To Each His Own
Sunday, October 16th, 2005
Pentecost + 22
Jerusalem Baptist Church, Emmerton VA
Matthew 22:15-22
What belongs to God and what belongs to … the world? At heart, that is the question in this passage.
We are again picking up right where we left off last week. As we’ve seen over the past few weeks, Jesus is in Jerusalem with his disciples during the Passover that preceded his crucifixion, and as we move through the week, we’ve seen the tensions escalate between Jesus and his followers and the religious and political leaders of the nation.
Over the years, I’ve heard many sermons preached on the text, and the single bit of information that stands out time after time is the mastery of Jesus’ response to a question that was intended to entrap him.
The tax in question was a ‘head tax’, what we would recognize as a poll tax – one which every male over the age of fourteen and every female over the age of twelve had to pay using the coin in question – a special silver denarius minted for just that purpose, until they were 65. The coin bore the likeness and name of the reigning Caesar, which in and of itself violated the law and conscience of the Jewish people against idolatry.
In fact, it was this very tax that caused a revolt in Palestine when Jesus was barely a toddler. The question was not a general interest, “just asking because we’re curious” kind of question. The feelings that generated the revolt three decades earlier, and which would play a significant part in prompting the revolt, uprising and war that would ultimately result in the destruction of Jerusalem a little more than three decades later were still very much present.
The Jews were under occupation by a foreign power. To make matters worse, the foreign power was polytheistic. In other words, the rulers and oppressors of the Jews, who were monotheistic – worshipped one God and did not allow for the existence of multiple gods – were reminded every day of their subjugation to a government that not only allowed for the existence of a single God, but in fact encouraged the worship of a multitude of gods, to the point that the very emperor of Rome was worshipped as a god himself. The issue at hand was this: to be a good Jew, you needed to find a way on some level to express your disagreement, your righteousness, as it were, in the face of that polytheism by either refusing to pay this tax using a coin that proclaimed Caesar to be a deity, or to do it under duress.
The rub comes into today’s scene with the presence of the ‘Herodians’, or followers of Herod the great and his descendants, into the crowd that is listening to the exchange. The Herods were dependent on the Romans for their position as Kings over the years, so they naturally supported the tax about which Jesus was asked. The trick of the question was that, if Jesus had answered that the tax should be paid, he would have failed the test of the Pharisees, who believed it to break Jewish law, and was a blatant and sometimes painful reminder of the subjugation they lived under.
If Jesus had answered that the taxes should not be paid, he might have gained a temporary measure of respect from his enemies, the Pharisees and Sadducees, but would have given the Herodians and the Romans ample reason to arrest, imprison, and torture and probably kill him immediately, since he would be advocating the stopping of paying taxes to Rome, which was considered treason, which was, of course, punishable by death.
So in responding the way he did, Jesus did again what he does best. He put things in perspective not only for those who were listening to him then, but to us hearing his words again for the umpteenth time here this morning.
His response could be read as almost dismissive. Imagine him shrugging and saying “If the coin belongs to Caesar, let him have it. So what? It’s only money.”
It’s the second part of his answer that I think bears dwelling on this morning. Give “to God the things that are God’s”.
If I were to ask the question “what belongs to God?” In this context, in the middle of a sermon during a worship service in a Baptist church in rural Virginia, I suspect that everyone answered that question immediately in their minds with a single word: ‘Everything’. It is the expected answer, the correct, the church answer to the question. The answer seems clear in our minds when we think about it here.
The issue becomes somewhat less than clear when we leave this place. It is not surprising. We are surrounded by a society that rates success and achievement in direct proportion to the acquiring of material possessions. Therefore you are a successful business if your business grows and gains more and more clients each year. Your church is a successful church if you grow bigger and bigger each year. YOU are a success if you get a new car every couple of years, and move through progressively larger houses throughout your life.
Being successful in the context of our society is no sin in and of itself. There’s nothing wrong with a business ‘booming’. There’s nothing wrong with a church gaining new members. There’s nothing wrong with being able to afford a new car every couple of years. Technology is improving day by day, and in order to be good stewards of the earth’s resources, we would probably do well to step up to more efficient transportation. What IS at risk is the possibility of that becoming the focus of our existence. That all we occupy our minds with is the mindless accumulation of wealth in order to meet the expectations of a society that is not exactly focused on the higher truths of existence. What TRULY makes us valuable? What do WE truly VALUE? What is, in fact, lasting? Is it our possessions, or is it our relationships with each other?
