Render Unto Caesar

 The scriptures referred to are Matthew 22:15-22.

The kids were small, it was a weekend and we were broke. We were between paychecks and some big bills had come out. But the kids wanted to do something. When I explained that we didn't have the money for that, my son said, “Just go to the bank and get some from that machine.” After having a hearty laugh, my wife and I explained that the ATM is neither magical, nor an instrument of charity run by the bank. It's our own money we get from it. That money in turn comes from our jobs and is given in exchange for our work.

Kids can be forgiven for thinking the world gives you things for free. What's really hard to understand is why some adults think that way. Taxes are the price you pay for civilization. The roads you drive, the schools your children or grandchildren attend, the military, the Post Office, Medicare and Social Security are all paid for by taxes. Nobody likes paying taxes but only a child or a fool thinks you can have a high-functioning society without them.

The Bible mandates taxes. Israelities paid a tithe of everything, including produce, to support the priests, the Levites, who had no land, and the temple, as commanded in Numbers 18:20-32. In addition, every third year the tithe also went to the support of widows, the fatherless and foreigners. According to Malachi 3:8, not giving your tithe is robbing God. And under David and Solomon, there were also taxes to support the army, the monarchy and the running of the kingdom.

But the issue was a bit different in Jesus' day. Judea and Galilee were Roman-occupied territory and the empire maintained itself by imposing a land tax, a sales tax, a poll tax, an income tax and a personal property tax. Yes, they helped support the aqueducts, the roads, the safety to travel and other public goods. But they also supported the Roman army. This felt to the average Jew like they were paying for the boots pressing on their own throats. Worse, it doesn't look like the Romans put any limits on the additional fees that the tax collectors could add on. Tax collectors were getting rich taking their fellow Jews' money which was then used to oppress them.

That's why the question that the Pharisees and Herodians ask Jesus is so explosive. “Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor or not?” By lawful, they mean is it right according to God's law. If Jesus says, “Yes,” then he will lose the support of the crowds. Just a quarter of a century earlier, these taxes caused a revolt. But if he says, “No,” the religious leaders can turn Jesus over to the Romans as a rebel. There was no freedom of speech in the Roman Empire.

Jesus isn't stupid. He knows this is a trap. But he refused to be put in a corner. “Why are you putting me to the test, you hypocrites? Show me the coin used for the tax.” Technically, no Jew on the temple grounds should have a Roman coin on them. The denarius had a picture of the emperor, which Jews saw as idolatrous. And the inscription just made it worse. It said, “Tiberius Caesar, son of the divine Augustus.” The Roman emperors hadn't yet declared themselves living gods during their reigns, but dead emperors were deified. So Tiberius was claiming to be the son of a god. This is why, upon entering the temple district, you went to a money-changer and exchanged your Roman coins for specially minted temple coins to buy things and make offerings. (And, of course, the money-changers controlled the exchange rate and profited.)

So nobody listening to Jesus teach in the temple should have been able to produce a Roman coin. But they did, providing further evidence of their hypocrisy. Jesus looks at it and says, “Whose head is this and whose title?” And they, of course, say “Caesar's.” And Jesus makes his now famous statement, “Give back, therefore, the things of Caesar to Caesar and the things of God to God.” (my translation)

And most commentaries I consulted pretty much ignore the first part of Jesus' statement and go right to the part about giving God what is his. And indeed that is the more important point Jesus is making. The emperor's coin was minted by him and had his image. We were created by God and bear his image. Possessions may come from this world and ultimately belong to it but we come from God and belong to him.

But Jesus is also pointing out the paradox that believers must deal with. Even if we are citizens of the kingdom of God, we live at present on this earth and are part of one of its nations. And we do have obligations to the country in which we live. You won't find any support for evading or cheating on or not paying your fair share of taxes from Jesus. Or from Paul for that matter. (Romans 13:6-7) Taxes are the price we pay for a safe and well-run nation.

But more than that, Jesus says we are to give back to Caesar the things of Caesar's. In other words, he is talking about things the government provides. In Jesus' day, that did not include the right to vote. But our government does give us that right. And yet at the time it was first given, that right was rare and limited.

Initially, most people living in the US couldn't vote. For the most part the right to vote was limited to free white males aged 21 or older who owned land, about 6% of the population. Property qualifications didn't get completely abolished until 1856. And it wasn't until 1870 that the Constitution prevented states from excluding blacks from voting with the 15^th Amendment. But states figured out ways to get around that and the Supreme Court usually let them get away with it. White women didn't get the vote till 1920. Women of color had to wait decades longer. In the 1960s the Supreme Court finally established the one person, one vote electoral system. Even so, requirements for paying taxes, having a certain amount of wealth, or residing somewhere for an extended period of time had to be prohibited at a later date. And it was only in 1986 that the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act extended the right to those who were overseas, living on bases or on ships. Voting is a right provided by the government, which we take for granted at our peril.

