Sermons at St. John's Presbyterian Church

Sometimes a Question Requires an Evasive Answer

Transcribed from the sermon preached October 16, 2011

The Reverend Max Lynn, Pastor

Scripture Readings: Exodus 33:12-23, Matthew 22:15-22

I have a little connection I need to make clear before I get into my sermon.  A couple of weeks ago a beautiful Latina woman came up to help with communion and stood off to my right.  I like folks to stand close to show that by God’s grace in Christ we are no longer far off, but gather close together in communion with God and each other.  So I waved her over and when she got close enough I put my arm around her waist and drew her close.  No big deal, but it was what Barbara Taylor called a snuggle.  Anyway, it came to my attention that not everyone knew that the woman is my wife of twenty years.  Her name is Feliciana.  I love her very much and ask her to stand and take a bow.

Now that that is out of the way, let’s get on with tough questions, and in particular, whether it is good to pay taxes to Caesar.  The US military and corporate dominance in many countries may have some parallels to Roman presence in First Century Palestine. However, as with citizens of Rome, life for most US citizens living in the US is quite different in perspective from the life of a person in an occupied country.  So to help with our understanding I make up a scenario, which is similar to real circumstances in first century, occupied Israel, many citizens of Europe during WWII, and perhaps from their perspective, persons in occupied countries today.

Imagine that the Third Reich had won WWII and Hitler was supreme dictator of the world. Now first century promoted pluralism and the Nazis didn’t, but I use them so we understand the brutality and the cognitive dissonance between the imperial power and the occupied.  Suppose the Nazi army occupied the bases in Oakland and San Francicsco, and the SS kept an eye on things, eliminating any threatening criticism or thought of revolt.  And to maintain the empire there was a tax for our countries government and a big tax demanded by the Nazis.

People gather at People’s Park which is renamed Hitler square.  There is talk and debate but the SS look on from a barrack tower, and have informants and collaborators in the crowd.  There are people in our own government and business community who prosper with Nazi favor.   Many Churches fly the Nazi flag and swear allegiance to Hitler.  And following the lead of Tiberius Caesar , the currency has a picture of Hitler with the inscription, “Supreme Ruler and Son of God.”

Now there are Churches who refuse to fly the Nazi flag or swear allegiance to Hitler and get away with it, but just barely.  They are in constant danger of being taken into custody and accused of terrorist plots.  And there are some who do in fact plot revolt and have been brutally suppressed.  So while most people keep their mouth shut and pay their taxes, they also sympathize with those who refuse and advocate revolt. 

You see by this story that even as we get angry and accuse our government and the elite of many things, it is hard for Americans to think of ourselves ever permitting or accepting occupation by another nation.  For this reason it is hard to understand the context behind the question posed to Jesus; so accustomed is our mind to see our nation as the   benevolent occupying superpower.

The people hope and pray for a deliverer, someone to step up and throw off the oppressors and establish a reign of peace, freedom and justice.

Now someone comes along, someone who seems to speak the truth, and seems to have a kind of confidence and wisdom that runs deeper than the typical person with worldly power.  The Herodians in Matthew’s story, the government collaborator, pay Jesus a compliment and then ask him a question: 

“We know 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.”

It is noteworthy that they recognize that Jesus shows deference to no one, nor shows partiality.  Even though they are trying to trap him, they reflect the common understanding about how people see Jesus.  It is not just that Jesus is nice to the marginalized.  He is not nice out of charity, only to go among the powerful classes or races to schmooze and get noticed.  If you know people who treat everybody with respect and equality, you know it is a great gift.  I suppose we do see this gift, even here in this church.  But it is not always easy, especially when we find ourselves among those who our culture tells us to scorn. We must consciously resist the distance of pretension, especially in charity.  And it is tough to not defer and prefer when we get before impressive people.  We like to be noticed.  We like to impress.  We like the benefits and luxury available when we are liked by power and wealth. 

But Jesus doesn’t give into the temptation to think less of himself or more of others.  If he bends down on his knee to wash feet it is not out of deference but the strength of loving kindness.  There is no position where he is not God’s son.  It is his presence and being that evokes the title, son of God.  This is why I have a problem, and think Jesus would have a problem with the often simple evangelical theology that just runs around saying Jesus is Lord, praise the Lord, Lord God this and Lord God that…without connecting with the why.  Through grace we are all sons and daughters of God, coheirs with Christ.  The question is, do we believe it?  Do we have faith, like Moses and Jesus, that God is walking with us, in us, so that we may embody exceptional divine power, the non-partial loving kindness that gives sight to the blind and topples the tables of exploitation.

