church and state

Good afternoon friends,
I hope your day is going well. Today's reading gives us some interesting insight into Roman responses to Christianity in the early years of the church. The Proconsul (sort of like a mayor, probably) Gallio listens to accusations from Jewish leaders against Paul. He doesn't imprison or attack Paul, not out of respect for him, but out of a lack of respect for the Jewish leaders. He sees religion as not something that is his area of concern. While that works out for Paul, we see that it also means when the leaders decide to beat a Christian, the Proconsul isn't interested in that as well.

Often the state is neither for or against a religion, and that's fine. We can work with government when our ministry and theirs align (feeding the hungry, building up neighborhood community, etc.) We can also disagree and voice our opinions as citizens when we think government is doing the wrong thing. But most of the time church and state have little to do with each other. We don't want special treatment or preference; we just want fairness and justice for everyone.

God bless,
Sam

Acts 18:12-23

12 But when Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews made a united attack on Paul and brought him before the tribunal. ¹³They said, ‘This man is persuading people to worship God in ways that are contrary to the law.’ ¹⁴Just as Paul was about to speak, Gallio said to the Jews, ‘If it were a matter of crime or serious villainy, I would be justified in accepting the complaint of you Jews; ¹⁵but since it is a matter of questions about words and names and your own law, see to it yourselves; I do not wish to be a judge of these matters.’ ¹⁶And he dismissed them from the tribunal. ¹⁷Then all of them seized Sosthenes, the official of the synagogue, and beat him in front of the tribunal. But Gallio paid no attention to any of these things.

18 After staying there for a considerable time, Paul said farewell to the believers and sailed for Syria, accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila. At Cenchreae he had his hair cut, for he was under a vow. ¹⁹When they reached Ephesus, he left them there, but first he himself went into the synagogue and had a discussion with the Jews. ²⁰When they asked him to stay longer, he declined; ²¹but on taking leave of them, he said, ‘I will return to you, if God wills.’ Then he set sail from Ephesus.

22 When he had landed at Caesarea, he went up to Jerusalem and greeted the church, and then went down to Antioch. ²³After spending some time there he departed and went from place to place through the region of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples.

the business of religion

Good morning sisters and brothers,
There were many different reasons people opposed the message about Jesus. In our passage for today, we hear about one we don't think of often. In this passage the silver-smith lobby encourages a demonstration against Christian teachers because they worry the spread of the Christian faith will take away from those who use statues to worship other gods. They think about this danger both from a religious and financial standpoint, since their livelihood came from building images of the goddess who was popular in Ephesus. 



The other side that is interesting is seeing how the government reacts. The town clerk addresses the crowd and basically argues that the government's job is to promote peace. Christians are not a threat as long as they aren't disrespectful to other faiths. This is a fun story and a good exploration into one role of government.

God bless,
Sam
 

Acts 19:23-40

²³About that time no little disturbance broke out concerning the Way. ²⁴A man named Demetrius, a silversmith who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought no little business to the artisans. ²⁵These he gathered together, with the workers of the same trade, and said, “Men, you know that we get our wealth from this business. ²⁶You also see and hear that not only in Ephesus but in almost the whole of Asia this Paul has persuaded and drawn away a considerable number of people by saying that gods made with hands are not gods. ²⁷And there is danger not only that this trade of ours may come into disrepute but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be scorned, and she will be deprived of her majesty that brought all Asia and the world to worship her.” 

²⁸When they heard this, they were enraged and shouted, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” ²⁹The city was filled with the confusion; and people rushed together to the theater, dragging with them Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonians who were Paul’s travel companions. ³⁰Paul wished to go into the crowd, but the disciples would not let him; ³¹even some officials of the province of Asia, who were friendly to him, sent him a message urging him not to venture into the theater.

³²Meanwhile, some were shouting one thing, some another; for the assembly was in confusion, and most of them did not know why they had come together. ³³Some of the crowd gave instructions to Alexander, whom the Jews had pushed forward. And Alexander motioned for silence and tried to make a defense before the people. ³⁴But when they recognized that he was a Jew, for about two hours all of them shouted in unison, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” 

³⁵But when the town clerk had quieted the crowd, he said, “Citizens of Ephesus, who is there that does not know that the city of the Ephesians is the temple keeper of the great Artemis and of the statue that fell from heaven? ³⁶Since these things cannot be denied, you ought to be quiet and do nothing rash. ³⁷You have brought these men here who are neither temple robbers nor blasphemers of our goddess. ³⁸If therefore Demetrius and the artisans with him have a complaint against anyone, the courts are open, and there are proconsuls; let them bring charges there against one another. ³⁹If there is anything further you want to know, it must be settled in the regular assembly. ⁴⁰For we are in danger of being charged with rioting today, since there is no cause that we can give to justify this commotion.” ⁴¹When he had said this, he dismissed the assembly.

God's servant

Good evening friends,
Today's reading is an uncompromising argument from Paul about obeying government. It's interesting to read that from Paul, who at every turn was respectful to all leaders, in keeping with his words. At the same time, he never obeyed leaders who told him to act against God's calling to preach the gospel. Paul wrote these words about government being ordained by God even while he knew the government might persecute him for his faith. Christians have a challenging balance. On the one hand comes this command, to obey the government and respect it because it keeps the peace and provides stability for us. On the other hand, we know that no matter what, God's calling comes first. 





Paul's words were also written with a totally different concept of government. While Rome had elected officials, the idea that all men and women would be able to vote for a president would blow Paul away. So now Christians not only have to think about how to obey God and government, we also have to think about how to choose our leaders with our faith in mind. At the same time, Paul's words ring true: everything in our faith and life comes back to love. If we think about how to love everyone, including our political opponents, we'll be following God. We may differ in our beliefs about who will be the best president or congresswoman or senator, but as long as we love each other, those differences will not tear us apart. Who knows? we may even learn from each other.