As Christians we are to give back by voting. But though we are citizens of 2 countries, our earthly one and the kingdom of God, that doesn't mean that we can completely compartmentalize the two. We are ambassadors of Christ and so we must do what he commands and stand for the principles he stands for. When it came to tithing Jesus said, “Woe to you, experts in the law and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You give a tenth of mint, dill and cumin, yet you neglect what is more important in the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness! You should have done these things without neglecting the others.” (Matthew 23:23) Which echoes the words in Micah 6:8—“He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God?” (my translation) And a big part of showing justice and mercy is serving those who get little or none of either. Thus Jesus said, “When you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.” (Luke 14:13-14) Generosity, not miserliness, is the quality the followers of Jesus should display, giving to all who ask, trusting in God's abundance to supply our needs. (Matthew 5:42; Philippians 4:19)

Nor is this limited to personal charity. God makes justice for the disadvantaged his policy. In Jeremiah it says, “Thus says the Lord: Do justice and righteousness, and deliver from the oppressor him who has been robbed. And do no wrong or violence to the resident alien, the fatherless, and the widow, nor shed innocent blood in this place.” (Jeremiah 22:3) In Isaiah God says, “Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression, bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's cause.” (Isaiah 1:17) And again in the Psalms, it says, “Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute. Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.” (Psalm 82:3-4) And in Proverbs, we are told, “Open your mouth for the mute, for the rights of all who are destitute. Open your mouth, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy.” (Proverbs 31:8-9) We are to be the voice of the voiceless, and to use our power to help those who are powerless.

Again this is not just expected of private citizens but from those in power. Psalms 72 was dedicated to David's son and successor, Solomon. It says, “O God, grant the king the ability to make just decisions! Grant the king's son the ability to make fair decisions! Then he will judge your people fairly, and your oppressed ones equitably. The mountains will bring news of peace to the people, and the hills will announce justice. He will defend the oppressed among the people; he will deliver the children of the poor and crush the oppressor....for he will rescue the needy when they cry out for help, and the oppressed who have no defender. He will take pity on the poor and needy; the lives of the needy he will save. From harm and violence he will defend them; he will value their lives.” (Psalm 72:1-4, 12-14)

Notice that that's a prayer that the king act that way. A king or emperor doesn't have to answer to anyone. The average Israelite or Judean or Galilean or Roman or Christian had no real say in who was in charge of the kingdom or the empire or the nation in which they lived until the 18^th century. All they could do was to raise their voices to call for justice, freedom and rights. They couldn't actually direct the people in power to do anything. Until they got the vote. And as we saw, they didn't all get it at once. On this day 100 years ago, white women had the vote for exactly 2 months.

And how do we use this unprecedented right? In Europe 77% of eligible voters come out to vote. In Australia, where it's compulsory, 91% vote. In the US around 58% of eligible voters actually vote. A fairly consistent 40% don't turn out to vote. It's one thing to not care what you have for dinner and let your spouse or family or roommates decide. It's quite another for 2 out of 5 Americans who can vote to be indifferent when it comes to who makes the laws and decides the policies that will affect them.

We have always been able to answer God's call to speak up for the disadvantaged. Occasionally we have been able to rally people and reach the ears of the powerful and trigger reform. Bartolome de las Casas was a Dominican priest who became the Bishop of Chiapas and worked to end slavery. His writings contributed to Spanish legislation in 1542 which led to the abolition of native slavery for the first time in European colonial history. Christians like William Wilberforce in England and Quakers in the US kicked off the abolitionist movement that eventually led to the end of slavery in our respective countries. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference were instrumental in the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 60s. And thanks to them more Americans have the tool denied earlier reformers: the vote, the right of every person to have a say in who governs their county, city, state and nation.

In the Lord's Prayer, we say, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” We don't add “somewhere down the line.” Or “when it's more convenient.” Jesus wants us to do God's will now, to prepare for the coming kingdom now. That means not neglecting the weightier matters of God's law like justice and mercy. As Martin Luther King pointed out, “Justice too long delayed is justice denied.” Wrongs should be righted as soon as possible. A posthumous pardon is a gesture, not real justice.

To the weightier matters of the law mentioned in Matthew, Luke adds “the love of God.” (Luke 11:42) As Christians everything we do should be an expression of the love of God. And it should be an expression of both senses of the phrase: our love for God and God's love to all people. Love naturally begets justice, or treating all people fairly, and mercy, treating all people with compassion. And since everything we do should show God's love, that goes for the act that Christians for millennia hadn't been able to do but that we can perform now: vote. When we vote we also should be expressing the justice, mercy and love of God for all. In this way we can use the things of Caesar, the power he has given us, to serve the God who has always been on the side of the powerless.

Let us conclude with a prayer from the ELW. Let us pray.

“Almighty God, we lift before you all who govern this nation. May those who hold power understand that it is a trust from you to be used, not for personal glory or profit, but the service of the people. Drive from us cynicism, selfishness, and corruption; grant in your mercy just and honest government; and give us grace to live together in unity and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.”