You Asked For It- O Canada! Matt 22:15-22 The Lord s Day, July 1, 2012. We have a very funny sermon title today. Did it strike you in the same way it striked me? There are two ways that it can be said? You can say O Canada like in the national anthem with pride and vigour. Or you can even belt it out in a similar vein by saying O Canada- man I love this country! Canada rocks! Or you can look around and see where we have come from morally and ethically, from having a national Christian ethos, and look around and even scarier, look forward to see where we are headed if the Church does not step up to the plate and transform society. You might look around and exclaim- O Canada with concern, sorrow and regrets. After all Prov 14:13 says: Righteousness exalts a nation but sin is a reproach to any people. For a Christian in 21 st Century Canada the thought of this country should evoke a love for this land but also great sorrow. Canada Day is a great opportunity to reflect as a believer about what God tells us through His word concerning our relationship with earthly countries and governments (the State), and where our true allegiances ought to ly. Among many passage in the Bible that deal with the tension between loyalty to God and state is Jesus brilliant response to a question meant to entangle Him. It is found in Matt 22:15-22. Let s see what it says. Matt 22:15-22 I am very glad to be a Canadian. We have much to be proud of in this country. Its physical beauty, the rich culture that has developed, our past glories that forged the wider community we call Canadian. The Laws which rest on Judeo-Christian/ Biblical roots and principles...when you travel abroad being Canadian means a lot. It helps earn you some instant respect. I am very devoted to this country. I love the land, I vote, I consider myself a good citizen, I pay my taxes. I have even gone above the normal requirements of a citizen and sworn allegiance to Her Majesty the Queen of Canada through my service as a chaplain in the Royal Canadian Army. But there was a time when I was all of that and more Believe it or not there was a time when I was an ardent nationalist. Canada was not just great it was the best and everything else was inferior, or at best second rate. This is known as nationalism. And the Lord was quick to teach me that this nationalism was bordering on the edge of treason (dishonouring) the Lordship of Christ. Which Kingdom was more important to me? I remember he began to soften my fierce love for Canada when, just in time for Canada Day (June 28, 2005), the Paul Martin gov t legalized same sex marriages. O Canada! How could my nation slight my God I asked! I was dumfounded! Then the Lord opened my heart to see that believing in anything other than His Kingdom would leave a bitter after taste. It was good to love your country but my utter devotion shifted drastically that weekend to first and foremost recognizing myself as a member of the Kingdom of God- FIRST, Canadian- a distant second.
Patriotism: Love of and devotion to one's country. Nationalism, or super-nationalism: is excessive patriotism, fanatical devotion, commitment to national advancement to the exclusion of all else. It is a god. This fanatical devotion to a national community was one of the causes of WWI in Europe! What does Jesus have to say to the believer about all this? After all if we have committed our lives to Him, He becomes our LORD. How does a believer go from seeing the State as the giver of life and acting as a god, to a healthy and Biblical approach under the Kingship of Christ? In Matt 22: 15-22 we have yet another passage where the Pharisees seek to incriminate Jesus- for Roman execution. So the entanglement might be less noticeable, the Pharisees and Herodians send their disciples to question Jesus. The Herodians did not agree with the Pharisees politically or religiously but were willing to join forces to take out Jesus (who was a threat to their power and status). And so their disciples set the stage: v. 16b Guess how they choose to entangle Him? Taxes- this was a hot political topic. Isn t this how we still try to bring down election campaigns- ask a political candidate about tax policies! But this was an especially contentious issue for the Jews. All provinces in Rome laboured under heavy taxation. Many Jews felt paying taxes to a pagan government contradicted God s lordship over His people. So Jesus is handed a HOT controversial topic- on purpose. It is a test because no matter how He answers He will lose credibility with someone or some group. Yes- loose favour with the tax burdened people No-Romans accuse him of insurrection and treason But it says that Jesus was aware of their malice, their wickedness and their spite. And so as only Jesus can powerfully and masterfully do, He turns the question upside-down, giving and answer beside the two that everyone expected. In v.19 He asks for the coin associated with the tax= a Denarius. One side was a profile of the emperor and bears the Latin inscription: Tiberius Caesar, son of the divine Augustus. On the opposite side was a picture of the Goddess of peace, Pax, with the Latin inscription High Priest. Jesus asks them the rhetorical question- whose likeness and inscription is this? Duh- they say- it is Caesar, who else would it be?! And as they stood in suspence for the answer that could have split the Jewish nation, caused a riot or injured Jesus reputation. He gives them a response, non-other, than one that when they heard it, they marveled. And they left Him and went away. Jesus said: Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar s and to God the things that are God s. Render in Greek: yield, to give up, give back, return Jesus recognizes that the Sovereign Lord, in this fallen world, has established a realm for the state established by God, so taxes-
