, “Can real and deep conflicts be resolved without open conversation that facilitates understanding, growing trust, and finally resolution?”

However, living at peace also requires listening to the other person. I know that in some situations I have been quick to defend my point of view so strongly that it was obvious to the other person that they might as well not say anything because they were not being listened to. I repent of such actions, because they do not make for peace.

Living at peace also requires commitment. If when we have conflict with someone, our temptation may be to ignore them or quit attending church or even switch churches. By doing that, we have only avoided conflict, we have not made peace.

Living at peace means embracing difference. It means that if one person thinks that God created the world in 6 days and another person believes that God may have created the world in millions of years, they can still talk together, discuss why they hold these views and continue to serve the Lord together.

These things are difficult and I know that sometimes I have made a decision not to retaliate and so to live at peace, but I still fight with my feelings and perhaps gossip or even slander the other person. When we do that, we have manifested that we still are not operating with a transformed mind. That is why it is so critical that we allow the Spirit of God to transform our thinking.

Of course, living at peace with everyone will not always be possible and so Paul says, “as far as it depends on you.” What are the things which make peace impossible? Living at peace can be difficult because we want justice. But that is something we can do something about, so it does not make living at peace impossible. Our own feelings make it very difficult to live in peace, and although we may need to have time to overcome those feelings, we can do something about and it does not make peace impossible. What does make peace impossible is the response of the other person. If we look at peacemaking as building a bridge, it is possible for us to build the bridge towards the other person, but it is not possible for us to make the other person build the bridge towards us. There comes a time when we may need to recognize that peace will not happen. If we have been honest with ourselves and have done everything possible to make peace, then we may simply have to accept that situation, knowing we have done everything possible. At that point, it does not make sense to pursue the issue further. As long as the door for peacemaking stays open from our side, we are free in God’s eyes and we may need to back off and leave it alone.

Don’t Take Revenge

A further command which Paul gives us is “Do not take revenge.”

Earlier we talked about not repaying “evil for evil,” understanding that there is a feeling within us that when we have been hurt, we want the other person to hurt as well. Vengeance adds another dimension to this feeling. When we want revenge, a part of our motivation might well be a motivation for justice. If we have been wronged, there must be a way of making it right which is a noble thought. After all God is concerned for righteousness isn’t He? Doesn’t God want things done in a just way?

John Piper says, “Most of you, probably, have been wronged seriously by someone who has never apologized or done anything sufficient to make it right. And one of the deep hindrances to your letting that hurt and bitterness go is the conviction—the justified conviction—that justice should be done, that the fabric of the universe will unravel if people can just get away with horrible wrongs and deceive everyone. That is one of the hindrances to forgiveness and letting grudges go. It’s not the only one. We have our own sin to deal with. But it is a real one. We feel that just to let it go would be to admit that justice simply won’t be done. And we can’t do it. So we hold on to anger, and play the story over and over again with the feelings: It shouldn’t have happened; it shouldn’t have happened; it was wrong; it was wrong.”

So how can God’s Word tell us not to seek revenge in order to make things right? First of all we need to acknowledge that there are some problems when we want to pursue justice. The truth is that we don’t know all the facts and we often only see one side of the issue and our feelings get involved so that what is nobly declared as a desire for justice can quickly deteriorate into returning evil for evil in order to satisfy our anger and hatred.

Paul instructs us that with transformed thinking we can refuse to take revenge when we leave vengeance to God. He is the one who will make all things right. Paul quotes Deuteronomy 32:35 to give Old Testament backing for this kind of thinking. Transformed thinking teaches us that justice is God’s business. Where NIV translates “leave room for God’s wrath,” the Greek is much more direct. It says, “give place to wrath” without specifying whose wrath. It is the next verse which teaches us that it is God’s wrath. And so it teaches us that justice is His business.

