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Sermon for Sunday 19 October 2014

FIRST READING Isaiah 45:1–7

1 Thus says the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have grasped to subdue nations before him and strip kings of their robes, to open doors before him — and the gates shall not be closed: 2 I will go before you and level the mountains, I will break in pieces the doors of bronze and cut through the bars of iron, 3 I will give you the treasures of darkness and riches hidden in secret places, so that you may know that it is I, the LORD, the God of Israel, who call you by your name. 4 For the sake of my servant Jacob, and Israel my chosen, I call you by your name, I surname you, though you do not know me. 5 I am the LORD, and there is no other; besides me there is no god. I arm you, though you do not know me, 6 so that they may know, from the rising of the sun and from the west, that there is no one besides me; I am the LORD, and there is no other. 7 I form light and create darkness, I make weal and create woe; I the LORD do all these things.

 

PSALM Psalm 96:1–13

1 Sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all the earth. 2 Sing to the LORD, bless the name of the LORD; proclaim God’s salvation from day to day. 3 Declare God’s glory among the nations and God’s wonders among all peoples. 4 For great is the LORD and greatly to be praised, more to be feared than all gods. 5 As for all the gods of the nations, they are but idols; but you, O LORD, have made the heavens. 6 Majesty and magnificence are in your presence; power and splendor are in your sanctuary. 7 Ascribe to the LORD, you families of the peoples, ascribe to the LORD honor and power. 8 Ascribe to the LORD the honor due the holy name; bring offerings and enter the courts of the LORD. 9 Worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness; tremble before the LORD, all the earth.
10 Tell it out among the nations: “The LORD is king! The one who made the world so firm that it cannot be moved will judge the peoples with equity.” 11 Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; let the sea thunder and all that is in it; let the field be joyful and all that is therein. 12 Then shall all the trees of the wood shout for joy at your coming, O LORD, for you come to judge the earth. 13 You will judge the world with righteousness and the peoples with your truth.

SECOND READING 1 Thessalonians 1:1–10

1 Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace.
2 We always give thanks to God for all of you and mention you in our prayers, constantly 3 remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. 4 For we know, brothers and sisters beloved by God, that he has chosen you, 5 because our message of the gospel came to you not in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction; just as you know what kind of persons we proved to be among you for your sake. 6 And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for in spite of persecution you received the word with joy inspired by the Holy Spirit, 7 so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. 8 For the word of the Lord has sounded forth from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but in every place your faith in God has become known, so that we have no need to speak about it. 9 For the people of those regions report about us what kind of welcome we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols, to serve a living and true God, 10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead — Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath that is coming.
GOSPEL Matthew 22:15–22

15 Then the Pharisees went and plotted to entrap him in what he said. 16 So they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, “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. 17 Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?” 18 But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why are you putting me to the test, you hypocrites? 19 Show me the coin used for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius. 20 Then he said to them, “Whose head is this, and whose title?” 21 They answered, “The emperor’s.” Then he said to them, “Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” 22 When they heard this, they were amazed; and they left him and went away.

