Matthew 22:15-21 * October 12, 2008 * Pentecost 22 * Pastor Leyrer

Dear Friends in Christ,

You’ve probably heard it said that religion and politics are the two subjects that should not be discussed in polite company. This may be good advice for the social circuit, but it is obviously not a divine command because in our text for today Jesus talks about… religion and politics.

And we’re happy that He does, because the relationship between the two is sometimes a bit cloudy. So it is good to have a clear Word of God on these matters.

It’s also especially timely. You don’t need me to tell you that we are in the final weeks of a presidential campaign. By this time next month America will have elected a new leader. Election years always seem to heighten our interest in what God’s Word has to say about the whole subject of the Christian and his or her government. It was for that reason that this very topic was chosen as one of our Bible Class offerings this Fall.

While there is far more to be said on this subject than can possibly be addressed in a sermon, today Jesus reminds us of this simple truth: Christians live in two worlds. We are citizens of both an earthly kingdom and a spiritual kingdom.

The text we have before us is very interesting on a number of different levels and a fascinating account of the treachery of man as contrasted to the wisdom of God. Let’s work our way through it and in the process see what Jesus has to tell us about

THE CHRISTIAN’S DUAL CITIZENSHIP

The time: Tuesday of Holy Week. Jesus is in the final days of His earthly ministry. Two days before He had triumphantly entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. One day before He had caused quite a stir by driving the merchants out of the temple and declaring they were turning the House of God into a den of thieves. Tuesday brought him back to the temple for a heavy day of teaching, preaching and general interaction with the people.

Just before our text Jesus had told three parables (earthly stories). Each of them indicted the Pharisees (the main religious leaders of the day), exposing them as false teachers and hypocrites. Under the cloak of spiritual leadership they were destroying the souls of men.

Let’s remember who the Pharisees were and what they stood for. Jesus was all about forgiveness of sins and eternal life through embracing Him as the Savior God had sent; they were all about eternal life by personal performance. They were spiritual do-it-yourselfers who had no need or desire for a Savior. So they didn’t like Jesus. They saw Him as a threat to their way of life. They also sensed a shift in power.

The parables Jesus spoke against them were not subtle, and the Pharisees knew exactly what He was saying. Unfortunately, rather than moving them to repentance and embracing Jesus as their Savior, they became all the more hardened in their homicidal thoughts. Jesus, they had become convinced, needed to be out of the picture. ¹⁵Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him in his words.

This was the plan: ¹⁶They sent their disciples to him (note: they didn’t go themselves but sent their underlings perhaps thinking they would come across as more sincere) along with the Herodians. For us this is just a piece of additional information, but anyone who lived back then knew immediately that something was up because these two groups of people normally despised each other.

The Herodians were a pragmatic political party devoted to getting what they could through their association with King Herod, the puppet ruler placed over Israel by the Roman Empire. They couldn’t care less about the spiritual agenda of the Pharisees and considered them to be religious extremists. But they had their own reasons for disliking Jesus. His king-like reception on Palm Sunday made them a little nervous. So the Pharisees and Herodians form an unholy alliance against a common enemy.

"Teacher," they said, "we know you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren't swayed by men, because you pay no attention to who they are. ¹⁷Tell us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?" The approach is almost flawless. It begins with disingenuous flattery and then moves to a question that, depending upon the answer, is guaranteed to make one of the parties upset. It was one of those “gotcha” moments devised for the sole purpose of making an individual look bad.

Taxes were as much a reality back then as they are today. What made them particularly galling for many was the fact they were being used to support a foreign emperor they did not wish to be under or agree with. So it was a hot button issue. The questioners thought the plan was both ingenious and bulletproof and were probably pretty proud of their cleverness.

¹⁸But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, "You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me? Jesus saw right through them. The one thing they weren’t counting on was being called out. He could have stopped here and said the question did not deserve to be answered because of the motivation behind it, but He doesn’t. He goes on to answer it, and in the process lays down an important Biblical principle.

