Jesus Christ could say more with greater impact in a few words than anyone else I have ever known about. It is more blessed to give than to receive. He takes away none of the joy of receiving. He merely suggests that when the joy of receiving is all it can be, the joy of giving is even greater. And of course He subverts the grasping tendencies of an avaricious culture.

Or how about this one? Whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant. He doesn't treat the ambition to be great as though it were evil. He says, "Of course! Aspire to be great. Aspire also to be a servant, for that is where true greatness lies." He got it right 2000 years ago. Corporate America and Christian clergy have both been proving him right the hard way.

The list of such powerful one-liners could easily fill a page. Here is one more that is relevant to our text in Romans today. Render to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's. He didn't treat Caesar as a usurper, but as a sovereign with proper rights even among the Chosen People, Israel. Neither did He grant Caesar unchallenged superiority in the affections and allegiance of the peoples of the Empire.

When I read the sayings of Jesus, I feel like I am in the presence of God, who says to humanity, "Here are the numbers 0-9. See what you can do with them." He puts Caesar in his place, even while He gives Caesar his rightful place, and He says to us, "See what you can do with this dual loyalty to Caesar and God." We are still working on that.

The Apostle Paul, 30 or so years after the resurrection, was still working on that in the letter to the Romans. It is worth a somewhat closer reading of Paul's guidance to the Church in Romans 13.

Render to Caesar What is Caesar's
Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. For he is God's servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be agraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God's servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorites, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience. This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God's servants, who give their full time to governing. Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.

Let's talk briefly about the theology of these verses, and then draw a few conclusions about the practical meaning of that theology. The theology of the thing goes like this. All God does is good. God gave to humans the power to govern. Therefore, the power to govern is good.

Three times in verses one and two, the apostle says that God has established or instituted every governing authority. Furthermore, in verse four the apostle twice calls everyone in authority from Caesar to a centurion, from the President to a policeman on the beat, God's servant. Can you see the double-edged power of this language?

On one hand, it roots the awesom authority of the Caesar in the will of God. That invests him and every lesser ruler with the authority appropriate to those who will guide affairs of state. On the other hand, they are all God's servant. They answer to a higher authority than their own, and if they ever forget it, their own right to govern is at risk.

Except for Christians and Jews I don't know who else in the Roman world of that day helped ordinary people come to look at people in power in just this way. You and I may take it for granted, but when we hear the words of Jesus and read the text of Romans 13, we are listening in on the powerful ideas that ultimately led to limited government. This theology leads to some other practical conclusions.

First, the theology of Jesus and Paul defends all forms of government as God-given. Aristocracy, oligarchy, monarchy, and dictatorship just as much as democracy trace their legitimization to the gift of God. It does not defend democracy as the best form of government. That will have to be established on other grounds. God gives the power to govern. Human circumstances determine the form and relative merits that power will assume.

If our thinking thus far is sound, it leads to a second practical conclusion. If the power to govern is a good thing, the the following are good: taxes, fines, jails, courts, lawyers, armies, weapons, war, diplomacy, economics, police, CIA, and who knows what else? Therefore, since these actions are good exercises of a good power, it is consistent for a Christian to have an active life within the exercise of governance.

Some of our Christian brothers have refused for conscience's sake to participate in the exercise of governance, from holding office to bearing arms. Fortunately, our nation acknowledges their right to refuse.

We Christians should honor our brothers and sisters who take that path. What we do not recognize is for them to deny to all Christians the right of participating in the power to govern. Such participation is honorable at all levels, as the apostle says in verse seven: Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.

Just a word of caution. The power to govern is a natural and rational power. It belongs to what theologians call Common Grace, the blessings that God sends on all human beings. It is just that in our fallen world what is natural and reasonable is not enough. If Nature and Reason is all we have, they will sooner or later go terribly bad. We who lived through the 20th century abuses of governmental power know that all too well.

We must go beyond Nature and Reason to the supernatural powers that keep Nature and Reason sweet. The apostle takes us there in the rest of this chapter.

Render to God What Is God's
Then, in verses 8-10 the apostle takes us to the first reality that goes beyond Nature and Reason. Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law. The commandments, "Do not commit adulter," "Do not murder," "Do not steal," "Do not covert," and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: "Love your neighbor as yourself." Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

These verse are about what kind of community God calls the Church to be. Without neglecting our responsibilities as citizens, I tell you that more important than all the apparatus of government is for the Church to be above all else a community of love. By doing so, we import the reality of God into human life.

