22nd Sunday after Pentecost (Pr. 24) October 16, 2005 “Series A”
Grace be unto you and peace, from God our Father and from our Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Let us pray: Dear Heavenly Father, through our baptism into Christ’s death and resurrection, you have claimed us as your redeemed people, children of your heavenly kingdom. Yet we live in this world, as citizens of this world, with obligations to our nation and allegiances to family and other organizations to which we belong. Through the power of your Holy Spirit, help us to prioritize our various commitments, that we might serve you above all else, as we live respectful lives here on earth. This we ask, in Christ’s holy name. Amen.
Our Gospel lesson for this morning is one of those texts from Scripture that raises questions without any answers. As a matter of fact, the more that I studied this text, the more convinced I became that it leaves us to struggle with our own conscience, guided by God’s Spirit, to supply our own answers. So I invite you to struggle with me this morning, as we explore this text.
First, consider the strange circumstances in which this story unfolds. We are told that the Pharisees plotted to entrap Jesus. That is not so strange. In these last few chapters of Matthew’s Gospel, there has been this ongoing battle between the religious leaders of Israel and Jesus, concerning Jesus’ authority versus that of appointed leaders of the Temple. Apparently, the Pharisees were concerned about the masses that were following Jesus, and so they wanted to discredit him before the people.
But what is strange about this text, is the fact that the Pharisees, those deeply pious and religious purists, would team up with the Herodians. The Herodians, as their name implies, were partisans of the ruling Roman family. They were a group of Jews who had compromised their faith and piety, in order to win favors from the governing forces. Clearly, the Pharisees and the Herodians made strange partners in their attempt to discredit Jesus. They actually despised each other.
Then, after some sweet talking flattery, we come to the question. “Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?” If Jesus answered “No,” the Herodians, those who enjoyed the benefits of Roman rule, would report him to the authorities as a traitor or seditionist. If Jesus answered “Yes,” the Pharisees would have ample fuel to discredit him among the people as a Roman sympathizer, a person unfaithful to the faith of Israel.
Perhaps, this is what prompted Jesus, as these two conflicting groups approached him, to refer to them as hypocrites. Jesus knew that there had to be some devious intent behind their teaming up to confront him. But Jesus didn’t succumb to their ploy, their desire to entrap him.
Instead, Jesus asked to see the coin used to pay the taxes. It was a coin that bore the image of the Roman emperor, and so Jesus asked, “Whose image is on the coin?” Both groups answered, “The emperor.” Jesus then replied, “Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s and to God the things that are God’s.” And Matthew tells us that when they heard this, they were amazed, and they left Jesus and went away.
Now that is a really cool answer. It enabled Jesus to escape the trap that these two extreme but opposing groups were trying to set for him. It acknowledged to the Herodians that we do have obligations to uphold to our worldly governments, and it expressed to the Pharisees that we have obligations to uphold as citizens of God’s kingdom.
But is it really an answer? Oh, Jesus gave a response that did more than merely foil their trick. Jesus gave a teaching that left them with a challenge that rings down through the centuries. In fact, Jesus’ response presents us with a far more difficult question?
If we think about Jesus’ answer, we must conclude that we, as Christians living on this earth, are citizens of two kingdoms. The first part of his answer acknowledges the fact that we have a responsibility to uphold as citizens of the world, and to the governing authorities of our Nation, our State, our County and our community.
Jesus acknowledges that we have, not only an obligation to pay taxes to the government, for the various services and benefits that result from living under its ruling authority – we must acknowledge that his response goes further than simply paying taxes. Jesus said, “Give to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s.
Those who first heard Jesus’ response, and those who hear it today, recognize that earthly governments ask their citizens for more than money. Governments also ask for allegiance. Governments have the right to establish laws and have the authority to enforce them. And in times of war, governments ask for military service, which may require the taking of other people’s lives or the sacrificing of one’s own.
I believe Jesus’ response upholds the authority of earthly government. So does the apostle Paul, who asserts repeatedly in his writings to the early Christian churches, that believers are to respect governmental authority. And from our first lesson for this morning, the prophet Isaiah showed how the heathen ruler Cyrus could even be an instrument of God’s purpose.
If Jesus’ response would have ended with “Give to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s,” we would have been left with a mandate to live our lives adhering to the authority of our earthly rulers. But Jesus didn’t end there! He also added, “give to God the things that are God’s.”
There is the dilemma. God also deserves our allegiance, as citizens of his kingdom. Clearly God deserves our tithes and offerings, our worship and thanksgiving for his gift of redeeming grace as members of his church here on earth. But what else belongs to God?
The Roman coin that Jesus held bore the image of the emperor, therefore it belonged to the emperor. But what bears the image and name of God? Nothing but our whole being! In the very first chapter of Genesis, we are told that God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness.” And the author of this first book of the Bible concluded, “So God created us in God’s image…”
We are the coins of God’s realm, of his kingdom. If we are to “give to God the things that are God’s,” then we must conclude from our Lord’s teaching that there is no limit to what we owe God. We owe God our whole being, our very life, all that is ours. No part of our life is excluded from our fundamental covenant with the one who is our Creator, and who has redeemed us from sin and death to make us citizens of his kingdom.
Thus, Jesus’ response to the question meant to entrap him, traps us all! We live as citizens of two kingdoms – an earthly kingdom, to which we owe certain allegiances, and a heavenly kingdom to which we owe everything. Jesus’ response doesn’t really settle the dispute between the Herodians and the Pharisees, any more than it settles the conflict that each of us face as we try to live out our faith today. Rather, Jesus invites us into the struggle. He invites us to acknowledge that our government has a right to expect a certain allegiance from us, but the allegiance we owe our earthly kingdoms is limited. What we owe to God is not. And when we perceive a conflict of allegiance, when we believe that our earthly authority is in conflict with God’s authority, we are the ones who must follow our conscience, and the guidance of God’s Holy Spirit, to resolve the conflict.
Now, I am not making a political statement here. I am not taking a personal stand on any issue before us at the present time. I am simply inviting you into the struggle that our Lord puts before us. I am inviting you to think about your faith seriously, and to realize that we are citizens of two kingdoms, to which our greatest allegiance as Christians, belongs to God. I am inviting you, as you live your daily life, to think about what belongs to God, and let it influence the way you live.
I invite you into the struggle that Jesus faced, as he struggled on the Mount of Olives, as he gave to the emperor what belonged to him, and to God what belonged to God. Clearly, Jesus acknowledged the right of Pilate to take his life, even though he could have avoided death. Yet he gave his life, his all, back to his Heavenly Father on our behalf, for our redemption, according to God’s will. Thanks be to God!
So let us, with the gift of God’s Spirit, enter the struggle of giving to God the things that are God’s, and of giving to the government and our earthly allegiances, that which belongs to them.
Amen.
