Merhan Nasseri was a man without a country.  For 11 years he lived in a Paris airport, having been expelled from his native Iran.  He had no passport, and thus no citizenship.  He had no papers that enabled him to leave the airport for another country.  When his Belgian-issued refugee documents were stolen, authorities at Paris sent him to England, but he was denied entry and sent back to Paris, where the airport authorities allowed him to live in Terminal One.  There Nasseri stayed for 11 years, writing a diary, living off handouts, and earning money cleaning toilets.

          In September 1999, the situation changed.  French authorities presented Nasseri with an international travel card and a French residency permit.  Suddenly he was free to go anywhere he wanted.  But when airport officials handed him his walking papers and even some money, he smiled, tucked the documents in his pocket, and stayed.  He was afraid to leave the bench that had been his home for 11 years.

          He said he just couldn't see how he would survive any other way than by what he was doing.  As the days passed and he refused to leave, airport officials tried gently and patiently to coax him to find a new home.  Finally he moved into a small flat near the airport, but every week he came back to his airport bench.  Can you imagine a more unnatural home than an airport?  Noisy, crowded, maybe interesting, but surely not home.  When you and I come to believe in Christ, the change to a new life may be just as frightening.  But in Christ, we are offered new home in the kingdom of God.  Yet, we're not always sure that's where we want to be.

          This weekend Americans are enjoying their freedom to take a holiday.  Independence Day is not only time for a long weekend, but also a time to remember the blessings we have as a free people.  What I will be sharing this morning may seem like a civics lesson, but it's one we rarely hear, because it comes to us from the perspective of the Gospel instead of the Law.  If this message gets a bit dry or complex, you might want to take a copy home and re-read it.  I'm going to say things here you won't otherwise hear about Church and State.

          As Christians, we are citizens of two worlds, the world we live in now, and the world to come.  We have dual citizenship in both kingdoms, the Kingdom of Power and the Kingdom of Grace.  By an act of the US government, we are citizens of the Kingdom of Power.  By an act of God in Holy Baptism, we are citizens of the Kingdom of Grace.  Citizenship in the USA means being law abiding people, involving ourselves in work and service to home, community, and country.  It means living as best we can within the law, paying taxes, volunteering to help those in need, and, if necessary, serving in the armed forces to protect our freedom.

          Citizenship in the Kingdom of Power is known by what we have learned in life or civics class.  Citizenship in the Kingdom of Grace is known from the Bible.  Our dual citizenship is also called the difference between State and Church, and though both are given us by God, both are very, very different.  State and Church are both ordained by God, but they differ radically in the fields in which they work, the methods they employ, and the objectives they seek to achieve.

          The State has authority over all its citizens regardless of their religious faith;  the Church exercises authority only over those who voluntarily join its communion.  The State rules by its laws and enforces obedience;  the Church rules by grace and the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  The State preserves outward peace in the community;  the Church offers inward peace and blessing.  The State is interested in the temporal affairs of its citizens;  the Church is interested in eternal salvation of its members.

          Even though the Bible says the State is ordained by God, this does not mean it must govern according to the Holy Scriptures, making the Bible, the Koran or anything else the fundamental law-book of the land.  The Bible must never become a guide for government.  The Bible is the sole authority in the Church, the Kingdom of Grace, but not the Kingdom of Power.  Even though many of the founding fathers were Christian, the Bible cannot be used as a primary source for the rule of civil authority.

          A government is not permitted to interfere in a person's relation with God or the exercise of his or her religious beliefs.  The care of souls is not committed to the State but to the Church.  State deals with people only in the secular arena and is guided by reason, not by scripture.  Scripture is for guiding the Church, not the State.

          One of our Lutheran confessional writings, the Augsburg Confession, says:  "For government deals with other things than the Gospel.  Civil rulers defend not minds, but bodies and bodily things against manifest injuries, and restrains men with the sword and bodily punishment in order to preserve civil justice and peace."