Refusing to take revenge also makes sense from a human point of view. Gaylord Goertsen writes, “On an old "Amos and Andy" television program, Andy was angry. There was a big man who would continually slap Andy across the chest every time they met. Andy finally had enough of it. He told Amos, "I'm going to get revenge. I will put a stick of dynamite in my vest pocket. The next time he slaps me on the chest he's going to get his hand blown off." But Andy forgot that the dynamite would also blow his own heart out. Revenge may hurt the other person but it always blows our own heart out.”

So when we consider the consequences and more importantly when we consider God’s grace and His justice we see how a transformed mind will lead us not to take revenge.

However, having made a decision to walk in this way does not make it easy. There are some significant considerations. Leaving it to God’s wrath does not mean ignoring that a wrong has been done. Therefore, leaving it to God’s wrath does not mean that we put ourselves back into a dangerous situation. Sometimes when people have been abused they have been told to leave it to God’s wrath and been encouraged to return to the abusive situation. That is not wisdom. When we are wronged trust is usually broken. Leaving vengeance to God does not mean that we carelessly trust a person who has shown themselves not to be trustworthy.

As we contemplate these things we see once again that a transformed mind, changed and guided by the Spirit of God is so important. As we pray and seek wisdom, God’s Spirit will help us to walk in this way.

Overcome Evil With Good

As difficult as even this is, the challenge is even greater as we read on and discover that not only are we to refuse revenge, we are to “overcome evil with good.”

The first thing I notice about this is that it is a strategy for response, not simply a rule to identify us as different. This is about overcoming evil with the method God Himself uses to overcome evil and that is with good. Although it is true that God is judge and that His wrath is against all wickedness, yet when He planned a strategy for overcoming evil, the method He chose had to do with sacrifice and grace. It is quite clear that transformed thinking requires the same kind of radical, contrary to human nature, strategy for us to overcome evil.

This is dangerous stuff. It is contrary to how we normally think and it requires a great dependence on God’s justice and power and presence. If we don’t have an understanding that this is God’s way of doing things and if we are not prepared to do it in God’s power, we will not be able to do it. You cannot overcome evil with good if you still want retaliation. You can only overcome evil with good if you are prepared to make a huge sacrifice just as God made a sacrifice to redeem us.

The practical matter of overcoming evil with good is presented in verse 20 where we are told to feed our enemy if he is hungry and to give him something to drink if he is thirsty. This strategy is first declared in Proverbs 25:21,22. The supporting argument is a little hard to understand. What does it mean to heap “burning coals on his head.” There are three different interpretations for this saying. One is that by our doing good, the judgment of God will come on the other person because it will be shown that they really deserve it. Another is that as the person experiences good, they will be shamed into contrition and repentance and the third is that this is simply an act of kindness. In those days they didn’t have matches and in order to carry fire from one place to another, they had special containers into which they would put glowing coals which they would carry on their head in order to start a fire in another place. To put burning coals on a person’s head was to fill their container and give them the fire needed to restart their fire. I am not sure what the correct interpretation is, but whatever the meaning, the instruction is clear – kindness is called for in place of vengeance.

This is the tone of the entire passage. Even in Romans 12:14 Paul says, “Bless those who persecute you…” Jesus is the model for this kind of response as seen when in Luke 23:34 we read that He blessed his enemies when he was on the cross. It is the model of Jesus who blessed us when we were enemies as recorded in Romans 5:6, “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.”

Conclusion

I suspect that there are probably situations in this room right now to which this message speaks very specifically. There are people here who have been hurt by other people here. There may be some here who are being persecuted.

As we think of these words, I do not think that it is helpful to tell you, “here are the commands, obey them.” I believe it is better say to you, “remember the mercy you have received and ask God to transform your mind about how you will think about and respond to those who are your enemies.”

One of my favorite stories is the one told by Corrie Ten Boom. She experienced horrible wrongs when she was in the prison camp in Nazi Germany. One guard in particular seemed to take pleasure in severely abusing the prisoners. Years later when she was on a speaking tour she met this guard who came up to her and asked her forgiveness. It was difficult for her to do, but she made a choice to obey and when she did, God gave her the power to love this man who had wronged her. May we, in the power of God learn to treat all who wrong us in the way He has taught us and in the way He has treated us.

