Give the Empire its Due

Luke 20:20–26 NRSV

20 So they watched him and sent spies who pretended to be honest, in order to trap him by what he said, so as to hand him over to the jurisdiction and authority of the governor. 21 So they asked him, “Teacher, we know that you are right in what you say and teach, and you show deference to no one, but teach the way of God in accordance with truth. 22 Is it lawful for us to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?” 23 But he perceived their craftiness and said to them, 24 “Show me a denarius. Whose head and whose title does it bear?” They said, “The emperor’s.” 25 He said to them, “Then give to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” 26 And they were not able in the presence of the people to trap him by what he said; and being amazed by his answer, they became silent.

I love preaching on this text. In my 6th year here at St. James and over my 16 year ministry career, I’ve had the opportunity to reflect on this text in multiple settings and contexts. I find the exchange here challenging and provocative. And that’s just what the Scribes and Chief Priests are attempting to do with Jesus — challenge and provoke him.

Jesus has just finished sharing a parable about vineyard tenants and their faithfulness to the wishes of the master who employs them. They take advantage of the employer’s absence and even go so far as to kill the land owner’s son in their resistance to caring for what was entrusted them.

Jesus has set the scene with this parable to highlight the nature of the systems of power to seek to undermine and control the real work of God among the people, specifically pointing to how the systems would lead to rejecting his message, the message of the cornerstone of God’s work, the Christ, who has come to share the good news.

And the religious leaders don’t like this. So, as we hear in our text, they have started spying on Jesus, trying to trap him, trying to get him to slip up, pretending to be honest, but trying to get Jesus into trouble.

This kind of question they ask, about paying taxes, could certainly get Jesus into trouble.

It’s a set up — it’s a loaded question.

“Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?”

It’s a trick. They all know the answers…there are multiple answers and depending on how Jesus responds, he will agitate one group or another.

Of course it’s lawful to pay taxes to the emperor — everyone knew that. In fact, that’s a burden they would all have been frustrated about — at least the Jewish people under Roman occupation. But it’s the law and you don’t mess with the law.

We’ve talked about tax collectors a bit these last couple of weeks. They were despised by the people, seen as liars or thieves. But, even though begrudgingly, this was the law of the land.

It’s the same in our context, isn’t it? Think about this, if I were to ask you, is it lawful to pay your income taxes? You might look at me with confusion — like…is there another option? Can you just not? We all know about schemes to cheat the system, to get out of paying, but they are still just responses to the settled reality — we are required to pay taxes to the empire. And whether or not we trust the justice system in our country to address those who defraud the tax system, at the end of the day, we know we have to file our 1099, our 1040, pay our sales taxes, etc., etc.

So, again, this is a trick question — is it lawful to pay taxes to the empire?

But then, it’s a trick on the other side too…

They couch the question in a platitude — “we know that you are right in what you say and teach, and you show deference to no one, but teach the way of God in accordance with the truth.”

Jesus, we know that you honor the Torah, the religious law, and our faithful to its commandments. We know you would never worship a graven image of an earthly figure. We know that all you possess belongs to God, so you are faithful to give to the synagogue and the poor.

You see, the trap on the religious end is related to who has primary authority of our lives. If Jesus answers the question with a “yes”, then he is saying that the Roman Empire has authority over him (and them) and this would agitate a whole different group of people.

In this time, there would be zealots and those who would protest Roman Imperial rule. They are the ones who might resist paying taxes, resist deference to their power. And to give homage using a coin with Caesar’s image on it — that is equated to giving worship to a false god. Best not affirm this…right?

Again, let’s link this to our context. Who is on the bills and coins you carry? George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, John F. Kennedy. How about the cards you carry: VISA, Mastercard, Capitol One. People and brands that represent the power of the empire. People, who’s legacy tells a story about what kind of people we are supposed to emulate and venerate. And brands that tell stories to make us feel comfortable with how they handle our resources and give us a sense of financial security.

Right? So if we say yes, we pay our taxes, then there is the resistance narrative that tells us we are participating in imperial rule all over again. And whether our popular culture resists that because of faithfulness to a religious belief or not, what it does say is that we cannot put these stories ahead of our own priorities, our own people’s needs.

Maybe you know the song from the Beatles’ White Album, “Tax man.” I think this captures the resistance sentiment quite well.

Let me tell you how it will be

There's one for you, nineteen for me

'Cause I'm the taxman

Yeah, I'm the taxman

Should five percent appear too small

Be thankful I don't take it all

'Cause I'm the taxman

Yeah, I'm the taxman

I'll tax the street

(If you try to sit, sit) I'll tax your seat

(If you get too cold, cold) I'll tax the heat

(If you take a walk, walk) I'll tax your feet

(Taxman)

'Cause I'm the taxman

Yeah, I'm the taxman

The taxman will get what the taxman requires…my friends.

Jesus, as always, gives a masterful answer.

He both appeases and frustrates both sides of the conversation, both sides of the coin, as it were.

He asks for an object lesson, a physical example. “Show me a denarius. Whose head and who title does it bear?”

Show me a bill or a coin. Who’s likeness does it bear? Who does it belong to? Who made it? Who regulates your bank account? Who sets the standards for credit and interest rates?

We know this conversation well.

So which is right? Does our money belong to the empire or to God?

Jesus responds.

Give to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s.

And give to God the things that are God’s.

