“I Pledge Allegiance”
Matthew 22:15-22
It’s been said that the best way to avoid conflict in any relationship is to avoid talking about religion and politics. There are marriages, in fact, functioning on that premise. And if that is true, I’m in big trouble this morning because this sermon will deal with both politics and religion. But on a weekend when we remember those who died fighting for our freedom and celebrate the firm foundation upon which our nation has been built, it‘s only appropriate that I do so. There is no better opportunity than this to raise the question, WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A CHRISTIAN PATRIOT? Just how do we put our faith and our politics together? We get some guidance from the 22nd chapter of Matthew.
To set the stage we need to understand the context. This whole scene is nothing but A TRICKY CONFRONTATION. It was Holy Week – Jesus was soon be crucified. The opposition to Jesus was mounting and reaching new heights. Even the religious Jews wanted to do away with Him. So, verse 15: “Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap (Jesus) in his words.” It’s really humorous. Listen again to what they say; "Teacher," they said, "we know you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren't swayed by men, because you pay no attention to who they are. Tell us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?" They acknowledge His wisdom and integrity and then proceed with a plan which ignored His wisdom and integrity! It would be their undoing. By their own admission THEY RAISED AN ISSUE TO TRAP JESUS, not to get a serious answer. The Jews lived in Palestine but Palestine was under the control and rule of the Roman Empire. So the Jews could legitimately ask if they, as a nation loyal only to God, should pay this particular tax to a pagan, foreign government and ruler. It was an issue which divided even the Jews. The Pharisees were zealous in defending God and believed they should resist this support of the foreign, pagan ruler. If Jesus said to pay the tax they would go after Him for failure to uphold loyalty to their God. The Herodians, on the other hand, were zealous in defending the right to levy taxes and if Jesus would say not to pay the tax they would report him to the authorities who would arrest him as a revolutionary and charge Him for treason. It was like the proverbial question, “Have you stopped beating your wife?” A yes or no answer will lose. So they had him trapped – one way or another He would get in trouble. Or would He?
(18) “But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, "You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me? Show me the coin used for paying the tax." They brought him a denarius, and he asked them, "Whose portrait is this? And whose inscription?" "Caesar's," they replied. Then he said to them, "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's." JESUS RAISED AN ISSUE TO CONFRONT THEM. Jesus raised their question of trickery to an issue of greater importance: How is a devout worshipper of God – today it is, how is a devout Christian - supposed to relate to the governing authorities? HOW CAN ONE BE A PATRIOT AND A CHRISTIAN? Jesus was giving them a warning that they were to give back to each – Caesar and God – what rightfully belonged to them. If Caesar’s name was on the money, then give it back to him. But do not give to him what belongs to God. And, continued Matthew, “When they heard this, they were amazed. So they left him and went away.” Why this reaction of amazement?
Because JESUS DID NOT COMPLETELY ANSWER THE QUESTION OR SETTLE THE ISSUE. Since the Jews were insincere and simply trying to lay a trap for Jesus, He refused to give them a full answer. He put the ball back in their court. He wanted them to wrestle with the greater issues of what belongs to Caesar and what belongs to God! Jesus still wants us to wrestle with this issue as it is always before us. He gave no complete answer, only a basic principle: "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's." How do we know what’s what and what belongs to whom? The church has always struggled with that question – we just ask it differently. Should our faith mix with our politics, and if so, how? What is the relationship between our faith and our government? How do we "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's?"
Let’s look at a FAITHFUL APPLICATION of Jesus’ principle. Listen to Paul (Phil 3:20-4:1): “But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body. Therefore, my brothers, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, that is how you should stand firm in the Lord, dear friends!” The premise of Scripture is that WE HAVE A DUAL CITIZENSHIP OVER WHICH GOD IS SOVEREIGN. We are citizens of the United States, but as Paul wrote, our true citizenship is in heaven. It is not that there are two separate and equal spheres – our heavenly citizenship is of higher rank. I can think of no greater earthly privilege than being a citizen of the United States of America. But I value even more highly my citizenship in Christ’s Kingdom, and that is where my highest loyalty lies. While citizens of the United States, WE LIVE ULTIMATELY UNDER A HIGHER LAW.
A Lexington, Ky., woman received a $5 traffic ticket charging her with running a stop sign. Simple enough. But not to her lawyer. It seems that she was en route to vote when she was stopped by the law. And section 149 of the Kentucky constitution says: “Voters, in all cases except treason, felony, breach or surety of the peace or violation of the election laws, shall be privileged from arrest during their attendance at elections and while they are going to and returning therefrom.” (1) Case dismissed. She was under another law’s protection.
Make no mistake about it: we live under a higher law. The United States, while not the chosen nation of God as Israel was, has been richly blessed precisely because our founding fathers and our citizens have understood there is a higher law. Thomas Jefferson once wrote, “Can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that their liberties are the gift of God?” Each of the thirteen colonies had a Biblical foundation, and each revered the Scriptures as divine authority. We have a dual citizenship, but we have only one supreme loyalty – God in Jesus Christ!
With that understanding as our foundation, we can consider how WE ARE TO GIVE BACK ALLEGIANCE TO OUR GOVERNMENT. Paul wrote to people undergoing persecution by their government. (Romans 13:1-7) “Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. For he is God's servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God's servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience. This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God's servants, who give their full time to governing. Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.” Peter wrote (1 Pt. 2:13-17): “Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. For it is God's will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men. Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God. Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king.”
