Honor, respect and pray for the king

“There went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed (registered),” Luke 2:1.

From scripture, we see that the people of God, along with everyone else, are in some way affected by decisions made by the current administration of the time. Those of us in these times who call Alaska and America our home can be thankful that we still have a say about what goes on under the rule of the present administration.

With the recent elections behind us it is easy in all the fray, emotion, joy and/or disappointment with whatever political position we take, to lose sight of the larger picture at hand. For many of the faith community, the election results were grim indeed. Many felt the options were scarcely better and we are now left with the ever-present “Nnow what?”

Throughout history, the faith community has often found itself at odds with the powers that be, hard pressed to faithfully follow the word and voice of God without running afoul of the edicts of government. Many times the mandate was, “Obey the king, and live,” or, “Obey God, and die.”

Consider the first century church and what life was like for those people under the rule of Rome with the likes of Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, Nero and Domitian as national leaders. Further back, we have the tyrannical authority of Babylon and the Medes/Persian empires. These were especially brutal and bloody times. Yet we read that many of the people of God persevered, endured and, yes, were oft times destroyed holding on to Godly righteousness in an unholy public arena. Some, like Daniel, Nehemiah, Ezra, the apostle Paul, Simon Peter and a list of others, were able to exhibit Godliness and contentment even under the harshest of régimes.

These examples cause our current situation by comparison to look rather bland and should cause our faith community to be somewhat ashamed of itself for expressing fear accompanied by whining and complaining. (God calls it murmuring.) The believers of those times set the bar high for the believers of these times. God’s expectations of them has not changed for the believers of today.

New Testament authors Paul and Simon Peter both instruct the community of faith to pray for and obey the leaders in authority, to obey the laws of the land and honor the king. Honor the king? How can we be expected to honor someone who acts dishonorably? Yet Jesus said, “Render unto Caesar (Tiberius) the things which are Caesar’s and unto God the things that are God’s.” Honor is one of those things.

Romans 13 state, that all authority is ordained of God. Ouch! To resist is to resist God himself. The hard fact is that in order to live as God would have us live, honoring the king is high on the list. Yet we are also mandated to “contend for the faith,” “to speak the truth in love” and “to preach the word.”

One of the blessings of living in a republic is that we have the freedom to speak our hearts on issues that pertain to life, the sanctity of marriage and family values on all matters of faith and still be able to honor the king. To speak out is not to impose our will on others, but simply to give voice to and vote on issues as the word of God directs and as our liberty provides. The believer’s voice is stilled by choice, not by decree. If in those times when the believer’s stand for Godly principles run afoul of the laws of man, we may have to very well pay the civil penalties. So be it. Acts 5:9 still holds true. We trust in one greater than the law of the land.

As a believer in Jesus Christ, what happens with you and your life the next four years is not going to be determined by the White House, U.S. Senate or the Congress. It will be determined by no one less than God himself.

This could possibly be one of the finest hours of the church! The apostle Paul reminds us that where sin abounds, grace much more abounds. Jesus said that a light should be placed where it might be seen. We know that the greater the darkness, the brighter the light. C’mon Church, stand up, stand out, speak out and let his light shine! Let your life be heard! And remember, honor (respect) and pray for the king.

S. Duane Guisinger is pastor of the Sunny Knik Chapel.

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