And yet, and yet…

[The above photo is Santa Anna’s sword in the new museum at the Alamo. Super cool.]

Recently King Charles III came and spoke in Washington DC. At this engagement, the result of his speech was standing ovation in bi-partisan solidarity. Republicans, Democrats, etc., they were standing and applauding a literal monarch.

I’m not the first person to note this. A multitude of news outlets have made the observation of the irony that the one of the most important democracies in the world would be standing and applauding the hereditary monarch descended (in seat) from Mad George III. It’s a head-shaking kind of moment.

Now let’s note a couple of things. The monarch of England ceased to exert any real governing power was in the mid-1700s with a steady slog toward obsolescence completed in the mid-1800s. The monarch of England has been largely symbolic since that time. Interestingly, the English monarch is also supposed to be the head of the Church of England, but I’m not touching that at present. There’s a heavy irony of a powerless king addressing and hinting at instructing our Republic.

At the same time, we have a country that has been frequented by No Kings protests against the current president. Protests that push back against what is perceived to be authoritarianism.

Compare these numbers also with the voting turnout over the past several midterm elections of less than 40% in the same timeframe. Even the significantly higher turnout for national elections has hovered under 60% since the year 2000 (though the last one spiked to almost 70% according to the Elections Project: https://www.electproject.org/national-1789-present).

OK, so this is some data. There are certainly probably other figures out there that could point to any number of conclusions. But what strikes me is the fickleness of the human heart and our constant loop of hypocrisy.

At the end of the day, I don’t think we have a governing problem. I think we have an authority problem.

The theme verse for the biblical book of Judges that encapsulates the spirit of the time is Judges 21:25, the last verse of the book. “In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in their own eyes.” As a child, when I read that I thought, “That sounds great! No king can tell me what to do!” Doesn’t it sound like a great time to be alive?

The book of Judges tells a completely different story though. Throughout the book there is cowardice, deception, idolatry, unconstrained lust, murder, dismemberment, and other awful things. When we really look into the heart of man, a gilded liberty hides the real heart of darkness. Governing style is always a question of degrade, and how much we can slow it down in the meantime.

Biblically, we’re told to honor our governing authorities as well as to honor all people. We’re given the understanding that ultimately authority is not stolen, but is invested from the higher authority.

The truth is no different today. Recently a friend of mine was seated as a judge for the state of Texas. The ceremony installing him was called “investiture” as the Governor as representative of the state of Texas gave him the power to speak with the authority of the government of the people. It’s not his power that gives him authority, it’s always a higher one investing it.

When I officiate weddings, one of the statements I’ll always include is “By the Power of our Lord Jesus Christ and by the power vested in me by the State of Texas, I pronounce…” My authority to pronounce a couple as legally and in the eyes of the church as married doesn’t come from me, but from above.

So then it comes to our personal lives. Some time ago, the people of our culture began to stop seeing authority as a power granted from above and rather as a power that emanated from within. We stopped looking to benefit our community and instead demanded that our community become what we want. We ceased to care about the “least of these” in our communities and commanded our elected officials to be the “hands and feet of Christ” for us. And of course they were willing to take the precious gifts of charity and care off of our hands for a price.

1 Peter 2:17 gives us clear direction. “Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.” In our time, I wonder that we don’t read, “Honor your own opinion. Distrust/neglect the brotherhood. Respect no one. Honor yourself above all others.”

Authority is not innately evil. The absence of authority absolutely is.

One last observation. Often in the Bible the Kingdom of God is compared to a feast. In this feast, there is always a king that is at the center. The guests who come celebrate at his pleasure. He provides them things of joy, and they function within his authority of grace. They don’t have control over him, and yet he gives them tremendous freedom to enjoy the wonders of his presence. The Kingdom of God is often referred to as a feast, and a feast is a party.

I think in our world we have taken a party and turned it into an HOA meeting. We diminish the Kingdom of God into an argument about temperature settings and opinions we don’t like. In our craving for control, we’ve made the worship of the Creator of the universe boring. Our dancing became motions and quora. Man, what a tragedy.

So I agree, let’s not have kings. Let’s have one King, the one who reigns beside the throne of heaven now. Let’s honor our government, care for our fellow person. With the power and authority he invests in us now, let’s not hoard it for our comfort. Let’s strengthen the weak hands and work for the good of each other. Let’s learn to sacrifice our micro-kingdoms that end at our phones and submit to the King of the Universe. Let’s be those ambassadors of joy in freedom and grace. Let’s be lights in dark places.

Long live the King.

Signs and wonders y’all.

So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, ² complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. ³ Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. ⁴ Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. ⁵ Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,^[a] 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,^[b] 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant,^[c] being born in the likeness of men. ⁸ And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. ⁹ Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, ¹⁰ so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, ¹¹ and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

¹² Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, ¹³ for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.¹⁴ Do all things without grumbling or disputing, ¹⁵ that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, ¹⁶ holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain. Philippians 2:1-16