20th Sunday after Pentecost – 24A October
18, 2020
Matthew 22:15-22 Panzer
Chapel Liturgical Service
I've started writing a 1-page poem before I sit down to write the sermon manuscript each week. These One Page Sermons in Verse can be found here...
It All Belongs to God
So,
irony is not dead… no really – Jesus talking about taxes and government three weeks
before a general election … holy smokes!
Today’s
scripture lesson takes us
way out of
our comfort zone. Before us, we see the
first of three confrontations Jesus will have with the Pharisees; about taxes,
resurrection and the greatest commandment.
In each of them, Jesus confirms their own point of view as correct, but
still the Pharisees will plot to have Jesus condemned. These conversations were not an honest
interchange of ideas between different parties.
The questions were asked in order to entrap, to catch Jesus in his own
game.
[i]
But
Jesus was smarter than they expected. Here
the Pharisees asked a question about paying taxes, hoping that Jesus would
paint himself into a corner. He did not
give them a quick sound bite, but turned the question on them instead.
passage continues a busy time in Jesus' life. Still at the Temple, the Pharisees
and Herodians teamed up to trap Jesus on what seems like a political issue – apparently
church and politics didn’t mix then, either. It is notable that these two
groups were working together when in reality they were famously opposed on
almost every topic. The Pharisees’ job was to hold tight to the power that the
Temple and the Jewish leaders held in Jerusalem. The Herodians were the ones
obliged to Rome, keeping their puppet, Herod, in power.
The question: Should we pay our taxes? Of course, they didn't
really want an answer to that question – you can tell by the way they approach
the whole encounter, almost to the point of fawning… “Oh, Jesus, you're so
awesome... so wise... so in touch with God... Just answer our question and
we'll let you go on your way.”
Of course, that's not what they wanted. They were laying a trap
for him... to ambush him, wanting the government to move against him. They just
wanted him out of the way.
Jesus, of course, is wise to their plot. He sees through their
sarcasm and calls them on it to their faces. Why does he use the word hypocrite
to describe them? Because when he asks to see whose face was on the Roman coin,
they produce one right away, there at the Temple, in a place where no graven
image was ever allowed. Jesus, it seems, carries no coins.
While they are asking this question, “Is it is lawful to pay taxes
to the emperor,” they see only two choices. If it’s no, Jesus alienates the
people who hate the Roman occupation and its Caesar. If he says it is unlawful
to pay taxes, the crowd may be happy, but Jesus will become a target for arrest
by the Romans.
It’s a clever ploy, but not
clever enough. When they produce the coin, minted with the face of Caesar, a
self-proclaimed god, they do themselves in. Jesus then offers them a third
option – pay the emperor the taxes he is due, and also give to God what belongs
to God. Checkmate. Jesus wins again.
But this is not an intellectual
or theological game; and Jesus’ words resonate today. We also want to know how
we are to juggle living in two worlds, as citizens of a nation and citizens of
the Kingdom or Kin-dom of God. Is it either/or or is it both/and? And how do we
juggle the responsibilities to each, especially when the two seem to be at odds
with one another?
I hear a lot of things in this
brief passage. I hear Jesus telling us not to pick fights that distract us from
what it means to be a member of each. Governments are necessary, and if the
government is going to provide services for the betterment of the society, then
taxes are probably necessary, too. So, render unto that Caesar whatever is due.
But then Jesus continues, don't mess around with the things that belong to God.
I also hear Jesus asking the deeper
question, to whom do we belong? Where does our loyalty lie? Sometimes it seems
like we belong to Caesar - taxes, legal restrictions on our freedoms, abiding
by rules we don’t agree with all feel restrictive to our own wants and needs. Or,
perhaps, we feel that our jobs own us. Or our families. Sometimes, we even feel
owned by our material possessions. Buy a bigger house… fill it with more things…
earn more money to pay off the debts we accumulate. It’s a cycle we may have experienced
ourselves, but certainly can relate to in one way or another.
But at the core of our being, at
our very best, to whom do we really belong? Take a look at any person. Whose
inscription is on him or her? It is God’s signature on our lives, for each of
us is made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26), as told from the human’s
entrance into the creation story. There can be no doubt, then, what Jesus means
here. Give yourselves to God because it is to God that you belong. At our
best, we do not belong to anything or anyone else, not even ourselves. No, we
belong to God, with all our time, our talents, our interests and our material
belongings… and with all our bumps and bruises, too.
Why is this such an important
distinction to make? Because the consequences of belonging to God are
remarkable. First, it means that
God will never abandon us. That has not
always been true of those who follow God, not the Pharisees of Jesus day, who
looked after their own needs first, even though it was their job to care for God’s
chosen people. And not for the Church throughout the ages, which has often
gotten it wrong in the quest for power, possessions and the need to control the
membership of the Kingdom of God.
How do we know this is true – that God is always there? Because
God did not abandon Jesus as he carried that cross through Jerusalem, or as he
was dying on Golgotha, or as he was laid in an unmarked tomb. And as the church
was born and grew out from Palestine and Rome to the four corners of the earth,
God was and is in those places, too, never giving us up, and often present in
ways we never imagined possible.