He perceived their craftiness…the text reads. They were not able to trap him in the presence of the people, as it had been their intent.

Let’s say, just for a moment, that Jesus had been trapped. Either he would have agitated the priests be giving Caesar the place of divine authority. Or he would have angered the people by saying that the political authority of the occupier was justified.

But he does neither…or does he do both?

Instead, he gives this answer: Give to God what is God’s and Caesar what is Caesar’s.

So, what do we owe Caesar?

Well, lawfulness and taxes. Submission. Peace-ability.

Again, it’s helpful to look at our current context. What do we owe the Empire? This week, we owe our votes, our democratic participation. We also owe taxes to upkeep roads and governmental systems and education and social security and all the rest. It is part of the social contract we participate in as a collective people.

I’m not saying we should simply bow to the powers that be, but the reality is that they require things of us and we are wise to participate, at least to a degree, in our collective political life together by abiding by those laws that govern us.

Chaos is likely to break out if we start ignoring these laws, right? Laws and politics are there to establish order to our life together.

AND, the same would apply to religious laws. Especially as we attend to the nature of the Jewish law that Jesus’ people are participant in, these laws are meant to order our lives around God’s way. Love your neighbor, do not covet their possessions. Give to God from the first fruits of your labors, give generously to those in need.

And give your worship to God. Not Caesar.

Wait, both demand worship. So aren’t we supposed to give worship to both, to all who demand it?

No.

And here’s where the rub is. Here’s where Jesus cuts through the attempted trick.

We can be faithful to the requirements of the state, inasmuch as they do not cause us to turn away from our commitments to faithfulness to God.

Keeping taxes as an example — taxes are compulsory, they’re required. You can try to resist paying them, but ultimately, the taxman will get the Empire its due.

Here, rather, there is a call to be subversive. To resist by relinquishing control over the possibility of getting around a law and instead, finding ways to serve and love our neighbor and worship God, in SPITE of what the Empire requires of us.

This is where we pivot to seeing the much wider frame of what Jesus is teaching.

Play by their rules, both the Empire’s or the religious system’s…sure. But what belongs to God? What things belong to God?

Well…is there anything in our lives that does not ultimately belong to our Creator, our God, the one we worship with our fullness of self?

We could pose the question this way: What does not belong to God?

When we frame it this way, I start to see all of what we do as opportunities to worship and respond to God alone.

Again, examples are helpful.

I mentioned a moment ago, this week we vote in the midterm federal elections. We give Caesar our voice and make our vote known. Does it belong to Caesar? Yeah, it does.

But our votes are not neutral. They count in naming our priorities. The people and issues we support or resist speak to our heart’s priorities. Give to Caesar what is due — your vote. Give to God what is God’s — your heart and what you will fight for. This looks like voting for candidates and issues that will support the flourishing and well-being of our common good, for the care of the poor, for justice for the oppressed. For truth and faithfulness to each other.

Sure, empire, I’ll lend you my voice. But I’m going to do it as a servant of Jesus Christ, who is my Lord. Empire, you may hold the law of the land over me, but my allegiance is first and foremost to Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ alone.

Let’s turn to money, as we wrap up. We pay our taxes. We give Caesar what Caesar is due. (By the way, if it needs to be made explicit, we are also living under the control of an empire. We might not call our leader Caesar, but our political leaders are no different than the occupying Roman leaders…their tactics might look different, but power and influence never change).

So we give to Caesar what is due. We pay our taxes.

But what we do with the entirety of our financial resources is a different story.

If our whole allegiance belongs to Christ and Christ alone, so do our financial resources. In faithful resistance, we pay our taxes. AND we steward all our resources to the flourishing of God’s way among us, even still. We advocate for programs under governmental control that will help the poor and alleviate oppression. We protest when our money is used for violence and personal gain. We make our voices known with our votes and our energy.

One of the explicit ways we can do this is to support people and organizations that encourage this other way of living. Like the church, when in its healthiest form, tries to make a difference in the lives of the hurting, the poor, the downtrodden, and the oppressed. We use what we have to bolster the witness of this more excellent way we find in Jesus.

Remember earlier, when I talked about the stories on our coins or our credit cards? Well, what’s the story that we are telling when we support our faith community? At St. James, we’re trying to tell a story of Jesus’ way that includes lovingly welcoming everyone into our doors with the love of Jesus Christ, just as they are. We’re telling a story about how we want to joyfully practice our faith together, to be formed into people who know Jesus is Lord over and above all other rulers. We tell the story of compassion and service, knowing that we are meant to give of ourselves for the good of the other, the ones in need.

So what do we have that belongs to Caesar? Maybe some laws and taxes. But not our hearts. Not our whole selves. Caesar gets a part of me, but not even a full part that is not without a resistant longing for a better way. We know that Caesar is never going to have enough and never going to be enough.

It is to Christ and Christ alone that we render our whole selves, mind, body, soul and spirit to. No less. This accounts for how we live, how we spend our money, what we eat, who we support, where our votes go.

I was once asked if I was trying to tell a person who to vote for from the pulpit. They didn’t like something I’d said that struck a chord with a political view they perhaps held. My response was influenced by how Jesus responds. I said, “No, I’m not. What I am saying is that my vote, my finances, my whole self — they are Christ’s first, no one else’s. Vote for whoever you like — but vote as a faithful follower of Christ.”

May it be so with us.