give them back to Caesar (for they are his), but in the realm for the matters belonging to God, for the grander and ultimantly important things in life- render/ yield them to God. Jesus does not blatantly specify the matters for each realm, which has for some muddied the waters. But our God is not a god of chaos and confusion but clarity and order. The Roman Emperors were known as the sons of God. They perceived themselves and divine. Early Christians, not desiring to commit idolatry, could not submit to Emperor worship and many were martyred- killed for their faith. Christians worshipped the true Son of God- Jesus Christ. Who in calling Himself Son of God, was in many ways sending the Emperors a message that only God was to be worship and almighty. We know too that Jesus spoke of an alternate Kingdom to those of this world and Satan. Jesus spoke of the Kingdom of God/ Heaven and that if you choose to follow Him, your citizenship is transferred from Rome, Canada- to a Kingdom that will have no end. Jesus set up an alternate Kingdom. If you are a believer your citizenship is not Canadian. It is with Christ. Christ is Lord and we belong to Him! The early Christian writer and pastor, Augustine, reflected on this dilemma for Christians (rendering to Caesar and God) in his book The City of God in which he recognizes 2 cities: The City of God and the City of the world. The Current Reality is that we have the State and the Kingdom of God. Believers actually exist in two kingdoms (we have a foot in each city). The reason why there is not just 1 circle is because Christ has not yet returned- as a result the Kingdom is already but not yet, but one day the civil authorities will ultimately be superseded by Christ. In the meantime God uses the State to govern societies. Paul, the great missionary of the early Church, a member of the Kingdom, did not hesitate to take advantage of the fact that He was a Roman citizen and this afforded him many privileges to promote the Gospel. Most of all, he and the early church prayed for the Roman Empire because its existence meant peace, and peace meant the Gospel could be spread. So we know that believers are truly citizens of only one kingdom and that is the Kingdom of God, but how does the Bible require a believer to relate to the state until Christ s return? Ro 13- submission to authorities.
Paul was writing during the persecution of Nero of the Christians for burning Rome. And here Paul tells them, while the gov t is trying to kill them- to submit to the authorities! That by being peaceable and respectful the State and its officers will encounter a people unlike any other. Loyal (though not bowing to Emperor worship) and productive/industrious, compassionate and loving, truthful and just beyond belief. Such submission is so remarkable that it will bring recognition to Christ (just as Daniel in Babylon and Joseph in Egypt). God is in control of good and evil gov ts to accomplish His purpose. The purpose of gov t is to restrain evil and chaos, punish wrongdoers and promote the well-being of society. Ro 13-- Submission to gov t. And we are to submit to a gov t unless a law or statute contravenes the things of God. 1 Pe 2:13-17- Be subject to the state Fear God. Honour the emperor. (notice the difference of emphasis). 1 Tim 2:1-3- In Pauls list of people whom we should be praying for he includes to: Prayer for our Leaders (so that we might lead quite and peaceful lives). Pray for peace so we might focus on living for od and sharing the Gospel. Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar s and to God the things that are God s. Obey the State unless it asks for something that is not in accordance with Scripture. Remember that believers are citizens of an eternal and perfect Kingdom: The Kingdom of God. What is your greatest lament about the state of our country? Consider making this a prayer priority. Though I now recognize where I truly belong and where my allegiance truly ly, I cannot but help lament over our great nation because she has fallen from a height where the State had truly aspired to exist in accordance with God s laws. The Bible is full of instances where God s people lamented: The beginning of Lamentations (in the LXX) read: And it came to pass after Israel was led into captivity that Jeremiah sat weeping and lamenting and lamented this lamentation over Jerusalem. If you have read Lamentations you will know how raw Jeremiah was because of the destruction of Jerusalem. Matthew 23:37-39- Jesus lamented over Jerusalem too. "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not! See, your house is left to you desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me again, until you say, 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.'" The preface of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms begins by saying: Whereas Canada is founded upon principles that recognize the supremacy of God and the rule of law.
A clause (an interpretive clause of the rest of the charter for that matter) that is seldom heeded. Even our national anthem, in the original 1880 French version uses images like: Under the eye of God, The Canadian grows in hope. Heaven holds his destiny, In this new world. Always guided by its light, He will keep the honour of his flag, Fill our hearts with your immortal breath! Our guide is the law: The victorious cry: "For Christ and the King!" Canada is now a nation that has forsaken God. And yet here we are- loyal Canadians but a people focused on a better Kingdom, citizens of something purer and loftier, and yet still called to transform Canada today, for the glory of God. May God keep our land, glorious and free. AMEN.