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Lesson: Exodus 33:12-23
Psalm 99
Epistle: 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10
Holy Gospel: Matthew 22:15-22
The Rev. Ray Gotko
In the Name of God: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
“Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?” What do you think? Just to peak our imagination, let us create an unlikely scenario. If we were Iraqi citizens in Baghdad today, how would we react if, to offset U.S. monetary losses in Iraq, we were required to pay a tax of a day’s wage to the U.S. army in U.S. dollars? I suspect we would not jump for joy and rush to the U.S. Army tax collector.
Now imagine that in Baghdad we had a political rival whom we wished to discredit. Would not a question of, “Is it ok to pay taxes to the U.S. Army or not?” be effective? A “yes” answer is not acceptable to our Iraqi neighbors and a “no” answer would land us in hot water with the U.S. Army. Such was the question put to Jesus: “Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?”
It was not an invitation to a debate. It was politics, as usual. If you want to put your opponent in a bind, ask a dilemma question like, “When did you stop receiving bribes from lobbyists?”
Jesus’ response to his dilemma question was, “Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” Jesus was, in reality, presenting his opponents with a question – What belongs to God? And what belongs to the state? The implication is that when they have that sorted out they will have their answer. There is probably not enough time to sort the question out this morning, but we can offer a beginning for a conversation over coffee.
Each Sunday, almost every Sunday, we say, “We believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of all things, seen and unseen.” God is Creator, the only Creator. Does a creator own his or her creation? Yes. May the creator do as he or she wishes with the creation? Yes. What has God chosen to do with God’s creation? Among other things, God has chosen to set we humans in the garden – in creation – to keep and tend it, so it is written. Thus, if we accept that assessment of humanity in Genesis, we do not own creation. We are the stewards of creation – servants, God’s stewards.
There are two consistent metaphors for the relationship of humanity to God in the Bible. One is that of a king to subjects; the other is that of a landowner to tenants – subject: king:: humanity: God and tenant” Landowner:: humanity: God. In neither case does humanity have the rights of ownership. What humanity does have in either metaphor are obligations – obligations to God as either King or landowner. We are obligated to tend to our assigned tasks, and as productive citizens of the Kingdom, or productive tenants of the land.
Assuming that we are productive, the widely accepted arrangement of king to subjects or tenants to landowners is that the subject, or tenant, is morally obliged to return a portion of their produce to the owner, be he or she monarch or owner. It is a moral obligation to return the proper share due to the owner or king.
That should start a conversation – or maybe not.
“Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s. Amen
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