¡§Reach Out Honestly¡¨
(Luke 20:20-26)
How many of you know what this is? (show picture of toll booth on screen) You guessed it ¡V a toll booth! Yes, these dot the interstate landscape of I-80 through IL, IN, MI, and PA! And it is at these kinds of places we pay a tax ¡V an extra tax to apparently keep the roads in better shape. Apparently!!
Perhaps you¡¦re wondering what that picture has to do with today¡¦s message. Well, this is the gist behind the tax referenced in our text today. Would you turn to Luke 20:20? As we¡¦ll see in a minute, the main question was, ¡§Should we pay taxes to Caesar or not?¡¨ And that word ¡¥taxes¡¦ in verse 22 is literally ¡§poll tax¡¨ ¡V an extra tax levied on the Jews that went directly to the Roman government. So you can begin to see why this question was ripe with tension. Let¡¦s investigate it a little closer.
The passage begins in Luke 20:20 with a look inside the motives of the chief priests and teachers of the law who asked the question.
¡§Keeping a close watch on him, they sent spies, who pretended to be honest. They hoped to catch Jesus in something he said so that they might hand him over to the power and authority of the governor. So the spies questioned him: ¡¥Teacher, we know that you speak and teach what is right, and that you do not show partiality but teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Is it right for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?¡¦¡¨
This closer look reveals they were actually hypocritical in the intent: they really wanted to trap Jesus. Their plan? Corner him with an unanswerable question. If he said, ¡§Don¡¦t pay the tax!¡¨, the Romans would probably move in and nab him for blatant rebellion and disobedience. If he said, ¡§Pay the tax!¡¨, the Jews would probably revolt, which would bring about the same result in another way: the end of Jesus! Either way, this question was posed for the purpose of bringing Jesus into trouble no matter how he answered.
Yet, what was posed as an either-or issue became a both-and issue by the master communicator Jesus. Look what he did:
¡§He saw through their duplicity and said to them, ¡¥Show me a denarius. Whose portrait and inscription are on it?¡¦
¡¥Caesar’s,¡¦ they replied.
He said to them, ¡¥Then give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.¡¦"
WOW! In just a simple few sentences the Master lifted the conversation from a political one to a spiritual one. He took what was meant to be a divisive question and turned it into a moment of truth where they were brought face to face with a principle about their role in man¡¦s kingdom as well as their role in God¡¦s kingdom. Let me share with you this principle:
¡§I can live in this world while I belong to another one.¡¨
You see, when he asked for a denarius, a dime-sized coin worth about a day¡¦s wage, he knew they would produce coinage with Caesar¡¦s image and inscription. It indicated whose earthly authority they were under, regardless of whether they liked it or not: Tiberius Caesar. I imagine this was tense moment, for they probably wished they had other coins in their pockets. And yes, other Jewish, even Greek denominations, were in circulation. But the fact that this was the most readily available coin sent a signal to them that they were under the rule of an earthly government, whether they wanted to admit it or not. They were living in this present world!
So about this present, earthly authority, Jesus had a simple instruction: ¡§Give to Caesar¡¦s what is Caesars.¡¨ In other words, live in this world. Pay your taxes, even the extra ones. You may not like it, and it may not seem fair. But it¡¦s your duty as a citizen of the earthly world in which you live.
In fact, the word ¡§give¡¨ here is better translated ¡§render,¡¨ meaning to give what is due. It is really not a gift, but rather a payment. They owed it to their government to help support its functions.
This same principle is echoed in Paul¡¦s instruction to the Christians in Rome. Look at Romans 13:6¡K
¡§This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing.¡¨
The Bible teaches that government has a right to exist, and it has a right to be supported by us. Yes, at times it appears they have gone too far in their authority. By the same token, we, the church, have stopped too short in ours. Still, we need to obey the laws of our land. When those laws conflict with God¡¦s laws, we have a higher authority (see Acts 5:17-42). But most of the time they don¡¦t. So obey the authorities God has allowed to exist!
