Matthew 22:15-22
Then the Pharisees went and plotted to entrap him in what he said. So 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. Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?” But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why are you putting me to the test, you hypocrites? Show me the coin used for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius. Then he said to them, “Whose head is this, and whose title?” They 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.” When they heard this, they were amazed; and they left him and went away.
One of the most dreaded social situations for me as teenager was when I first started going to school dances. It was a painful and awkward moment. I just didn’t have any moves. Couldn’t find my rhythm. Knowing where to stand. Where to put my feet. How to move first this way, then that. I would have preferred walking around with gum on my nose to getting dragged out on the dance floor. Then one day I was at some sort of conference where they taught us to dance the “Cotton Eyed Joe,” and the “Texas Two Step.” Not only that, but they taught us the “Foxtrot” and the “Waltz.” Suddenly what had usually been awkward and painful social moments became tolerable and even enjoyable. Once you learn the steps, you can kind of lose yourself in the music with a sense of freedom. Today as we look to the gospel, I want to share with you some steps to deal with what for many adults is an awkward situation: politics.
In Matthew today we see that Jesus is standing in the middle of what for many would be very awkward social situation. There he is in the middle of a crowd, put on the spot, with all eyes on him, as the Pharisees and Herodians start to butter him up: “Hey Jesus, we know that you are an awesome teacher. Really. Your teachings line up right with God’s. And we should know. Besides all that, oh Jesus old buddy of mine, you don’t shine people on or use smoke and mirrors. Not you. You just lay it on the line. We are impressed. Really.”
Now here comes the question: “Is it lawful for us to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?”
Well, if there is anything you don’t talk about in polite company, it is politics.
How often have you opened your mouth or shown your hand in some political matter only to wished you hadn’t? I’d guess more than once. It’s just not something we’re normally very good at. But let’s take a look at Jesus and see how he handles the situation. What steps does he take?
Step One: Don’t take the bait.
The first thing we see Jesus do is take a step back. He refuses to take the bait. He sees it as a no-win argument. He sees that he is being set-up. He looks at his questioners and sees both Pharisees and Herodians. You talk about an odd couple! It would be like seeing Rush Limbaugh walking up with Rev. Al Sharpton. Or Sean Hannity walking up with Rachel Maddow. Or Eric Cantor walking up with Nancy Pelosi. You just didn’t see Pharisees and Herodians linking up. You think things are polarized and partisan in our country?
It was just as bad if not worse in Jesus’s day. The Pharisees and Herodians came from opposite ends of the political spectrum. They had competing and opposite goals. The Herodians were a political party in Jesus’s day that like things just the way they were. The Romans ruled the roost in Palestine through the local king Herod. And they were just fine with it. They supported the paying of taxes. To them, it’s what every subject of Rome should do. But the Pharisees were against the tax. To them it represented the unacceptable colonization of a foreign power God’s land and people. Pharisees and Herodians were bitter political enemies. But if there was a chance to take Jesus down, they could work together.
Jesus sees them coming from a mile a way. And refuses to take the bait. They present him with an either/or choice. As if you could boil life down into a series of two alternatives.
That is the exact same sort of thing we see playing out in our country every day. Either you are a Republican or a Democrat. Either you are Conservative or Liberal. Either you believe in global warming or you don’t. Either you are for the war or you are against it. Either this or that . . . and on and on it goes. You turn on your TV and watch a little of the news on MSNBC and you will get one perspective, one view, of how things are how things should be. Then you turn to FOX news and you get another view and perspective on how things are and should be. And they are polar opposites. And do you know why they are polar opposites: because by expressing news and events in such sharp terms creates tension and conflict. Tension and conflict gets attention. It drives ratings. Ratings mean viewers. Viewers mean advertising. And advertising means money. Don't you sometimes get the feeling that we are being played by the world around us. We are being baited, set-up, and exploited. That is just what the Pharisees and Herodians are doing to Jesus today. They are trying to set him up. But he doesn’t take the bait.
Step 2: Keep your perspective.
After Jesus declines to take the bait, he asks them for a coin that they would use to pay the tax. They pull out a denarius. Jesus asks them “Whose image is on it? And whose title is it?’ They said “the emperor’s.”