Thinking Differently About The Church

Romans 12:3-16

Introduction

What do you think the worship service at McIvor Avenue MB church will be like this morning? That is the church where Lisa Klassen attends. I suspect that since Tuesday, when her vehicle plunged into the Red River, her whole church has been praying for her, hurting with the family and doing all they can to support them. I suspect that this morning there will be mention made and prayers sent up because of what happened. Why does one accident have such an impact on a community of faith?

If we approach Romans as a book written to us personally, we miss something very significant. This book, as much of the New Testament, although it clearly has application to the individual follower of God, is written to the people of God. In Romans 1:7 Paul addresses the letter, “To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints…” He begins by writing to the community of God’s people and the concept of the people of God continues to permeate the book. In Romans 12:3-16, he becomes more specific about how the people of God are to be His people. He writes in detail about what it means to be the church and about how we should think about the church.

Let us take a look at Romans 12:3-16, for it surely has many important things to say to us as a church.

A Transformed Mind

Several weeks ago we looked at Romans 12:1,2. There we were challenged that because of God’s mercy, we are called to “be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” We have received mercy from God and have been forgiven and given eternal life. Therefore, we are no longer to conform to this world, but we are to be transformed. That transformation means allowing the Spirit of God to change the way we think and also the way we act.

In the section which we are looking at today, this theme continues. Please notice that the word “think” appears twice in Romans 12:3 – “For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.” (NIV) The same Greek word, translated mind, also appears in Romans 12:16 – “Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion.” (NKJV) The presence of these words is deliberate and communicates an important message to us. The theme of verses 3-16 is the body of Christ, the church. Because we are told to have a “transformed mind” in verse 2 and because verses 3 and 16 both contain the word “mind” or “think,” this tells us that the way we think about the church must also be transformed. We cannot be the church with the kind of thinking that comes naturally to us. Our thinking must be transformed so that the way we are in the church, the way we are the church, the way we relate to one another in the church reflects the grace we have received in Christ.

There are ways of thinking about the way we relate to others which are quite natural to us. For example, particularly in the present day Western world, individualism is a dominant motivator for our actions. It is easy for us to decide that what I want is more important than what the group wants. Another value which we quite naturally live by is self centeredness. When we determine that we will not make a sacrifice unless we benefit in some way, self is clearly at the center. How often pride manifests itself in our attitudes and actions! When we are proud, we will not allow others to see our faults and our failures. When we are proud, we promote ourselves as having it all together and we think, if not out loud, then within ourselves, that we can do things better than other people can. How naturally jealousy rears its head! When someone else succeeds, we don’t like it. How do we feel when someone gets what we want – a position in church or an invitation for lunch? Have you ever thought, “it is no wonder so and so is having such a hard time. They shouldn’t have made that mistake?” What is our attitude towards people who are poor or who can’t keep a job? When we are looking for someone to invite, do we just look at our friends or are we open to having strangers join us as well?

I confess that I make decisions about how I relate to God’s people using these values even though I know that if I do so and if everyone else does so, the church will not last long. If we are individualistic and we only come to meetings that suit us, if we are self centered and only serve because we have to or when it is in our interest, if people who move into the church find it hard to fit in because we don’t really need any more friends and if a few people do all the work and many people just sit and watch, our church will not be here for many more years.

However, even though the church is the only means God has in this world to build His eternal kingdom, the motivation for renewed thinking is not for the sake of the survival of the church. Talking about these things is not intended to be a goad to have a better church. Instead, the motivation to have a transformed mind about the church is because of God’s mercy. It is because we are recipients of grace, because we belong to God, because God has brought us together into one body, because we are the body of Christ in a world that is opposed to Him that we need to think differently about the church. Romans 12:3-16 is loaded with counter-cultural thinking.

God’s Mind For The Church

What does it mean to have God’s mind about His church?

