Twenty-third Sunday after Trinity - 11-15-09

The Church Season of Trinity
The Twenty-third Sunday after Trinity, One Year Series
Our Savior Lutheran Church, Midland, MI (November 8, 2009)

“Two Kingdoms”

Readings:
Psalm 111
Proverbs 8:11-22
Philippians 3:17-21
Matthew 22:15-22

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Grace, mercy and peace be to you from the Father
and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen

The text for today is as recorded in the Gospel Lesson from the 22nd chapter of St. Matthew, especially the following verse:

Matthew 22:15-22 (ESV)

15 Then the Pharisees went and plotted how to entangle him in his words. 16 And they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are true and teach the way of God truthfully, and you do not care about anyone’s opinion, for you are not swayed by appearances. 17 Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” 18 But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why put me to the test, you hypocrites? 19 Show me the coin for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius. 20 And Jesus said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” 21 They said, “Caesar’s.” Then he said to them, “Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” 22 When they heard it, they marveled. And they left him and went away.

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit

Most people, even those who don’t go to church regularly, and even some people who don’t go to church at all, know these words, “Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s.”(v.21) While some have heard those words of scripture, usually the impact of these verses come to us personally in another way. These words are brought home for us right after we’ve completed our first one or two weeks of work at our very first job. We’ve anticipated pay day. We’ve, added up our obligated hours and multiplied it out by an agreed upon wage. We know exactly how much money should be there, how many dollars represented by Ben Franklins, Grants, and Jackson’s there should be. We know it even right down to the last Lincoln cent. But, then comes the day when we’re handed the envelope, the one with the little window on the side showing our name and address. This is the first surprise lesson, envelopes with windows usually contain surprise obligations. Suddenly we see that we aren’t receiving all that we thought we would. In fact we’re receiving a lot less than we have already spent in our own minds. We ask ourselves, what’s going on here? What in the world is FICA, Social Security, Federal Tax, State Tax, and City Tax? Why am I obligated to let all those acronyms shave money out of my hard earned cash? And at that very moment, by some unknown signal, that the old wise and sarcastic sage of the company, is given their queue to walk right by, right while you’re staring at that check. And even though you have not said a word, that person sees the look on your face and they know it is time to say, “Render unto Caesar, that which is Caesars.” You wonder if you’ve been duped. It’s a dirty rotten trick. All of this was mine, it’s not theirs.

The kingdom of this world is real. We interact with it every day. We know and live it and Jesus knew it too. In fact, Jesus told us that the kingdom of this world demands our obligations. And of these obligations, Jesus told the Pharisees and Herodians: "Pay to Caesar what you owe to Caesar." And what did they owe to Caesar? They owed taxes, obedience to all laws, and loyalty to the government. Jesus taught the same lesson to Saint Peter. For Jesus Christ directed Peter to catch a fish which would yield a coin. Jesus said, 27"But so that we may not offend them, go to the lake and throw out your line. Take the first fish you catch; open its mouth and you will find a four-drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for my tax and yours."(Mt. 17:27) Jesus obeyed all laws whether of the Jews or of Romans. And not only that He submitted both to Pilate and Herod as Jesus stood at trial, even though it was an unjust trial.

By the authority of Caesar, by Pilate, and by Herod, Jesus submitted. In the history of the world there have been many different forms of government, but their existence and authority are from God. Jesus Himself said so, in His response to Pontius Pilate, “"You would have no authority over Me if it had not been given to you from above." Jn. 19:11. And St. Paul also says, "Let every person be subject to higher authorities because there is no authority which is not of God and the authorities which exist have been ordained of God."(Rom. 13:1) Jesus gives us the correct attitude toward earthly power. He directs us to have a willing obedience as citizens of our government, and as members of God’s Kingdom.

Our obligation to our God given government is for us to serve and to obey, just as Jesus obeyed. We are to obey the laws of the land, to be good citizens and yes that even means that we are to pay our taxes. But, the Christian not only lives in the worldly kingdom. In fact, we live in two kingdoms: the kingdom of earthly power, which is the government, and the kingdom of God, which is the church. The two must always be distinguished sharply, but they should not contradict each other. They must work in perfect sync, each in the others interest. The state must have just laws and deal justly with all citizens and should not invade the religious rights of its citizens. At the same time the church must use the Word of God and apply it rightly to its members too.

But just how far do our obligations go? We ask that question with all the slyness of the Herodians and Pharisees, how much is enough? How much should we keep? How much should we give? Well, the answer we don’t want to hear comes from the mouth of Job who said, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I shall return there. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord"(1:21) Job was acknowledging that he all that he owned, all his worldly possessions meant nothing. Through all his trials and tribulations Job acknowledged that he was merely a steward of what God had loaned him.

We as Christians are citizens in two kingdoms. We are born into, live and die in the kingdom of earthly power, directed by an earthly government. And to the image of that government, whether it be a Caesar or in our case marked by dollars with the image of some past president, we still owe our obligation.

And what of the kingdom of God, the body of Christ, the Christian church? Well, the order is somewhat different. First in baptism we die to the sin of this world, both our sin inherited from Adam and the sin we have committed each and every day. But in that water combined with God’s Word we are made alive and we live to Christ. In baptism, we are marked with the sign of the cross, and there we are given the image of Christ. And in the image of the man Jesus Christ, we see God in human form, something we can comprehend. We see the man who granted us payment for more than we were due. We are blessed beyond imagination. Yes we do live in this worldly Kingdom, but we are also called to live here in a life of repentance.

And because we have freely received our faith and undeserved grace from God we are also called to serve our neighbor. We are called to help the sick, the poor, those who have failed, and those who have fallen to the challenges of this world. We are to give our all, if our fellow Christians fall or fail, we the church, the body of Christ fall and fail too. Reach out to those who are around you and help them. You have been given much, now also give generously to others.

A long time ago someone said, “The coin of Caesar is in gold, on which his image is stamped. But man is God’s coin, on which, is the image of God.”(Hilary) Jesus said, “Give to Caesar that which is Caesar’s.” When we close our eyes to the Kingdom of this world, we know that we will awaken in the Kingdom of God. And how will our payment appear? Will there be deductions for unknown obligations? Well, our entire obligation marked by all our sins will indeed be taken away, deducted and marked to zero. All your sins forgiven by very image of God, who is Jesus Christ. The image of Jesus Christ, God incarnate rendered His life unto you, so that all your sins have been forgiven and you will receive your full reward and that is that you may live eternally with Him in the Kingdom of God. Amen.

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.
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