Caesar’s Coin
18 October 2014
Proper 24A
8 am Said, 10:00 am Sung Mass
Parish Church of Trinity, Ashland
(Oregon)
God, take away our hearts of stone and give us hearts of flesh. Amen.
We live in a
polarized, partisan world. Money is a
big part of it. Partisans from both sides of the spectrum
argue, mainly about money. “Occupy Wall
Street” protesters bemoan the gap between rich and poor. On the other side, the “Tea Party” protesters
bewail high taxes and big government. Both claim the moral high ground. “Justice” cries one side; “liberty” shouts
the other.
In today’s Gospel,
people ask Jesus to join a faction and endorse a tax revolt.
“Is it right to pay
taxes to Rome?” they innocently ask.
A controversial subject: the Roman
tax had led to riots and revolts in the past that had ended with the
crucifixion of thousands. In 70 C.E., a general
insurrection about it would lead to the destruction of the Jewish homeland.
People saw the tax as political
enslavement, and some, as sin, because it was paid in currency stamped images
of men claiming Godhood.
The local elites had entered into an
uncomfortable partnership with Romans, each party for its own purposes. The Pharisees argued that taxes needed to be
paid to keep peace and save lives. The
Herodians were in bed with the Romans, staffing the bureaucracy, providing
propaganda, and pocketing some of the receipts.
A Temple shekel
They ask this at a
sensitive time and place: Passover Week, in the outer courtyard of the Temple
(Matt 21:23). The day before Jesus had caused a huge disturbance there by driving
out those who exchanged the idolatrous legal tender for kosher currency made
for use in the Temple to buy sacrifices and make offerings (Matt 21:12). The
act was clearly a rejection of the cozy system of power that used the Temple as
a means of controlling people. Was it
also a call to reject the power of Rome altogether, including the hated
taxes? They would accuse Jesus of this
later in the week when he was tried for his life (Luke 23:1-4).
“Is it permitted to pay taxes to the Emperor?”
If Jesus says “yes,” he marks himself as an Imperial tool, a quisling, a disloyal Jew, fair game for the rage of the mob. If he answers “no,” he commits treason and marks himself for Roman execution.
Jesus replies, “In what coin is the tax paid? Can you show me one?”
If Jesus says “yes,” he marks himself as an Imperial tool, a quisling, a disloyal Jew, fair game for the rage of the mob. If he answers “no,” he commits treason and marks himself for Roman execution.
Jesus replies, “In what coin is the tax paid? Can you show me one?”
A denarius
They produce a
denarius, the coin for a day’s wage. It
bears an image of the emperor with the inscription, “Caesar Augustus Tiberius, son of the God Augustus.” On
its back is a picture of Tiberius’ mother Livia, wife of Augustus, posed as the
Goddess Peace.
Jesus innocently asks, “Whose image is that? And whose inscription?”
Jesus has thus reversed the trap set for him.
They are in the Temple, even if only an outer courtyard. By a strict reading of the law, such a coin shouldn’t even be here.
Their sheepish reply shows they know they have been had, “It bears the Emperor’s image and his inscription.”
Jesus replies, “Well then, if this coin belongs to Caesar, give it back to him!” And then he adds, slyly, “And what belongs to God, give back to God.”
Christians over the centuries have thought this was some kind of comment on the scope of our obligations to earthly rulers: two separate realms, God’s and Man’s, the Church versus the State. But this is not what Jesus means.
Jesus innocently asks, “Whose image is that? And whose inscription?”
Jesus has thus reversed the trap set for him.
They are in the Temple, even if only an outer courtyard. By a strict reading of the law, such a coin shouldn’t even be here.
Their sheepish reply shows they know they have been had, “It bears the Emperor’s image and his inscription.”
Jesus replies, “Well then, if this coin belongs to Caesar, give it back to him!” And then he adds, slyly, “And what belongs to God, give back to God.”
Christians over the centuries have thought this was some kind of comment on the scope of our obligations to earthly rulers: two separate realms, God’s and Man’s, the Church versus the State. But this is not what Jesus means.
Tertullian, writing before
the Emperor Constantine put the Church firmly under the control of the state by
legalizing and establishing it, says this: “What has God’s image? Why, human
beings, of course, since ‘God created human beings in his own image.’” It
is not a question of two spheres, but one alone: God’s. We—all that we
are, all that we will become, and that we think is ours—belong to God. We are the coin that bears God’s image that we
must give back to God. Psalm 24:1 says, “The earth is the Lord's, and all
that it in it; the world, and all those who live there.” Everything
belongs to God. We owe God
everything.