Jesus brings a certain focus to the debate. In having them name the emperor on the coin and his title, he reminds them of the emperor’s, Tiberius Caesar, claim to divine status. In fact, it is during the lifetime of Jesus that the Roman Caesars began to elevated to more than human. They became gods. The title, the inscription on the coin read “Tiberius Caesar. Son of the Divine.” Calling him son of the divine (god), the coins was proclaiming him as god. In the Roman Empire people tended to combine their religious views with their political views. Rome itself was considered eternal. The emperors were divine leaders. In fact, there were many temples set up around the Roman empire for the worship of the emperors. People were expected to go and make an offering to the emperor and kneel in worship to the emperor.
Many Christians lost their lives in the Roman Coliseum to gladiators and wild animals because they would not bow to Ceasar and his divine claims.
But it is not just in ancient Rome that people mixed and confused their religion and politics. In our country, which some have called the New Rome, we have sometimes combined our views on religion and politics. Many of you will remember that the first Pilgrims moved here from England to establish “a city on a hill” to be a beacon of hope and promise to the world. Over time this idea that the United States of America has some divine calling to be an example grew into the belief that we, as Americans, are the chosen people.
In his novel White Jacket, Herman Melville wrote this:
“We Americans are the peculiar, chosen people—the Israel of our time; we bear the ark of the liberties of the world. . . . God has predestined, mankind expects, great things from our race. . . .Long enough have we been skeptics with regard to ourselves, and doubted whether, indeed, the political Messiah has come. But he has come in us, . . . “
“The political Messiah has come in us,” wrote Melville. Somehow the notion that America is the world’s savior crept into the thinking and works of our greatest thinkers and writers. Somehow the notion that there is something holy about our nation, something divine, has become part of the country we live in. Some have the sense that our leaders are somehow above everyone else. Some have the belief that our presidents are super human. Some have the belief that our halls of government are anointed with the blessing of the Holy Spirit.
If you don’t believe it just hop in your car and drive the 10 hours to our nation’s capital. It’s pretty much a straight shot from Indy to DC on I-70. You walk into the Capital Building and you will know what I mean. I don’t mean to say that our senators and representatives have a god-complex (well, maybe). But what you and I need to do is see how we elevate leaders to god-like status. When you walk into the Capital Building and get into the Rotunda look straight up. Do you know what you will see? You will see a painting on the inside of the dome of George Washington. But it is not any old ordinary painting or Washington. It is called the “apotheosis of George Washington,” or the “divinization of George Washington.” It is a painting of our great leader coming to us on the clouds of glory. But instead of the great leader being Jesus Christ, it is GEORGE WASHINGTON. You can even buy Christmas tree ornaments, pens, decorative plates celebrating the apotheosis (divinization) of George Washington.Let me say it out loud, my people. George Washington is not god, a god, or sort of god-like. He did not create the world and all that exists. And He did not die on the cross to save you from your sins. He is not coming on the clouds of glory.
Keep your perspective. There is only one God. There is only one savior.
Step three: Know who you are. And whose you are.
Once the Pharisees and Herodians produce the coin and Jesus asks them whose image and whose title it is, he tells them “Give to the emperor (Caesar) what belongs to the emperor. And give to God what belongs to God.”
There are things that belong to governing authorities. In so far as you are a citizen, pay your dues. And there is that which belongs to God. And what, may we ask, belongs to God? Well, the short answer is everything. The Bible says that
“The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it” Psalm 24:1
Speaking generally, it all belongs to God. Speaking specifically . . . you belong to God. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20
"You are not your own; you were bought at a price."
Jesus Christ bought and paid for you with his own life, redeemed you from the grave and formed you in his image. As Paul says in his second letter to the Corinthians:
"And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed
into his image with ever-increasing glory," (2 Corinthians 3:18)
As we gather ourselves day after day and week after week, remember that as great as it is to be American, what is most true about you is not found in the US Constitution or anywhere else in Washington DC. The truth about you is not your passport, naturalization papers, or birth certificate. The truth about you is revealed in the face of Jesus Christ. You are more than an American. You are a child of God. A brother or a sister of the ruler of the universe. You are a bosom buddy to the friend of sinners.
As you and I are transformed from one degree of glory to another into the image of the One who has called you by name, as our steps conform to those of Jesus Christ in a partisan and political world, you will discover a tremendous freedom. You will move with confidence and ease no matter what tune is getting played. And you will dance into the kingdom in the everlasting arms of the One who calls you “beloved.”
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