Humility

If our mind is to be renewed and if it is to be renewed after God’s mind, we might want to know God’s mind and looking at Jesus is a great place to start. What did it take for Jesus to come to this earth? Philippians 2:6-8 says, “Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross!”

Because Jesus accomplished His work by humbling Himself, it is clear that humility is a fundamental value of a mind transformed according to the grace of God. Both the first verse and the last verse of this section speak about this value. Verse 3 says, “do not think of yourself more highly than you ought…” and verse 16 says, “do not be proud.” How does the value of humility live in the relationships we have with each other? Humility lives when we recognize that the ministry of the church is God’s and not ours. Therefore, we need to be careful to build God’s kingdom and not ours. Humility lives when we don’t hold on to position, but serve for the glory of God. Therefore, if when we are not elected to the position we want, we don’t quit serving in anger, but rather look for other places to serve. Humility lives when the people who have power value and honor those who do not have power. So, therefore, we invite people to join us for lunch who are not in our social circle. John Toews says, The real challenge of this text for the church is to construct a worldview, a value system, which incarnates the gospel in ways that build unity and nurture solidarity among Christians of different racial, class, gender, and socioeconomic status groups.”

Belonging

At least a part of the problems which occurred in Kenya recently had to do with tribal tensions. We have heard of these kind of divisions in other places and the horror of ethnic cleansing is still a reality in our world today. The attitudes behind this kind of violence are not always absent even in a peaceful place like Rosenort. When we look down on people of different backgrounds, when we think of Mennonites as the only people who are following God correctly or when we make distinctions because someone is from a different church, we are engaging in the same kind of worldly minded thinking.

A transformed mind in the life of the church is a mind which understands that God’s people, in spite of diversity are one body. This counter-cultural unity in the midst of diversity is spoken of in Romans 12:4,5. The body of Christ is one body with many members and the power of that relationship is that “we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.”

That kind of radical thinking has powerful implications for us in this church. It means that whether we have descended from those who migrated here in 1874 or have come here more recently, we belong to one another. It means that whether we come from Russia, Mexico, Winnipeg, or a Hutterite colony we belong to one another. It means that whether we live from pay cheque to pay cheque or retire at 55, we belong to one another. It means that whether we have a grade 3 education or a Masters degree, we belong to one another.

Recognizing that “each member belongs to all the others” has implications for how we view the people of God in other churches. If they follow Jesus, they are our brothers and sisters and we belong to them and they to us. The church is not only our church, it is the body of Christ in the whole world.

What does it mean that we belong to one another? It does not mean, as some people seem to think, that we force each other to obey all the church rules. But surely it means much more than, “I will come to church on Sunday morning and what I do and how I treat you the rest of the week means nothing.”

John Piper says, “The members of my body are members of each other because they are so much a part of each other's pain and pleasure. If I kick the coffee table full force with my little toe in the dark while trying to shut windows in the rain, my hands and my legs and eyes all join in the reaction…And none of these reactions are the result of a long chain of arguments or reasons why it would be good to help. It's immediate. It feels the pain or the danger or the pleasure that the other part feels, and the reaction of the body part is, as if it were, happening to itself.”

That is what it means to have a transformed mind about Christ’s body. That is why they will be praying for Lisa Klassen at McIvor today and why we will say amen to that prayer.

Service

If in humility we recognize that we are not the most important member in the body of Christ and if we understand that we belong to each other in spite of our diversity, we must also realize that each of us has something to offer in service to the whole body. These things are inter-related.

In Romans 12:6-8, we have an invitation to use the gifts of grace which God has given to every one of us in order to bless the rest of the body of Christ. Transformed thinking about the church has a servant mentality.