So why even give that
coin back to Caesar? For Jesus, money is
not the point. Paying or opposing the
tax both are partisan acts. Both are corrupted by not putting God first. “Go ahead
and give Tiberius that coin, since it plainly belongs to him. But there are
bigger fish to fry—like how we pay back to God what is his!” Don’t get
worked up over taxes, whether morally outraged at a political insult (a loss of
“liberty”) or ritual impurity (committing “idolatry.”) You have that
coin in your pocket. You are already up
to your neck in sewage, so don’t start going all squeamish about a little
splatter on your face.
For Jesus, we are
living in occupied territory: not Romans occupying Palestine, but the Powers
and Dominions, the evil systems that reign here, occupying and distorting God's
good creation. He says, “Do what you need to do to get by under such an
occupation.” That’s why he tells parables about corrupt managers, unjust
judges, and labor disputes: have street
smarts, but don't ever think that this is the main event. “Be as wise as snakes, but harmless as doves.”
Money stands in for so many things for us. It objectifies value and worth, work, and honor. “How much is that person worth?” we ask, oblivious to how we have reduced the person to mere possession of pieces of the economic pie. “I have done right by her,” says the man about to be divorced for emotional abandonment, thinking only of money. “Oh, he doesn’t work, then?” we ask about a stay at home father, just because his work isn’t measured in currency units. The proverb says it all, “Money is Power.”
Jesus will have none of this.
Money stands in for so many things for us. It objectifies value and worth, work, and honor. “How much is that person worth?” we ask, oblivious to how we have reduced the person to mere possession of pieces of the economic pie. “I have done right by her,” says the man about to be divorced for emotional abandonment, thinking only of money. “Oh, he doesn’t work, then?” we ask about a stay at home father, just because his work isn’t measured in currency units. The proverb says it all, “Money is Power.”
Jesus will have none of this.
Jesus says, “No one
can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other,
or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both
God and Money.” (Matt 6:23-25).
It is not just coins with Caesar’s image that are idolatrous. It is any money when it takes first place in our values and judgments. This is why financial stewardship is important for our spiritual growth. If we let love of money or fear of insecurity outweigh our thankfulness for God’s abundance, we are limiting God’s grace for us. If we let them destroy our consecration to God, our willingness to give up the control we have of resources to others whom we trust to work in God’s stead, we damage ourselves.
It is not just coins with Caesar’s image that are idolatrous. It is any money when it takes first place in our values and judgments. This is why financial stewardship is important for our spiritual growth. If we let love of money or fear of insecurity outweigh our thankfulness for God’s abundance, we are limiting God’s grace for us. If we let them destroy our consecration to God, our willingness to give up the control we have of resources to others whom we trust to work in God’s stead, we damage ourselves.
Money is not the only
idol. Power is too: party, sect, identity, clan, or nation when they become
more important than mercy, justice, and love.
The Pharisees and
Herodians want Jesus to spring for a partisan connection. He will have none of this either. What matters for Jesus is an open-hearted
trust and devotion to God, and the acts of mercy and social justice that result
from this. All else is secondary.
So paying Caesar’s
coin back to him also means admitting and wisely managing our loyalties and
partisan identities. Again, “be smart as
snakes, but harmless as doves.” Don’t
deny your identities or have any illusions about your group loyalties, but
don’t let them control you, or run out more important things.
Faction and sect hurt us not just in larger society. In Church, we love to identify ourselves as part of this or that group, tradition, denomination, theological movement, worship style, or way of reading scripture. But when Jesus says, “give unto God what is God’s,” he is saying to let go of our petty preferences and tastes, of any self-absorbed obsession about our own identity and party or sect.
Paul says, “In
Christ, there is no Greek or Jew, slave or free, male or female” (Gal. 3:28).
Listen: In Christ, there is no
Protestant or Catholic, Evangelical or High-Church, progressive or
conservative. Paul says, “Is Christ
divided? Were you baptized into Paul, or
Apollos, or Cephas, or any other party or sect? No” (1 Cor. 1:12-14). Were
we baptized into this or that rector, this or that teacher, or spiritual
director? No. There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism,
one God and Father of all. If we ever
let any affiliation or identity that we have alienate us from this basic truth,
we have lost our way.
The world we live in
is occupied territory. All of us live under the Dominions, and as such,
we are all in Caesar’s game, and have to pay in Caesar's coin. In the
degree that this is so, we play by Caesar's rules. But as Jesus said
after his arrest, "those who live by the sword die by it."
There is a much more important game afoot. There are much, much more
important issues that we should focus on.
I pray that during
this week, in meditation, reflection, and prayer, we all take note of the idols
in our lives and then move to put them in their place. Let us identify
and name the Powers. If you are in the thrall of an idol, stand up, get
off your knees.
Give back to Caesar what he owns. But give to God what is God’s.
In the name of Christ, Amen.
Give back to Caesar what he owns. But give to God what is God’s.
In the name of Christ, Amen.
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