From the Daily Lectionary for Wednesday in the First Week of Advent
Luke 20:19-26
When the scribes and chief priests realized that he had told this parable against them, they wanted to lay hands on him at that very hour, but they feared the people.
So they watched him and sent spies who pretended to be honest, in order to trap him by what he said, so as to hand him over to the jurisdiction and authority of the governor. So they asked him, “Teacher, we know that you are right in what you say and teach, and you show deference to no one, but teach the way of God in accordance with truth. Is it lawful for us to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?” But he perceived their craftiness and said to them, “Show me a denarius. Whose head and whose title does it bear?” They said, “The emperor’s.” He said to them, “Then give to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” And they were not able in the presence of the people to trap him by what he said; and being amazed by his answer, they became silent.
Under Roman occupation probably the most egregious abuse other than martial law in the province of Judea was imperial taxation. Making a sustainable living was hard enough for most people, and to add a repressive tax to an already meager income was a burden impossible to bear. The Jewish elite, who were in many cases exempt from the tax, ask Jesus if paying taxes to the emperor is lawful or not. The question of course is disingenuous. No native Judean agreed that the tax was fair, much less lawful, but to speak against it was nothing short of treason.
Jesus’ answer to the question is artful. He holds up a denarius, a diminutive coin, next to worthless, a coin engraved with the image of Caesar. The audience would remember the third commandment: “thou shall not make for thyself any graven image.” He holds up the coin and says… yes, give this to Caesar… and then, I imagine, with a grand sweep of his hand, he says, “but give all the rest to God.” The point being, of course, that all belongs to God. Jesus has made a striking comparison between the kingdom of God and the empire. This passage is not about keeping separate church and state. It is a statement of God’s sovereignty over the kingdoms of this world. Empires rise and fall. God’s world is eternal, sustainable, regenerative. It is a world of shared abundance and shared dignity. Empires, no matter the skill of its propagandists, cannot claim any of these virtues.
We live in a remarkable democratic republic. Our common life and well-being are managed by “the consent of the governed.” Our strong opinions, our partisan positions, our participation in the political process, our commitment to public life, are rudiments of our citizenship. The freedom we have is contingent to our active stewardship. Patriotism has its rightful place. However, we are first and foremost citizens of God’s kingdom. That means our political predisposition, our advocacy, support God’s vision for the world; that the immigrant is welcome; that we take care of the poor, the outcast, the prisoner; that we support a living wage and shared wealth up and against the hierarchical structures of power; we proclaim non-violence; we stand for justice. When all is said and done, our beloved United States, like the empires come before, when compared to God’s kingdom of radical mutual regard… it is but a tiny coin.
A Prayer for the Nation (BCP p. 258)
O God, you have made all the peoples of the earth for your glory, to serve you in freedom and in peace: Give to the people of our country a zeal for justice and the strength of forbearance, that we may use our liberty in accordance with your gracious will; through Jesus Christ our Savior, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