GIVE TO CESAR AND TO GOD
A young lady was soaking up the sun’s rays on one of our North Carolina beaches when a little boy in his swimming trunks, carrying a towel, came up to her and asked her, “Do you believe in God?” She was surprised by the question but she replied, “Why, yes, I do.” Then he asked her: “Do you go to church every Sunday?” Again, her answer was “Yes!” He then asked: “Do you read your Bible and pray every day?” Again she said, “Yes!” By now her curiosity was very much aroused. The little lad sighed with relief and then said, “Will you hold my quarter while I go swimming?”
The little boy was straightforward and honest in his questions, because he wanted to entrust to the lady something valuable. The Pharisees in our New Testament reading for today, were not being honest. They had no intent in entrusting Jesus with anything. They weren’t looking for the answer to a question. They don’t want someone to hold their quarter. All they were looking for was a way to get rid of this trouble making Nazarene named Jesus. The problem was they had allowed their own selfishness and emotions get the better of their judgment.
First they saw Jesus as a threat. For them, the thought of losing the power, authority and prestige they currently enjoyed was disturbing. Jesus threatened their very way of life and they wanted nothing to do with it. And because of their desire to remain in charge, their judgment was clouded. The very thought of yielding to this itinerant preacher made them angry, so angry that it blinded them. And what’s more amazing is the irony of the situation.
Think about the ironies here for a moment: We know, because we live on this side of the resurrection, that Jesus was God. They accused Him of being demonic, an agent of Satan. We know that Jesus is the King of kings. They thought He wanted to be the King of Israel. We know that He is the Son of God. They thought He was simply Joseph and Mary’s son. We know that Jesus has influenced the world for 2000 years. They thought His influence would end at the cross. All in all it’s a fascinating story.
Today we look at the Pharisees and we shake our heads. How could they have been so wrong when the truth was standing right in front of them? I believe they were upset not only because they perceived Him a threat to their way of life, but also because Jesus held them accountable and exposed their hypocrisy. “Teacher, we know that you are sincere and teach the way of God.” Not for a moment did they believe in Jesus’ sincerity. It was a set up. It was their way of trying to put Him at ease before they stabbed Him in the back. Tell us then, they continue, what do you think? Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor? In a way this scene, while sad on the part of the religious leaders, is also a bit funny.
The disciples of the Pharisees and the Herodians come to Jesus and try to entrap Him. This whole scene for me is rather humorous, not only because the religious leaders are trying match wits with God, which is humorous in and of itself, but that the two groups of people who generally can’t stand each other, come to Jesus, to ask a question. First, we’re told that the Pharisees went out of the temple and laid plans to trap Jesus in His words. This too is interesting in and of its self. They had to go out of the temple to conspire; they dare not do it in that holy place. This is no absence of malice; they have deliberately fashioned this tricky question. Next, they try using flattery to catch Jesus off guard. The whole scene reeks of hypocrisy, and yet they try it anyway.
Their goal was to trick Jesus into saying something that would either get Him in trouble with the Roman government or would alienate Him from the masses. To the religious leaders, their plan, seemed fool proof. If Jesus were to say you must pay taxes, then He would lose favor with the crowd. The Jewish people viewed the Roman government, as an oppressive and ungodly regime. The Jews believed that only a person of Jewish descent, ordained by God, could rule over them.
This view was backed by Mosaic Law found in Deuteronomy 17:15 which says; you are not permitted to put a foreigner over you, who is not of your own community”. In addition to the issue of a foreign ruler, the money needed to pay the poll tax, was also viewed as offensive. The only money the people could use to pay the tax had the inscription, Caesar the divine. This, of course, was distasteful since it violates the second Commandment forbidding engraved images. A devout Jew wouldn’t even carry or handle this money voluntarily. This is why Jesus had to ask for one of the coins to be brought to Him. And again here is another interesting and humorous twist in the story.
There standing on the Holiest ground in all of Israel, within the Temple walls, Jesus asks for the coin used to pay the tax and Jesus’ adversaries quickly produced a coin that bears a graven image, an idol. Makes you wonder where they suddenly got the coin? And now, with the coin in hand, they feel like the trap is set. If Jesus says yes to taxes, He loses favor with the people. On the other hand, if Jesus said no to taxes; He would remain popular with the people, but could then be charged with insurrection against the Roman government, a charge, punishable by death. Interestingly, this was one of the charges Jesus was accused of during His trial before Pilate.
The gospel of Luke records that the chief priests and scribes accused Jesus of teaching that the Jews were forbidden to pay taxes to Caesar. Even after Jesus silenced the Pharisees and Herodians by clearly stating, that we are to pay back to the government what is due to the government, they still used this as an excuse to have Him crucified. Maybe this helps to explain why Pilot insisted that he could find no fault with Jesus that deserved death.
Of course this is just one of the many reasons the religious leaders were upset with Jesus. Jesus had on a previous occasion, trapped them, into convicting themselves in the parable of the wicked tenants. Jesus simply told them a story from their own history. Yet in their own self-righteousness they failed to see, that they were the ones guilty of ignoring and killing many of God’s messengers. It was from their own desire for control that they wanted to supplant God’s commands with their own rules. Now they come to match wits with Jesus, which again demonstrates what Jesus was trying to teach, the problem was their desire to serve themselves rather than to serve God. I guess you could say that they were a text book example of how power can corrupt and how far people will go to keep it. Jesus, in this case, was simply trying to show them that their motivation was wrong.
Their motive was to eliminate anyone who they saw, as a threat to their teachings. Earlier in chapter 15 Jesus quoted the prophet Isaiah concerning their teachings; “This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching human precepts as doctrine”. But Jesus knew their hearts and their motives, and once again sends them away, amazed at His wisdom.
What’s interesting here, in this story, is that Jesus simply changed one word, and turned the whole thing around. They asked Him, is it lawful to “pay” the annual tax. Jesus’ answer was that we should “render” to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s. This may seem like a subtle difference but it carries tremendous meaning. To pay tax money, or tribute, to Rome was to honor Caesar as a legitimate ruler and a divine being in the eyes of the Jewish people. However, Jesus turns this around and tells them to repay what is owed. It had nothing to do with the status of Caesar; it has everything to do with recognizing that God is the one who establishes earthly authority, and we’re to respect, that authority.
