October 18, 2020

Helen Jacobi

Ordinary 29     1 Thessalonians 1:1-10     Matthew 22:15-22

Video available on YouTube, Facebook

I do love it when the lectionary gives us the perfect reading – the day after our election we are reading about taxes and government!

The verse “give to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s and to God the things that are God’s” is sometimes quoted in political discussions. People usually quote it meaning we should keep politics and religion separate.

The political leaders of Jesus’ day think they have caught him out. “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?”

You have to hear the smarmy tone as they sidle up to him.

Matthew notes that it is the Pharisees and the Herodians who ask the questions – normally two groups who would vie with each other for power but now they are united in their desire to trap Jesus.

And it might seem like an innocent enough question – but let’s remember the setting. Israel is occupied by the Romans, they are an armed occupying force. Everyone had to pay taxes to the occupiers. 

So to say yes to this question (yes it is lawful to pay taxes to the emperor) meant Jesus was supporting the occupier, the oppressor of the Jews. But to say no – we should not pay taxes, would be to invite sedition and the wrath of the Roman soldiers.

Then there is another layer of meaning here – on the Roman coins was the head of the emperor – just like the Queen is on our coins – 

but the Roman emperor was seen as a god, and was worshipped, and the inscription on the coins, said the divine emperor.

The coins were seen as a symbol of Roman power and religion and the most strict Jewish faithful believed you should not ever even use the coins because that meant you were acceding to the Roman emperor being divine. And the Romans in fact let the Jewish people have different coins to use for transactions in the Temple because of this problem.

So a simple question about taxes was also a question about the divinity of the emperor and what the people should do when confronted daily (via the coins) with the divinity of this emperor who had invaded their country.

Many like King Herod and the Herodians mentioned in this passage were the accommodating ones who found a way to live and let live; 

others like the Pharisees and other more radical groups were hardline in their opposition.

So which way was Jesus going to jump? Jesus says – bring me a coin – whose image is this – and whose title? – the emperor’s they reply – well then – give to the emperor what is his. 

And then we imagine - Jesus turns to one of the people standing by him and says – whose image is this? Whose image is this person created in? God’s they reply – then give to God, the things that are God’s. And the people are stunned. 

Jesus has sidestepped the question of tax and turned it into a question of who we are created to be.

Humanity is created in the image of God, and not one of us resembles another, how vast then our understanding of God can become.

As vast as the number of people and cultures who walk the earth.

And yet in all that diversity each of us still are called to give to God the things that are God’s. And Jesus is not half hearted when he makes that declaration He demands that we look at ourselves and remember we are each made in the image of God. We cannot split ourselves – well today I am Caesar’s out in the world but tomorrow in the Temple I will be God’s.

Do we sometimes feel split – our life of faith on the one hand and the rest of our life on the other? Do we feel trapped like Jesus?

Do we feel trapped or at least unsure how to express or live our faith outside of the church walls? Do we feel trapped by the stereotype of what a Christian is thought to be? 

When Judith Collins prays in a church everyone is immediately asking – what does this mean? and is she targeting the conservative vote? No one ever asks – is she targeting the progressive vote?

And do we feel trapped too when our own church fails us on progressing same sex marriage; or makes unhelpful statements on the end of life choice bill; or when we hear of the years of abuse that went on at Dilworth School – and our hearts break for the victims. We feel dismayed, disappointed, let down.

So let’s do what Jesus did when he was trapped – not accept the premise of the question and step into a new space. Step into a space where everything we do and say belongs to God.

Our income, our taxes, our energy, our love.

Let’s not be Herodians and live with an acceptance of the way things are. And let’s not be Pharisees, rejecting the world altogether.

We can be followers of Jesus, challenging ourselves every time we come to worship, to go out these doors and embrace everyone as precious people made in the image of God.

As our new government gets set to spend our taxes, we can get involved, get political and roll up our sleeves for service. 

There is a lot to be done.

God’s world needs us.

Our whole selves, bearing God’s image in our hearts and in our minds, and on our faces.