Jeremiah 29:7 * July 6, 2003
* Pentecost 4 *
Pastor Leyrer
Dear Friends in Christ,
The words you just heard were part of a letter the Old
Testament prophet Jeremiah wrote to God’s People approximately six centuries
before the birth of Christ. At that time
they were captive in the ancient
Today we continue to follow Jeremiah’s advice – but maybe without even knowing it. Let me explain. Every time we come together for public worship almost without exception we join together in praying the Lord’s Prayer. In the fourth (and middle) petition of the Lord’s Prayer we ask that God will “give us today our daily bread.” Our first inclination is to understand “daily bread” in a very literal way; that is, we are praying that God will provide us with enough to eat each day. And certainly that is true.
But “daily bread” means more than what we put in our mouths. In his explanation of the Fourth Petition in the Small Catechism, Martin Luther really unpacks this phrase. I’d like you listen to what he says, and then I’ll tell you why I think it’s worth bringing to your attention…
Daily bread includes
everything that we need for our bodily welfare, such as food and drink,
clothing and shoes, house and home, fields and flocks, money and goods, a godly
family, good workers, good government,
honest leaders, good citizens, good weather, peace and order, health, a good name, loyal friends and good
neighbors.
Maybe you picked up on it, but within this extensive listing are these four references: good government, honest leaders, good citizens, peace and order. All are related to each other, with the point to be made being this: Like the prophet Jeremiah, Martin Luther also understood that one of the ways God blesses His people is through the government and nation He has provided for them.
We know that. As American Christians, at no time is this more evident than a Fourth of July weekend such as we’ve just observed. When we get beyond the parades and the fireworks and the other traditional ways of celebrating the Fourth, we are struck with the same undeniable truth expressed by Jeremiah and Luther: God has blessed us through our nation and our government. Consequently, with the Fourth of July still fresh in our minds, it seems like an especially appropriate time for us to consider all this within the framework of Scripture. Let’s spend the next several minutes taking a look at
GOD’S WORD ON GOVERNMENT
1. How we are blessed through it
2. How we respond to it
3. The greater government it
foreshadows
In 1 Timothy 2:1-2 the
Apostle Paul says: I urge, then, first of all, that requests,
prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone— 2 for kings and all those in authority,
that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.
Why are we to pray for good leaders, good government, etc.? So “that we may live peaceful and quiet lives” – that is, lives which are free from oppression, tyranny and fear because of who we are as Christians.
In general – and in spite of our personal criticisms and
frustrations with it from time to time – every citizen of the
But as far as we Christians are concerned, the greatest of the liberties God has given us through our government is the freedom to believe freely in the Word of God and the Gospel message of Jesus Christ. If we want to wear a cross as a piece of jewelry or place a Christian fish symbol as a bumper sticker on our car, we can do so without fear of repercussion. In addition to that, the government we are under allows us to freely gather together for worship as we are doing today.
Such blessings of political liberty are so ingrained within us that most of us hardly give them a passing thought. But the Apostle Paul lived at a time and wrote to Christians who lived in places where this was not the case – where physical persecution was very real. And it must be mentioned that persecution for one’s faith is not just some sad footnote in the history of the early church. As hard as it is for us to imagine because of the religious freedom we enjoy as United States citizens, in some places in our world this is still the case today…
One of the Christian periodicals I sometimes read has a regular feature page called “The Suffering Church.” It chronicles some of the modern day persecution Christians who live in other parts of the world go through. Let me read just one of the articles for you:
The New
York-based Committee for Investigation on Persecution of Religion in
Maybe some of you remember a couple of years ago when we had
a missionary from
What are we to make of this? In his second letter to the Corinthians, the Apostle Paul tells us that whatever “afflictions” we go through for Christ are but “light and momentary,” and in the book of Romans he tells Christians that “our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.” And I’m sure persecuted Christians throughout the ages have found great comfort as they place their lives in the context of those Scriptural truths. But it is also apparent that their lives as Christians are not the “quiet and peaceful lives” referred to in the First Timothy passage…
In comparison, what they have had to contend with, God has spared us. We live in a land of religious freedom. We can worship Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior when and where we want. That is a great blessing. For that blessing we must be grateful. And the continuation of that blessing, as Paul points out to us, deserves a place in our prayers.
