Evensong Sermon - A divine institution? Romans 13.1-10
Let’s be clear St. Paul writing to the Christians in Rome felt that
government was a temporary and passing, a means to an end.
He hoped for the imminent return of Christ and when that wasn’t as
quickly as he’d hoped.
So he had to adjust his teaching to recognise
the need of some kind of order for society.
And he believed, as we
protect and serve to the Doctors and Nurses who care for us at
different points in our lives.
So whether we like it or not and however much Mr. Cameron wishes
to reduce the role of the state in our lives, through our taxes alone
we’re bound up with it.
However that said I don’t think any of us would say that the machinery
should, that if God was the God of all creation then that included those
of government feels like a divine institution.
institutions and structures that often seemed to frustrate his purpose
as though the divine and those who in some sense speak for God are
rather than co-operate with it.
being progressively squeezed from those institutions connected to
However, though he adjusted his teaching, he had no sense they would
On the contrary it feels
government and the state.
still in one form or another be with us today, so we’re left to ask what
The Bishop’s in the House of Lords and the costs involved have been
are we to make of Paul’s words and of how they help us understand
hitting the headlines in the last fortnight. More fuel for those who say
living as British citizens in 2012?
that Christians should really not be interested in politics, that faith is
In Paul’s day taxes were paid for a peaceful existence, citizens could
simply for those who like that sort of thing, a private matter.
expect something in return and though we should be cautious about
Yet as we know spend any time trying to live as a disciple of Christ and
making a direct comparison with then and now there are parallels, we
you realise that faith is anything but a private matter it makes demands
pay taxes and though we might grumble about them and how they are
upon us as individuals. We don’t practice our faith in isolation for we
or are not spent, we do receive from them.
live with others and our faith affects that living and frames how we see
From the lights on our
streets, to the bins that are collected, from the Armed Forces helping
the society in which we live.
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For me, the role of the state is to create a framework for living that
Firstly, it’s about emphasising the preciousness and importance of each
allows human beings to flourish.
individual.
That has to involve freedom but it
also has to involve obligation and mutual responsibility.
So I can echo
Sometimes as I look at the faces that surround me, I’m
struck by how many souls look sad or lost, of course I may be wrong
Paul’s words for myself that ‘It (contributing) is an obligation imposed not
but the evidence would suggest that there is much dissatisfaction
merely by fear of retribution but by conscience.’
amongst our neighbours.
That conscience is our need to contribute, and this contribution is often
So I think one of the most important things we can say to a person, no
richly rewarding for if it weren’t then so many organisations run by
matter how outwardly uneventful their life might seem, is simply that
people from all strands of life would collapse, why would people
you’re loved and precious to the one who created you, you matter.
bother?
How we convey this isn’t easy but when people seem so desperate to
However we know too how there are folk who are content only to
achieve, when they aspire to celebrity, the voice of hope and
receive and not give, how can they be motivated and encouraged?
encouragement that the church can offer is so important.
As Christians working for the common good through the institutions
Secondly, it’s about encouraging responsibility.
we have is part of our calling and we believe that in the life, death and
message of love, once we explore a little what that means comes
resurrection of Jesus Christ we find clues to what makes for that human
expectation that we strive to grow into our potential as children of
flourishing of which I’ve spoken.
God.
Christ said he came to give life and life in all its fullness.
This isn’t
For alongside that
That means being willing to contribute and yes I suppose paying our
simply a personal message but one that grants to all who encounter his
taxes is part of that responsibility for through them the weakest and the
way a vision of what might be.
most vulnerable in our society, people often precious to Our Lord are
So where might this direct us?
given the means to live.
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Whilst the state should encourage her members to work that shouldn’t
Whilst these three areas seem to have a very Christian perspective and
be at the cost of punishing the most vulnerable.
though we can seem to be a retreating minority, with grace and
Welfare reforms,
which are necessary, need to take this seriously and get it right. Tough
patience I believe that what we can offer to our society is a great gift
talk is fine but it needs to be tempered by compassion.
fashioned by the love of God.
The preciousness of each person, the need to contribute and I realise
Finally alongside these three, we also have a responsibility to pray for
there is more to say, these are just a few thoughts and then asking
those who lead us, ‘That it may please thee to endue the High Court of
awkward questions.
Parliament, and all ministers of the Crown, the Lords of the Council and
To return to the House of Lords, one of the best things that the Lord’s
spiritual can bring to our parliamentary process because they belong to
all the nobility, with grace, wisdom, and understanding’ the language of
the Prayer Book Litany might seem a bit dated but you get the idea.
no political party is an ability to ask the awkward questions and of how
The society in which we live, has helped form us and make us the
whatever legislation or discussion is before them helps create or
people who we are, it’s easy to stand on the fringes and complain yet
undermine an environment where human beings can flourish.
our calling is to do more than that, it is to contribute and to look for
Likewise though we’re not in the House of Lords it’s surprising how
each one of us has through our various networks and engagement with
others an opportunity to ask awkward questions when we feel
the ways in which, however hopeless it may appear, we can recognise
and participate with God’s redeeming work whether that work is
acknowledged as being of him or not.
challenged to do.
These questions are rooted in our faith in Jesus Christ for our primary
responsibility is to him and though that might make us uncomfortable or
unpopular; we’re to ponder the fullness of life he seeks to bring and
how the structure of our society can best hint at that fullness.
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