Today’s Scripture Reading (January
10, 2015): Romans 13
The post-mortem
on the Barak Obama presidency has begun in earnest. And the question that is
being asked is basically “how could a presidency that began with so much promise
end up accomplishing so little.” The probable best answer is that we expected
too much of the Obama presidency from the very beginning. Obama’s lack of
effectiveness most likely had very little to do with Obama himself, and a whole
lot to do with the world situation into which he stepped. Maybe, the reality is
that in a world as interconnected as ours has become, there is no way that one
person can do anything significant on their own – even when that one person
happens to be the commander-in-chief of the only remaining superpower.
Even the
fact that the U.S. is the only remaining superpower might be complicating the
problem. Back in the days of the Cold War we thought the situation would have
been so much simpler if the Soviet Union would simply disappear, after all, the
math is 2-1 = the mouse gets to stand alone, and can do whatever it is that he
wants to do. But then the Soviet Union disappeared leaving a group of
independent states and we found out that our math was wrong; 2-1 = a really big
mess. We would never have guessed that the disappearance of the Soviet Union
would have complicated the world even further, but that is exactly what
happened. Sometimes we forget that. And that the playbook that existed when
there were 2, doesn’t work when there is just 1 combined with many. Who knew
that one day the West would look nostalgically back at the good old days when
the Soviet Union was the other super power?
It is easy
to look at the words of Paul, as he speaks about citizens being subject to
government authorities because the kings and political leaders have been
established by God as being, well, kind of naïve. Maybe that was true in his
day, but in the midst of the complex politics of the 21st century
with rogue dictators and underperforming presidents, how can anyone believe
that God has had anything to do with the political leadership of the nations.
Yet, a closer look at the politics of Paul reveals the complicated world in
which he lived. Rome was in command of the known world, but Paul would have
recognized that the most recent Caesars seemed to have been insane. On top of
that, Israel was increasingly uneasy with their lot in life. The idea of
revolution was a topic of conversation with increasing frequency. Already, the
groundwork was being laid for the rebellion that would end with the destruction
of the Temple in Jerusalem as well as the elimination of the mountain rebel
fortress of Masada. Christianity was seen as a Jewish sect, and it is likely
that they would have been in support of the Jewish reaction to their situation.
Even in the hotbed of Rome, there was talk of a Jewish rebellion.
Yet Paul has
the audacity to suggest that this is the way that God designed the world to be.
That instead of talking about rebellion, that the Christians should be subject
to the political powers over them because they are God ordained. It is the way
it is supposed to be. The bottom line is that we need to ask ourselves a faith
question - can we can trust that God has a purpose and that he can work even
through the governments that are placed over us, no matter who is leading those
governments? For Paul, the answer had to be yes. God was able to achieve
whatever it was that he wanted, no matter who it was that was sitting on the
throne of the nation.
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Romans
14
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