Church Sermon - October 3, 2004

Rev. Mark F. Bartels

Old Testament Lesson; 1 Samuel 24:1-10
Gospel Lesson; Matthew 22:15-22
Sermon Text; 1 Timothy 2:1-8

I would like to draw your attention to the drawing that is on the front of your bulletin this morning.

[Image not available]

This is an artistic rendition of a photograph that was taken in Beslan, Russia, several weeks ago. I think most of you are aware of what happened in Beslan, Russia several weeks ago. There was a group of militant, Muslin, rebel terrorists who took captive over a thousand people. They began to make demands on the Russian government, primarily to the president of the Russian people, a man by the name of Vladimir Putin. They threatened that they would kill the hostages, unless the president of Russia freed a number of political prisoners.

What a difficult position for the president of Russia to be in. It is his sacred duty to protect the citizens of his country. Were he to give in to the demands of the terrorists that might only cause more terrorism to spread throughout his country, causing more and more citizens to be in danger. On the other hand, if he didn’t give in to their demands, what would happen to those thousand citizens who were being held hostage? What an awful position that he was in.

As you are aware, three hundred of those hostages lost their lives. They did not make it. And this drawing of a hand is a picture of one of those three hundred who didn’t make it. This picture speaks volumes. It speaks volumes. I want you to think about three things that this picture really says. Number one, this lifeless hand says that as much as our earthly leaders strive to and would like to protect the citizens of their country they are not always able, because they don’t have the ultimate power and ultimate control.

Look at the second thing that this picture says. That Russian citizen, in her or his last hours, was not depending upon Vladimir Putin to deliver them. This person was not depending upon the president of Russia to be able to deliver them. Who was this person clinging to? Who was he or she trusting in as the One who could and would deliver them? Look at whom this person was clinging to.

And with Jesus Christ, it doesn’t matter what enemy goes up against Him, or how powerful they may be. They cannot harm one hair on the head of Jesus Christ, because Jesus Christ is the ultimate ruler, the ultimate victor over all things. Jesus Christ is the One who went to the cross. And there on the cross, redeemed us, with His holy blood, from all of our sins. Our sins cannot, cannot be held against us, anymore. Our sins are forgiven!

And, no enemy in the world can take away the forgiveness that Jesus Christ, in His great power, gives to His believers.

And, this Russian citizen was delivered and protected by the King of kings, by Jesus Christ, and is now in the absolute safety of Heaven.

So, this picture shows us that our earthly leaders can’t always protect us, but our Heavenly Ruler always protects us. And ultimately, this picture shows us why our scripture reading says, "I urge you to pray for kings and all those in authority." According to scripture, it is our solemn duty, as citizens of this country, to pray for those who are our leaders, such as our president, and all of our other leaders. Why is that? It is the duty of our president to protect us. That is his duty. However, scripture also tells us this.

Scripture says,

"No king,

no king is delivered by the size of his army.

No warrior escapes by the might of his own strength."

There, scripture is telling us that it doesn’t matter how wise, smart, and strong our government and president may be,

ultimately, there won’t be protection.

And so, how critical it is for us, as citizens of this country to go to the One who can really help the leaders of our country.

There is an awesome example of that in history. Go back 500 years ago, to the country of Germany. The Turks, (which is another name for the Muslims), had a large army. They were sweeping up through Europe. They were murdering and pillaging all the way up, taking over the lands. They were on the borders of Germany. The German people were terrified that the Muslim army was going to overtake the country of Germany. They questioned whether their armies were as strong as the armies of the Turks.

So, do you know what the leader of the country of Germany did? He, I am sure, was worried and scared, and wondered what was going to happen. So, he went to the pastors in Germany and said to them, "Have your congregations pray. Have them pray."

He understood that it is not by the strength of our armies. It is not by the might of the warrior. Ultimately, it is in the hands of God, as to whether we are delivered. It is by God’s grace and God’s mercy. And those pastors in Germany, (Martin Luther among them), took that request very seriously. Luther even wrote a couple of hymns for the children in the congregation to sing, as prayers, that God would protect the people from the Turks, who were trying to invade Germany.

You know that Germany never did get invaded. It did not. God, in His grace and mercy, protected the rulers and the people of Germany.

And so, how important it is for us to pray for our leaders! And, why is it so important that our leaders keep us safe and protected? Our scripture reading tells us why.

Sometimes I think we, when we look at our own country and we look at the purpose of government, we don’t always look at it, in the right perspective. Sometimes we need to get into a little different perspective to look at something, because things look a little different from another perspective. If we looked at the world from the perspective of a two year old, it would look different than ours. If you get down on your hands and knees, (to the height of a two year old), here in the isle, that isle looks like it is six hundred yards long and it looks like the ceiling is half way up to the sky. Things do look different from different perspectives.

