Proper 24 A
Render According to Your Place
St. Matthew 22:15-22
19 October 2014 – Redeemer
When Dr. Luther teaches us to confess our sins in the Small Catechism he examines us in this way, “Consider your place in life.” Your place, the place God has given you, is sometimes over other people – a mother is over her children, a boss is over his workers, a police officer is over a citizen. We call those places authority. God gives us authority that we might serve others – and our sin against this place is when we use authority to benefit ourselves. God also places us under other people – a student is under a teacher, a citizen is under the government, a child is under his father. We call those created orders. God puts us under earthly orders to restrain our sinful flesh and to teach us submission and dependence. Our sin against orders happens when we rebel or dishonor authority – when we cheat on a test, when we rob our employer by wasting his time.
The Pharisees and the Herodians had a problem with Jesus and it was a problem between his place and their places. The Pharisees are the “boo and hiss” villains of the Gospel. They are out to get Jesus. They want Him to have no place in the lives of the Israelites so they try to set a trap for Him. If you’re trying to trap God you have lost your place.
They butter Jesus up, bait him with kind words and flattering speech. It’s like putting a little cheese and peanut butter on the mouse trap. 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. Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?”(16b-17) The Herodians that came with the Pharisees are one jaw of the trap. They’re fans of Caesar. They are loyal followers of Herod. They’re Barack Obama Democrats or Ronald Reagan Republicans. They think Rome is good for the nation and the people. If Jesus says, “No, you shouldn’t pay taxes to Rome” the Herodians will charge Him with rebellion and treason. To jail and executioner He will go. The Pharisees are the other jaw of the trap. They believe that God’s people were meant to be free, that God’s will was for Jews to be self-governing – a church state with the Pharisees forming the Cabinet. The Jews hated Roman oppression and despised paying taxes. If Jesus says, “Yes, you should pay taxes to Caesar” the Jews will reject him, for no Messiah would agree to foreign oppression.
A word to those foolish enough to think you can fool Jesus – Jesus won’t be trapped, but you will be. When Jesus has Words with you, when you listen and hear Jesus, He will put you in your place. The Pharisees were hoping for a simple “Taxes or No Taxes” answer. Oh, they were so close. They had him nibbling and they were ready to set the hook. He almost stepped on the trigger and down he would go, but in a quick reversal the pharisees are now between the jaws of Jesus, trapped by the Word of God.
Jesus answers their question with a request and then a question. “Show me the coin for the tax.” One interesting part of this story is the source of that coin. We don’t know where it came from. Someone’s pocket obviously, but what if it came from the pocket of one of the Pharisees? They wanted to be free of Caesar’s rule, but they were glad to use Caesar’s coin. The temple had been filled with Caesar’s coins when Jesus overturned the money changers’ tables. Later on in this very week – these Pharisees would appeal to Caesar’s men (Pilate & Herod) to rid them of this rebel Jesus. I can imagine the Pharisee’s glee turning to gloom as they handed over that coin. They knew it – it happened to them time after time. We’ve got Jesus right where we want him and then He slips away and we end up getting caught.
Jesus holds up the coin, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” “It’s Caesar’s,” they answer. It’s Caesars and then they begin to fall. Jesus puts them in their place. “Render to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is Gods.” Here’s your place.
First you are under Caesar. You are under the government and government is God’s gift. God stands behind the government. He stood behind a lawless Caesar who killed Christians and he stands behind Barack Obama. We all use the governments legal tender – try buying something at Coburns without money or a bank card that transfers your money to their account. You all used roads built and maintained and regulated by the government to get here. It made your trip fast and safe. If evil or harm is coming upon you you can call 911 and the police will arrive, the firemen will extinguish a fire, and the paramedics will take you to the hospital. The greatest gift that the founding fathers secured for these United States are the freedoms we are exercising right now. We are free to worship God according to our consciences, free to assemble, free to speak – these are rights guaranteed to us in the constitution of our land – that’s government.
As I said earlier the government has been put over you and all people in this land to restrain your sinful flesh. You and I and our neighbors would not fare well without that restraint. The old Adam steals and kills and destroys. He does it in his thoughts and were it not for fear of punishment or public shame he would be even more bold in his actions. Take away the Laws of our land, the threat of punishment, the court system, take away parents’ rights to discipline, and a boss’s right to fire and you would see hell on earth. There are sins you don’t commit simply because you are afraid of being caught and the consequences you would pay – that’s God’s gift to you through government, through putting you under the orders of others.
Render to the government obedience and honor. Render thanks to God and pray for those over you. The worst government the United States ever had probably serves her people better than the majority of governments in the world. Why do you think people come here? Render taxes, render obedience, render thanks, render prayer. The only thing you do not render to the government – you do not obey when they ask you to go against God’s Word.
Render to God what is Gods. What does God want from you? He wants your sins, your death, your hell. He wants you under his reign and rule and as we have learned over the last few weeks from Saint Matthew’s gospel it is a gracious, generous, almost careless rule. The Kingdom is like that vineyard where the owner buys and builds the vineyard and invites you to drink his best Merlot. The Kingdom is like the King who throws a wedding banquet for His son and somehow you’re on the guest list – that least likely loser in the world, ends up at the head table, decked out in royal garb eating a feast, and chatting with King.
God’s Kingdom is the rule of Christ over you. How does Christ rule over you? First He leaves His Castle and High Throne in heaven and comes out to the hinterland – the Son of God becomes man and dwells on earth. He goes to the end of his realm, down to the least of His subjects – He dines with prostitutes and tax collectors. He sits down with people who never prayed for their president but complain the minute one of their government benefits is cut. Jesus comes to you, for you. He takes the lowest place – your place, your place as a damned sinner. He doesn’t use His Divine Authority for a power grab. He gives up His place for a people grab – to rescue and deliver you from every problem that hounds you in this fallen world – your sin, your regret, your shame, your anger, your death, your hell.
Render to God your repentance for not wanting the place He has given you – husbands repent of not loving your wife as you should, sons and daughters for not honoring your parents as you should, citizens for not voting, praying, and working for the protection of all citizens in our land, baptized Christians repent of dishonoring your father in heaven by doing what you want instead of what He wants. Render to God faith that your sins are forgiven, that God’s Son has taken your place, that your death has been died, your hell has been suffered and your sin has been forgiven. Render good works to your Father, not to earn a place in heaven, but because you have the place of His son or daughter through baptism. Use whatever authority you have been given to serve. Honor your place in the order God has established – put to death your old Adam (or Eve) and live under mothers and fathers, husbands, pastors teachers, and yes, the government. Render to Caesar what is Caesars and to God what is Gods. In the name of Jesus. Amen.
Pr. Bruce Timm
18 October 2014 anno Domini