So what does that mean for Jerusalem Baptist Church at Emmerton?
Brandon Harcum and I are going through a series of studies for his Cub Scout badge focusing on God and Family. This morning’s lesson was talking about foundations, and brought out the foundational passage in Deuteronomy 6:4-5, for the people of Israel, the “Shema” – “Hear Oh Israel, the Lord your God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and might.” And the New Testament passage in Mark 12:29-31, where Jesus repeats the Shema, and then expands on it in two ways – by engaging our minds, and by equating the love of neighbor with the love of God.
We are, throughout our lives as we grow as Christians, learning what it means to follow Christ, what it means to be obedient, what it means to put our faith into action. Jesus is telling us in Matthew that all we have belongs to God, and we are giving BACK to God what belongs to God, not that we are giving God something that belongs to us FIRST. That is, our hearts, our minds, and as Paul calls them, our bodies as living sacrifices. God HAS given us that, and calls us to freely, willingly return them to God’s service. Jesus is telling us in his restatement of the Shema that the only way to live out the love for God that we have is through living out that love in our relationships here on earth, with each other. Not just those who are in this room now, but with everyone we come in contact. Jesus expands the definition of family to include the family of humanity. He did not qualify his definition of neighbor. The words of the hymn are exactly right: “We are called to be God’s people, showing by our lives his grace” not only his Grace in OUR OWN lives, but through us INTO the lives of everyone around us. We are simply and profoundly called to be Christ’s presence in the world today.
Let’s pray.
Sunday, October 16th, 2005
Pentecost + 22
Jerusalem Baptist Church, Emmerton VA
Matthew 22:15-22
15 Then the Pharisees went and plotted to entrap him in what he said. 16So they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, ‘Teacher, we know that you are sincere, and teach the way of God in accordance with truth, and show deference to no one; for you do not regard people with partiality. 17Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?’ 18But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, ‘Why are you putting me to the test, you hypocrites? 19Show me the coin used for the tax.’ And they brought him a denarius. 20Then he said to them, ‘Whose head is this, and whose title?’ 21They answered, ‘The emperor’s.’ Then he said to them, ‘Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.’ 22When they heard this, they were amazed; and they left him and went away.
What belongs to God and what belongs to … the world? At heart, that is the question in this passage.
We are again picking up right where we left off last week. As we’ve seen over the past few weeks, Jesus is in Jerusalem with his disciples during the Passover that preceded his crucifixion, and as we move through the week, we’ve seen the tensions escalate between Jesus and his followers and the religious and political leaders of the nation.
Over the years, I’ve heard many sermons preached on the text, and the single bit of information that stands out time after time is the mastery of Jesus’ response to a question that was intended to entrap him.
The tax in question was a ‘head tax’, what we would recognize as a poll tax – one which every male over the age of fourteen and every female over the age of twelve had to pay using the coin in question – a special silver denarius minted for just that purpose, until they were 65. The coin bore the likeness and name of the reigning Caesar, which in and of itself violated the law and conscience of the Jewish people against idolatry.
In fact, it was this very tax that caused a revolt in Palestine when Jesus was barely a toddler. The question was not a general interest, “just asking because we’re curious” kind of question. The feelings that generated the revolt three decades earlier, and which would play a significant part in prompting the revolt, uprising and war that would ultimately result in the destruction of Jerusalem a little more than three decades later were still very much present.
The Jews were under occupation by a foreign power. To make matters worse, the foreign power was polytheistic. In other words, the rulers and oppressors of the Jews, who were monotheistic – worshipped one God and did not allow for the existence of multiple gods – were reminded every day of their subjugation to a government that not only allowed for the existence of a single God, but in fact encouraged the worship of a multitude of gods, to the point that the very emperor of Rome was worshipped as a god himself. The issue at hand was this: to be a good Jew, you needed to find a way on some level to express your disagreement, your righteousness, as it were, in the face of that polytheism by either refusing to pay this tax using a coin that proclaimed Caesar to be a deity, or to do it under duress.