Paul tells us in Romans 13; “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities; for there is no authority except from God, and those authorities that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists authority resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment”. (Romans 13:1-2) A little further in verse six Paul continues by saying; “For the same reason you also pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, busy with this very thing. Pay to all what is due them—taxes to whom taxes are due, revenue to whom revenue is due, respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due”. (Romans 13:6-7) Luther also used this passage in his argument that legitimate, and please underscore the word legitimate here, that legitimate civil ordinances are good creations of God.
Christ’s kingdom deals with the spiritual realm and the civil realm deals with the laws that govern proper behavior in this world. The gospel doesn’t introduce new laws into the civil realm; instead it commands us to obey the current laws and practice love, through this obedience. Legitimate civil laws place no real restraint on a Christian; as a matter of fact, if we indeed treated others with genuine love, then the law is unnecessary.
Out of love and respect for others we would act in a manner where there would be no need for lawsuits, litigation, courts, judges or penalties. Our actions would in no way harm others and from our resources we would reach out and help the needy. Unfortunately, not everyone fears nor honors God; therefore we need the temporal laws. Society needs laws that restrain the behavior of the ungodly. And because society needs laws, we also need enforcement. Therefore taxes must be assessed.
In our society we need law enforcement, the court system, fire and rescue personnel and social services. The first three are needed for our protection and safety; the social agencies are needed to care for those in society who are unable to help themselves. In Biblical times, the laws were written so that the needy had a way to take care of themselves. For example, Mosaic laws dictated that the fields would not be gleaned. Part of the crop was intentionally left so that the widows, orphans and the sojourners in the land could gather and sell it in order to support themselves. Additionally, the land belonged to God and was cared for by the families so they could care of each other. Under the Mosaic laws, there was little need for a social welfare system. Today, however, we view land ownership much differently.
Our attitude in this country is similar to that of the Roman government; we feel we own the land and the increase from the land. With the invention of mechanized harvesting, mega farms and large cities, there’s no way we can support the needy in our society under these Mosaic laws. Therefore a system was created in order to support those who would otherwise have no means of support. All this is accomplished through charities as well as through the assessment and collection of taxes. But it goes beyond our safety and help for the needy, it also has to do with our convenience.
We all like to travel on well-maintained roads. We want them sufficiently wide, with plenty of travel lanes at speeds that allow for the safe movement of traffic. None of us like delays from construction or gridlock, but we somehow seem to begrudge paying for it. What about national defense, treaties that enable us to sell American goods overseas, or agencies that regulate transportation? All these services are needed when kept under control, but it seems that we hate paying for them. But appropriate and well managed government services are a necessity. So when all things are considered, the need to “render” or pay back the government for the services they provided is obvious.
My grandfather used to tell me all the time, “there’s no such thing as a free lunch.” And he’s right. I like to expand that to say that nothing’s free. In one way or another we have to pay for everything. Even if it’s by the sweat of our brow, everything has a cost. So when it comes to the things we most often take for granted, like public services, we pay taxes to support the common good. While we might begrudge paying the taxes, we pay them anyway. It’s the law, and we’re commanded to obey the laws. The difference is our attitude.
The government dictates what we owe. The government’s attitude is that taxes are a bill or an obligation as a citizen. It has nothing to do with whether or not you’re willing to pay; it has to do with a debt we owe. It has to do with obeying the law or suffering the consequences. Moreover, it’s an Apostolic teaching in Christianity to pay our taxes. And speaking of obligations, another duty we’re commanded to do is to pray for our leaders. And if I might, let me suggest that come November 4th, it’s your duty is to vote.
We’ve all learned the value of our vote. But it’s a lesson we need to be taught again and again. Look at history: one vote caused Charles I to be executed. (1649). It was one vote that kept Aaron Burr – later charged with treason – from becoming President. (1800). One vote made Texas part of the United States. (1845) One vote saved President Andrew Johnson from impeachment. (1868) A single vote admitted California, Oregon, Washington, and Idaho into the Union. (1850, 1850, 1889, 1890) Just one vote elected Rutherford B. Hayes to the Presidency, and the man in the Electoral College who cast that vote was an Indiana Representative, who was also elected by one vote. (1876) One vote made Adolf Hitler head of the Nazi Party (1923) and one vote maintained the Selective Service System only 12 weeks before Pearl Harbor. (1941) One vote per precinct would have elected Richard Nixon, rather than John Kennedy, President. (1960)
We try to make excuses for not voting, but we need to remember, “I’m only one but I am one. I can’t do everything, but I can do something and what I can do, I ought to do and that by the grace of God I will do.” That should be the attitude of every Christian citizen. But what about the second half of Jesus’ statement; give back to God the things that are God’s?
As Christians we understand that everything belongs to God; we’re simply the stewards of His blessings. This is something every Jewish child learned from their youth. Psalm 24:1 tells us “The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it, the world and those who live in it”. God, unlike the government, doesn’t demand a tax, He wants our worship. Worship is a service that we render to God. It’s out of worship that our attitude of giving back to God the things that belong to Him comes from.
It isn’t some set amount that God demands; rather in our service to God, we joyfully worship and serve through our prayer, praise, time, talent and tithes. Jesus also recognized the need to support the operation of the temple. In Matthew 17:27, even though the temple tribute was voluntary, Jesus sent Peter fishing in order to pay His and Peter’s share of the temple operating expenses. Worship is something we do in response to God’s goodness.
It may not seem like much on the face of it, but the implications of Jesus’ response that day to the religious leaders has echoed through the centuries and has impacted western societies and the church. Jesus said, Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s.” While we pay taxes because it’s the law, as Christians, it’s out of obedience and the desire to serve that we joyfully return to God a portion of the blessings He has entrusted to us through our prayer, praise, time, talent and tithes.
AMEN

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