16th Sunday after Pentecost – September 24, 2017
Christian Citizens, Pay Your Debt…
To love your neighbor whom God redeemed
To obey the government which God established
As we begin here this morning, I want to read once again the entire section of Romans 13 that serves as our sermon text. I want to do this because this is the clearest and most comprehensive section in the entire Bible that speaks to our role as citizens of an earthly kingdom. Like all of God’s Word, they are important to hear. Like all of God’s Word, this is not a suggestion but rather is the way we as Christians are to live in relationship to the governing authorities. Hear the Word of God from Romans 13:1-10:
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. 2Therefore the one who rebels against the authority is opposing God’s institution, and those who oppose will bring judgment on themselves. 3For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to evil. Would you like to have no fear of the one in authority? Do what is good, and you will receive praise from him, 4because he is God’s servant for your benefit. But if you do wrong, be afraid, because he does not carry the sword without reason. He is God’s servant, a punisher to bring wrath on the wrongdoer. 5Therefore it is necessary to submit, not only because of wrath, but also because of conscience. 6For this reason you also pay taxes, because the authorities are God’s ministers, who are employed to do this very thing. 7Pay what you owe to all of them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, and honor to whom honor is owed. 8Do not owe anyone anything except to love one another, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. 9For the commandments—do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not covet (and if there is any other commandment)—are summed up in this statement: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 10Love does no harm to a neighbor, so love is the fulfillment of the law.
Now, as you have heard those words again, I have a question for you. How do they fit together with the first lesson from Ezekiel 33 and the gospel lesson from Matthew 18 which deal with God’s instruction to the Christian to reach out with both Law and Gospel to the fellow believer caught in sin? After all, each Sunday service is meant to be a unit – an organized part of a whole. The three readings are meant to complement each other as they develop the same thought. Hymns are chosen in an attempt to tie in with the readings. So, how do these words of Romans fit?
Well, we see a connection withthe words: “Do not owe anyone anything except to love one another…love your neighbor as yourself.” So, let us use those words to formulate a theme for ourselves this morning that captures the thought of our entire service: Christian Citizens, Pay Your Debt. Working from the end of our text to the beginning we see the debt we owe is the debt to love our neighbor whom God redeemed; and the debt to obey the government which God established.
Christian Citizens, Pay Your Debt To Love Your Neighbor Whom God Redeemed
The first thing we need to do as we consider this debt is to answer the question: who is our neighbor? When Paul, like Jesus, tells us to love our neighbor as ourselves he is not simply talking about Steve or Ted or Brenda or Christina who live next door. It’s much wider and bigger than that. But at the same time, to simply say our neighbor is everyone can lead to an overwhelmed and unclear understanding as well. That’s why it’s best to define our neighbor as anyone whom we see in need and are in a position to help.
The parable of the Good Samaritan helps us see that. In that parable a man is severely beaten and left on the side of the road to die. Along comes a Levite, a Priest, and a Samaritan, and the moment they see the beaten man whom they had never met, he becomes their neighbor. He was in need. They were in a position to help. Therefore, the question isn’t so much, “who is my neighbor?” but rather “to whom can I be a neighbor for the glory of Christ.”
With that understanding then, let us work from the inside out. By that I mean let’s talk first about the people you see around you today. The men, women and children you see here today, yes the men, women and children who are members of our congregation are your neighbors. They are our neighbors because as brothers and sisters in Christ we know a need they have; and we are in a position to help. That need is spiritual encouragement.
We need to be built up by one another. We need to be spurred on to love and good deeds. We need to share the burden of the work that needs to be done. We need to be praying for each other. We do that when we make it priority to worship with each other. We do that when we get to know them on a deeper level than “good morning, how are you.” We do that when we do life together. That’s how we love them as ourselves.
Sometimes, that need extends into the physical. Bills may increase and finances may get tight. Property may be damaged or sickness may make everyday chores difficult. When we know about this need, we will want to do all we can to help alleviate it – that too is included in the debt of love that we are to pay.
Yet that’s not all. This debt of love also involves following through on Jesus’ words from our gospel lesson. “If your brother sins against you, go and show him his sin just between the two of you” (Matthew 18:15). What does that mean? I’m confident in saying that I think most all of us know. It is pretty straightforward. The problem isn’t with the clarity of Jesus’ words. The problem is with our desire and willingness to do it. Plain and simple, Jesus wants us to approach, seek out, and speak to the fellow believerwho is guilty of sinning and is unrepentant. He wants us to call them to repentance. Why? Because that’s what true love is.