Can I encourage you to check out the whole of Romans 13 for more principles and insight about this topic, as well as this Web site ¡V www.thetruthproject.org? This is a great site for a biblical look at how God has ordained us and our government to work together in order to promote truth. Check it out, would you?
Well, Jesus doesn¡¦t allow the conversation to stay at an earthly level. He also says to ¡§give God what is God¡¦s.¡¨ The natural question is, ¡§What do I give God?¡¨ Let¡¦s ask it another way ¡V If money has the ruler¡¦s image stamped on it and so that belongs to him, what has God¡¦s image stamped on it? Your life! Yes, you and I were made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-28); we have the image of God stamped all across us. And so we should give ¡V actually pay ¡V ourselves to God! We owe our lives to him, so it is not just a gift, but an expectation! That¡¦s how we live in the ¡§other world¡¨ ¡V the kingdom of God ¡V by giving our lives to him!
Personally, I believe the teachers of the law and chief priests got this point clearly even though Jesus didn¡¦t specifically refer to the Old Testament passage. I believe they knew exactly what he was saying ¡V ¡§The government has a right to your money, and God has a right to your life!¡¨ Jesus didn¡¦t find the two at odds or put one against the other; he simply said you can do both!
And so we¡¦re brought back to this simple principle:
¡§I can live in this world while I belong to another one.¡¨
By the way, Jesus taught this very same principle to his followers in John 17:15-18:
¡§My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world.¡¨
And Paul taught this to the Philippian believers in Philippians 2:14-15 when he encouraged them to ¡§shine as lights in the middle of a crooked and perverse generation.¡¨
Truly, we are ¡§in it, not of it.¡¨ That¡¦s why I say to you one more time,
¡§I can live in this world while I belong to another one.¡¨
By now you¡¦re wondering, ¡§What does this have to do with reaching out honestly? Wasn¡¦t this our theme for the week and today¡¦s topic in our 50-Day Adventure?¡¨
In a word, everything! You see, this is what we do ¡V we live in this world while we belong to another one! We live out the truth of the world we really belong to (heaven) in a world we have to put up with (earth). ƒº
This is the heartbeat of outreach, the essence of the First Family posture! You see, this simple principle has everything to do with reaching out! We are bridge builders ¡K ambassadors ¡K emissaries!
So it is very important we learn how to live in this world even though we belong to another one, wouldn¡¦t you agree? I believe the key to learning how to do this is wrapped up in the ¡§stamped image¡¨ concept referred to in Luke 20. Let me explain.
The ¡§stamped image¡¨ concept simply says that whose I am determines what I do! I really want you to get this: When I understood who I belong to, I begin to understand what to do where I live. Did you get that? The ¡¥what¡¦ and the ¡¥where¡¦ is all answered by the ¡¥who.¡¦ And until you get the ¡¥who¡¦, you will never get the ¡¥what¡¦ and the ¡¥where.¡¦ In other words, when we live by the stamp of his image, which is internal, and not by the stomp of others¡¦ impression, which is external, we finally begin to reach out honestly to those around us. Until then, we come off as fake and pretentious. But when God starts shining through, we start reaching out!
In fact, Romans 12 lays this same principle out for us very clearly:
¡§Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is¡Xhis good, pleasing and perfect will.¡¨
You see, we are to be transformed by God (an internal word meaning that the change comes from the inside out ¡V literally, ¡§metamorphosis¡¨), not conformed to the world (an external word that means to be shaped by, formed by, like with a mold or template). There it is again ¡V the idea of letting his stamped image come through! That¡¦s the work God wants to do in you. As that occurs, God¡¦s arm can work through you!
Listen, church ¡V When we fully grasp that our lives have been indelibly stamped with God¡¦s image, it begins to affect¡K
¡Kmy calling.
Did you know you were made by God for God? That¡¦s right ¡V God made you for himself and for his pleasure. That¡¦s what I mean by calling ¡V you were, at the very beginning, designed for a relationship with God through Jesus Christ.
