I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ.
Philippians 1:12-13
In the past few weekends we’ve reflected on the first lessons in contentment: that we need to be flexible in trusting God to work out things him his own way and in his own time, to persist in our trust even when things don’t go as we expect or take a turn for the worst and to know when our work is done. This weekend, we begin to reflect on maintaining our respect for people, and good relations with them, even in the face of injustice.
In his letter to the Christians in Rome, written a few years before his letter to Philippi, Paul explains his commitment to obeying the civil authorities, seeing in his submission to them his submission to the will of God. His rationale can be summarised in the words that Jesus addressed to Pilate. When Pilate told Jesus, ‘Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you?’ Jesus replied. ‘You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above’ (John 19:10-11). That is what Paul thought.
These are the key points Paul makes in the passage we now call Romans 13. ‘Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment… Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God's wrath but also for the sake of conscience…’
Paul’s respect for authority was tested both before and after he wrote this passage. At Philippi and in many other places, he was badly treated by the authorities. The story of his detention in Jerusalem and deportation to Rome, that St Luke records in Acts 22-27, is a graphic example of repeated injustice. Nonetheless, Paul could tell the Philippians that it all had ‘served to advance the gospel’.
When Paul arrived in Jerusalem, he tried to appease the thousands of Jewish Christians who, as James put it, were ‘all zealous for the law’. He took James’ advice and began a week-long Jewish purification ceremony. This required Paul to attend the Temple each day and, towards the end of the week, some Jews from Asia saw him there and assumed that he was defiling it. They quickly stirred up a crowd and Paul would probably have been lynched if Roman soldiers had not rescued him.
Paul thought that he could resolve the misunderstanding by addressing the crowd but he failed. Although the misunderstanding could still have been easily resolved, the Jewish authorities seized the opportunity to pursue their persecution of Christians. When that seemed to be failing, the they backed an assignation attempt and so Paul was transferred to Caesarea and into the custody of the Roman governor.
Although Paul had not broken any Roman or Jewish law, Governor Felix, and his successor, Festus, kept Paul in detention for over two years in order not to upset the Jewish authorities. When Festus proposed to return Paul to Jerusalem to stand trial, Paul invoked his right as a citizen of Rome to put his case before Caesar himself. The Govenors were unjust and possibly corrupt but they were not Paul's enemies, which is the subject of next weekend's Reflection.
Paul was kept in detention, a political prisoner, for many years but this did not prevent him from being content. He knew that none of them would have had authority over him unless it had been given them by God.
We all suffer similar injustices from people who would have no authority over us if God didn't permit it. While that may seem easy for me to say living in a modern democracy, around the world the difference is in sophistication of approach and transparency rather than in kind. Those who abuse their authority could be trying to make money from straightforward bribes or by manipulating performance targets to enhance their salaries and promotion prospects. They may be overly zealous or negligent to serve their own ends when they restrict freedoms, appropriate resources, impose fines, deny education and opportunities to work or withhold medical treatment, but God remains sovereign. Wherever we live, in a police state or in a free democracy, we learn contentment by persisting in our trust in God in spite of such injustices.
© Copyright Philip Evans 2014.
As what is freely received should be freely shared and not sold for profit, you are very welcome to copy these Reflections freely and without cost to others. Unless otherwise stated, Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
