Here at the close of
the campaign season, we have some words of Jesus on the role of the
government and God. Both presidential candidates have bent over
backward to demonstrate religious fidelity. What is God’s and
what is not? The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof.
It could be that Jesus can be flippant about it, as he sees all of
the world in God’s hands, so why get all upset about a
government tax? If that is the case, we need to be very careful
saying that one issue, or one political party, can capture human life
so that it can be equated as God’s will or God’s party.
As the title of Jim Wallis’s book says; God is neither a
Republican nor a Democrat. If we don’t hear that simple wisdom,
we are on the road of making an idol out of our limited political
views. When we declare out of bounds any consideration that God may
oppose American policy when we agree with it, when we think that God
has to be on our side, we have traveled a good bit down that road
already.

In the original
Presbyterian Constitution, also written in Philadelphia, we read “We
do not want to see any religious constitution aided by the civil
power and protection and equal and common to others.-no civil effects
of church discipline.” In other words, they did not want any
help from government for doing the work of the church. They did
expect fair treatment from the government, public safety and roads to
allow worship to be possible. We can all be in danger of keeping
church and state so separate that we do not let our religious ethics
impinge on our political decisions, the “naked public square.”
Many Americans see the separation of church and state as impinging on
religious practices, most notably prayer in schools or making a
religious holiday such as Christmas a secular holiday festival.

The Reformed tradition
has usually emphasized a separation of God and Caesar, as spiritual
and physical, but it does insist on the subordination of the
government to God’s will for the world. As Madison said, if we
were angels, no government would be necessary. Usually, that shows a
fierce opposition to the government intruding on the internal work of
the church. It does not see them as always in conflict either, even
as it warns that the church must be careful not to subsume it beliefs
and work under that of the government. No, it hopes that the church
can transform our politics and government. While different realms,
they do intersect. Calvin saw them both working for human welfare,
even though at different levels. When do God and Caesar work
together? Luther called government the left hand of God. Calvin
called governmental officials vicars of God’s work. We have
always insisted that the work of government be done justly. We cannot
paint all government with the broad brush of corruption and
self-serving.

In our time,
government acts to work out Mt. 25’s injunction to feed the
hungry and help to heal the sick. In our time, government, at its
best, is the search for the public good the common good. It looks
beyond what is good fro me alone, and pushes us to consider the state
of the nation: country first as Sen. McCain says, or as JFK said more
memorably, ask not what your country can do for you, but what can you
do for your country. The church does well when it praises that work.
At its best, government organizes the love of neighbor collectively.
It allows us the structure to live together. It tries to retrain our
worst impulses and attend to Lincoln’s “better angels of
our nature.” After all, angels are messengers. When you vote,
you carry a message that is also a prayer.