The Herodians recognize that Jesus carries himself with power and they are threatened by it.  Pomposity will reveal itself too, especially in the face of someone who doesn’t play the game.  A person of honesty and integrity will reflect our own garbage back to us without even trying.  People of honesty and integrity will often be accused of being judgmental, when actually they are just living their life in a powerful and healthy way, and we are the ones who judge ourselves against them.

So they give Jesus the obvious compliment and ask him a question that is clearly dangerous.  Is it lawful to pay taxes to Ceasar?  Is it lawful to pay taxes to Hitler?  They expect a yes or no answer, either of which would change the trajectory of his life.  A no gets him immediately arrested.  A yes makes him look like a supporter of occupation.

Have you ever had a question posed to you that didn’t have a right answer?  In pastoral counseling class we often role-played counseling.  One student would be the counselor and the other the client.  The professor sets up a scenario and off we go.  Then, after about five minutes, we stop and the class critiques the counselor for twenty minutes.  Now this is tough, because the other students try to show their insight and intelligence by critiquing you, and with six people trying their hardest to find your weaknesses they are sure to land a few good punches, both deserved and undeserved.  One day it was my turn to be the counselor.  A middle aged female pastor played the role of the client.  The woman was supposedly having relationship problems, but I had fielded the assault well and they were really stretching to find good relevant questions. Then one of the students asked, “Were you attracted to her sexually?” 

Now I was in a pickle: If I answered yes it would open me up to a whole host of follow up questions and criticisms.  If I said no, well, there was a real woman and a friend, no longer pretending to be the client, waiting for an answer with the rest of them.  How could I come up with a decent honest answer?  Ahhhhhh.  I stalled while I prayed.  Lord, if you are out there, help me.  I figured it came down to this: Did I want to be the good pretend counselor and end the questioning or did I want to be a decent real guy?  “I suppose, I said, “I think all women are attractive.”  A divinely inspired answer if I ever had one.  I thought, “There is a God.”  Then I took my beating.  But at least we all had a great lunch together afterward...  And I only snuggle with my wife.

Sometimes there are stupid questions, or questions that are designed to trap,  or questions asked in a context where a straight answer will do no one any good.  And to take the bait and allow the answer to derail relationships or the trajectory of our life does us no good.             

Jesus has a plan and he is not about to let others determine his time table.  How easy it is to get sucked in, to accept a dare because we think we have something to prove.  This happens all the time.  When we are young we are challenged to wear certain clothes, to display the latest phone or iPod, to use drugs, to have sex.  We may feel the need to break the law, not to change things but just to show we have the courage to thumb our nose at authority.  Family members or colleagues at work may bait us, try to push our buttons to cause a reaction: the family member who loves to quote Glen Beck during Thanksgiving dinner, for instance.  But even when we react or resist negatively we are enabling them to determine our course of action.  We wind up arguing with them rather than enjoying the company of everyone else.  Maybe somebody says something or cuts us off on the road, we feel disrespected and challenged to speak our truth and establish our power.  But they show their power by getting us to shift our mind onto them. 

So Jesus, borrowing a denarius from the questioner, notes that the image of Caesar is on the coin and says, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.”  Despite our desire to show how Jesus takes our side with regard to taxes and government and separation of Church and state, we don’t find firm evidence here.  A group of us from the church showed up yesterday at the occupy Oakland rally, to argue that we shouldn’t show partiality to the rich in taxation, and that we should end a ten year, trillion plus dollar war and occupation before we cut services to balance the budget.  I would argue that there is good evidence in the Gospels to support such demands, but not in this little response about taxes to Caesar. 

We could take Jesus statement to mean that people should go ahead and pay taxes to the ruling government, and let God be in charge of everything else.  Or, Jesus could be insinuating a question of his own; why are you holding Caesar’s money?  Give it back once and for all and be done with it because everything that matters is God’s.  Tell them to go and take their money with them.  Give Caesar his money but not allegiance, not worship.  He may be able to occupy the country, but if we don’t let him occupy our heart, he won’t occupy the country for long. 

So with our desperate nation in this horrible economy…as the Tea Party and Occupy Wall Street and the Republican election debates heat up, I would caution against arrogant claims that God is on our side in the political debates.  God is too great and has nothing to prove by being forced into our corner.  We can quote scripture and Jesus; we can and should makes stands based on our understanding of God’s will for our personal and national and global lives, but part of that biblical stance is that we can only see part of God truth. Let us respect the theology of Abe Lincoln who said we are an almost chosen nation, rather than the ignorant and arrogant assurance that we see from some candidates. God is too holy to be packaged into our small vision and agenda.  We can write “In God we trust” on our money, but we can’t capture Her face.  It would blow us away.  If we are very blessed, we may get a glimpse of his back, after he has passed us by.  But even that glimpse is enough to light our way.