Today s sermon could make a lot of trouble for somebody- well, for me, I guess,

Transcription

1 Luke 20:19-26 A Political Question Today s sermon could make a lot of trouble for somebody- well, for me, I guess, because I am breaking the two chief rules of polite conversation: don t talk about religion and don t talk about politics. But with this passage it can t be helped. And knowing that many of you think differently in the political arena than I, sometimes I must walk a dangerous, narrow path when we deal with difficult passages or subjects. But it is not my job to turn you into liberals- or anything else- but rather, to help us all understand a passage of scripture within the context of all of scripture and within the context of what I believe scripture tells us: that God loves us, and all creation; and that Jesus died for us, and for all creation; and that we are called to live in a particular way that demonstrates to the world that profound love of God. And our response to God s love and mercy may be as complex and ambiguous as our political inclinations. So we want to know what this passage means and how it may relate to our American worldview and the political atmosphere we live in this day at the end of a divisive election cycle. My task, when confronted with politics, is to speak word- even a prophetic word- that may help your understanding of the gospel of Jesus Christ, but it is a word that I also need to hear.

2 In the passage today, the religious leaders haven t made any headway in diminishing Jesus influence with the people. Last week we looked at the religious question they asked Jesus, By whose authority do you speak and do these things? and he replied with a religious question of his own, Was the baptism of John the Baptist the teaching of God or of men? a question they did not want to answer, because one answer would put them in a difficult situation with the people and the other would conflict with their own understanding of religion and faith. But they are determined to catch Jesus at something and to get him out of the way, I think not only because he undermines their sway over the people, but because he forces even these learned and powerful men to confront their own belief system. So to get rid of him they send in spies to listen and find out something they can use to turn him over to the ruling authorities. The stakes are much higher now; they realize they are unable to discredit him, and so they hope to accuse him with a charge of treason or insurrection against Rome. And there will be no surviving that charge. They expected to be able to stump Jesus; surely at some point he would betray a religious or political thought that would interest the authorities or turn the people against him. But his answer here, like his other responses, shows a man

3 assured of his relationship with God, a teacher who knew what God s claim upon his life meant. Jesus here does not employ debate techniques to win an argument, or sophisticated rhetoric in order to avoid answering hard questions. I think this answer of Jesus is a real answer he gives to his enemies, and a word for the readers of Luke s gospel, and a word for all of us, a summary of the church s relation to power and authority for every generation. To learn this word we need to understand what Jesus says about Caesar s things and God s things. It may not help to create a list of what we owe to our government and what we owe to God, though certainly it is more than taxes and tithes. The relationship between God and Caesar is tricky, but there are some things we can know from Jesus reply in this passage. 1) No government is a god, and Caesar is not God, despite what the emperors down through history have tried to claim, whether the divine right of kingship, or the title of Sun King or Son of God. 2) Jesus affirms government with his statement. There will always be governments, someone will always be president or senator or king or queen; and to a certain extent government will maintain peace and order in society and do good for its people, and it is the command of Jesus that we take part in that good thing. 3) But Jesus limits our allegiance to government and what we must give or give

4 back to the state- because no government is God. And so, as the church renders to God what is God s, a limit is placed upon patriotism- it can never be my country right or wrong. And if there is a limit, then Jesus means there are times when God s people must resist the state. Again, this teaching is not in the form of a precise law but a matter of interpretation, which the church has struggled with in the past and still deals with today, for there are times that the state usurps the things of God. So we must be careful to ascribe God s approval to one nation, or one kind of government, over another. There were many faithful German Christians in the 1930s and 40s who were members of the Nazi Party and conversely, many who joined the plots to overthrow Hitler. There were many faithful Christians who were slave owners in the 18 th and 19 th centuries, and many who were abolitionists. There were many faithful Christians who supported the U.S. invasion of Iraq, and many who spoke out against a war of aggression. It is an age-old struggle to place in the correct perspective upon what one must render to Caesar within the profound debt we owe to God, the debt we pay back in service to God s children. 4) In his answer, Jesus shows us that he was not creating a theocracy, that he did not come to earth as a political Messiah, or to defeat worldly power with

5 worldly power. That is where the church got it wrong for many centuries of its existence, and where some nations and some current political creeds have it wrong. Government is not an extension of the church, for that creates the worst kind of despotism, where rulers and legislators believe God is on their side and where God is the enemy to all who disagree. No, God is on the side of people, not on the side of power. It is possible to be God s child right now in any nation on earth and under any form of government. Certainly, it s easier in some places than in others, and I know we are all glad and thankful for the freedoms we have in this country. But it is a false idol that democracy is God s ideal; our country is simply one government, one nation, to which we should render tribute, but only as we first render to God our hearts and our lives, and our devotion and service to one another. And so, when we come to worship, the central act we do here is to gather at table, where we all meet the Lord as forgiven equals before him. We do not come to a place of power. We do not gather at a throne, or in a boardroom or courtroom or war room or council chamber. We meet here to render to God, to give thanks and to offer ourselves, as we believe our Lord has offered himself. Here then, perhaps, as we experience amazing grace and learn how to love and show mercy,

6 God will give us insight how to give back for his many blessings, and out of that, how to render unto Caesar. Some theologians and biblical scholars have written that the New Testament authors in general, and Luke and Paul in particular, were too accommodating to the Roman government and the powerful rulers in Rome and Palestine. And so we have the Apostle in one place writing that the rulers have been given authority by God, and that they are God s servants working for your own good. And we have the words of Jesus here, render unto Caesar rather than saying something like, stand up and rebel against the evil and corruption of godless government. I think, rather, this teaching in our scripture calls for humility which, first of all, recognizes that not everything is mine- some things belong to others, and some things are due even to the government. And I must be humble enough to realize that I am not so wise as to understand all the implications of render to Caesar, but must heed and weigh the reasoning of many voices: the voice of conscience, the voices of my church, the witness of the church around the world, and the testimony of scripture. These voices tell us, I believe, that God loves us and all people- not governments; that Jesus died for us and for all people- not

7 governments; and that we are called to live so that others can know this love of God in Jesus Christ. These voices may demand that we support our governmentor some other one- or even may call us to resist or fight against our government- or another one, wherever we may see that government does not serve the people; but in every circumstance that we must render to God the things that are God s, and thus, the first things we must give are hearts and minds and bodies dedicated to loving God and helping one another.