What Does God Require?

 

Based on Matthew 22:15-22

            For most of us, the subject of taxes stirs up some emotion. We understand that taxes are necessary to pay for public services that we all need and enjoy. The military who protect us have expenses that need covered. Police and fire fighters and school teachers need paid. Roads aren’t constructed for free. We all get that. But it’s still taxes. It’s a necessary obligation, not something most of us pay with excitement. And when we hear of people or businesses that use current tax laws to get out of paying what we think is their fair share that can tik a lot of us off. What I’m trying to say is, when it comes to taxes, none of us are joyful or excited about the subject. When you get a letter from the IRS, the response is likely that of your stomach getting tied in knots and your blood pressure spiking. More often than not, we find the subject of taxes to be annoying, stressful or sometimes a topic that makes us angry.

            In the days of Jesus and of Matthew’s church, taxes brought a different kind of burden. Judea was a land occupied by Rome. The taxes in those days didn’t just fund public works. It helped to fund the infrastructure of their oppression. When Caesar imposed his power on Judea, any expenses incurred would not come from Caesar’s treasury. It came from the oppressed population. You can imagine how the people disdained the tax because they knew what it was being used for. They despised that symbol of oppression that funded their oppression. As a matter of fact, the uprising that led to the destruction of Jerusalem was sparked in part by the shared disdain for that tax, in the same vein as the Boston Tea Party tax revolt in our own nation’s history.

            It is this hot button issue about paying taxes that the Pharisees present to Jesus. They know that by asking Jesus this question about whether it is lawful or not to pay taxes that it’s going to get the crowd’s attention and that the crowd already shares an opinion about this tax. But the question they ask is particularly tricky. They did not ask, “Is the tax we pay to Caesar fair.” They did not ask, “Is the tax we pay to Caesar right and just.” Instead, they ask, “Is paying the tax to Caesar lawful.” Which law? Roman Law? God’s Law? They don’t specify. That’s part of the trap question.

            To make it more interesting, the Pharisees bring along with them a group of Herodians. Why did they bring them and where did they come from? This is the only time they show up in the gospel of Matthew. The Herodians were a political group that represented the house of Herod to the Roman government. Herod, while not technically a king, was a royal figure that had been placed on that throne by Caesar. Herod’s rule, if you can call it that, was dependent on Caesar. Thus, the Herodians were supportive of the Roman occupation and, by extension, of the Caesar’s tax on the population.

            It wouldn’t take a genius to know this is a trap when the Pharisees bring along the Herodians to ask Jesus a question about taxes. It’s also one of the reasons why Jesus calls out the Pharisees for their hypocrisy. See, the Pharisees as a whole shared the common resentment toward that tax. By no means were they boosters of the Roman occupation. Yet, in this attempt to make Jesus look bad, they bring along with them representatives of a political group that are strong supporters of that very tax they despise. Not only did Jesus see the hypocrisy, surely the crowd did as well. It causes the Pharisees to come across as desperate and even pathetic, trying to use the Herodians to get Jesus to say openly what the Pharisees would not dare to say but actually believed, that this tax representing their oppression is illegitimate.

            We are all amazed at the answer Jesus gives to their question. As usual, when Jesus is asked a question he turns it around and asks the accusers a question. But first he has one of them, or maybe one of the Herodians are carrying one around, the coin that has to be offered once a year by every person in Judea to cover that tax. The coin, worth one denarius, has the engraved image of the Caesar on it. Inscribed on the coin was the phrase “Tiberius Caesar, the divine and august son of Augustus.” For a pious Jew, this coin reeked of blasphemy. If one of the Pharisees was carrying one of those coins around it only heighten the level of their hypocrisy.

            Of course, Jesus doesn’t give a simple “yes” or “no” answer. He never does. Instead, he gives an answer that forces everyone to reflect, ponder and consider the deeper issue involved. However, he indirectly affirms paying the tax. The coin is Caesar’s property. He is entitled to possess his coins. The despised Herodians were certainly satisfied with Jesus’ response. But Jesus also says that we are to give to God what belongs to God. That is a response that the Pharisees would certainly agree with. So, in the end, both groups get a response they could affirm. That’s partly why the Pharisees were amazed at his answer. And disappointed. They surely were hoping that Jesus would say something that would give the impression that paying the tax was wrong, which the Herodians could then take back to their superiors and have Jesus arrested for sedition. Or he could say something that gives the impression that paying the tax is lawful and that would cause the crowd to think a bit less of Jesus. Instead, Jesus responds in a way that forces everyone to ponder their own response. What is owed Caesar? What is owed God?

            Or, better, what belongs to God? The quick response would be that in fact everything belongs to God. God the creator and source of life is the source of all that exists. God’s dominion is over all the heavens and the earth. I can imagine that this is one of the lines of argument that the Pharisees used when they were privately railing against paying that tax. But I wonder if Jesus has something more specific in mind. Caesar had his coin with his image impressed on it. That coin belonged to him. You and I have an image impressed on our souls. That image is God, for as we read in Genesis 1, we are made in the image and likeness of God. Each of us bears the image of God. So, if the coin that carries Caesar’s image belongs to Caesar, then each person who bears the image of God belongs to God. How could a Pharisee argue against that logic? They walk away amazed. And we are left wondering how we go about giving ourselves to God.

            This is the point where we can try to apply this passage to our own context. Again, we don’t pay taxes like Matthew’s church did. We are not under foreign occupation. Although we aren’t excited about paying taxes, we know that our taxes are funding legitimate public services run by a legitimate government ultimately answerable to us through the power of the vote. But also this passage for us is really not about paying taxes. Jesus takes it to a deeper level. Jesus is asking us to reflect on what we give to God. Another way to say it is, in any given moment in our life what does the Lord require from us?

            Our oldest son, Micah, was named after the prophet Micah, who gave an answer to that question. In Micah 6:8 we read, “What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.” In any given situation, what is the just thing to do? What does kindness call for? How am I to express humility before God in this situation? There’s no direct, easy answer. There could be many ways to do justice, love kindness and walk humbly in any given situation.

            Or maybe this teaching that we are to give to God the things that are God’s is pointing to our lives as a whole, our very being as creatures made in the image of God. In any given moment, how can we give ourselves to God in that moment? Consider the present situation we are all dealing with right now with this pandemic. As we live with and cope with this pandemic, how can we give ourselves to God in this pandemic? Could wearing masks, maintaining physical distance, and living our lives without fear of the virus, all ways we can give our lives over to God?

            Give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and give to God the things that are God’s. What are those things and how do we give them, how do we give ourselves, to God? That is a discipleship question. And in every given situation we find ourselves in there is no simple yes or no answer. The answer is not always clear or simple. It is a question that requires discernment. And by discernment I mean taking the time to pray, to mull over, to think about, to seek advice, to listen to one’s heart, and even one’s gut, when trying to discern what God is asking, what God is requiring of us in any given moment.

            The good news is that God has given us the Spirit to guide us in these discipleship questions. The other good news is that there is not just one right answer. There are multiple ways we can respond in any situation that is a faithful response to what God requires of us. And even if we goof up in our response, it’s not the end of the world. God is also working with us. God takes our humble efforts and blesses them. In the words of that great songwriter from a few years ago, Keith Green, let’s just keep doing our best and pray that it’s blessed. Jesus takes care of the rest.

            That’s my encouragement for you. As you make your way through life and you find yourself in a situation, sit with the question of what it is God is requiring from you. Pray, reflect, perhaps seek advice. Then make a decision and act on that decision. And as you leave that situation and move on, perhaps you will be amazed at the outcome.