Lord of creation, you poor out your love on saint and sinner alike. Teach us your ways that loving you with our whole heart that we may seek to do what is good for our neighbor that they may know the power of your grace and love. Amen.
What is politics and what is not? When are we being political and when are we just doing what God expects of his people. As we pull into this fall and the off, off year elections it is a good time to think for a moment about how do we interact as Christians within Luther’s “kingdom of the world.” The ELCA page on these two kingdoms shares the following;
“Luther here states that the children of Adam fall into two groups, those who belong to the kingdom of God and those who belong to the kingdom of the world. To the kingdom of God belong all who believe in Christ and live under Him, for Christ is King and Lord in the kingdom of God. Of them Luther says: "Behold, these need neither sword nor law. And if all the world were made up of true Christians, there would be no need for ruler, king, lord, sword or law, for where would be the use of them?”
And of the kingdom of the world, “But beside His spiritual kingdom God has established another, the kingdom of temporal authority. This exists because evil exists. God has set the evil world under the sword that it may be restrained,as men put bonds and shackles on a wild beast, and has instituted authorities to check violence and injustice, and to maintain peace and order. Thus sin is the reason for the setting-up of earthly government.”
For you and me today we can as people of faith understand the intersection of these two kingdoms in the Biblical description that we are in the world but not of it. (John 17:6-16) We live in the world every day. We see the sinfulness within it. God has established the law in the kingdom of the world that such sin and evil may be reined in. At the same time as Luther acknowledges we as Christians are called to lives that seek the ways of Christ so that sin does not reign in our lives and we should not need the state’s force to refrain from harming our neighbor, near and far.
Luther saw in the work of government and the state an important function in restraining those who in the sinfulness of the flesh would do harm to others. At the time he believed that when guided by the Holy Spirit of Christ believers naturally fulfilled God’s will for one’s neighbor proclaiming the Gospel and living God’s grace into one’s neighbor’s life.
It is in this way that Luther then understands the Ten Commandments and their teaching and guidance for our lives as followers of Christ. No longer do the central religious laws of the Israel define life by what we must avoid but rather how we are to live in care and harmony with our neighbor such that the laws and the power of the state are unnecessary. Ex. When Luther address the Fifth Commandment he writes, “Thou shalt not kill. He then states the meaning as, “We should fear and love God that we may not hurt nor harm our neighbor in his body, but help and befriend him in every bodily need [in every need and danger of life and body].”
And when he speaks of the Seventh Commandment he writes as explanation, “We should fear and love God that we may not take our neighbor's money or property, nor get them by false ware or dealing, but help him to improve and protect his property and business [that his means are preserved and his condition is improved].
For Luther these actions of protecting one’s neighbor’s life and their possessions are the natural work of the faithful. It is simply how we are called to live and it comes with a cost that one should freely and willingly bear. At the same time, however, it is the work of the world and its authorities to restrain those who act against the security of one’s neighbor’s life and goods.
We are called as Christians in the world to do what is good for our neighbor. It is not political, it is simply our life in Christ.
What is politics and what is not? When are we being political and when are we just doing what God expects of his people. As we pull into this fall and the off, off year elections it is a good time to think for a moment about how do we interact as Christians within Luther’s “kingdom of the world.” The ELCA page on these two kingdoms shares the following;
“Luther here states that the children of Adam fall into two groups, those who belong to the kingdom of God and those who belong to the kingdom of the world. To the kingdom of God belong all who believe in Christ and live under Him, for Christ is King and Lord in the kingdom of God. Of them Luther says: "Behold, these need neither sword nor law. And if all the world were made up of true Christians, there would be no need for ruler, king, lord, sword or law, for where would be the use of them?”
And of the kingdom of the world, “But beside His spiritual kingdom God has established another, the kingdom of temporal authority. This exists because evil exists. God has set the evil world under the sword that it may be restrained,as men put bonds and shackles on a wild beast, and has instituted authorities to check violence and injustice, and to maintain peace and order. Thus sin is the reason for the setting-up of earthly government.”
For you and me today we can as people of faith understand the intersection of these two kingdoms in the Biblical description that we are in the world but not of it. (John 17:6-16) We live in the world every day. We see the sinfulness within it. God has established the law in the kingdom of the world that such sin and evil may be reined in. At the same time as Luther acknowledges we as Christians are called to lives that seek the ways of Christ so that sin does not reign in our lives and we should not need the state’s force to refrain from harming our neighbor, near and far.
Luther saw in the work of government and the state an important function in restraining those who in the sinfulness of the flesh would do harm to others. At the time he believed that when guided by the Holy Spirit of Christ believers naturally fulfilled God’s will for one’s neighbor proclaiming the Gospel and living God’s grace into one’s neighbor’s life.
It is in this way that Luther then understands the Ten Commandments and their teaching and guidance for our lives as followers of Christ. No longer do the central religious laws of the Israel define life by what we must avoid but rather how we are to live in care and harmony with our neighbor such that the laws and the power of the state are unnecessary. Ex. When Luther address the Fifth Commandment he writes, “Thou shalt not kill. He then states the meaning as, “We should fear and love God that we may not hurt nor harm our neighbor in his body, but help and befriend him in every bodily need [in every need and danger of life and body].”
And when he speaks of the Seventh Commandment he writes as explanation, “We should fear and love God that we may not take our neighbor's money or property, nor get them by false ware or dealing, but help him to improve and protect his property and business [that his means are preserved and his condition is improved].
For Luther these actions of protecting one’s neighbor’s life and their possessions are the natural work of the faithful. It is simply how we are called to live and it comes with a cost that one should freely and willingly bear. At the same time, however, it is the work of the world and its authorities to restrain those who act against the security of one’s neighbor’s life and goods.
We are called as Christians in the world to do what is good for our neighbor. It is not political, it is simply our life in Christ.
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