Twenty-third Sunday after Trinity

In the weeks leading up to Election Day, I’m sure you saw plenty of political ads on TV, lawn signs scattered across town, and even a politician or two going door to door campaigning for your vote. Perhaps the only place you did not encounter any politicking was here at church, and rightly so. This pulpit has been set apart for the Word of God, and it will never be handed over to a politician, no matter how excellent his platform may be, not even should he be a member of this congregation.

Our building is a sanctuary, an embassy of heaven, and the kingdoms of this world may not intrude upon this holy ground. This is why we don’t fly the flag of a foreign nation within the chancel. Caesar has no place within these holy walls, unless he kneels in penitence before the altar of Christ. I’m sure that you’ve heard this truth expressed with the phrase: the separation of Church and State. Unfortunately, this ideal, intended to protect the Church from outside interference, is now used as an offensive weapon to silence the Church. Instead of preventing Caesar from overstepping his bounds, the separation of Church and State has become a tool of encroachment used by the State to advance its religion at the expense of the Church.

When the name of Jesus is mentioned outside of this building, when a coach offers a voluntary prayer before a game, when a Christian dares to act according to his convictions in the public square, he will immediately be accused of transgressing the sacred separation between Church and State. “Yes, you are free to practice your religion in your own heart,” they will say, “but not in public. Believe whatever you want, just so long as you leave it at the door when you come to work. Separation of Church and State…”

It might surprise you, as it would most Americans, to learn that the separation of Church and State is not enshrined in the Constitution or in the Bill of Rights. Nor is this ideal found in Scripture—particularly not in the way it is commonly understood. Nowhere does the Bible command Christians to restrict the practice of our faith to within the walls of this building. In fact, we are command to let our light shine in the darkness.

Jesus says, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s” (Mt 22:21). Clearly some things have been entrusted by God to Caesar, to the government, and other things belong only to God. The natural question that follows is, “Which things are these?”

Let’s begin with Caesar. Which things belong to Caesar? Well, unfortunately, your taxes. Nobody wants to pay them, but we must. If you think our government is too corrupt for this to apply today, remember that Jesus said this during the height of the Roman Empire, which was just as ungodly—if not more—than our own government. Your obedience to the civil laws also belongs to Caesar. You are not permitted to run red lights. You must obey the speed limit. And your prayers belong to Caesar. That is, Scripture commands us to pray for our rulers, as we do every Sunday. Finally, in certain circumstances, the government may even make demands of your time and life. Military conscription is not outside of Caesar’s God-given authority. Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s.

But what about the things that belong to God? Which things are these? Is the Christian forced to live out his faith within the confines of the church building? Are you prohibited from voicing your convictions in the public square? Far from it. Let us consider some of the things that belong to God.

Marriage. Marriage belongs to God. He created it. He instituted it. He defined it. He blessed it. He joined the first man and women together in a lifelong union. Marriage does not belong to Caesar. And yet, our culture has declared that marriage is a political issue, daring to lay claim to the things of God. Sadly, most Christians have gone along with this brazen theft. “Keep the politics out of the pulpit,” they tell their pastors, and many spineless pastors have complied. “Don’t talk about political issues, Pastor—separation of Church and State”, as though this means that the Church should roll over and surrender the things of God. But Jesus commands us to render to God the things that are God’s. This is not optional for the Christian. It is a command. Marriage is not a political issue. Yes, it has political ramifications, but belongs and always has belonged to God. The pulpit is exactly the place to speak of marriage. Only God and His Word can tell us what marriage is and how we may seek to enter His institution with His blessing.

What else belongs to God that Caesar dares to claim? Men and women belong to God. Whose image was on the coin? Caesar’s. Render to Caesar what belongs to Caesar. And in whose image did God make man? In His own image He made them, male and female He created them. The transgender craze that is sweeping our nation, leaving thousands of vulnerable children with sterilized and mutilated bodies, is not a political issue. It is a spiritual issue. It is a cultural rebellion against our God and Creator whose image we bear. He creates us male and female, and we have no more power to change this than a leopard his spots. Once again, the Church has been bullied into silence on this issue by the misapplied slogan of “separation between Church and State.” Repent, and render to God the things that belong to God.

The murder of our unborn children is another thing that Caeser has claimed as a political issue. But all life is from God. He alone kills and makes alive. Do not let the world cow you into silence. Do not hand over the things of God to be defiled and polluted by the heathen. All life is a precious gift from God, the Creator. Children are a heritage from the Lord. He opens and closes the womb. We do not plan our families. We receive them from the Lord. And these truths must be spoken from this pulpit and those of every other house of God. These truths must be lived in public by every Christian without apology. Life belongs to God, and Caesar has no jurisdiction here. Render to God the things that belong to God.

We have allowed ourselves to be backed into the corner by our sinful world as it lays claim to the things of God, one after the other: our children, our grandchildren, our colleges, even, if you recall some of the draconian dictates during the Covid nonsense, our observance of the Lord’s Supper. “Of course, you have the freedom of religion,” they say. “You are free to believe whatever you want, so long as you don’t voice those opinions in public. You are free to practice your faith, so long as nobody else gets offended.” And if you haven’t noticed by now, everything is offensive.

Even the freedom to believe in our own heart can’t be taken for granted. Where Christians are compliant, you can be sure that the thought police are not far behind. A woman was recently arrested in the UK for praying silently outside an abortion clinic. But this is no surprise. Behind Caesar and his assault upon the Church, is our ancient enemy, Satan, who seeks to claim everything that belongs to God as his own. You might recall that in the temptation of Christ, the devil even dared to offer Jesus all the kingdoms of this world, even though the Bible clearly says, “The kingdom of this world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ” (Rev 11:15).

So what do we take away today? If you remember only one thing, remember this: We will not hand over the things of Christ to Caesar because he has claimed them as political issues. We will render to God the things that belong to God. The Church will stand upon God’s Word. We will speak clearly and boldly from our pulpits and with our lives concerning the things of God.

And I leave you with a final thought, a happy thought perhaps, in case what I’ve said so far seems troubling. Of the many things that belong to God—all things, in fact—there is one more to mention today: you. You belong to God. You didn’t always belong to Him. You were born into sin as the property of Satan. But Jesus purchased you, literally bought you out of the devil’s hand, “not with gold and silver, but with His holy, precious blood and with His innocent suffering and death, that you may be His own and live under Him in His kingdom and serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness.” On the day that you were baptized, God the Father put His name upon you, claiming you as His own and saying to your old master, the devil, “This child now belongs to me. Render to God the things that belong to God.” And when God speaks, it is accomplished. Satan must relinquish his claim and flee. And even though you still face the assaults of sin, death, and the devil, these things cannot harm you, for you have been rendered to God. He is even now at work to restore you to the perfection of His image. And very soon our Lord Jesus will render to God the things that belong to God, as He presents the Church before His Father as his pure and spotless bride. Amen.