Give Me What I Want—Part Three

1 Samuel 8:1-22

I want to start with a little history lesson this morning. Who can tell me what the 13^th amendment is about? The 13^th amendment (below) outlawed slavery in the U.S.

13^th amendment : Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction. (1865)

OK, how about the 15^th amendment? The 15^th amendment (below) gave people of color the right to vote.

15^th amendment: The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. (1870)

On this past Monday, our nation celebrated Martin Luther King. Jr. Day. All but one of you missed the MLK service where Chris Crye gave a powerful sermon about racial reconciliation. It’s appropriate, then that we mention these amendments to our constitution which put an end to slavery. The 13^th, part of the 14^th and the 15^th amendment were all written to begin to reverse the effects of slavery. If you take a little history lesson with you thins morning, remember that the 13^th amendment outlawed slavery.

Many of you already knew about these amendments, but I still have one more history question for you. What is the 16^th amendment about? Anyone? Let me read it to you.

16^th amendment: The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration. (1913)

So how does this amendment compare to the abolition of slavery? Some might say the 13^th amendment abolished slavery and the 16^th amendment reinstituted financial slavery through income tax!  In 1913, the average tax rate was a mere 1%. Now the average is 15%. Tax Freedom Day is the day on which the average American has paid all of the annual taxes. Last year, Tax Freedom Day was April 30. That means 33% of our total income was paid to taxes. If that concerns you, just imagine if you lived in Norway or Sweden, where their tax freedom day is July 29, meaning they pay 58% of their income in taxes.

I raise the issue of taxes because it reminds me of what happened when the Israelites asked for a king. Because they rejected God and asked for a king, God told them what the king would do to them. Here again is that summary.

· He will take your sons

· He will take your daughters ^

· He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves

· He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage

· He will take your menservants and maidservants

· He will take the best of your cattle and donkeys

· He will take a tenth of your flocks

· You yourselves will become his slaves

Another way of describing what happened is to say that the king laid such a heavy tax on the people that they became a type of slave to the king. Does this sound familiar?! Can you see why some might say that the 16^th amendment was a new form of slavery? I have never met anyone who likes to pay taxes and there is nothing wrong with legally trying to avoid paying taxes, but the trouble we have with taxes is the same trouble the Israelites had: we struggle to live under authority. Part of the struggle we have when the tax man comes a knockin’ on our door is our struggle to live under authority. When the Israelites said to Samuel, “Give us a king—give us what we want,” in essence they were saying, “we cannot live under authority.” The same is true for us. When we seek after our own selfish way, the problem is that we cannot live under authority of another person or entity. The last two weeks we have talked about our quiet rebellion and the idols of our heart, but another issue this passage raises is the fact that we too often seek to throw off the restraint of the authority structures in our lives.

But living under authority is a sign that we are living under God’s authority. God has ordained three basic types of authority that the Christian is supposed to live under. If we don’t submit to these authorities in our lives, we are not only rebelling against God, but we will make trouble for ourselves. When we rebel against these authorities, it causes trouble in the workplace, in our families and in our marriages, just to name a few. These three basic realms of authority are the government, the church and the family.

1. Government—This is best expressed in Romans 13.

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.

First of all, we must realize that when Paul wrote this, he was living under the oppressive rule of Emperor Nero. Nero not only executed his own mother, but he fiercely persecuted Christians. The historian Tacitus described the persecution this way.  And perishing they were additionally made into sports: they were killed by dogs by having the hides of beasts attached to them, or they were nailed to crosses or set aflame, and, when the daylight passed away, they were used as nighttime lamps.[1] Tradition holds that Nero was responsible for the execution of both Paul and Peter. Regardless of your opinion of President Bush, any mistakes he had made pale in comparison to those of Nero. This is the type of government Paul was living under when he wrote the letter of Romans. Evil as he was, Paul believed that even Nero’s rule was instituted by God.

