“Everything Belongs to God”
Matthew 22:15-22
Rev. Désirée H. Gold
St. Mark’s United Church of Christ, Baltimore, MD
Sunday, 19 October, 2008
Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time
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 According to the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” This statement has evolved in the American psyche as “separation of church and state,” and we have tended to interpret the concept to fit our own ends. If we believe that the government is infringing on our religious rights, by gosh, we’ll say something about it! (For example, the pastor from Minnesota who recently endorsed a presidential candidate, in defiance of IRS rules for tax exempt churches.) If we feel that the government is trying to violate the anti-establishment cause, then by golly, we’ll speak up! (For example, the many recent court cases protesting the display of the Ten Commandments and other religious memorabilia on public property.)
I believe in the separation of church and state, in part because of the tragedies that have occurred when government and religion have tried to mix too closely. Whether the Church gains too much political power -- the Crusades of the Middle Ages are an example -- or whether the state takes over the Church -- in Soviet Russia, for example, when churches were destroyed and atheism became the state “religion” -- government tends not to mix well with religion.
At first glance, Jesus seems to be espousing a similar philosophy of church vs. state. “Give to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” A clear separation of church and state, right? ...Well, not exactly. The Pharisees and Herodians asked him a trick question and, as usual, Jesus responded with a trick answer.
The Pharisees and Herodians were trying to catch Jesus in a bind, you see. How should he answer their question about paying taxes? If he said, “No, we shouldn’t pay taxes to the emperor” the Pharisees could report him to the Roman authorities. But if he said, “Yes, we should pay taxes” they could accuse him of selling out. Jesus was, after all, revered as the Son of David and some believed he would usher in a new earthly realm, greater even than that of King David. If Jesus was going to be the new king, how could he insist on paying taxes to the current emperor, his perceived rival? But, of course, Roman authorities wouldn’t like the idea of someone trying to usurp the power of the Roman emperor, the caesar. So, trick question.
Our crafty Jesus was used to trick questions, and he was also perfectly capable of providing trick answers. “Give to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s” does not simply mean “pay the IRS and put money in the offering plate too.” When Jesus asked to see the kind of coin used to pay the emperor he was pointing out that the denarius had a picture of the emperor on it. Jewish law prohibits the use of any graven image, so Jewish coins did not have pictures on them. Jesus was basically saying that the Roman coins were worth nothing. In other words, everything belongs to God.
Jesus is saying that God should take precedence over everything else. But is this how we live and act? Despite the First Amendment, church and state tend to get mixed together a fair bit in this country, and we certainly don’t always put God first. Scholar Stanley Hauerwas comments that the Pharisees and Herodians were shocked at Jesus’ answer, but we modern Christians don’t express much amazement at this idea that Jesus has come to usher in God’s reign. We don’t express much amazement about God at all, in fact. Brent Laytham and Michele Clifton-Soderstrom point out that, “We use a passage like today’s to justify living in a kingdom that divides faith and citizenship, and rendering unto each whatever ‘due’ we decide fits at the moment.” According to them “this is a losing proposition.”1
We get caught up with politics and with world leaders and with “the economy” and with a million other things. We get angry about these things, excited about these things, overwhelmed by these things...but we separate our strong feelings about them from our church life. Church is a place we go on Sunday morning, where we hear some prayers and eat some snacks and put in the offering plate what’s left over after gas money and taxes and the cable bill. Church is church, politics is politics, and never the twain shall meet.
Jesus tells us that we’re wrong to make such distinctions. Everything is about God. ...I will repeat that I believe in the separation of church and state, and it is not that sort of separation that Jesus is refuting here. Government has no place in religion, and the Church has no place in government. They are two separate entities. But they are not equal. For those of us who follow Christ, God should be central to everything we do. If we are involved in politics, we should be involved because we believe in God. When we go to the polls on November 4, we should vote for a presidential candidate only after praying about it. We should vote on the Maryland slots initiative based on where we believe Christ would stand on the issue.
Then there’s the economy. In recent weeks I have heard several churches talk about giving their parishioners “a break” from the special offering this month or even from Our Church’s Wider Mission (OCWM), the main fund that supports UCC ministries. People are worried about finances -- why should we pester them with talk of stewardship?! Now, what do you think Jesus’ response would be to that? Certainly, Jesus cares for the hungry and destitute, and if it is literally a matter between providing food for your children today and putting money in the offering plate, choosing to feed your children is a righteous decision. But remember, in today’s scripture Jesus indicates that everything belongs to God. That means that a time of economic crisis is just as good as any for talking about stewardship. This is, in fact, precisely the time to talk about stewardship, because a lot of the money we put in the offering plate supports those who are less fortunate than we are. Our gifts to Neighbors in Need and the money St. Mark’s sends to OCWM will serve people who are worse off than we may ever be.
Everything that we have belongs to God. Pay your bills, yes. Buy groceries and necessities. Pay your taxes (some of that money helps the less fortunate too). We do have to live in this modern world. But do not toss a few coins in the offering plate as an afterthought. If we are to follow the teachings of Jesus, our offerings to God will come first, and our involvement in the world will be based upon our belief in the truth of the Gospel. Faith is time-consuming, it is expensive, it can be exhausting...and isn’t it worth it?
Now let us pray.
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1 Laytham, Brent and Michele Clifton-Soderstrom, “Render Unto God,” Blogging Toward Sunday, 10.13.08. Theolog: The Blog of the Christian Century, http://www.theolog.org/, accessed on 18 October, 2008.
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