Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“Let every person be subject to the governing authorities; for there is no authority except from God, and those authorities that exist have been instituted by God.”
NL Daily Devotion for Saturday, May 27, 2023
by R. M. Fergus, Clergy Stuff
So much nope. If I had a time machine, I’d go back and visit Paul and slap his pen away before he could write. I can’t even begin to quantify the amount of damage that has been done in light of this one short sentence (and subsequent passage). I’m sure there’s some exegetical work for me to do here, but I just want to know what on earth Paul was thinking! Maybe it was just self-preservation: Look the Romans hate us Christians with a passion, so keep your head down and maybe they’ll let us live. But it’s far stronger language than that. To claim that every earthly authority is instituted by God is to say that God wanted Hitler to rule Germany. Or any number of the other countless leaders whose regimes have visited injustice, oppression, violence, and death on millions throughout history. I would find it laughable, if it weren’t so painful, that even now Christian Nationalists in the United States will point to this passage in support of presidents whose policies create incredible harm to everyone other than the wealthy, but will conveniently forget all about it when someone they don’t like is elected. Just stop it.
When the Israelites wanted a King way back in the era of the judges, God told Samuel, “Kings are terrible. They’re corrupt. They’ll abuse my people. Don’t do it.” Samuel agreed and passed the information onto the people. But they said, “We want a king!” So God said, “Fine. Your call. Your problem.” And it all went south pretty quickly from there. Human authority is just that: human. God doesn’t point God’s finger and decide who wins. What God does do is love us in our disasters and empower us to continue to fight—even and especially against governments—for justice and equity for all creation, no matter what.
What are my thoughts about this passage from Romans? How do I address these ideas in conversations with others?