That servant mentality realizes, first of all, that every one of us has some gift, given by the grace of God, which we have to offer to the rest of the body. In this text, the gifts of prophesy, serving, teaching, encouragement, contributing to the needs of others, leadership and mercy are mentioned. There are other gifts and the Bible is pretty clear that each one of us has been given a gift from God to offer to the rest of us. What happens if we don’t offer the gift we have been given? It seems to me that is pretty serious. For one thing, when we do that we deny that God has given us a gift of grace. Murray says, “if we underestimate (our gifts) we fail to acknowledge God’s grace…” Furthermore, we diminish what the body of Christ can accomplish because we do not return the gift which God has given. If we think that our part is so small it won’t really matter if it is missing, we are not engaged in transformed thinking. How do we know if we are not the little spark plug that will fire the whole engine?

One of the 8 essential elements of a healthy church is “gift oriented ministry.” Because the gifts for service come from God, their use reflects the transformed thinking which is to mark the body of Christ.

Love

Love is a value which the whole world acknowledges as important. So we might be tempted to suggest that expecting love in the church is normal and not much different than what one would expect in the rest of society. But even here transformed thinking is present. The love which must exist in the body of Christ transcends that of normal human love. As we consider the depth and breadth of the love which we have been shown by God, in Christ, we know that the love present in the church must be the same kind as God’s love for us. The implications of such Christ-like love are explained in this passage in a number of different ways.

Romans 12:9 calls for love which is “sincere.” The Greek word behind the word “sincere” can be transliterated “unhypocritical.” How is unhypocritical love different from normal love? For one thing, it isn’t two faced. It doesn’t imply, “I love you” by a friendly smile or by participating in foot washing and then gossip behind the person’s back.

Transformed love is, as Romans 12:10 says, “devoted to one another in brotherly love.” It goes deeper and lasts longer than normal love and is extended more broadly than the love we naturally feel for one another. We have sometimes spoken of covenant community. This verse supports that concept.

As we read in Romans 12:12 & 15, we also see that such love is attentive and caring. When we love in this way, we pray for one another, we care for one another when there is affliction. We rejoice with those who rejoice and mourn with those who mourn.

Such love also offers hospitality. Hospitality costs. Are we willing to pay the price? As we put this together with the call to humility, we recognize that hospitality does not discriminate between close friends and other people. We need to be willing to be hospitable to all.

Romans 12:16 indicates that such love is always working towards harmony. There is no question that things will happen that may destroy harmony. But when, with a transformed mind, we recognize that we belong to each other, the easy way out, of avoiding or dismissing those we disagree with, is just not an option. Rather, we are called to seek harmony in any way we can.

As we pile implication upon implication it becomes clear that such love is beyond what we expect as normal in this world. This kind of love can only be expressed when we have been transformed by a renewed mind.

Purity

In one brief part of this passage, we also learn that a transformed mind is a mind which follows after God’s righteousness. The body of Christ is called to reflect the purity of Jesus. Romans 12:9 says, “Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.” In other words, in the church we will have a concern for purity which lives according to the purity of God.

Spiritual Fervor

Where does the power come from to live in such a way? Clearly such living is not normal, it is not what is expected in our natural way of thinking. Because it comes from a mind transformed by God, it is important that we continue to function with the power of God. That is why it says in Romans 12:11, “Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.”

We are not a human organization, we are not a people powered club. We are the church of the living God and it is only in a relationship with that living God that we will be able to continue to live in this way which is not conformed to the world.

To live in this way means that we don’t serve out of duty, but out of a zeal for the Lord. Sometimes it is hard to tell the difference between duty and zeal. The difference is, “where does your power come from?” If it comes from us, we won’t last. If it comes from the friendships we have it will stop when relationships are broken. If our power comes from God, we will live in a way that is transformed.

Conclusion

So what does our church look like? Has our mind been transformed about how we think about the body of Christ? Do we need to confess that we are living according to the reactions which are natural to us? Do we need to repent and allow the Spirit of God to transform our minds so that we recognize the body of Christ in our brothers and sisters?

I want to challenge all of us to think differently and to constantly evaluate our attitudes towards God’s people and to live with a transformed mind. Look around you. Look at the people you don’t want to look at. They are a part of the body of Christ. There is the hand and there the feet and there the arms and the ear and the mouth. That is Jesus!