The Rev. Benjamin J. Newland
20 October 2002
Proper 21 Year A, 19th Sunday after Pentecost
Isaiah 45:1-7
Psalm 96:1-9
1 Thessalonians 1:1-10
Matthew 22:15-22
"Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." This story from Matthew’s gospel is quite famous, and for good reason. It is clever, easy to remember, and Jesus stumps the bad guys. However, it is not really meant to be practical advice or else we would all have to give our cash back to various dead presidents. Neither is this story about some abstract concept of the separation of church and state. The real question, in my mind, is not how to give Caesar what is Caesar’s, but how to give God what is God’s. It is not that difficult to equate Caesar to the modern day state and talk about what we, as Christians, owe our states, whether it’s paying taxes or obeying laws. God, however, is just as mysterious today as God was back in Jesus’ time. So what, then, are we supposed to be giving to God? What is God’s that we might give to God? And how are we supposed to give it? Caesar is easy, he’ll take form 1040 by mail, but God is not so simple to pay.
Before we figure out how and what to give to God, let’s look at this story a little closer. Basically, this is round three of a fight between the Pharisees and Jesus as told by Matthew. The Pharisees have already decided to have Jesus killed, so the only thing being decided by how he answers the question is for what they will kill him. This is why they bring along some Herodians. You remember Herod, a rather unpleasant ruler who tried to have Jesus killed by executing all the male children under three years old. There weren’t any actual Herodians around during the time this story takes place, nor when Matthew wrote it. Their job in the story is to represent those who are Pro-Rome and want everyone to pay their taxes. And so we have Pharisees and Herodians. The Herodians were for paying the tax and would have Jesus killed for treason if he said not to pay it. The Pharisees disliked the tax and would have Jesus killed for blasphemy if he said to pay it. While the Pharisees were against the tax, they would never go so far as to refuse to pay it themselves. They opposed the tax because the only coins you could pay it with were Roman coins, most of which featured a picture and inscription that was blasphemous.
A little historical background on the tax being discussed: it is not just tax in general, but a very specific census tax imposed in 6 CE by Rome when it conquered Judah. It was essentially a head tax, meaning you paid it just for living in the Roman Empire, which of course you didn’t have much choice about. It turns out that this tax caused all kinds of trouble for Rome and the Jews, as it started some resentment that eventually became the Zealot movement and culminated in the disastrous war of 66-70 CE and the final desruction of the Temple. Matthew, of course, knew all this from where he was writing, but Jesus, in the story, wouldn’t have.
Jesus responds to the Pharisees challenge by getting kinda uppity with everyone, asking them why they are “putting me to the test?” This is exactly the same turn of Greek phrase Jesus uses on Satan when being tempted in the wilderness, implying that the Pharisees are representing Satan in this story. His next move is great, because he asks the Pharisees for a coin and they produce one! Keep in mind that this is all taking place in the holy Temple precinct, where it is blasphemous to be carrying such already-blasphemous coinage. Jesus hasn’t got any, but the Pharisees do. And they are the ones trying to get Jesus on charges of blasphemy. Ironic, eh?
The line is classic, of course, “Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” Like I said before, it’s not the giving to the emperor part that I wonder about. I willingly if not happily pay my taxes and I follow the laws of the land at all times except when driving. I think I’ve got Caesar covered. But what about God? It sounds wonderfully pious to say that we should give to God the things that are God’s, but what does that mean? What things are God’s? Everything? How do I give God everything? Where do I mail my check?
There are many answers to this question, but here’s my answer for now: Jesus says to give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s after pointing out the image of Caesar on the coin. This is partly to embarrass the Pharisees, but I wonder if he wasn’t making a deeper point about the image thing. There is a rather famous part of the Bible, right towards the beginning in fact, where we are told that we are made in the image of God. That makes us the coin of God. You give Caesar the coin because his image is stamped on it. You give God yourself because God’s image is stamped on you.
You give God yourself by doing things God would have you do, saying things God would have you say, and being the person God would have you be. We are grimy coins for much of our lives I’m afraid. We start out shiny and clean like a new penny, but can become tarnished and dirty like an old penny, until its hard to see God’s image stamped on us at all. But tarnished pennies can be cleaned, and all you need to do in order to give to God the things that are God’s is to live your life as a tribute to God, as best you can.
What is it they say? The only things certain in this life are death and taxes? We will all face death eventually, and we will all face taxes in April. You can pay your tax to God at any time, because the coin is you.