Anyone still out there? Good. It took me forever and two million days to remember how to post on here. Anyway, I just got out of a midweek service in which I was reminded anew of the importance of showing proper respect to the elected officials that God has allowed to lead. And to show proper respect for them always. Why? For God's Names' sake. I'm not going to lie, I try to do that but it's been really challenging. Scriptures that we looked at included Daniel 2:1-30 and 1 Peter 2:13-17.
Daniel's example is such an upward call in so many ways. As is Peter's exhortation to us. Neither of them were living in politically calm times. Nebuchadnezzer was having a moment, to put it lightly. He literally was about to put Daniel and every wise man in his kingdom to death, yet Daniel's calm,wisdom and tact throughout was impeccable. When Peter wrote those words, the emperor was Nero. Emperors of the time were not typically known for their magnanimity. Indeed, Nero would allegedly fiddle while Rome burned...a fire that he was believed to have set himself so as to clear land for a building project. He would then blame the Christians for the fire, and use that as a reason to put many of them to death. He would also kill his mother and his pregnant wife. He would have already begun showing signs of what was to come when Peter wrote the letter that would eventually become 1 Peter, yet still the message:
"Submit to every human authority because of the Lord, whether to the emperor as the supreme authority or to the governors as those sent out by him to punish those who do what is evil and to praise those who do what is good. For it is God's will that you silence the ignorance of foolish people by doing good. Submit as free people, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but as God's slaves. Honour everyone. Love the brothers and sisters. Fear God. Honour the emperor." (1 Peter 2:13-17, CSB)
Now, while we are called to honour the emperor (or whoever your authority is), we are first called to fear God, which means that if you are called to choose between the governing authority and God, you choose God. Following anyone into sin is never an option. Daniel and his friends themselves opted in God's favour when that choice was forced upon them (see the story of Daniel in the lion's den, and how he ended up in a den in the first place. See the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and how they managed to find themselves on the wrong side of a fiery furnace). But through it all, they carried themselves in a manner that was respectful to the governing authorities whom God had placed - or at the very least allowed - in power. Why? For God's sake. As David said when given the opportunity to harm King Saul, while that very king was hunting him down to kill him:
"Don’t destroy him! Who can lay a hand on the Lord’s anointed and be guiltless? As surely as the Lord lives...the Lord himself will strike him, or his time will come and he will die, or he will go into battle and perish. But the Lord forbid that I should lay a hand on the Lord’s anointed." (1 Samuel 26:9-11, NIV)
Honour everyone. Love the brothers and sisters. Fear God. Honour the emperor.
Create in me a new heart, my God. Renew a steadfast spirit within me, I pray. May I fix my eyes on you, and not become distracted, or led astray, by the times.