          Some of our European neighbors will not agree, but there should never be a Church-State and or a State-Church.  Despite what we may know of the Crusades or the Vatican, the Church has no right to rule land and people or to enact and enforce civil laws.  Just as Jesus refused to be the judge in a civil suit (Luke 12:13-14), so the church should not interfere in affairs of State, nor should the State interfere in the affairs of the church.

          This doesn't mean Christians should stay out of politics.  On the contrary, it is highly desirable that public officials be true believers and take an active part in all the things Christ has commanded us to do.  But being an official of the State confers no special authority on a Christian.  The Church should not expect or ask any special assistance from the State in her work of soul-saving.  So also the State has no legal authority to organize churches, appoint ministers, or legislate spiritual things.  Any grabbing of power either by the Church or the State in the domain of the other, results in trouble, and even tyranny.

          Christians are to support the State because it is given to us by God.  We are to honor our rulers (Romans 13:1), pay taxes (Matthew 22:21), obey all just laws (Titus 3:1) and participate in government as we choose.  But always, when the two worlds conflict, the Christian is to obey God rather than the government (Acts 5:29).  We may disobey the State only if it is very clear the State is requiring us to act against our religious conscience.

          The State receives its authority from God.  He delegates authority according to His plans and purposes.  Like parents are the authority in the family (Eph. 5:22-25), so also the pastor is the authority in the church (Heb. 13:17).  As employers are the authority in the workplace (1 Peter 2:18-19), so the State is the authority in society (Romans 13:1-6).  The State is established by God to help people to live together in peace and security (1 Tim. 2:2).  It exists to protect the lives, property, honor and reputation of its people (Rom. 13:3-4), as well as to enact laws which preserve order and discipline.

          Besides making laws, Government has the right to judge people according to them (1 Peter 2:13).  It can punish transgressors by means of just penalties (1 Peter 2:14), and even impose capital punishment or wage just wars for the protection of its citizens (Matt. 26:52).  As citizens of the State we can do much to support our country.  We can pray for our leaders, vote in elections, be a candidate for office or even try to influence legislation.  We can even publicly demonstrate for our point of view, so long as it's done legally.

          As citizens of heaven, we live to acknowledge and rejoice in all that God has done for us.  He has given us the right to be Americans, and though our nation has its flaws, there is none better.

          A high school teacher asked her senior class to write a theme comparing the benefits of living in America with living in communist China.  Half her class saw no benefits to living in America and most of the others were only lukewarm in their reasoning why being Americans was better.  Only two students argued strongly for being Americans.  They were from Viet Nam.  They had seen the difference, they knew the blessings, and no one would ever convince them that to live in China is better!

          St. Paul tells us, "But our citizenship is in heaven.  And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ."  Because of God's mercy we are alive;  because of His compassion we live in this great nation.  Because of our Lord Jesus Christ, we are forgiven and have hope for heaven.  No nation is perfect, but this nation gives us freedoms like no other -- the freedom to assemble for worship, freedom to believe as we choose, and freedom to pursue our dreams as much as we are able.  Our Lord Jesus Christ never knew the civil freedoms we have, but He knew the freedom of believing the Truth.  He said, "If you continue in my Word, then you are my disciples, and you will know the Truth and the Truth will set you free." (John 8:31-32)   The truth is that He is our Savior.  He has done all needed so that we can be with Him in heaven.

          In a game back in the fifties, Yankee superstar Mickey Mantle struck out three times in a row.  It was a really bad day and when he got back to the clubhouse, he just sat down on a stool and held his head in his hands, like he was going to cry.  Just then he heard someone come up to him, and it was little Tommy Berra, Yogi's boy, standing there.  He tapped Mantle on the knee, nice and soft, and Mickey figured he was going to say something nice, like "You keep hanging in there" or something like that.  But all he did was look at him, and then said quietly in his little kid's voice, "Boy, Mickey, you stink."

          Yes, sometimes our USA really stinks.  It's not a perfect place, but usually it's hard to beat.  I don't know where else I could enjoy being alive as much as I do here, and serving among you great people.  Today let's give thanks to God the privilege of being Americans!  God bless America!  Amen

Copyright © 2003 by Pastor Bob Tasler.  All rights reserved.