Epistle of Paul to the Romans 13:1-14
13:1-2 Remember the time and context of Paul as he writes this letter to the Romans. Paul is teaching a new way of life, a new philosophy through which to live and understand life. The word of God that Paul brings is spiritually trans-formative, and simultaneously, Paul must be clear: he isn't preaching anarchy or abandonment of social order, rather he is trying to enhance the operation of social order.
Paul's reminder and also explanation is that God has given us the freedom to construct our own social systems while on earth. With that freedom, humans have made mistakes (corrupt leaders sometimes get elected or take power and it becomes our job to remove them.) Paul wants us to respect governments because even though they are sometimes corrupt, within them is humanity's potential to organize justice within populations of people. God wants us to respect and pursue the establishment of fair governments because He has appointed us with the ability to build them.
Our spiritually should not cause us to disrupt or disrespect government, rather it should help us to make government better. Meaning: stop the crusades of church versus state and let them work together.
13:3 Paul reminds the recipients of his letter that he is not against rulers. Fair and wise rulers will always support and promote good works rather than hinder or tear them down. Paul does not want people to receive spirituality and the wreak havoc on their lives because they misuse it. Fair and wise rulers are meant to be a terror to evil actions, so while we shouldn't revere them, neither should we oppose them (again: if they're fair and wise). If they aren't, well, some countries are lucky enough to remove them from power in a systematic way. For those that are not, God supplies us with the courage and wisdom to work through our adversity and to remove terrors from our lives when we trust and ask Him to.
13:4 Ideally, humans in positions of governmental authority on earth are meant to restore, create and protect peace. Paul is explaining that even though we do not like things like punishments in law (contemporary example: tickets for speeding) we should not disrespect a system meant ensure safety.
13:5 Meaning: we should be good citizens. We should be good citizens not because we fear punishment but because it should be the naturally common sense, logical, just thing to do. Our conscience should desire to live as peaceably as we can.
13:6 There are aspects of government people hate, like taxes. In life, we constantly battle and work to balance things like taxes (that's fine and normal) but in general, we are meant to respect a system that has been created to ensure humanity's conditions of safety and justice.
13:7 We are meant to participate fairly in our society. We should work to establish and uphold just governments and then we should do our part to sustain them. Moreover, we should respect the cultural norms and traditions of the peoples and cultures around us. In general, we are meant to fairly respond to our environment, government and the populations around us.
13:8-9 In Matthew 22:36-40 Jesus explains that the most important thing we can do here on earth is to love each other. What does this mean? This means we should have empathy and respect for every human soul. Why? Because when we respect each other and have empathy for each other, we have covered every base of compassion and kindness.
We owe each other this basic human right: to be valued for having life within us. The only thing we owe each other respect and empathy; this is the bare minimum of what we should give to others. We do not have to associate or agree with people we disagree with, we do not have to give anyone any material thing, any thing of ours except our understanding that they are alive and deserve to be given appreciated.
Special circumstances: there are some really crummy humans around sometimes, let's be honest. Having love for your enemy seems drastic and also unrealistic right? Well, there are different levels of love. At the top of the scale: our love for God is a deep form of love, reverence. Within the scale: the platonic love (but just as bold and true) for our family and friends and pets, our romantic love for spouses and partners, and our general appreciation (a quiet form of love) for acquaintances and strangers who we have empathy for.
At the bottom of that scale: our enemies. What sort of "love" could we possibly have for them, right? Well, we can have perspective. Perspective that reminds us of the circumstances that made or inspired them to be evil might have been out of their control (not to absolve them of their evil but to give root to it) and to thereby rightly condemn them for their actions but to not take their actions personally. Moreover, our perspective can give us the gumption to send a blessing or prayer out for them: in the hope that they change and subsequently stop hurting others.
Perspective may not seem like a form of love but it's definitely in the scale. When we broaden our understanding of the complexity of the world and the fallibility of the human, we give others (not only our enemies) respect. Evil is evil, but sometimes evil had help. When we keep that in the back of our minds, we give respect to our adversaries by giving them room to change and our hope that they will.
13:10 At the very least, do not harm anyone back. That is a form of love. If you absolutely, justly, hate somebody, at least do not do to them what they did to you. Why? We will use this Mark Twain quote to
answer that: “Anger is an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than to anything on which it is poured.” Self love is also on the scale. Giving others forgiveness (even if it's actually a gift to ourselves) is a form of love.
Forgiveness does not mean you have to let that person into your heart or home countless times. You can entirely remove them from your life and your thoughts and still give forgiveness in this way: you released them by releasing your anger. You moved on, you let them go. You may have even let the law deal with them, completely fair. Forgiveness does not mean to freely let someone off the hook for something they did wrong! If someone genuinely, sincerely asks for your forgiveness and works to earn it, give it to them by giving away your anger... and even if you can't, give them forgiveness by not keeping them around to keep firing darts at them. Move on, sometimes that truly is a gift of love.
Don't do harm, neither to those you love nor to those you hate... that is a form of love.
13:11-12 Paul is speaking to people hundreds and hundreds and hundreds... and more years ago and so how much more relevant is this statement? The time to wake up is now. Wake up how? It's time to realize that 1) There is work to do on earth 2) We all have a purpose 3) Our purpose is specifically tailored to types of work that need to be done on earth 4) We are capable and equip with the ability and materials to make a difference here with our lives, the friendships and relationships we cultivate.
We cannot live in lethargy or apathy or ignorance for another mine: neither individually or collectively as a species. There are so many mouths to feed and souls to inspire and brains to fill with knowledge, so many hands to fill with opportunity and hearts to fill with happiness.
Let your spiritually, your connection with life, inspire you to armor yourself with its light, it's wisdom and ability.
13:13 We don't have time to be inebriated, neither with drink or lust or greed or envy or suffering or corruption. Let those things go, clear your mind and heart and soul. Work to make your brain and spirit healthy. We waste our time when we refuse to leave the basins of negativity and evil. We waste our time, we waste each other's time. We have the capacity for so much happiness! The ability to inspire and create so much happiness... there is endless space for justice and compassion in this universe and beyond. Let's start contributing. Let's start creating. Awakening to our clear-headed, clean-hearted purpose and our ability will give us new, bold, bright life.
13:14 Let go of the things corruption in the world have taught us: the pursuit of wealth, fame and power. Those things ruin us, distract us, drain us of our compassion and true purpose. Instead, arm yourself with this philosophy brought by Jesus, reiterated passionately by Paul, and reject the lust for wealth and power and fame in all their forms. Arm yourself with purpose and kindness, with your spirituality and watch it transform your life. Watch yourself transform the lives of others in beautiful ways.