Yes, even unbelievers ¡V lost people ¡V are stamped by God through their creation. And while they may not know him yet through conversion, they do have the stamp of God on their life, and that gives them worth and meaning. That¡¦s why I believe all men and women everywhere are called to a life-saving relationship with Jesus Christ. His stamp is on them from creation, and God is calling them back home. And guess who he uses to show the way? That¡¦s right ¡V we¡¦re one of the ways God shows people how to belong to the real world while living in this one.
Some have described this as a God-shaped hole; others as a Jesus-shaped void. Regardless, your calling from creation is to a relationship with God and God¡¦s Son, Jesus. Have you answered that calling and filled that hole/void in your life?
In a few minutes we¡¦re going to have a time of response to God¡¦s call upon our lives, and I invite anyone who is unsure of their eternal destiny ¡V of their soul¡¦s relationship with Jesus, to take full advantage of this upcoming time and do business with God.
It also begins to affect¡K
¡Kmy character.
As we grow in our walk with God, things start changing. Our desires and motives change; our appetites and attitudes change. Why? Because God is stamping his character on us ¡V he is conforming us to his Son¡¦s image.
By the way, this is the hardest part of our life to change. It is the part below the waterline; the part nobody sees. And it¡¦s usually the part we don¡¦t like to see. But it is this deep down change that has to occur, for it is this internal change that brings about lifelong, external change.
And it also begins to affect¡K
¡Kmy conduct.
As attitudes and appetites change, then actions change. We simply start acting differently.
Let me illustrate by telling you a simple story that happened a few weeks ago to my wife and me. We were picking up one of our daughters from a party at a friend¡¦s house, and as we waited, I simply approached my wife from behind and put my arms around her. We stood there in that embrace, watching and laughing with the group. Well, the next weekend when the girls were playing soccer, that simple ¡§romantic move¡¨ generated lots of questions and much talk between my wife and one those women. And it all boiled down to, ¡§Why do you guys act the way you do?¡¨ I¡¦ll tell you what makes us act that way ¡V the stamp of Jesus on our lives! Not a church program, a couples seminar, or a motivational speaker with three points and a poem. Instead, the impression of Jesus on our lives causes us to act in certain ways, which in turn provides us with an honest lifestyle of outreach.
And many of you are living the same way. For instance¡K
¡Kyou give. And since you know God takes care of you, you don¡¦t have to be selfish or greedy. Instead, you can give sacrificially. That¡¦s how you live in this world while belonging to another one.
¡Kyou stay pure. By showing Spirit-filled discipline in a world of excess (alcohol, drugs), you display the wholeness God can bring in a world full of people trying to fill their holes. That¡¦s how you live in this world while belonging to another one.
¡Kyou love. By exhibiting God-like love to your spouse, you exhibit God¡¦s idea of marriage and romance. You stay together in a world where commitment means very little. That¡¦s how you live in this world while belonging to another one.
¡Kyou serve. When most people take at Christmas time, you give and help. Which is why Project 318 is an annual endeavor at First Family. This year, we¡¦re targeting our schools and parks. And while I know that many of you and your Lighthouses have already selected a project, I encourage everyone to ¡§Pick-a-Park¡¨ or ¡§Select-a -School¡¨ (refer to LH challenge). It¡¦s one of the ways you live in this world while belonging to another one.
You see, that¡¦s an honest life of outreach!
It is the kind of outreach Paul described in 2 Corinthians 4:1-2:
¡§Therefore, since through God’s mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart.
That¡¦s his stamp on my CALLING!
¡§Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God.
That¡¦s his stamp on my CHARACTER
¡§On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.¡¨
That¡¦s his stamp on my CONDUCT
God¡¦s stamp is what all of us need. This morning, come to the altar and lay yourself out for God¡¦s stamp¡Kfor his impression. That¡¦s when you are in the best position for a life of honest outreach.
