Pray for Kings?

Constantine the Great (306-337 AD) was the first Roman Emperor to convert to Christianity. He claimed he saw a vision of the cross just before going into battle and heard a voice say “by this sign you will conquer.” After his conversion the Emperor ended the persecution of Christians throughout the Roman Empire. During his reign he funded church-building projects, commissioned copies of the Bible to be written and summoned Councils, including the Council of Nicaea, where theologians were able to formalise church doctrine, including the creed we still declare here each Sunday.

The actions that followed Constantine’s conversion had a massive impact on the spread of Christianity and Church history.

I thought of Constantine as I read today’s scriptures. In Paul’s letter to Timothy, he encourages church members to pray and make intercessions for everyone in the nation. But he then emphasises the importance of praying for Kings and all those in high positions.

When listening to these words some of us might wonder why, at a time where Christians were being persecuted by the rulers of Rome, should Paul insist that they pray for their persecutors?

Or if we read his letter in our current situation, why - in the middle of a cost of living crisis affecting all of us but in particular the poorest and most vulnerable in society - why urge us to pray for the wealthy and privileged? Why should we pray for King Charles, Prime Minister Liz Truss and her newly selected cabinet?

Why should we intercede for people who will not be badly impacted by the rising prices at the petrol stations and supermarkets. People who won’t be needing the services of food or heat banks this winter?

In his letter, Paul tells us the reason why. He says we must pray for the King and for our political leaders so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity.

Paul wrote this letter to Timothy while he was imprisoned by the Roman Empire for being a Christian. Yet he still wrote urging the church to pray for the authorities that had put him in jail. And maybe it was the faithful prayers of the readers of this letter that were answered in the conversion of Emperor Constantine two centuries later.

Might the prayers of the early Church be connected to the laws Constantine passed that enabled persecuted Christians to come out of hiding and live lives that revealed God to the surrounding culture?

God wants those in high positions in the nation – the King, the politicians, the people in control of the media, leaders of industry, banking and business – to govern responsibly. To not squander their position and the responsibilities that he has charged them with.

Because, like the dishonest manager in Jesus’s parable (Luke 16:1-3), they will have to give an account one day for what they have done with the position God placed them in.

The Prophet Amos warns: “Hear this, you that trample on the needy, and bring to ruin the poor of the land….” This warning is to those who exploit the people, politicians who award contracts to their friends and use tax-payers money unjustly; those who make decisions that benefit the rich whilst squeezing the already burdened poor, those in the media who stir up division in society to distract from the misdeeds of those in high positions.

Amos warns that they will have to give an account. “The LORD has sworn by the pride of Jacob: Surely I will never forget any of their deeds.”

Paul wants us to pray for those in power because their actions will affect everyone. Just as Constantine’s conversion positively affected the Roman Empire and its Christians, poor actions from leaders will negatively affect their citizens and country.

Decisions made in high positions have a serious impact on all of society. We see this today in the rise of food banks, the demonisation of the poor and the vulnerable. We see this in the rewarding of the rich and the scapegoating of those with the least power.

So God calls us to pray for these leaders because he cares about all humankind, King and refugee, famous and infamous, rich and poor.

Most of us reading these words are not monarchs, nobility or in high positions in society. So it might be tempting to listen to Amos’ warnings and exclude ourselves from them.

But – before we get too comfortable – if we return to Paul’s letter, we see that we are exactly in the same position.

We see in Paul’s letter that the reason God wants his people to be in a society that allows them to demonstrate lives that resemble Him, is because God desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

What is this truth God wants us all to know?

The truth that we have all been born in captivity to sin. Those unwanted vices we struggle with, quick tempers, gossip, addictions, racism, hatred, snobbery, slander, unforgiveness, greed.

God desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth that there is one Holy God who we must all give an account to when we leave this world. All of us, small and great, are captive to sin and unable to meet God’s perfect standard.

But the greatest truth that God wants us all to know is that we don’t have to despair because there is one mediator between God and humankind. Jesus Christ, who, on the cross, gave his life as a ransom to set free all of us who are in captivity to sin.

In Jesus Christ we can say with the Psalmist: “Who is like the Lord our God, who sits enthroned on high, but stoops to behold the heavens and the earth? He takes up the weak out of the dust and lifts up the poor from the ashes. He sets them with the princes, with the princes of his people.”

In Jesus Christ, God has stooped down and has raised us, the poor in Spirit, to become joint heirs with Christ. He has made us Princes and princesses of God’s Kingdom.

We have inherited the wealth of this glorious Gospel. The crown of eternal life.

And as God’s heirs he wants us to follow in his footsteps. He has placed us in a high position and wants us to emulate His servant leadership, his sacrificial love and service to all.

When we see the truth of our elevated position in this way then we see our responsibility to be faithful stewards of the immeasurable treasure He has given us. We see that we too will need to give an account of whether we have been faithful or dishonest with what He has given us.

We are called to pray for each other, to pray for our communities and to pray for the nation’s leaders whatever our personal political affiliations or opinions. We are called to share the Gospel honestly and lovingly to the people in our communities. Through words, through actions, through the way we live our daily lives.

We are called to call out injustice and hold our leaders to account whilst also holding our leaders in prayer.

It is God’s will for everyone to be saved and to be free from their captivity to sin. It is God’s will that we, as Christians, walk through this world, in our homes and in our communities, as children of light: exercising the power and the responsibility he has given to us diligently and faithfully.

As Jesus warns us in the Gospel reading, "We cannot love God and Mammon". He calls us to use the resources we have in this world to make friends. To make new disciples, new citizens of God’s Kingdom. He challenges us to invite people to share in the riches of the one true King of Kings, the one true sovereign who all of us, whether sovereign or subject, will have to bow to one day.

Queen Elizabeth the II will be buried tomorrow and the nation will acknowledge her life and her service that she stated was guided by her strong faith.

At this moment the world’s eyes are focused on the handover of power to King Charles. The nation’s eyes are on the new political leaders of our country. But God’s eyes are on us all.

It is to God we must all give an account. He wants those in high positions in the land to be faithful stewards, to emulate God in bringing justice to the poor, exposing corruption where it exists and creating conditions in society where there is peace and harmony rather than division.

Whether we are stewards of much or of little in this age, God wants us to be faithful stewards.

This is not an easy task for any of us to accomplish in our own strength and so Paul urges us to pray for everyone. To pray that we ourselves, our families, neighbours, communities and leaders will make the decision to choose God, to choose righteous and godly wisdom.

“And so we pray today, Father God, for all those who mourn the passing of Queen Elizabeth. We pray for her heir, King Charles III. We pray for those who take their place in the new government and those in the media who wield immense power with their words. We pray for their salvation. That they will come to the knowledge of the truth. That they will seek to follow the example of the Lord our God who sits enthroned on high but stoops to behold the heavens and the earth. The Lord who will surely never forget the deeds of those who exploit their position.

“We pray for our Church – its leaders, its laypeople, - that we will be faithful heralds of the Faith, sharing the Good News to everyone, and continuing to hold the nation and its rulers in prayer. Amen.”