Verse nine is especially relevant in our litigious society. The commandments, "Do not commit adulter," "Do not murder," "Do not steal," "Do not covet," and whatever other commandmnet there may be, are summed up in this one rule: "Love your neighbor as yourself." All the labor of law is designed to achieve imperfectly what love does by nature: Love does no harm to its neighbor.

That is why I say that keeping in step with the Spirit means to love God wholeheartedly and to love your neighbor as yourself. That is why at BVBC our focus is not on rules telling you what not to do. It is on hhow to give ourselves away to serve God and to benefit the people God sends across our paths everyday. To the extent that we live that way, we will honor God, and we will be a blessing to our nation.

Verses 11-14 take us to the second reality that goes beyond Nature and REason and keeps them sweet. And do this, understanding the present time. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over; the day is almost here.

You are interesting people. No, you are fascinating people. Outside a university setting, I can't think of a greater accumulation of expertise, theoretical and practical, than exists within this congregation. You are accomplished in business, finance, the arts, science, law, medicine, theology, IT, education and dozens of applications of each. We are anything but disengaged from our culture.

But we have this bee in our bonnet. Brighter at times than others, brighter in some than others, the conviction holds firm in us that the night is nearly over; the day is almost here. The rich and mysterious tapestry of life as we know it and our deep participation in it are not the whole show. Our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. Like Abraham of old, we are looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.

That makes us pliable when in the middle of verse twelve Paul says, So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenne, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. Human government tries at best to manage these things. The Gospel means to eradicate them and replace them. Rather, clothes yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.

The Pastoral Center of Gravity
For a few minutes I'd like to put into your heads some images of what I think is the central message of Romans 13. We have all seen children at play for the very convincing reason that we have all at one time been children at play. And we have all see children have their play stopped. We have seen their play come to an end, as definitely as we might see the world melt with fervent head and come to an end.

What brought about this apocalyptic end to their play was a voice like the voice of an archangel filling their world with the doomsday message, "It's time for dinner." The larger world  of home and family swallowed the important but smaller and transient world of the playground.

Each year, from August till February the ritual of football will punt, pass and kick its way into the lives of millons of Americans. On the field and in the stands and on the tube the fury of religion and the frenzy of war will enter the hearts of grown men. But time after time, the final gun will sound, and it will empty and silence the great stadiums of the land, as surely as the Final Trump will sound and empty the graves of the world.

The athletes, coaches and fans, who only moments before seemed on the brink of personal violence buy each other a drink, shake hands and even make commercials together to show what good friends they are. Once again, an intense but smaller and transient world is brought to an end by being caught up into a much larger world.

The scripture here seems to be saying to us with all our geo-political concerns, "By all means, take your politics to heart. It is part of your service to God. But remember: the political order you support is provisional. Another, larger world is preparing to take over. The advance ambassadors of the permanent political order are already at hand, preparing for its coming."

We find the same tension, when the most ardent politician or citizen comes home from the political process, drops to his knees and in defiance of all his life-sapping efforts to improve this earthly kingdom prays, "They kingdom come!"

We with all our interweaving affairs are not unlike children at play, waiting for our Father to call us to dinner. But when He calls, it will be to that great banquet when humanity will come from east and west, and from north and south, and sit at table in the kingdom of God.

You may object to my comparing the mature affairs of the human race to the play of children. "The affairs of the adult world carry weight in a way that the play of children does not. It isn't right to compare the two."

There is justice in that objection, but just try to convince children that their game wasn't serious? "I got you." "No, you didn't." "Yes, I did." "No, you didn't." Bitter words, then a scuffle, and one or both of those playground warriors goes weeping to the seat of all justice, his mother's lap. No grown man, suing the federal government, was ever more serious.

The seriousness of a child differs vastly from the seriousness of the grown-up. But we know it is different, because we have an adult world to compare it to. But, if we knew only the world of children, we would, like children, find it hard to imagine anything more serious than their playground quarrel. As parents know, it takes children an uncommonly long time to realize that there is another world besides their own.

If we with our affairs of family, business, politics, etc. had another world to compare our world to .... That, of course, is eactly what Christianity claims to offer to the person of faith - another world, a much larger, much more real and in that sense much more serious world than the one in which we live and die.

And Christ finds with us what we find with our children. It takes us an uncommonly long time to realize that there is another world besides our own. And so, as the apostle encouraged the Roman Christians long ago, we do well to allow him to encourage us as well. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. Clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.