Sermon preached by The Rev. Fredrick A. Robinson
The Church of the Redeemer
23rd Sunday after Pentecost
Have you been watching the Presidential Debates between John McCain and Barack Obama? It’s an interesting process—the election of a President of the United States. We’re only a few weeks away from Election Day and the candidates are scrambling to get whoever is still uncommitted committed. It can be a pretty ugly spectacle, until you consider that whenever we have a change of administrations it is normally done peacefully, with no bloodshed. It is a system that shows the fallenness of humanity, to be sure, but in the end it works pretty well.
Back to the debates. There were some fairly heavy topics the candidates had to deal with. The economy was a huge one, as was the war in Iraq. International relations in general, health care, and the environment were also of great concern. Every question the moderator asked was calculated to try to get the candidate to choose a side that would alienate him from a segment of American society. The questions were clever, so that the candidates could trip no matter how they answered. It’s rather like the old question, “Have you stopped beating your wife yet?”
Every answer, correspondingly, was calculated to be as broad as possible, so as not to alienate anyone. It’s an interesting dance between questioner and questionee. McCain and Obama knew that one little mistake could cost them a goodly number of votes, and perhaps even the election.
Today’s Gospel is a situation in which Jesus is being put in a similar position. The religious leaders don’t like Jesus. He has been repeatedly critical of them. He chooses to keep the company of sinners while rejecting them. His popularity among the Jewish people is increasing. They see him as a threat and they are plotting among themselves how best to neutralize his popularity and influence, and if possible, they would like to get him in trouble with the Roman authorities.
So they ask him a question, calculated to evoke an answer that would be a problem for Jesus, no matter how he answered, not unlike, “Have you stopped beating your wife yet?”
The question: “Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” If he answers, “Yes, it is lawful,” he will anger many of his Jewish followers, for they hate paying taxes to Caesar. If he says, “No, it is not lawful,” then the Herodians and their sympathizers, who like the benefit of Roman rule, will be turned against him. Besides, he could then be turned over to the Roman authorities as a troublemaker.
So Jesus “turns the tables” on them. He asks for a coin, and they give him one. In doing just that, they are entrapping themselves, for in possessing a Roman coin, which was the property of the Roman government, they could hardly object to giving some of it back. Then he gives his answer: “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God, the things that are God’s.”
So Jesus answers the question not by a simple yes or no, but in such a way that they have to come up with the answer themselves. He has paid due respect to Caesar, but no more than necessary, and he has kept the faith with Judaism as well. Why is his answer so satisfying to Jewish teaching, while at the same time not really an answer at all? Because everything ultimately belongs to God, even taxes paid to Caesar. The religious leaders knew that. In fact, every good Jew knew that, and springing from that tradition, we know that, too.
At the 7:30 mass every Sunday, when we offer the gifts of bread and wine, and of the money that has been collected, we say, “All things come of Thee, O Lord, and of thine own have we given Thee.” Likewise, at most of our 9 and 11 o’clock masses on Sunday we sing, “Praise God from whom all blessings flow,” basically stating the same theology.
We remember the exchange of Jesus between him and his detractors and we still marvel at his clever answer. But we should not stop there. We need to take to heart the basic truth which that answer recalls, especially in this difficult financial situation. We need to remember that all that we have and all that we are comes from God, and that all that we have belongs to him and we belong to him. We need to remember that he continues to sustain us and that he will provide for us.
That’s why it is important that in difficult times especially we remain faithful in giving back to God his due. We continue to be faithful in prayer and in reading the Holy Scriptures. We continue to be faithful in attending mass. And we continue to share our time, our talent, and our treasure to help those who are in need and for the other work of the Church.
“Give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God, the things that are God’s.”