I Peter 2:13 - 25  "Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether to a king.. or to governors... For such is the will of God that by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men."  (v13-15)  Paul also wrote about this, "Let every person be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. (Romans 13:1) 

But... we want to object...our current situation is different!  Our governing authorities don't know what they are doing! They are sinful people promoting sinful behavior!  Yes, that is true. And it was the same in Peter and Paul's times. Even worse.  Roman kings considered themselves to be god.  They killed Christians in horrible ways.  Both Peter and Paul would be killed by these godless men.  And still, they submitted themselves .. FOR THE LORD"S SAKE... to the human authorities.  

Even more than that.. Jesus Christ, Himself submitted to human authorities..

"For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps, who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth; and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously."(v21-23) 

Peter gives us some more.. difficult...  instructions here:

v16 "Act as free men...but..." not to do whatever we want, but to be servants... slaves of God. 

v17 "Honor all men; love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king."  -Honor speaks of value, esteem, respect... We are to find value in every person.. to give preference to them; to even revere them.  "Help us Lord!"

v18 "Servants be submissive to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and gentle, but also to those who are unreasonable."  And, that applies to all of us.. not to just servants..Yikes!

Why should we do this? It goes against everything in our human nature and especially in our American attitude of independence and freedom and human rights..  Peter says, "for this finds favor, if for the sake of conscience toward God a man bears up under sorrows when suffering unjustly." 

Jesus is our example.. as He suffered death on a cross "that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed." ( v24)  

Jesus submitted.. so we are called to submit.

Jesus humbled Himself.. so we are called to humble ourselves. 

Jesus obeyed every commandment and loved even His enemies.. and we are called to do the same. 

Father in heaven, this is such a hard thing You ask!  We would gladly submit to a better government.. but ours is pretty horrible just now.  Help us to lay down our lives, take up our crosses, and follow Jesus! Spirit of God, fill Your church with power to love others, to honor them, and to obey the authorities. We want to honor You. We want to obey Your Word. Fulfill Your purposes in us as we hide ourselves in You. In Jesus' name we pray. amen.