Here are some of the implications of this allegiance. First, PAY TAXES. It’s a direct command of Scripture. The government supplies basic necessities of community life – sewer, police and fire protection, a court system, and so forth. Since we do not live in isolation and we have a responsibility to our neighbors, we are to participate in sharing the load. Second, RESPECT THE LAW. It’s what Romans 13 is all about. Without respect for law a nation collapses. Since we are citizens of an earthly nation we bear responsibility for her health. We are to support and respect the Law of the land. Third, we must PARTICIPATE IN THE POLITICAL PROCESS. We must vote, must debate the issues, let our representatives know where we stand and hold them accountable, and hold office if led to do so (this congregation can be very proud to have as members people who have served on city council, as mayor, and on school boards to mention just a few.) Let me address two things briefly. One is that statistics continue to show that in any major election only roughly 50% of the eligible Evangelical Christian voters in America vote. That is unacceptable. Second, an issue that keep coming to the forefront, and will one day be a major issue, is the taxation of churches. The theory goes that if the churches would be taxed the billions of dollars gained by the government could be used to help the government run programs the churches are already running with the money. Be that as it may, I remind you of the reason churches are not taxed. Our founding fathers, when they dealt with the concept of taxation, believed that once the government taxed an entity, they would have control over that entity. Therefore, they said, they did not want to tax churches because they strongly believed the government should not control the churches. We have been given a voice – but if we do not use the voice we lose the voice and leave the ruling of the land, by default, to those who do not share our Christian values. Fourth, we must help BUILD BETTER COMMUNITIES. Jeremiah 29:7 – “…seek the peace and prosperity of the city…pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you, too, will prosper.” And fifth, we must BE THE MOST OUTSTANDING CITIZENS. It is up to us, as Christians, to exemplify what it means to be good citizens. We are to be the model for the world.
Having said that, we must also know what it means that WE ARE TO GIVE BACK ALLEGIANCE TO GOD. Remember, this is our primary allegiance. Revelation 13, in fact, portrays how the beast, the forces opposed to God, will try to usurp our allegiance to God by replacing it with allegiance to the ruler and the government. The coin Jesus used with the Pharisees had the image of the Caesar upon it, but we have the image of God stamped within us! Each individual life is like a coin, separately minted in God's creation, in the likeness and image of God. And since we ruined that image through sin God bought us back again as He paid the price through Jesus’ death on the cross. We have been bought with a price. We belong, in body and soul, in life and in death, to our faithful Savior, Jesus Christ. We are always His!
Our allegiance to Him is seen in at least two ways. First, according to Jesus summary of the Law, we are to LOVE GOD with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. For our purpose this morning I raise up two elements of loving God. One is to PRAY FOR LEADERS. Paul, in 1st Timothy 2:1 ff. wrote: “I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone-- for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.” Pray that right persons get into leadership; pray for those in leadership, that the Spirit of God will touch hearts and lives; pray for the President and his staff, for senators and congressmen, for Supreme Court Justices and on down the line.
A second element of loving God is to STRIVE FOR HOLINESS. Jesus said, (Matt. 6:33) “Seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness…” John wrote (1 Jn. 2:1-3, 15-17): “My dear children…We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world--the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does--comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.” Our beliefs must impact the way we live – and our lives ought to be distinctively different than those of non-Christians. George Barna, church researcher, made the following comments in one of his books: “A distinguishing mark of authentic Christians is their distaste for evil, but personal holiness will be a forgotten concept as the nation buckles under the weight of moral and spiritual anarchy...In a recent survey we even asked people to identify their goals in life and discovered that less than 1% mentioned anything related to holiness, righteousness or purity…We concluded that Christians have a limited influence on American society because we do not live differently and thereby model an alternative lifestyle for others to emulate. The fundamental indictment of that report, however, could have been phrased this way: Christians fail to transform the culture in which they live because they are neither grieved nor humbled by their sin.” (2) Let Proverbs remind us: “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people.”
The second way we give back our allegiance to God is, again in Jesus’ own words, to LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR as yourself. I suggest three thoughts. First, LIVE WITH LOVE AND COMPASSION – even for those who are radically different from you or even those who oppose you. Love as Jesus loved. Second, LIVE WITH A SERVANT’S HEART. Jesus said, “If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all… Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.” Third, SHARE THE GOSPEL. I read from Timothy a few moments ago but listen now to how Paul concludes his statement: “This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men--the testimony given in its proper time. And for this purpose I was appointed a herald and an apostle...” Sharing the Gospel is our calling – God wants people saved. And only citizens of heaven can present the Gospel. Charles Colson once wrote, “…If children, parents, kings, judges, tax-payers, and tax-collectors were all ‘that Christian’ religion has taught men should be,’ the result, Augustine argued, would be ’the salvation of the commonwealth.’” (3)
Listen to the Psalmist in Psalm 33: “But the plans of the LORD stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations. Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people he chose for his inheritance. From heaven the LORD looks down and sees all mankind; from his dwelling place he watches all who live on earth--he who forms the hearts of all, who considers everything they do. No king is saved by the size of his army; no warrior escapes by his great strength. A horse is a vain hope for deliverance; despite all its great strength it cannot save. But the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love, to deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine. We wait in hope for the LORD; he is our help and our shield. In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name. May your unfailing love rest upon us, O LORD, even as we put our hope in you.”
I mention that because back in 1994 the Church Herald did a survey, and of those responding only 66% said they were more loyal to their Christian faith than to their country. Are you committed to Jesus Christ? Is your ultimate allegiance to Him? This morning, will you pledge allegiance to the Lamb?
(1) Tan, P. L. (1996). Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations: Signs of the Times (pp. 515–516). Garland, TX: Bible Communications, Inc.
(2) I am unable to locate the precise source for this quotation
(3) I am unable to locate the precise source for this quotation
