October 22, 2023 Sermon
Sermon title: “Render Unto Caesar”
Scripture: Mathew 22:15-22
(Other lectionary suggestions include Exodus 33:12-23, Psalm 99, and I Thessalonians 1:1-10.)
Matthew 22:15-22
The Question about Paying Taxes
15Then the Pharisees went and plotted to entrap him in what he said. 16So they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, "Teacher, we know that you are sincere, and teach the way of God in accordance with truth, and show deference to no one; for you do not regard people with partiality. 17Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?" 18But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, "Why are you putting me to the test, you hypocrites? 19Show me the coin used for the tax." And they brought him a denarius. 20Then he said to them, "Whose head is this, and whose title?" 21They answered, "The emperor's." Then he said to them, "Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor's, and to God the things that are God's." 22When they heard this, they were amazed; and they left him and went away.
The words of the sermon title, “Render Unto Caesar,” are probably as well known as any words of the Bible, whether the person is a believer or not. Why? Maybe because we ALL render unto Caesar, regardless of whether we want to! We all pay taxes - in fact, Ben Franklin probably said it best when he said that there are only two certain things in life: death and taxes! In today's Scripture lesson, we really see the wisdom of Jesus. He knew that his adversaries were trying to trip him up, and he escaped their intended trap by one of his own. What was HIS trap? He asked THEM for a coin, good Jews who would NEVER carry around an image of ANYTHING, let alone that of the Roman emperor! So, do you see what he did? They asked HIM a question, and he made THEM produce a coin with Caesar's image on it! I wish I could have been there! They must have been incensed that he made THEM produce the coin! I mean , he could have answered without having a coin, right? But he made THEM come up with the image of Caesar, so he had already shown them to be hypocrites. In fact, he calls them hypocrites, right? By the way, the word hypocrite comes from the Greek. In Greek plays, actors would wear masks, and a player wearing a mask was PLAYING a ROLE. He was not who he seemed to be! THAT is what a hypocrite is: somebody who is PLAY-ACTING, somebody who APPEARS to stand for one thing, but actually stands for something else. Our politicians are MARVELOUS hypocrites! When their person is in the White House, they won't say ANYTHING if he acts inappropriately. However, when the President belongs to the OTHER party, they'll complain with all sorts of self-righteousness! We have many hypocrites in BOTH political parties, I am sorry to say!
You have heard it said before that politics makes for strange bedfellows. Today's reading gives us an example. The Pharisees would normally have had nothing to do with the Herodians, those associated with King Herod. The Pharisees were the very orthodox, who resented having to pay a tax to any Gentile, especially a foreign king such as a Roman emperor. King Herod owed his power to Rome, so he and the rest of his supporters - the Herodians - would have been looked at as “collaborators” with Rome. What this story tells us is that Jesus was viewed as such a threat to BOTH groups that they decided to forget their differences for the time being in an attempt to get Jesus in trouble, either with Rome or with Herod. But Jesus outsmarted them both! I'm wondering right now who blamed whom for the unsuccessful plan to trap Jesus!
We should keep in mind that Jesus's response shows that he was NOT against the concept of paying taxes. You may recall that in another context, he and Peter were entering the temple, and they were asked to pay a temple tax. Jesus told Peter to go catch a fish, and in the fish's mouth would be a coin that was sufficient for the tax. My point is, it costs money to live, and Jesus knew that - and he was not against civil authorities who imposed taxes on the people. (The taxes should be FAIR, of course. But that's not my point.) The Apostle Paul, a proud Roman citizen, urged us to obey the civil authorities. After all, they were put there by God, says Paul. What I am saying is that taxes are a fact of life, and neither Jesus nor Paul are on record as saying we shouldn't pay them. You want to pay LESS tax? Well, of course! Don't we all! But we are urged to be good citizens by the Apostle Paul, and good citizens pay their taxes. Can taxation ever be too high? Of course! But then it's up to good citizens to change the laws to be fair. Nowhere in the Bible does it say that we Christians should refuse to pay our taxes!
And look how Jesus throws the ball back into our court! Give the government what belongs to the government and give to God what belongs to God! Isn't that a great statement? Jesus trusts US to decide which is which and who gets what! I absolutely LOVE it that he makes no hard-and-fast rule! YOU are an adult, says Jesus. YOU decide! Again, isn't that great? God has given us these great minds. Now USE them, says Jesus!
The Scottish scholar William Barclay points out that “The matter of taxes was a real problem in the actual ministry of Jesus; and it was still a real problem in the days of the early Church.” But he also says that Christians have a sort of “double citizenship. ((In addition to being citizens of the kingdom of God)) Christians are citizens of the country in which they happen to live. To it they owe many things. They owe the safety against lawless people which only settled governments can give; they owe all public services.” And then he lists a number of things, such as utilities and water systems. Not many of us can afford to have our own streetlights and sewage plants! These things cost money. How about highways and streets? Our tax dollars pay for these things. Says Barclay, “Because Christians are men and women of honour, they must be responsible citizens; failure in good citizenship is also failure in Christian duty.”
Okay, what about when government policies and Christian principles are at odds? Jesus does not say what to do then. “That is for our own consciences to test. But real Christians - and this is the permanent truth which Jesus here lays down - are at one and the same time good citizens of their country and good citizens of the kingdom of heaven. They will fail in their duty, neither to God nor to society.” And Barclay closes with this little quote from I Peter 2:17: “Fear God. Honor the emperor.” And I would say, WE HAVE CHOICES, and God gave us these wonderful minds to decide what belongs to Caesar and what belongs to God. Happy Deciding! Amen. I hope this wasn't too much of a civics lesson!
Pastor Skip