What does any of this have to do with paying taxes? Verse six of the same chapter answers this question. Regarding the governing authorities, Paul wrote, This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. (13:6)

Many of you may be familiar with Kent Hovind, the creation teacher who called himself “Dr. Dino.” Mr. Hovind had a serious rebellion against the authority of the government and as a result, he is currently serving a ten-year term in a Federal prison for 58 tax offenses.

Granted, there is no verse that reads, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, when you pay your taxes.” However, in a very real way, our attitude about our taxes is related to our attitude toward God. Rebellion against paying taxes is rebellion against God. I would go so far as to say that we can glorify God by paying our taxes! We can also glorify God by obeying the speed limit. In order to get our church facility built, we will have to file all kinds of state and local permits. We can glorify God by patiently filling out all of that paperwork. All of these things have been instituted by God for our general welfare. Besides, what is the opposite of government control? Anarchy. The same thing the Israelites sought after.

This is not to say that everything the government does is the Lord’s will—not by a long shot! Therefore, we are faced with the challenging belief that God ordains sinful governments and sinful leaders to serve as our authority over us. When Nero slaughtered first century Christians, Paul would say that he was ordained by God to serve, though he committed great acts of sin. Likewise, our nation was guilty of great sin when they allowed trafficking in human slaves for 200 hundred years, and now that they have allowed 50 million babies to be aborted since the passing of Roe v. Wade. Here is a quick summary of how to live under a government authority.

1. Gladly obey all just laws, even if they are an inconvenience to you.

Obeying traffic laws and paying our taxes fall into this category.

2. Fight against unjust laws through the legislative process, or if necessary, through non-violent civil disobedience.

The civil rights movement under Martin Luther King is the prime example of non-violent civil disobedience. And of course the prime example of civil disobedience is that of Peter and John when they were before the Sanhedrin. They declared, “Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to obey you rather than God.” God’s clear commands always trump the laws of the government.

3. Be willing to pay the consequence for your civil disobedience.

The early apostles were flogged because they would not stop preaching the gospel when the governing authorities ordered them to do so. Martin Luther King was thrown in jail. I am no prophet, but it is not difficult to guess that increased persecution is coming our way in the next few decades. I have this nagging feeling that I will end up spending some time in jail at some point in my life. So are we willing to gladly obey just laws and pay the consequences for disobeying unjust laws?

2. Church-the second basic realm of authority for the believer is the local church.

Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you. (Heb 13:17)

Local church elders are undershepherds of the Chief Shepherd, Jesus Christ. As Christ has absolute authority over us, so elders possess a God-given delegated authority over the local body of believers. They must have some level of authority because they are also charged with the high responsibility of caring for the flock. How many times in your life have you been given a responsibility to do but no authority to carry out the task? What if we asked our treasurer to manage the church finances but not allow her access to the bank accounts? How frustrating would that be?! With responsibility comes authority. As the writer of Hebrews said, these elders “must give an account” for their responsibility as elders. On the day of judgment, the Lord Jesus will review the entire time that these men served as elders, and will ask each of them, “Were you faithful? Did you care for these people of mine? Did you love my sheep?”

As one of these elders, let me say two things. First, we appreciate the fact that you do trust us. We are sinful men trying to lead this church in the path of godliness and truth. It is a noble and difficult task, so we ask for your prayers and we thank you for allowing us the privilege of this responsibility. Also, please do what you can to help us to do our work so that it will be a joy and not a burden.

Second, I want all of you to know how much I trust the other three elders. We have worked together as a team for the better part of seven years. If I had a trial in my life, I know that I could trust them for help and support. If, God forbid, I ever committed a grievous sin, I would trust these men to do the right thing through appropriate church discipline. Tony, Rod and Chris—I trust you men, and thank you for your dedicated service to the Lord.

3. Families-Husbands   The third main realm of authority is the family. Two key verses are found in the book of Ephesians.

Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. (Eph. 6:1)

I imagine that every child in a Christian home has heard this verse multiple times in their life. Put simply, children and teens, when you rebel against your parents, you are rebelling against the Lord. Your obedience to your parents is the training ground for your obedience to the Lord. More than this, learning to obey your parents will bring positive benefits for the rest of your life. Too many men and women have trouble in the workplace because they never learned to submit to authorities. They rebelled against their parents. They rebelled against their teachers. It’s no wonder they have a hard time holding down a job. A person like this will either get into conflicts with their boss at work, or else they’ll just quit and find another job. Show me an adult who has chronic problems with their employer, and I’ll show you a child who had trouble with his parent’s authority.

But children don’t obey their parents so they’ll be responsible adults, but because to obey one’s parents “in the Lord…is right.” It is the right thing, because it is rooted in the gospel and salvation. When we are saved, as I have said many times, it is so much more than a ticket to Heaven. Our salvation places us under the Lordship and authority of Jesus Christ. We belong to him. We become his slaves and he becomes our Master—in the very purest sense of those words. Paul wrote about this plainly in Romans 6. But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God. There are only two types of slaves in the world—either you are a slave to sin o a slave to God, which is a type of paradox, because slavery to God is the ultimate freedom. Children and teens, your parents have been given to you, not just to feed you, clothe and keep a roof over your head, but as a living illustration of your submission to God’s authority. In this sense, you preach the gospel by obeying your parents.

I have a challenge for our young people this week. I am asking you to do a hard thing. I am asking you to obey your parents in an area that you have struggled lately, whatever that may be. Then when your mom sees you doing this act of obedience, she will be so surprised, she will ask you, “What are you doing?” Right then I want you to look at your mom and say, “Mom, I’m preaching the gospel.”

Finally we get to the other half of the family unit—husbands and wives.

Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. (Eph 5:22)

We don’t have time to do justice to this passage, but let me say two things.

The first is this. Wives, like with your children’s submission to you, your humble submission to your husbands is a type of preaching the gospel. I believe that what Paul is saying here is that a Biblical marriage is the most clear example of the gospel that exists in any human relationship. Wives, please notice that the verse does not say, “Wives, submit to your husbands if they love you first.” Your submission to them is an unconditional submission. It is not based upon anything they have or haven’t done. Do you want your husband to put conditions upon his love for you? Do you need to cook meals in such a way as to earn his love? Do you need to “bring home the bacon, fry it up in a pan, and never, never let him forget he’s a man,” in order to earn his love? No—his love for you is to be unconditional, as your submission to him is to be without conditions. But just a as warning in case there is even the slightest hint of abuse, wives are not required to submit to an abusive husband. If there is abuse, you get out. Just as a citizen is not required to obey the government when they are commanded to sin, so a wife is not required to obey her husband if he asks her to sin, or is abusive in any way.

Secondly, how else can your children learn submission to the Lord if they cannot see it in their mothers? Most kids in Christian homes believe that the Bible is true. They hear it in Sunday School, AWANA, children’s church and at home—the Bible is true, and they believe it. They believe that Christianity is true. But here is what kids really need. They believe Christianity is true, but what they want is to know if it works in the real world. And if they don’t have evidence that Christianity works in the most fundamental relationship in their lives—their parent’s marriage—then why would they think that Christianity will work in the rest of the world. They will grow, leave the house, and even if they never articulate this thought, deep in their hearts this is what they’ll be thinking: “Oh well, this Christianity thing did not work for mom and dad so I doubt it will work for me either.” Why do kids rebel and reject our faith? Some kids rebel simply because they want their own way, no matter what, but some rebel because they merely modeled the rebellion they saw in their homes.

Living under authority, whether it is the government, the church or the family, is the most safe and secure place to be. In reality, I should never have to say, “We must live under this authority,” but rather, “Look, we get to live under this authority. Do you see that this authority is a privilege, not a burden?”  May God make this plain to us.

Rich Maurer

January 27, 2008