The rub comes into today’s scene with the presence of the ‘Herodians’, or followers of Herod the great and his descendants, into the crowd that is listening to the exchange. The Herods were dependent on the Romans for their position as Kings over the years, so they naturally supported the tax about which Jesus was asked. The trick of the question was that, if Jesus had answered that the tax should be paid, he would have failed the test of the Pharisees, who believed it to break Jewish law, and was a blatant and sometimes painful reminder of the subjugation they lived under.
If Jesus had answered that the taxes should not be paid, he might have gained a temporary measure of respect from his enemies, the Pharisees and Sadducees, but would have given the Herodians and the Romans ample reason to arrest, imprison, and torture and probably kill him immediately, since he would be advocating the stopping of paying taxes to Rome, which was considered treason, which was, of course, punishable by death.
So in responding the way he did, Jesus did again what he does best. He put things in perspective not only for those who were listening to him then, but to us hearing his words again for the umpteenth time here this morning.
His response could be read as almost dismissive. Imagine him shrugging and saying “If the coin belongs to Caesar, let him have it. So what? It’s only money.”
It’s the second part of his answer that I think bears dwelling on this morning. Give “to God the things that are God’s”.
If I were to ask the question “what belongs to God?” In this context, in the middle of a sermon during a worship service in a Baptist church in rural Virginia, I suspect that everyone answered that question immediately in their minds with a single word: ‘Everything’. It is the expected answer, the correct, the church answer to the question. The answer seems clear in our minds when we think about it here.
The issue becomes somewhat less than clear when we leave this place. It is not surprising. We are surrounded by a society that rates success and achievement in direct proportion to the acquiring of material possessions. Therefore you are a successful business if your business grows and gains more and more clients each year. Your church is a successful church if you grow bigger and bigger each year. YOU are a success if you get a new car every couple of years, and move through progressively larger houses throughout your life.
Being successful in the context of our society is no sin in and of itself. There’s nothing wrong with a business ‘booming’. There’s nothing wrong with a church gaining new members. There’s nothing wrong with being able to afford a new car every couple of years. Technology is improving day by day, and in order to be good stewards of the earth’s resources, we would probably do well to step up to more efficient transportation. What IS at risk is the possibility of that becoming the focus of our existence. That all we occupy our minds with is the mindless accumulation of wealth in order to meet the expectations of a society that is not exactly focused on the higher truths of existence. What TRULY makes us valuable? What do WE truly VALUE? What is, in fact, lasting? Is it our possessions, or is it our relationships with each other?
So what does that mean for Jerusalem Baptist Church at Emmerton?
Brandon Harcum and I are going through a series of studies for his Cub Scout badge focusing on God and Family. This morning’s lesson was talking about foundations, and brought out the foundational passage in Deuteronomy 6:4-5, for the people of Israel, the “Shema” – “Hear Oh Israel, the Lord your God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and might.” And the New Testament passage in Mark 12:29-31, where Jesus repeats the Shema, and then expands on it in two ways – by engaging our minds, and by equating the love of neighbor with the love of God.
We are, throughout our lives as we grow as Christians, learning what it means to follow Christ, what it means to be obedient, what it means to put our faith into action. Jesus is telling us in Matthew that all we have belongs to God, and we are giving BACK to God what belongs to God, not that we are giving God something that belongs to us FIRST. That is, our hearts, our minds, and as Paul calls them, our bodies as living sacrifices. God HAS given us that, and calls us to freely, willingly return them to God’s service. Jesus is telling us in his restatement of the Shema that the only way to live out the love for God that we have is through living out that love in our relationships here on earth, with each other. Not just those who are in this room now, but with everyone we come in contact. Jesus expands the definition of family to include the family of humanity. He did not qualify his definition of neighbor. The words of the hymn are exactly right: “We are called to be God’s people, showing by our lives his grace” not only his Grace in OUR OWN lives, but through us INTO the lives of everyone around us. We are simply and profoundly called to be Christ’s presence in the world today.
Let’s pray.
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