Our second reading for today was Romans 13:1-7. What Scripture tells us there is that civil government – even godless ones such as the Roman Christians lived under – have nonetheless been established by God for the temporal welfare of His people. Therefore, unless they ask us to personally do something contrary to God’s Word, we owe them our obedience and the respect of their office.
Sometimes this is troublesome. Although the form of government God has given us provides us with many blessings and freedoms, we know it is not perfect. In fact, it never will be perfect, because government is run by sinful men. And although there was a time when many of our laws and customs and statutes were in conformity with Christian principles, sadly this is not so much the case today. If those who are in government are not bound by Scripture, their decisions will be based on other things – such as darkened reason under the guise of “enlightened” thinking, or the simple will of the majority, or the will of those who make the most noise about a particular issue…
As a result, side by side with religious freedom are an increasing number of moral issues which are clearly opposed to God’s Word. We think, for example, of the atrocity of legalized abortion or the defense of partial-birth abortion or the growing tendency to legitimize same-sex marriages. As Christian citizens, we find this most troubling and disturbing. And as Christian citizens it is our right and responsibility to use whatever legal means are available to bring about God-pleasing changes in these areas…
But in the final analysis, those who lead ultimately answer to God for their decisions. In the meantime, we recognize that, in the words of Paul, “the authorities that exist” – flawed by sinfulness as they may be – “have been established by God.” Therefore, as stated earlier, we owe them our obedience and the respect of their office. Most of all, we owe them our prayers that the Lord may provide them with true wisdom and insight.
Finally, all this talk about government can be taken to an even higher level when we remember that in the end we are under the government of Christ the King. And in His government over us, there are no flaws or inconsistencies. Only blessings beyond measure.
For example, He governs us with perfect love. He demonstrated the full extent of that love by voluntarily dying on the cross for sinners like you and me. As a result, we are redeemed, restored and forgiven. When He cried out “it is finished,” He paid our freight to heaven. And when He rose from the dead he completed the heavenly citizenship papers for all who believe in Him as Savior.
That governance of perfect love continues on a daily basis. This is our confidence: If in love He met our greatest spiritual and eternal needs, does it not stand to reason that in the same love He will meet all our temporal and transitory needs as well? Yes He will.
He governs us with perfect knowledge. Many of us learned the hymn “I am Jesus’ Little Lamb” in our youth. Remember how it goes? “I am Jesus’ little lamb; ever glad at heart I am. For my shepherd gently guides me, knows my needs and well provides me, loves me everyday the same, Even calls me by my name.” He who knows each of our names also knows each of our needs. So He provides us with enough ups to know how blessed we are and enough downs to know we’re not home yet. But all the while, up or down, He is guiding and governing us.
And, of course, He provides us with liberties even greater than ours as American citizens. By His life, death and resurrection, He has freed us from the damning consequences of our sins. The cross and the empty tomb was our declaration of independence from an eternity in hell. And if that is not enough, knowing that He is the One who is truly ruling the world frees us from fear of the future with the result that those who take Him at His Word are liberated from worry…
Yes, we are blessed – in so many ways. Through our nation and government God gives us blessings for our time on this earth. And through Jesus Christ God gives us blessings far beyond.
So as we reflect on the life, liberty and pursuit of happiness that each Fourth of July reminds us of, let us thank God. And as Jeremiah the prophet tells us, let us continue to pray for the prosperity of our nation, knowing how God blesses us through it…
But let all those blessings also remind us of the greater ones they foreshadow as we look forward to our final and eternal citizenship in heaven. Amen.