The Governance of Nations and the Reign of God
AM Psalm 72 • PM Psalm 119:73-96
Wisdom 13:1-9 • Rom 13:1-14 • Luke 8:16-25
Is any saying more ignored than “religion and politics don’t mix?” Jerry Falwell once went so far as to proclaim that “The idea that religion and politics don’t mix was invented by the Devil to keep Christians from running their own country.”
I believe that religion and public life are inextricably linked, but with all due respect to Rev. Falwell, using scripture to support our own views on religion and governance should be done with care and humility, with prayerful reflection on the context, and with a dose of common sense. Two of our readings for today, Psalm 72 and a passage from Romans 13, address the questions of how God expects leaders to govern and what Christians owe to those in positions of authority. Both passages generate some head-scratching, but they are worth spending time with.
Have you ever noticed the words or phrases in small print at the beginning of most of the Psalms? They’re called “superscripts,” and while they are not part of the biblical text, the editors of this magnificent collection of poems used them to identify the writer, provide background, indicate musical direction, or explain a psalm’s purpose.
In the NRSV the superscript for Psalm 72 reads “of Solomon.” When I began to read the text, (“May he judge your people with righteousness and your poor with justice.”) I thought, “this doesn’t sound like Solomon!” Solomon built a mighty fine temple, but justice for the poor? Not so much. But then I noticed that the psalmist is expressing a hope for the future, a hope which, if referring to Solomon, was not to be fulfilled. Nevertheless, this is a hope which reflects the core beliefs of the Israelites and their prophets, and, by extension, ours as well.
Romans 13 starts off like this: “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities; for there is no authority except from God.” Thus begins one of those passages that has long been used to support evil systems, by slave owners and segregationists and by the majority of German Christians who supported Hitler, all of whom buttressed their agendas with it. But other Christians have concluded that while this categorical assertion cannot always be squared with the core beliefs of our faith, we should nevertheless take it seriously.
On any given Sunday, some parishioners at St. Paul’s may find themselves praying for a president or other leader whom they believe does not “judge your people with righteousness and your poor with justice.” We, like many biblical figures, sometimes run up against a law or program promulgated by a leader or legislative body which we simply cannot square with the reign of God, as we understand it. What to do?
Keep praying for the leader(s) you can’t stand, even if you disagree with their policies, because (a) it’s in The Book of Common Prayer 😊 and (b) to do so is to affirm the importance of order in society. But if, after prayerful consideration, you conclude that a policy simply cannot be squared with the teachings of Jesus, object—loudly—and, if need be, engage in civil disobedience. You’ll be in good company, biblical and otherwise.
I, for one, find it reprehensible and profoundly unchristian for legislators to pass laws attacking transgender people, who include some of the weakest among us, while refusing to stand up to powerful interests who proclaim that the constitutional right to bear arms includes ready access to automatic weapons capable of killing many people in seconds. One survivor of the recent mass shooting in a Colorado grocery store (who, by the way, is from Rogers, Arkansas) put it this way: “I think being there that day, I realized that no one should be able to annihilate as many people as they want to.”
As I write this, I’m remembering the advice of the late John Lewis: “When you see something that is not right, not fair, not just, say something! Do something! Get in trouble! Good trouble! Necessary trouble!”
Written by Bob McMath
...who needs to get into some good trouble.