¹⁹Show me the coin used for paying the tax." They brought him a denarius, ²⁰and he asked them, "Whose portrait is this? And whose inscription?" ²¹"Caesar's," they replied.  Then he said to them, "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's."

Jesus calls for a visual aid. A denarius was a common silver Roman coin. On one side was the image of the Roman emperor, much like we have a past president on our coins. However, on the other side was a picture and an inscription essentially attributing to him god-like status. (You might remember that one of the early reasons for persecuting Christians was their refusal to recognize the Roman emperor as their supreme authority. As a result – and regardless of how they were model citizens otherwise – Christians were considered enemies of the state and, as such, worthy of capital punishment.)

What a clear, concise and disarming answer Jesus gave! On the one hand He was clearly saying: Pay your taxes. You are not honoring God by dishonoring the emperor through whom God provides for you the privileges of an orderly society, good roads, police protection, etc. Those who enjoy the benefits of Caesar should pay the taxes of Caesar.

And we are reminded of the blessings God gives us through government. As citizens of this world we are governed and provided for by other people. So we pray for our leaders and we do what we can to be responsible members of society. We exercise our right to vote, get involved in the political process to the degree that we can and take our civic duties seriously.

Do we agree with everything our leaders do and the way in which our taxes are sometimes used? No. In fact we are troubled by the fact that some of our tax money is used for purposes which are in direct violation of God’s Word. But in the end, those leaders will have to answer to God for that. Our role is to simply “give to Caesar what is Caesar’s.”

On the other hand, Jesus makes it clear that for the Christian there is a higher and more important authority. That, of course, is our God. And while the honor we owe to our government and our leaders is limited – the Bible tells us in other places that we do not owe them obedience if they ask us to do something opposed to God’s Word – the honor and debt we owe to our God is unlimited.

Let’s focus on that statement for the remaining time we have left. What did Jesus mean when He asks us to give “to God what is God’s?” In other words, what do we owe God?

Before we answer that, we need to remember what God owes us. And the answer is: nothing. He gives us everything, but He owes us nothing. In fact, if God gave us what we had coming and what we are properly owed, we’d all be going to hell forever. That’s not just some medieval scare tactic. We know the words of Paul written to the Romans: “The wages of sin (in other words, what is owed us because of our sin) is death.”

But that is not where we’re headed, thanks be to Jesus Christ. And we also know how the debt of our sin was paid. In the words of the beloved Lenten hymn:

Glory be to Jesus, who in bitter pains, poured for me the lifeblood from his sacred veins. Grace and life eternal in that blood I find; blest be his compassion, infinitely kind.

Nothing we have or do can equal what He has done for us. So what do we give to God? We give Him our undying gratitude, which shows itself in a number of different ways…

We give Him our love. Because He is worthy of having it returned to Him. “We love [Him], because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19).

We give Him our worship. Because He is worthy of our praise. “Oh for a thousand tongues to sing my great Redeemer’s praise” is our wistful desire.

We give Him our obedience. Because He is worthy of our discipleship. And he tells us that far from being burdened by his commands, “blessed are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”

We give Him our gifts. Because He is worthy of the first fruits of what we have. In fact, all we’re doing is returning a portion of what He first gave to us.

We give Him our time. Because He is worthy of spending time with. The minutes we spend with him in daily devotion and meditation on His Word are the most productive minutes of our day. And it makes every day, regardless of what transpires in the hours that follow, a better day.

We give Him our confidence. Because through the cross of Christ He has proven the genuineness of His care for us and is worthy of our trust. So even – and especially – in those times and circumstances we would not choose for ourselves we go forward confident in His promise that He will never leave us or forsake us.

In a word, we give Him our everything. Because He gives us everything. Fulfilled life on earth now; eternal life in heaven awaiting us.

Here is the bottom line: We exist in two kingdoms. And whereas life as citizens of earth will have its ups and downs and trials and disappointments, life as citizens of the spiritual kingdom where Christ rules in our hearts is strong and satisfying and steady.

God grant us grace and mercy as we understand – and practice – our dual citizenship. Amen.