Sermon for Sunday, 19 October 2014
Sermon for Sunday, 19 October 2014
19th Sunday after
Pentecost
The Rev. Carrie B. Smith
Grace and peace to you from God our
Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
My family’s
move from Illinois to Jerusalem was not actually our first cross-cultural
experience. Years ago, when Robert graduated from seminary, we moved 1,000
miles (or 1700 kilometers) from St. Paul, Minnesota to Waco, Texas. Even though
St. Paul and Waco are both cities in the same United States of America, they
are about as far apart culturally as they are in distance. I learned this the
hard way when I visited a church group for moms of young children shortly after
we arrived.
While the
kids were happily playing together, the conversation among the mothers turned
to the issue of television and videos, and what we allowed our children to
watch. In a nice effort
to include me in the discussion, one of the mothers turned and asked me, “So, do
you let your boys watch Disney movies?”
Now, when I
was growing up, my grandparents lived very near Disneyland in California, and
my dad actually played in the Disneyland All-American Marching Band in the 60’s.
I have a real fondness in my heart for all things Disney. But I gathered there
was a correct answer to her question, and that probably wasn’t it. I wanted desperately
to make friends in this new place, so this is what I said:
“Do I let my
kids watch Disney movies? Well, of course they’ve seen a few, but I’m being
careful about the ones with princesses.
I don’t want my boys learning that all women need is to be saved by a handsome
prince.”
That…wasn’t
the answer she was looking for. After a few awkward moments of silence (and
confused looks passed around by the other mothers in the room), the one who asked
the question said, “Um, no…I meant do
you let your kids watch Disney movies, considering how the Disney corporation offers
health insurance to same-gender couples? We
boycott Disney because of it.”
We didn’t ever
make it to a second playdate, after that awkward start.
Is it ok to
watch Disney movies, or not? This is the sort of test Jesus was faced with when
confronted by the Pharisees. “Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?”
It wasn’t just a friendly topic of conversation, no matter how much they first
tried to flatter him before asking. This was a question designed to trick Jesus
into incriminating himself, either as a pawn of the state or an inciter of
riots. The Pharisees wanted to put Jesus on the spot, forcing him to say
something that would make him either a traitor or a heretic, and therefore
discrediting everything else he had to say.
“Is it
lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?” Jesus, knowing they were up to no
good, responded: “Why are you putting me to the test? Show me the coin used to
pay the taxes.” So they brought him a denarius. “Whose head is on this coin,
and whose title?” “The emperor’s” replied the Pharisees. And Jesus said: “Give therefore
to the emperor the things that are the emperors, and to God the things that are
God’s.”
This brief
answer sent the Pharisees away amazed. It has also become one of Jesus’ most
well-known and oft-quoted teachings. We often see it appearing as just the first
half of the phrase, in a more familiar translation: “Render unto Caesar…” Those
few words alone are thrown around as the tagline for a variety of differing viewpoints
on the proper relationship between church and state, and of Christians to
secular authority.
Martin
Luther, writing around the time of the Great Peasants’ Revolt of 1525, insisted
that “render unto Caesar” proves Jesus wants us to cooperate with governmental
authority, and definitely to pay our
taxes. He writes: “Thus one must also bear the authority of the ruler. If he
abuses it, I am not therefore to bear him a grudge, nor take revenge of and
punish him with my hands. One must obey him solely for God's sake, for he
stands in God's stead. Let them impose taxes as intolerable as they may: one
must obey them and, suffer everything patiently, for God's sake.”
India’s Mohandas
Gandhi, on the other hand, saw it differently, writing: “Jesus' whole preaching
and practice point unmistakably to noncooperation,
which necessarily includes nonpayment
of taxes.” It may be interesting to remember that Gandhi led the Indian people
in resisting the British-imposed salt tax in 1930.
And the 20th
Century champion of the poor, American Dorothy Day, suggests another way to deal
with the issue: “The less you have of Caesar's, the less you have to render to
Caesar.”
“Give to the
emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”
So does Jesus want us to pay taxes, or not? Should we cooperate with secular authority
or resist it? Should we opt out of the system entirely, thereby owing nothing
to Caesar? Which parts of our lives belong to the empire, and which belong to
God? And how do we tell the difference?
Many sermons
have been preached on the finer application of these points. Dissertations have
been written, and doctorates earned. Political systems have been established. Wars
have even been waged over disagreements about the proper roles of church and
state.