That’s right! The greatest love we can show our fellow believer is having concern for their spiritual well-being. And someone who is living in unrepentance has placed themselves outside of God’s kingdom. They need our help, and Jesus tells us we are that fallen sinner’s life line. It isn’t sinful judging if done with the goal of leading them to repent. It’s part of our debt of love. It’s isn’t just the pastor’s or elders job. If you know about it, it is your debt of love. Jesus says so!
Now, having discussed those neighbors closest to us, let’s talk about our neighbors in the world. But before we do, let’s make sure we have a proper understanding of the love Paul is talking about. Our world defines love as never telling people they are wrong and letting them do whatever they want. But if a parent has a child who said to them, “I am a superhero. I’m going up on the roof to practice my flying;” how many of us would call the parent loving if they said, “Okay honey, if that’s what you want to do go ahead and do it”? None of us would. In fact, we’d say that parent is unloving.
So, when Paul says, “Do not owe anyone anything except to love one another,”he’s not talking about keeping our mouths shut or telling them they are welcome to believe anything they want. No, “Love does no harm to a neighbor.” No greater harm can be done to our unbelieving neighbor than to refrain from telling them about the terrible consequences of sin. Likewise, we only harm our unbelieving neighbor if we give the impression that it’s no big deal if they don’t believe in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.
And we don’t just love by witnessing to the truth; we also love by the way we live our life. That brings us to the longer section of our lesson here this morning which teaches us…
Christian Citizens, Pay Your Debt To Obey the Government God Established
Paul leaves no room to wonder why we are to obey those in authority over us. Three times in the first two verses he clearly says, submit to the authorities (from the least to the greatest) because they exist and have their authority from God. Therefore, obedience to them is obedience to God; and disobedience to them is disobedience to God.
But there is another reason it is so important for us to pay our debt of obedience to the government. That is because it is another way that we love our neighbor. You see, through the government God wishes to bless us. So, when we respect them, support them, and obey them, we in essence love our neighbor by making it easier for them to bless them. When we pay our taxes and follow the laws set up for the benefit of society, we love our neighbor. At the same time, by our words and way of living, we witness, admonish and set an example for our neighbors as to what it means to love God.
So, what impression of God and his Word have the people of the world received from you? Have you been perfectly paying your debt to obey the government? Think about the words you have said? Consider the way you have filled out your taxes? Contemplate the way you obey its laws?
And what about your debt of love to those whom God has redeemed? Have you“passed by” on the other side when you’ve seen someone in need and you are in position to help? Have you kept silent when someone has indicated they don’t need Jesus to be saved? Do you know of a fellow believer whose actions indicate they are living in a sin - like despising God’s Word, repeatedly getting drunk, refusing to stop gossiping, or living together? Have you followed through on your debt of love and spoken with them, or did you tell yourself it’s none of your business or that you don’t want them meddling in your life so you won’t meddle in theirs? Did you convince yourself that you shouldn’t say anything with pious talk like – “oh, it will drive them away from church?”
But dear friends, it is no less a sin to let them continue in their sin than are the sins of murder, adultery stealing or coveting. That’s why the Word of God today must present us with a different attitude - an attitude that seeks to pay our debt because we are driven by God’s love for us.
That’s where we want to end today – with God’s love. You see, as you contemplate your answers to those questions I just asked; as you consider what the Lord calls on us to do compared with what we have done, our sinfulness once again jumps off the pages of our lives. How can we stand before an all-holy God who demands perfection when we know we don’t have it? The answer – because he loved us!
And look at how he loved us! Even when we were still sinners, Christ died for us. He endured our hell for us. By the sacrifice of himself on the cross, Jesus made us, who were so unlovable, to be loved by a holy and just God. God calls us his own dear children because we have been cleansed, redeemed and delivered by the blood of his eternal Son. God, who is just, has pronounced us justified by punishing his Son in our place.
How far short we fall from fulfilling God’s law oflove! But how wonderfully this kind of love was fulfilled on the cross! Jesus looked down on the angry mob and said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34). Jesus suffered and died for our sins. He paid the penalty for our begrudging attitude when it comes to paying our taxes. His blood washes clean the times we have conveniently ignored our neighbor’s need. His death satisfied God’s wrath against us for those times we have ignored the debt of love we have to our fellow believer living in sin.
Now, having received this love and forgiveness by faith, we have also received a new attitude of heart. You are a new creation. As a new creation you want nothing more than to offer heart and soul and mind to the Savior who loved you and won for you your forgiveness. We do just that as we, with his help, see our debt to love our neighbor whom God redeemed and obey the government which God established as debt we are never done paying. Amen.