God bless,
Sam

Romans 13:1-10

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities; for there is no authority except from God, and those authorities that exist have been instituted by God. ²Therefore whoever resists authority resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. ³For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Do you wish to have no fear of the authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive its approval; ⁴for it is God’s servant for your good. But if you do what is wrong, you should be afraid, for the authority does not bear the sword in vain! It is the servant of God to execute wrath on the wrongdoer. ⁵Therefore one must be subject, not only because of wrath but also because of conscience. ⁶For the same reason you also pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, busy with this very thing. 

⁷Pay to all what is due them—taxes to whom taxes are due, revenue to whom revenue is due, respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due. ⁸Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. ⁹The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery; You shall not murder; You shall not steal; You shall not covet”; and any other commandment, are summed up in this word, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” ¹⁰Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.

kings and control

Good morning friends,
After God freed Israel from slavery God led them in the wilderness to shape them into the holy people God called them to be. A big part of that shaping was the Law, and Deuteronomy is a review of story and law as Moses finishes preparing Israel to enter the Promised Land. In this section, Moses talks about the rules for having a king. As we continue the story we'll see that the concerns expressed in this part of the law are well founded. Humans are addicted to power, so we need to approach any power with great caution.

God bless,
Sam

Deuteronomy 17:14-20

¹⁴When you have come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you, and have taken possession of it and settled in it, and you say, “I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are around me,” ¹⁵you may indeed set over you a king whom the Lord your God will choose. One of your own community you may set as king over you; you are not permitted to put a foreigner over you, who is not of your own community.

¹⁶Even so, he must not acquire many horses for himself, or return the people to Egypt in order to acquire more horses, since the Lord has said to you, “You must never return that way again.” ¹⁷And he must not acquire many wives for himself, or else his heart will turn away; also silver and gold he must not acquire in great quantity for himself.

¹⁸When he has taken the throne of his kingdom, he shall have a copy of this law written for him in the presence of the levitical priests. ¹⁹It shall remain with him and he shall read in it all the days of his life, so that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, diligently observing all the words of this law and these statutes, ²⁰neither exalting himself above other members of the community nor turning aside from the commandment, either to the right or to the left, so that he and his descendants may reign long over his kingdom in Israel.

taxes

Good evening/morning friends,
This is a helpful and challenging passage that deserves its own sermon. On the one hand, Paul reminds us that Christians and government generally serve the same goals and so we can work together. He also reminds us that it is our duty as citizens to obey those in authority. That's a good reminder that there is a bigger picture than our convenience; the community has needs that we ought to take account of.

What Paul doesn't say, but we know from his life, is that there are times Christians can't obey both God and those in authority. When the religious leaders ordered Peter and John not to preach about Jesus, they replied that they had to obey God, not human authority. The same held true for civil rights activists sitting in at segregated restaurants: when the law violates God's law, we sometimes have to disobey it. In all things we are called to follow Jesus who was faithful to God no matter what the cost.

God bless,
Sam

Romans 13:1-7

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities; for there is no authority except from God, and those authorities that exist have been instituted by God. 2Therefore whoever resists authority resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. 3For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Do you wish to have no fear of the authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive its approval; 4for it is God’s servant for your good. But if you do what is wrong, you should be afraid, for the authority does not bear the sword in vain! It is the servant of God to execute wrath on the wrongdoer. 5Therefore one must be subject, not only because of wrath but also because of conscience.


6For the same reason you also pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, busy with this very thing. 7Pay to all what is due them—taxes to whom taxes are due, revenue to whom revenue is due, respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due.

governments and investing in the future

Good morning friends,
This morning's reading from Timothy talks about praying for leaders of government. Christians in the US often complain about the separation of church and state, particularly the ban on teachers leading prayer in schools. That separation was first proposed by evangelical Christians who wanted to protect the church from the state and wanted freedom from the tax used to support the established church. Here we see in contrast what Paul sees as the state's duty toward the church, simply to provide a safe and stable society. Paul is grateful for that, which is really something considering he was sometimes under arrest by that state.

The parable Jesus uses in this reading is surprising because the unjust steward is commended for cheating his master. The point isn't that we should cheat others, but rather that teh things of this world are "false" in that they do not last. We should use them with an eye to the future, God's eternal future, rather than letting them control us here and now. See you in worship.

God bless,
Sam

1First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone, 2for kings and all who are in high positions, so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity. 3This is right and is acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4who desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 5For there is one God; there is also one mediator between God and humankind, Christ Jesus, himself human, 6who gave himself a ransom for all-this was attested at the right time. 7For this I was appointed a herald and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.

*Luke 16:1-13
1Then Jesus said to the disciples, "There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was squandering his property. 2So he summoned him and said to him, 'What is this that I hear about you? Give me an accounting of your management, because you cannot be my manager any longer.' 3Then the manager said to himself, 'What will I do, now that my master is taking the position away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. 4I have decided what to do so that, when I am dismissed as manager, people may welcome me into their homes.'

5So, summoning his master's debtors one by one, he asked the first, 'How much do you owe my master?' 6He answered, 'A hundred jugs of olive oil.' He said to him, 'Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it fifty.' 7Then he asked another, 'And how much do you owe?' He replied, 'A hundred containers of wheat.' He said to him, 'Take your bill and make it eighty.' 8And his master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly; for the children of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light. 9And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth so that when it is gone, they may welcome you into the eternal homes.

10"Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much; and whoever is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much. 11If then you have not been faithful with the dishonest wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? 12And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to another, who will give you what is your own? 13No slave can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth."