Phil.3:17-21
* Matt. 22:15-22
I
question if we ever think clearly about how difficult a concept it was to
“render unto Caesar” in the place and at the time that we read about. How very
different is our society, in which the politicians must answer to the public at
least once every two, four and six years, respectively, and to the Rule of Law
(theoretically at least), from the life of the Jews under the power of the
empire of Rome. This empire had once been a republic, and it still had a
Senate. But, in the time of the Caesars it had become a totalitarian regime,
and by means of empire, a foreign power that had invaded, defeated and presumed
to rule. The fact is, whether or not taxes were paid voluntarily, they would
most certainly be taken by force.
The Pharisees knew that if the Lord
had answered that taxes were unlawful they could then see to it that this
information found its way to the governor, so that he could be put to death for
sedition. On the other hand, if he answered that taxes to Caesar were lawful,
they could use this to try to discredit him with the people, claiming that he
was on the side of their conquerors. No matter how much they tried to flatter
him as they built up to the question, the question was meant as a dagger. It
was intended to kill him or silence him; they imagined it presented a no win
situation.
The answer our Lord gave was not an
evasion, but rather authoritative teaching. He did not walk into their trap,
but presented the truth, and in so doing he confounded the expectations and
presumption of his enemies. Within a generation his Church would be persecuted
to the death by the empire, treated as a criminal organization from the time of
Nero until the edict of Milan , that is the edict
of Toleration by Constantine St. Paul
This important for us today, in our own
time, for many reasons. First of all, Christians are not to be “rebels without
a cause.” I think of a man who came home from the grocery store with his wife,
and discovered that their children had poured molasses on the cat. “I don’t
understand,” said their mother. “They have never poured molasses on the cat
before. Why would they even think of such a thing?” Her husband answered, “I
don’t understand it either. In fact, the very last thing I said to them, before
we went out was, ‘Don’t pour molasses on the cat.’” The truth is, for some of
us the idea of walking on the grass never comes to mind until a sign says,
“keep off the grass.”
Remember the lesson from the Book of
Acts, however, that only one reason exists to disobey proper authority. That
reason is because our consciences constrain us to obey God rather than men3
when we are faced with a conflict. This was the answer that St. Peter gave to
the High priest when he was asked why they had continued to preach the Gospel
of Jesus Christ after being ordered by the Sanhedrin not to do so. St. Peter’s
conscience told him that his first obedience was due to God, and that Christ’s
clear command to preach the Gospel was from the highest authority, the revealed
will of God against which no man had the authority to command silence.
Totalitarian regimes know nothing of
Christ’s teaching that constitutes the second part of this teaching that came
in his answer. “…and to God the things that are God’s.”
Often
people want to render unto Caesar the things that are God’s, and that includes
the conscience. We are taught by Saint
Paul
Now, the conscience of the Christian
is supposed to be informed by the word of God, and so it is the duty of every
Christian to learn the scriptures and to learn the meaning of the scriptures
from the Tradition of the Church. When the conscience finds itself pitted
against authority, it ought to be for a very clear and very real reason.
Totalitarian regimes want to take the place of God. Tyrants want to displace
the conscience.
In the last Century Christians were subjected
to more injustices than during the Roman persecution (and we see no sign that
things are getting any better). In the 20th century more Christians
died as martyrs than in all previous centuries of the Church combined. Hitler,
Mussolini, Stalin, Idi Amin, the Ayatollahs and Sheiks of radical Islam, all
wanted to be obeyed absolutely, to dominate the conscience of their subjects,
to be in the place of God. And, so it
remains in this century. The Christians who have been killed for their faith
knew something we need to know: We ought to obey God rather than men. When
Jesus gave this answer, it was to a hostile question. The question was meant as
a weapon, a clever no win scenario.
But, the answer teaches us the priorities
by which we order our lives as men under authority. Your first obedience is to
God. Your conscience was designed by the Creator to be the voice inside of you
where his Law is written, the inner voice that resonates with the Holy Spirit,
and with the word of God. Therefore, the Book of Exodus praises the midwives
who refused to murder the male children at Pharaoh’s command. The Bible praises
the faith of Rahab who hid the spies, and of Esther who entered the king’s
chamber unbidden to plead for the lives of her people. The same Bible condemns
the obedience that Doeg the Edomite rendered to Saul when he murdered the
priests at Nob as commanded by the mad king.
Too many people are careless in their
reading of scripture. When certain leaders of that other denomination over
there wanted to blame the Holy Spirit for their heretical and immoral
innovations, they decided to proclaim to the world that the Bible approved of
slavery. Then, they tried to say that nowadays we know better because
the Holy Spirit has corrected his former mistake that he made back then, and so
he must have grown in his understanding (they seem to have a very different
“Holy Spirit” than the One we know). I love to point out that Deuteronomy
23:15, 16 4 absolutely, and for all time, forbade slavery. The whole idea of
slavery is condemned and forbidden in those two verses. The New Testament,
specifically in the writings of St. Paul ,
addresses the reality of slavery in the pagan empire of Rome
The Bible requires obedience to the
voice of conscience, and it is the duty of the Christian to inform his
conscience not by the changing fashions and whims of culture, but by the word
of God. The Affirmation of St. Louis contains
this statement:
“The conscience, as the inherent
knowledge of right and wrong, cannot stand alone as a sovereign arbiter of
morals. Every Christian is obligated to form his conscience by the Divine Moral
Law and the Mind of Christ as revealed in Holy Scriptures, and by the teaching
and Tradition of the Church.”
Furthermore,
it is the duty of parents to teach their children these things, because popular
culture will teach a false version of morality that has no foundation, and that
changes with every breeze that blows. As it says in the Book of Deuteronomy: “And
these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou
shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou
sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest
down, and when thou risest up.”5 Now, if any Christian wants to disobey people
in authority, it must be for the sake of this higher principle of the
conscience as it has been formed by the word of God.
The direct subject of the answer,
“render unto God the things that are God’s” is part of a question that has to
do with money. To the Jews who heard this answer, the whole subject of tithing
would have come to mind, as well as commands to aid the poor. The way that some
churches have addressed the subject of contributing, in my experience, can make
the poor feel unwelcome. I want to be clear; people who are struggling to get
by, and who have no money to spare, are perfectly welcome here. This is the household
of God, the Body of Christ. Let me be clear about something else. Those who
object to the normal standard of the tithe, that is of ten percent, need to
realize that we really owe God one hundred percent. The poor widow received the
praise of our Lord Jesus Christ because she cast in more than all of the rich,
because her two mites were all that she had
We are stewards of all that we possess.
It all belongs to the Lord. I know that some people cannot give ten percent of
what they simply don’t have. Others can give more then ten percent. They can
give other things too, such as time and effort. The real question is this: are
you giving in a way that is sacrificial? Let me really meddle. Who needs three
hundred channels instead of the few you have time for? What is the real point
in much that we do with time, money and own energy? Is your giving sacrificial?
And, though we think of the word “sacrificial” as something that should hurt
and as a loss we should feel, let us turn that around. Let us think of it as an
offering, that is, as part of how we worship God by honoring him with our
substance. What we contribute should be given with joy; it should represent our
very selves as living sacrifices poured out on the altar of joy and service
with faith.
The opposite of this is the kind of
life that St. Paul
“Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall
not be unto thee. But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me,
Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be
of God, but those that be of men. Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any
man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow
me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his
life for my sake shall find it.”8
We can identify with Peter’s
incredulity, if we are honest. Who wants to bear the cross? In worldly eyes,
albeit religious eyes, success demands that we present a Christ who carries no
cross. This christ of theirs, their Jesus, makes no demands that we die to
ourselves in order to follow him. His own death makes no sense in their new
religion. But, we know why he can call us to lay down our lives to be his
disciples. “We love him because he first loved us.” 9 We can pour out all that
we have, and all that we are, with joy as living sacrifices to God, 10 only as
our life of worship and thanksgiving, and only by knowing what he did for us.
We were lost in trespasses and sins, subject to the twofold power of sin and
death, but for the kindness of God our Savior, even the Lord Jesus Christ who
“poured out his soul unto death;”11 “for the blood maketh atonement for the
soul.”12 I have said this many times, and I will repeat it many more times. You
need to come to the foot of the cross, and spend some time there, looking up at
your Lord; you need to “See from His head, His hands, His feet, Sorrow and love
flow mingled down!” as his blood makes atonement for your soul, as he gives up
his spirit to death for you. This is the great offering of love that you need
to behold, and you need to take it personally.
Only in the light of this love does it
make sense to talk of giving to God one hundred percent of your very self as
your life of worship and thanksgiving. Only in light of this love can we speak
of the everlasting joys won for us on the first Easter in the triumph of his
resurrection, when he overcame death and the grave and opened to you the way to
everlasting joy. We are speaking of the love that we have for God and for one
another as the fruit of gratitude that begins to grow within us as the love of
God is poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. It begins at the cross of
Christ.
- Romans
13:1-7
- I Peter
2:13-17
- Acts
5:27-29
- “Thou
shalt not deliver unto his master the servant which is escaped from his
master unto thee: He shall dwell with thee, even among you, in that place
which he shall choose in one of thy gates, where it liketh him best: thou
shalt not oppress him.” Simply put, to obey this commandment makes it
impossible to treat human beings as property
- Deut.
6:6, 7
- II Tim.
4:2-4
- Luke
14:27
- Matt.
16:16-25
- I John
4:19
- Isaiah
53:12
- Lev.17:11
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