A Sermon preached on 22 October 2023 (Pentecost XXI) at St. Augustine’s, WI and St. Christoph, MZ
Exodus 33:12-23, 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10, Matthew 22:15-22
Today’s Gospel reading contains one of Jesus’ very well-known sayings, in its traditional version (KJV/AV): “Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's.”
This saying, and the story it is part of, has been interpreted in all sorts of ways, many of them contradictory. It has been used to justify no taxation, low taxation, or unlimited taxation. A whole theology – of the two kingdoms (one of this world and one of Christ) have been built on it, as has the separation of Church and State.
Briefly scrolling through the internet, I found one author stating that “Jesus drives home the message that the claims of God and those of Caesar are mutually exclusive.” In his opinion we either owe everything to God and nothing to Caesar, or we owe God nothing and Caesar, at the very least, the coin which bears his image. Another saw it proving that Christians are very much part of both kingdoms, at least temporarily. Under Caesar, we have obligations involving material things. Under Christ, we have very different obligations that involve things eternal. Some read the phrase "Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's" as unambiguous in commanding people to respect state authority and to pay the taxes it demands of them. In this they include the teaching of Paul in Romans 13 that “every person be subject to the governing authorities; for there is no authority except from God, and those authorities that exist have been instituted by God.” (Which we now often interpret as not being about the government at all – but the synagogue rulers). And yet others – in particular liberation theologians - have interpreted Jesus as saying that Caesar as an invader has no right and is not due anything at all.
I could go on. But what is Jesus saying? It’s certainly not as simple as “Worship God but pay your taxes.” Let’s first look at what actually happens in the passage!
Jesus has entered Jerusalem in triumph, acclaimed as the son of David and one who comes in the name of the Lord, just a few days before this event. And now a very strange coalition has been formed to trap Jesus. On the one hand the Pharisees, who are against the Roman occupation and for strict Torah adherence, and on the other the Herodians, people obliged to Rome for keeping their leader Herod in power as a puppet ruler. You would not usually find them together, but both have an interest in Jesus’ downfall.
They flatter him – O great teacher we know you only speak the truth without any deference – before asking their trick question. It is a trick question because if Jesus answers it the way they want – with a simple yes or no – he is damned either way. If he says that it is lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, he alienates the people who hate the Roman occupation and undermines his messianic support. If he says it is unlawful to pay taxes, the people will be pleased, but Jesus will then be liable for arrest by the Romans. The issue was not just the tax, though as a poll or census tax (remember Mary and Joseph’s trip to Bethlehem) it was unjust as everyone had to pay the same amount. Even more problematic was that it had to be paid with a silver denarius a coin that featured and image of the emperor with an inscription calling him “divine” and “high priest.” So having and using this coin could be seen as contravening the first of the 10 commandments: “You shall have no other gods before me” and “You shall not make for yourself an idol (or image).” This by the way is the reason why there were money changers in the Temple, so people could change coins with images and problematic claims into “kosher” coins that could then be used for tithing.
Jesus’ response has two parts. First, he shows them up as hypocrites. While he has no such coin, the Pharisees readily provide one – so in the sacred space of the temple, the Pharisees possess an idolatrous image. And then, instead of a binary yes/no answer we get the famous “Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” [Just as an aside, binary answers are not always right or necessary, sometimes both/and is the better response. So, taking current events, it is possible to be both for Israel and their right to exist and for the Palestinians and their right to self-determination and a home of their own!]
Jesus’ answer is not just about avoiding a trap. It is not just supposed to be clever, and it is not about the way governments do their business. Jesus has greater concerns in mind. While the face of Caesar is stamped upon the coin, the face of God is stamped upon us, every human being bears the image of God (Genesis 1:26). Give yourselves to God because it is to God that you belong, Jesus says. All things come from God, our being, our talents, interests, time, and wealth. To belong to God means first and foremost that God will not forsake us. We heard this promise in the first reading from Exodus (33:14) “My presence will go with you,” God says, with Moses, his friend, and with God’s people. If we belong to God, then we also belong to the people of God, to the body of Christ “seeking and serving Christ in all persons, loving our neighbour as ourselves” as our Baptismal Creed[1] reminds us. And finally, if we belong to God, we give to God that which belongs to God’s: We return some of our time and talent, and we give of ourselves, serving God and serving God’s people! And all of this does not just happen in church and during worship.
I am not a fan of the two kingdoms theory. As you may have noticed, I don’t like dichotomies, the either/or of science or religion, politics or religion, the world or the church. I am fully in favour of the separation of church and state as institutions. I don’t want the state running churches, as used to be the case with the Protestant Churches in Germany until the Weimar Republic. And I don’t want churches or religions running states, like Iran – but I’ll make an exception for the Vatican! But I am against any separation of church, of religion, of faith from life.
We cannot serve God only through our worship in the church. God’s realm encompasses Caesar’s realm, and we cannot follow our calling to serve a living and true God if we do not also work through and in our societies and political systems to care for creation and to “strive for justice and peace among all people.”[2] And that can include paying taxes, which in the democracies we live in help finance the common good.
As I learnt from one presentation at a recent conference[3] on “The role of the churches in the democratic process”, the Catholic philosopher Jacques Maritain argued that the spirit of Christ can and should influence the state. Christianity is like “leaven in the social and political life of nations as the bearer of the temporal hope of mankind.”[4] And so we pray, in words taken from one of the Eucharistic Prayers of the Church of England[5] “ Lord of all life, help us to work together for that day when your kingdom comes, and justice and mercy will be seen in all the earth.”
Amen.
