Jesus told a story about a widow who had suffered wrong and every day pleaded with a judge to try her case until he agreed. Jesus Himself experienced injustice from the Jewish Sanhedrin and from Pilate, the Roman governor. St. Paul languished in a Caesarean prison for two years because another Roman governor named Felix wanted Paul to pay a bribe in order to set him free. Paul would not pay. Martin Luther warned the German nobles against oppressing their serfs and peasants with extra work and taxes. Two hundred years later, many nations in Europe experienced revolutions because people wanted a new system of government to be free from the nobility and arbitrary laws. Luther also was put under religious ban and a government death sentence for proclaiming the true gospel. Even our own foreign missionaries must at times deal with corrupt officials who seek bribes before anything is done.

The American revolution led to a new system of government called representative democracy. The writers of the present constitution understood that all people had a sinful nature which would lead them to seek absolute power or to corrupt government. The founders divided power between the legislative, executive, and judicial branches in order to balance power between them and provide a restraint to that power.

By God's grace this system has worked for 200 years, giving its citizens the right to vote for their leaders and the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. As Christians we should use and cherish the right to vote, but we also recognize that God Himself controls all things to place in power the representatives and leaders our nation needs.

At times people will elect a Mussolini (Italy) or a Hitler (Germany). Others take power like Stalin (USSR), Mao (China), Pol Pot (Cambodia), and many others, who misused their power to kill many people. God allowed all these monsters power for a time, before He cut short their plans to take over the world. He used these leaders as a punishment to those who had rejected Him and as a chastisement for Christians to keep them from straying from the faith or help them trust in God more. Sometimes we elect the leaders our selfish attitudes deserve. At other times God gives us better leaders than what we deserve to fulfill His purposes in the world. In every case, God works for the good of His Church and the benefit of each believing child.

We have many reasons to give thanks to God for the government we enjoy in the United States of America. Where other governments oppress the poor, we can better our life through hard work. Where other governments persecute Christians, our Constitution grants us the freedom to worship God in truth. Other peoples in the world must deal with shortages, our land has been blessed with decades of prosperity.

Our greatest freedom come from Jesus Christ. By His holiness and divine power Jesus kept the law in our place, defeated sin by His death on the cross, and won the victory over death by His resurrection from the tomb. He now lives in heaven to govern all things for the good of His Church and to prepare a heavenly home for those who believe on Him.

How can we thank God for the government He has given us? St. Paul says, "Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities" (Romans 13:1). When we obey our government we obey God Himself, as long as we are not commanded to sin. Paul adds, "Render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor" (Romans 13:7). Since citizens are the government, we thank God by participating in government through our vote, maintaining the rule of law, and attending meetings at the local level.

God has blessed us with freedom and prosperity for a reason. He would have us use the bounty He has given us to support the proclamation of the Gospel into the world. Then many others can raise their voices in thanksgiving to a gracious, forgiving God as they believe in Jesus. Those thankful people will rejoice in the eternal Kingdom Jesus will give them to dwell in forever when He returns on the Last Day.