DEVOTIONS FOR JULY 4, 1999

St. Mark's Evangelical Lutheran Church - Watertown, WI

WE ARE FIRST THE CITIZENS OF HEAVEN

If someone asked you, "What country are you a citizen of?", what would be your first response? For most of us, we would probably say, "I'm a citizen of the United States of America." Or some of our worshipers might say, "I'm a citizen of Mexico." How many of us would every think first, "I'm a citizen of heaven"? I think not too many of us. In fact, I know a number of people who would question and ask, "How can you say that you are a citizen of heaven? You're still living here. And how do you know for certain that you are going to be in heaven?"

As people who trust in Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord, our citizenship is in heaven. As we heard the Apostle Paul write in his letter to the believers in Philippi, Greece, "Our citizenship is in heaven." (Philippians 3:20a) But some will pose the question, "How can you be so certain and positive that you're going to heaven when you die?" We can and God wants us to be positive and certain. As Jesus said, "God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned. Whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son." (John 3:16-18) Jesus again assures us of that glorious citizenship that we have when he says, "I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life." (John 5:24) What joy and comfort to know that we are citizens of an eternal kingdom. We belong to a nation that will never go out of existence. We will live in a country where we will never experience any pain, any conflict, any sickness or death. We are citizens of paradise. We won't have corrupt leaders. There won't be any prisons or jails because in this country there is no sin.

How did we become citizens of this country? God made us citizens of this heavenly nation. He did that when he brought us to trust in Jesus as our Savior. As the Bible tells us, "You are all the children of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ." (Galatians 3:26-27) It is God who makes us citizens of his country through the power of His Word. As Jesus told Nicodemus, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again." (John 3:3) And it is God who gives us that rebirth and our citizenship papers for heaven. As Paul wrote, "It is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not of works, so that no one can boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9)

Citizenship in heaven means something for you and me everyday of our life. When we get up in the morning and face a new day, we don't have to be afraid. Because our Lord Jesus is with us. He is working everything that happens in our lives for our good. We can face life with confidence and certainty as Paul wrote, "If God is for us, who can be against us?" (Romans 8:31b) And when we face the end of our citizenship in our nation on this earth, we look forward to the full joys and peace of our real home in glory.

When you know that your are a citizen of heaven, then the setbacks, the upsets, the disappointments of life in this world aren't as bad. You know that the Lord will see you through them and the pains and discomforts that we experience are only temporary.

Amen

WE ARE CITIZENS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

In addition to being a citizen of heaven, every Christian is a citizen of some nation on this earth. We are citizens of those nations by virtue of our birth or by our choice. Most of us here today were probably born as citizens of the United States.

When you are a member of some organization or club, there are certain responsibilities that you have. The same is true when you are a citizen of an earthly nation. There are responsibilities that we have as citizens of the United States of America. In his letter to the Roman Christians, the apostle Paul is very clear on what our duties are to the governing authorities.

The first truth that Paul impresses upon each of us is that these authorities are God's representatives. They have been established by God. So whether we have the privilege of living in a society where we have the freedom of speech, the freedom of the press, the freedom of religion, the freedom of movement, the freedom to bear arms or we lived in a society where we do not have such freedoms, that government is the one the Lord God has placed over the citizens of that nation. When Paul wrote to the Roman believers they were living under a government that outlawed the Christian religion. It was a government that openly persecuted and murdered believers. In spite of that, Paul says this is the government that God has placed over you. You need to be obedient to that government and obey its laws.

However, there is a time when we would disobey the ruling authorities. That time is when the government commands us to do something which is contrary to the Word of God. When Peter and John were commanded not to speak any more in the streets of Jerusalem about Jesus, they did not shut their mouths. In fact, they continued to do what they were forbidden by the ruling authorities to do. They then told their leaders, "We must obey God rather then men." (Acts 4:19-20)

In addition to being obedient to the laws of our government, we also need to pay taxes. Those taxes help to pay for those whom God has placed over us in ruling positions. Jesus even makes that clear to the Jews who hated being under the rule of the Roman empire. Jesus tells them to give to Caesar (the Roman government) the things that are Caesar's and to God the things that are God's.

Another important responsibility that we have as citizens of the United States is to pray for our nation and our leaders. As the Bible tells us, "I urge then, first of all, that requests, prayers and intercessions be made for everyone - for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness." (1 Timothy 2:1-2) We pray for our leaders, even if we don't like them. They are the rulers that God has placed over us. We pray that God give them wisdom, integrity, honesty and understanding to be good and just rulers.

God also grants us wonderful blessings through our leaders. It is only because of the grace of God that you and I are citizens of the United States. We could have been born in a country where we had no freedoms whatsoever. But in his great love God saw to that we were born here or came to live here. Our leaders provide security and peace for us. Our leaders enforce the laws of our land so that we are able to walk the streets of our city without fear of attack. We go to bed at night without the fear that we will blown to pieces by enemy bombers. Our government provides us with security from the enemies of our nation and with security and safety within our homes by punishing the wrongdoers and law breakers.

In our nation we also have the privilege of worshiping God in any manner we choose. We are not forced to support a state church. We are not told by the government what we should or should not preach. We have the freedom to preach the Word of God faithfully without interference from others. We also enjoy the freedom of assembling whenever we wish and wherever we choose without fear that our religious service will be disrupted by the police or others.

We have the freedom to speak out against those leaders and laws we don't like. We have the freedom to challenge the constitutionality and legality of new laws that are enacted by our Congress and legislators. Most people in the world do not have such liberties.

We have the freedom of the ballot box to remove leaders from office by election. We have the freedom to recall leaders who are not carrying out their duties.

Most of us take these freedoms for granted. We have them in our country only because of the grace of God. Thank God for the blessings that he has given you as a citizen of the United States of America and carry out your responsibilities as a good citizen. Be active in our political process and make your Christian voice heard as you vote and run for political offices so that you may serve your nation and your God.

Amen

FIRST PRAYER

Heavenly Father

So often we forget that our citizenship is in heaven. We act and think as if the only life and citizenship we have is here on this earth. Forgive us for our thoughtlessness. Help us always to remember that our first and most important citizenship is in heaven with you. Amen.

SECOND PRAYER

Loving Lord,

We never see our heavenly country and so we often forget that we have a much better nation where we will live forever someday. As we think about the wonderful paradise that you have prepared for us, may we never forget what a beautiful place we will have with you one day. Keep our thoughts and minds always focused on that perfect and eternal home in heaven. Amen.

THIRD PRAYER

Savior Jesus,

We thank you for your amazing love for seeing to it that we are citizens of the nation in which we live. You in your great love determined that we should live here at this time in the history of your world. Help us to be obedient to the rulers of our land and to submit to their authority. Give us leaders who are righteous and just and who rule wisely. Amen