Second, it means that
because
we belong to God, we belong to the people of God, the body of Christ. According
to most Christian traditions, when we are baptized into the community of God,
we are not baptized Catholic or Methodist or Episcopalian. We are baptized
Christian, with water, in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. In baptism
and confirmation, we make promises to choose Christ, not just on that day, but
all of our days, and in all the ways we live.
That’s why in addition to professing faith in Christ, we are asked
to give something up and take something on. In my United Methodist tradition, our
liturgy asks us to
renounce the spiritual forces of wickedness, reject
the evil powers of this world, and repent of our sin. We are asked to
accept
the freedom and power God gives us to resist evil, injustice, and oppression
in whatever forms they present themselves. And lastly, we are asked to
confess Jesus Christ as our Savior, to put our whole trust in his grace,
and to serve him as our Lord.
[ii]
Similar questions are included in the baptismal liturgies of Episcopal,
Anglican, Presbyterian, and Lutheran denominations in the US and around the
world.
That’s it – so little – so much. And only lose our membership if WE
give it up – if we turn our backs on God. And, if we want to return to God and the community of faith, God is there, as
always.
Third, it means that we give to God that which
belongs to God's: that is,
we are called to give ourselves. We take the
sacred trust and invest it in lives of worship, both communal and devotional, in
the sphere of our daily living, in work and service to others, and in the love
we show to friend and strangers alike. All of this is worship. Ultimately,
giving ourselves to God means that we give ourselves to the world.
[iii]
As
the election draws closer, we are continually bombarded with messages about different
candidates and ballot initiatives. I guess one of the benefits of living overseas during election time
is missing out on many of the political advertisements. I’m sure the bulk of the
mail flyers will arrive after the election is already over, each candidate
appealing to our common sense, community spirit, and sense of national
pride. Is it possible that everyone is
right and wrong, all at the same time?
Our
identities as “Jesus people” is so much more than the other ways we identify
ourselves – as citizens and residents of nations, as members of Christian
denominations, or as members of political parties, or no party at all. Jesus reminds
us that first and foremost, we are members of his body, neighbors gathered
around his table, and as citizens of a Kin-dom which asks to us participate fully as love others as God has loved us.
I
come from a tradition that has tried to bridge the gap between personal piety
and social justice. It is why our denomination encourages all of its members
around the world to participate in the political systems which benefit the
communities in which they live.
Voting
can be an act of faith. Voting for policies and individuals that uphold our
shared values of justice and peace is one of the ways Christians can work for a
world that more closely resembles the one God desires for us. With this ability
to impact change comes responsibility. No candidate or policy proposal is
perfect, but having a voice in the process, participating in the vote
ourselves, and making sure that others have that same access is a great step in
the journey of living our faith in all that we say and do.
I
have voted in every federal election since 1980, in seven states, only parking
my voter registration in Michigan with the rights given to me in Military
Spouses Residency Relief Act of 2009. I am one of those people who is excited
and anxious to vote, doing my homework on every position and ballot initiative,
making sure to request my ballot early, and mailing it back as soon as possible. I am even on a first-name basis with our clerk of court, who emailed last Wednesday
to let me know that my ballot had arrived, 25 days after it was mailed.
My
participation in the US election process is one of the ways that I live out my
faith life within my citizenship – in the world and in the Kin-dom of God. By
advocating for just policies, elections provide all of us an opportunity to put
our faith into action by engaging with candidates, encouraging the
participation of all who are eligible to do so, and by voting for the candidates
and ballot initiatives that my faith encourages me to support.[iv]
When
we ready the gospel story, and ponder the letters of Paul, and prayer the
Psalms, and ponder on the history of the Jewish people, we are able to see this
significant truth… it all belongs to God.
Our
faith, our families, our jobs, our possessions, our place in the world, and the
responsibilities those give us, our letter-writing and our peaceful protesting…
and taking care of our neighbors, whether it’s making monetary donations or babysitting
or bringing food to someone in need, or wearing a mask for the foreseeable
future… all of that… all of that and more belongs to God.
And
it’s hard… but it what’s we called to do, and who we’re called to be.
Thanks
be to God!
Lord Jesus, to
call you “Lord” is to pledge allegiance to you as ruler of our lives and to
your realm as our true habitation. To worship you is to give you the honor you
deserve because you are our Lord and Creator. Help us to love you as we ought:
to subordinate all of our affections and commitments to your demands and
commands. Give us the wisdom to discern what belongs to you and the courage to
bow to you. Keep us from giving to those who presume to rule over us what does
not belong to them. Give us the grace to keep politics and everything else in
its proper place. Amen.
[v]Peace, Deb
(C) Deb Luther Teagan, October 2020
[i] M.
Eugene Boring, Reflections on Matthew 22:15-22, New Interpreter’s Bible, 1995,
pp. 420-21.
[ii] UMC Baptismal
Liturgy, UMC Hymnal, 1989.
[iii]
Clayton Scmidt, Commentary on Matthew 22:15-22, Preach This Week, October 1, 2011.
http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=1062
[iv]
Creating Change Together: Engaging in the Electoral Process, UMC Board of
Church and Society,
[v] Will Willimon, Pulpit Resource, Oct 18, 2020, Vol. 48, No. 4, Year A.
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