Blessed Is the Nation

One Sunday a number of years ago, a member came up to one of our church’s pastors and admonished him for including our government in the prayers of the church. His argument was that we must keep church and state separate, and avoid getting into politics.

While I certainly want to keep political party and candidate endorsements out of our worship services, the pastor was only following what Scripture commands: “First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way”  (1 Timothy2:1-2).

In fact, the Bible is full of passages which talk about the importance of the role governments play in our lives, and our requirement to be good citizens – and praying citizens – even when that government is far from perfect (which all governments are!).

First of all, our attitude toward government is based on our attitude toward all authority, beginning with our parents. The commandment to honor our father and our mother helps form how we honor, and obey, God, the ultimate Father-figure. For if we cannot love the father we see, how can we honor the Father we do not? In between our parents comes our governing authorities. They too must receive honor for fulfilling God-given responsibilities for us, such as maintaining good order, protection, and peacefulness.

Romans 13:1 states, “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except that which God has established.” Paul wrote this when Roman emperors ruled the known world – men who were not known for wise or peaceful governing. Yet he still said to pray for them to do God’s will with their earthly power, for the benefit of those they ruled. Do we think that today, our imperfect leaders DON’T need our prayers and God’s guidance to fulfill their duties? Especially when their motives are less than godly?

Romans 13:1 is followed by one of the most hated passages in the Bible: 13:6-7, ^“For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.” Yes: pay taxes. Not often a subject of sermons I have heard (nor preached!). Yet we are commanded to pay them. Again, this was commanded at a time when the Jewish people paid a Temple Tax to their own priests, plus local taxes, plus imperial head and land taxes to the Romans: somewhere around 60% total. 

But should we pray at all for our country? After all, isn’t Christianity a global faith? Shouldn’t we pray for all countries, not just the one we happen to live in? Of course we should pray for all peoples everywhere, and for them to live under good governments. Revelation 7:9 (also 5:9) speaks of heaven being filled with a multitude that no one can count, from “every nation, tribe, and language.”  Yes, Christianity is a world-religion – the largest one with over 2.6 billion adherents. We are one body, and ultimately “. . .our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Philippians 3:20).

Yet every one of those Christians is in a country, one with a ruling government that impacts their lives greatly. In fact, God has determined what country we are to inhabit: “. . . he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands” (Acts 17:26). Therefore, the well-being of our lives is tied to the well-being of our different countries. Jeremiah spoke of this in Jeremiah 29:7, saying, “Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.”

Of course, this doesn’t mean we are to be passive “subjects,” but rather good citizens, striving to make our country better. Proverbs 14:34 says that, “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin condemns any people.” Are the problems our country faces possibly the result of our abandoning God and his Word? There is hope: remember: “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14). The Christians in America are a people called by Christ’s name. It is up to us to humbly pray for our nation, to be examples of godly living, and to serve our neighbors in love. It also means we confront our government when it does evil and fails to fulfill its duties.

This week, our country is celebrating its 250th anniversary of independence. Some of the words you will hear include Freedom and Liberty. Those are lofty goals, but remember that they do not mean we are free from God, but rather to be free to live for God! As Peter tells us in verse 16 of his second letter, “Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as God’s slaves.”

Finally, as we celebrate the Fourth, thank the Lord for all his blessings on our land, for the freedom to worship him, for all our civic freedoms, for material prosperity, and for natural beauty and resources.  And as you do so, remember what God has promised: “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people whom he has chosen as his heritage!” (Psalm 33:12).

Now may the Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you, the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Amen.

Read: Romans 13, 1 Timothy 2, Titus 3.