Proper 24- Year A- October 22, 2017

Holy Cross Monastery, West Park, NY
Br. Bob Pierson, OHC

Proper 24 - Sunday,October 22,2017


NEW! Listen to Br. Bob preaching

Br. Bob Pierson 

I have often heard it said that if one wants to avoid contentious conversation, one should avoid the topics of “religion” and “politics”.  Both topics can lead people into a defense of their very strongly held opinions, and when there is a disagreement, it’s very hard for some people to “agree to disagree.”

That might be true, but today’s Scripture readings really don’t allow us to avoid talking about religion and politics. In Jesus’ statement, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and give to God what is God’s,” we are led to the obvious questions, “Just what does belong to Caesar, and what belongs to God?”

The situation in which Jesus finds himself is a classic trap.  The strict religion of the Pharisees teams up with the Herodians, who are Jewish collaborators with the Roman occupation.  A direct answer to the question they pose to Jesus, “Is it lawful to pay taxes or not?” will get him in trouble with one group or the other.  They think they’ve got him; there’s no way he can get out of this one.

Surprise!  Surprise!  Jesus responds brilliantly to their question by asking to see a Roman coin.  He knows who’s head in depicted on the coin, and he knows the inscription, which is a declaration of the divinity of the emperor.  No good Jew would even carry such a coin, but the fact that someone is able to produce one already compromises his opponents.  In saying “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s” Jesus is acknowledging the legitimate right of the state to collect taxes, while at the same time reminding his listeners that no human government has unlimited power and control in the reign of God.

The debate over people’s loyalty and allegiance between God’s authority and human authority has been going on for centuries.  Many rulers down through the years have tried to claim a “divine right” to their authority, alleging that the fact that they are in power is a sign of God’s support of them and their authority.  Obedience to the ruler is in fact obedience to God.  It almost sounds like that’s what going on in the first reading we heard today from the prophet Isaiah.  Cyrus, the king of Persia, defeated the Babylonians, and decided to let the exiles from Israel return to their own land.  Isaiah saw God’s hand in all of it, acknowledging that God was using Cyrus to save the people of Israel, even though Cyrus knew nothing about their God.  Cyrus was a pagan ruler, but he was acting according to God’s purpose.

Even today we find people who allege that their rulers are really appointed by God.  Some evangelical Christians believe that our current administration is empowered by God to clean up America and get us back on track.  Of course, there are just as many, if not more, people who believe just the opposite.  How do we discern where authority comes from, and what we are obligated to do as a response?  Is “My country, right or wrong,” an appropriate response for Christians to take?

I believe the answer to that question is “no” because we have plenty of evidence from history to show that governments can really get it wrong, and sometimes people need to stand up and resist the people in control if they want to be doing the right thing.  The most obvious example from history, of course, is Nazi Germany.  How different things may have been if enough people had refused to go along with what their government was doing.  Just because something is legal does not mean that it’s morally right.  And today, we hold in esteem those who risked their lives to resist the Nazi regime as heroes.  There were several people who resisted, either behind the scenes or directly. 

One of those who resisted behind the scenes was Irena Sendler, who smuggled 2,500 Jewish children out of the ghetto before they could be sent to the extermination camps.  Eventually she was caught, and sentenced to death, but she managed to escape.  And she continued to work to oppose her government and its immoral laws.  She died just a few years ago.  A second person who resisted openly was Franz Jaegerstaeter, an Austrian husband and father who refused to serve in the German army.  Even after his wife and his bishop tried to convince him that it was OK to serve, he refused, citing his belief that war was wrong, and as a Christian he could not participate.  He was arrested and killed, but he did not capitulate to the fear that moved so many others to fight rather than be killed themselves.

So where does that leave us today?  The point that Jesus is making is that no human government can claim absolute authority over our lives.  While we have an obligation to be law abiding citizens, working for the common good of all, we also have an obligation to resist when governments make unjust laws, laws that hurt people rather than promote the common good.  It takes discernment to figure out when one is called to resistance, and we don’t take that position easily. But in the end, “giving God what is God’s” means obeying God’s law of love when human laws are against it.  When you get right down to it, what could belong to Caesar that does not already belong to God?  As the psalmist says, “The earth is the Lord’s and all it holds, the world and those who dwell in it.”  Psalm 24:1