And it would
be nice if your preacher could end the debate once and for all in this sermon!
But I must admit that when I encounter
this text, and even when I consult the many gifted theologians and preachers who
have struggled with it before me, I remain unconvinced that there is but one
faithful way to interpret this teaching. In fact, I don't hear this Gospel
reading as being chiefly about church/state issues. Rather, what I hear from
Jesus is an invitation to the hard work of discipleship.
What I hear is Jesus resisting the opportunity to either
denounce or endorse moral certitudes, and instead inviting the faithful to work
it out for themselves. Like the Pharisees, who walked away amazed (and hopefully,
thinking) we are invited to struggle with the question of our allegiances to
God and Caesar; to that which bears the empire’s image and that which bears God’s
image.
What shall I render unto Caesar, and what shall I render unto
the Lord? How do I live out my faith in this context? How are my relationships
with my neighbors, with government, with institutions, and with money, informed by the Sermon on
the Mount; and by the cross; and by the resurrection? Jesus invites each of us
to be theologians, daily discerning what it means to follow in the way of the
cross.
A friend in Chicago wrote recently that a Wal-Mart store is
moving into her neighborhood. Chicago has famously protested the invasion of
this big box superstore, because of how it has killed small family businesses
in other cities. My friend has always joined in these protests. But now, she
sees that she lives in what is called a “food desert”. She and her neighbors must
regularly shop for food at the drug store, or eat exclusively at fast food restaurants.
Wal-Mart would at least bring fresh meat and produce, as well as jobs to her
struggling neighborhood. So she asks: Is it lawful to shop at Wal-Mart, or not?
Another friend, a pastor, has always been a vocal opponent of
the death penalty. But last week there was a tragedy in his community involving
the abuse and death of a child. He wrote asking for prayers for the family of
the child—but also for himself, for he confessed to questioning his stance on
the death penalty, in light of these terrible circumstances. So he asks: Is it
right for a Christian to support the death penalty, or not?
 |
| My son Caleb, with students from the Lutheran School of Hope in Ramallah Photo by Carrie Smith |
Last week I had the opportunity to visit the Lutheran School
of Hope in Ramallah, a ministry of the ELCJHL. It was my second visit, but this
time I took my sons Caleb and Zion to be guest speakers in the 10th grade
English class. We were there to be English-language conversation partners, but
of course, we ended up learning at least as much as the students did. At one
point, we asked about what these high schoolers liked to do after school. Shopping
was a popular answer, of course. But where do you shop? “Well, the truth is,
there’s not too much to shop for these days.” “Why?” “Because we’re boycotting all
Israeli products.” To be clear, the ELCA and ELCJHL do not promote boycott or
divestment. And yet, in this Lutheran high school class I met a student whose
father has been in prison for “resistance” since 2003, and a 15 year old boy
who still possesses no papers because one parent is from Jerusalem, and the
other from Ramallah. So I must ask: Is it right to support boycotts, or not?
What shall I render to Caesar, and what shall I render to the
Lord? Christian discipleship means living in the tension between these two
kingdoms. It means never having easy answers, but doing the hard work of spiritual
discernment. And I will admit: This doesn’t always feel like Good News! It
would be much cleaner if we had a public service announcement from Jesus, with
a list of candidates to endorse. It would be great to have a phone app to tell us
where to eat, where to live, or where to shop, so that we would always appropriately
render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s, and unto God what is God’s.
(edited to note: A church member informed me after service
that there is indeed an app for that! Check out www.buycott.com)
But instead, what we have is an invitation from Jesus to read
Scripture, to read our hearts, and then to walk with him—all the way to the
cross. We are invited to love God, and to
love our neighbor as ourselves. We are invited to live in the tension and the
mess of life.
And we are
invited to trust in the love of God we have seen in Christ Jesus, who walked
this way before us. We are assured that though we may get it wrong – though we
may get caught with graven images in our pockets, or be accused of inciting
riots – that we have already received God’s grace, mercy and forgiveness,
through the cross of Jesus Christ.
Let us pray:
A prayer of Catherine
of Siena:
Power of the
eternal Father, help me. Wisdom of the Son, enlighten the eye of my
understanding. Tender mercy of the Holy Spirit, unite my heart to yourself.
Eternal God, restore health to the sick and life to the dead. Give us a voice,
your own voice, to cry out to you for mercy for the world. You, light, give us
light. You, wisdom, give us wisdom. You, supreme strength, strengthen us.
Amen.
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