What about our country from a divine perspective, from Heaven’s perspective? As the LORD looks down from Heaven, what does He see, when He looks at our country? God is not so concerned about all of the ‘stuff’ we have. When God looks down, when He looks at this country, God sees individual people. When God looks down, what matters are individual, immortal souls that will last forever. When God looks down from Heaven, what matters to Him are where those souls, each individual soul, will spend eternity. That is why our scripture reading says,

"I urge, then, first of all,

that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving

be made for everyone –

for kings and all those in authority…".

And then it goes on and says, "…that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth."

God, as He looks down from Heaven, wants all men, all people to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth. That is His Will for all the citizens of this country. He loves every one of us. He wants every one of us to come to a knowledge of Jesus Christ, as our personal Savior from sin. And so He tells us to pray for the king, for the president, for those in authority.

Now, what does the eternal salvation of people’s souls have to do with praying for the king, (because that is not the king’s job)? How is it that people in this country are going to come to faith in Jesus, as their Savior? That only happens in one way. It happens through missions, mission work. It is when you and I go out, and spread that saving Gospel message

That is the only way that other people are going to come to know Jesus, as their Savior. So here, God is really concerned about mission work. Now again, what does mission work have to do with praying for the king, the president, or those in authority? Our scripture reading explains it, when it says we should pray for kings and all those in authority, so "that you may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness." Our president, our governmental leaders are not responsible for mission work. But they do create the environment in which mission work can happen. They create the environment, the society in which you and I go about our daily lives.

When is it, that it is most easy to do mission work? It is most easy to do mission work

And certainly, we want to pray that our society, which is governed by our rulers, would be a society where it is as easy as possible for us to go out and do mission work.

Can I ask you a question? Is there any country in the history of the world that has had a better environment, an easier environment in which to do mission work, than here in the United States of America? Is there anything that hinders us from going out and telling other people about Jesus Christ? I am standing up here, preaching the Gospel message. Is there anybody who is trying to stop me from doing that? No. In fact, our government protects our right to do that. Nothing is hindering us from going out and doing mission work. Is there anything that hinders us from going to our neighbor and telling our neighbor about Jesus Christ, our Savior? No. There is nothing that hinders us. In fact, our government protects our rights to go out and do that. What an awesome situation our government has created, so that we live quiet and peaceful lives! We can go out and there is nothing that threatens us. No one says that they are going to hurt us, or harm us, or put us in prison for telling the Gospel message of Jesus. There is nothing that stops us from getting on the Internet, on the radio, on TV, and in the newspapers spreading the message of Jesus Christ, our Savior. We live in a country where the government protects our environment, so that we can freely go about our business of spreading the saving Gospel message that God wants all men to be saved.

Here in the United States, the only thing that hinders us from spreading that saving Gospel message is ourselves. That is it. Certainly, God has blessed our presidents, and those in authority, and He protects us as a people.

We have a wonderful economy. As hard as it may be at times, most of us don’t need to have three or four jobs. Because of that, we have more time to be at home, to tell our children about Christ, to tell our neighbors about Christ, and to work at church, spreading the Good News. Most of us have an expendable income so that we are able to take the blessings that God has given us, and give those so that mission work can be done.

Most of us know that God certainly, certainly has given us a society where there is peace and order. We don’t have to be afraid that someone is going to hurt us, for telling about Christ, our Savior. We have a real blessing, here. God has blessed our government, our leaders, and our people. But, we also know this.

We are at a real watershed, here in our country. There are people who seriously want to stop this way of life that we have. You know that and I know that.

And so, if there is ever a time, ever a time that these words apply, it is today. It is now. God says,

"I urge,

that we may live quiet and peaceful lives

in all godliness and holiness.

God wants all men

to be saved

and come to a knowledge of the truth."

Let us pray for our government. Let’s pray that God continues to bless the United States of America. And, let us understand that it is only by His grace that it is protected. Let’s pray that God help us in our private lives, here in the United States, to go out and be busy in our work. Let us pray that He keep us humble, confessing Christians, knowing that we are sinners saved by grace. Let’s pray that we spread the saving Gospel message to as many people as possible, so that they are all clinging to the cross of Jesus Christ, knowing that they have a deliverer (and we do too) who will keep us safe at all times.

We cannot be harmed eternally,

when Jesus Christ is ours,

because then our sins are forgiven,

then Heaven is our home,

and then we are safe!

Amen.

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