Matthew 22:15-22
Then the Pharisees went and plotted to entrap him in what he said. So they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying,
“Teacher, we know that you are sincere, and teach the way of God in accordance with truth, and show deference to no one, for you do not regard people with partiality.
Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”
But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why are you putting me to the test, you hypocrites? Show me the coin used for the tax.”
And they brought him a denarius. Then he said to them, “Whose head is this and whose title?” They answered, “Caesar’s.” Then he said to them, “Give therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s.”
When they heard this, they were amazed, and they left him and went away.
We are in that season again, and I don’t mean fall. It is election season, as you must be aware. The season when you can't turn on the TV without getting bombarded with campaign ads; where news feeds are filled with the recap of the latest debate, and video clips of the biggest gotcha moments go viral.
I’ve heard again how this is the most important election of my lifetime, just like the one two years ago and the one before that. The attacks are brutal. Things feel rather intense. This past week while home with two sick kids, I got a break from all that as we watched the latest toy story.
Toy Story has been popular around here this year, with our VBS theme being Toy Story. And for good reason. It is a fantastic series!
For more than three decades, Toy Story has made little kids laugh, young adults cry (myself included), and everyone reminisce about their toys and childhood. There are countless themes and plot lines worthy of sermon series, but perhaps none more than belonging and identity - present in every movie including the newest.
I won't spoil it if you haven't seen it, but the latest toy story takes on tech and the questions of screens. But it also takes on the question of how we act and what we do because of our belonging to someone or something. There is a scene where the Buzz Lightyear talks to a bunch of new, updated tech driven buzz lightyears wondering what their purpose is. Buzz tells them “your toys and your job is to make kids happy.” And throughout the movie, all the toys act together in ways they believe best serve their owner.
Which makes sense; these toys bear the names, the mark of their owner or owner(s). Jessie, the cowgirl and main character in this newest addition, is constantly looking at the name under her boot and behind her chaps. She is moved by that mark to do what is best for her owner, which in this movie is to connect her with other kids for friendship and play.
Toy Story is a world where one's identity and value and purpose is derived from the love of the one who calls them their own. That belonging shapes both who they understand themselves to be and how they act because of it. Belonging and identity are also at the heart of what Jesus is after in his response to today's tricky question.
Things were getting rather intense for Jesus, too. Over the past couple of days, Jesus has made a lot of people really mad. He threw out the temple money changers - people who extorted the poor through fees and inflated prices. Then, he told a number of parables aimed at the temple leaders and religious authorities.
Today, those leaders, the Pharisees, paired up with the group that was their enemy, the Herodians, because, as the saying goes, “the enemy of my enemy is my friend”.
These groups represented two very different parties. The Pharisees were the religious leaders who opposed Caesar. The Herodians were political leaders who favored him and his Roman agenda. The two parties could not get along except for their opposition to this rebel rousing rabbi.
So, after their compliment that drips with sarcasm, the elephants and donkeys, I mean Pharisees and Herodians, lay their trap: Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not? Its hard for us to appreciate how good of a trap this is.
If Jesus says yes, he sides with the herodians who like the tax because it provides roads, sanitation, and clean water. That also means he sides against not only the Pharisees, but the crowd around him who hate the tax, because it is a reminder of their oppression living under Roman rule. The crowd would turn on him for sure. But if he says no, and sides with the Pharisees, the Herodians can report him for sedition and treason, punishable by death.
Talk about a gotcha moment.
That is until Jesus gives his response: Render, give back, to Caesar the things that are Caesar and to God the things that are God’s. It’s the second part of that sentence that’s so brilliant and maddening. The coin bears the image of Caesar and is marked with his name, his opponents have already told everyone that.
What Jesus doesn’t ask and leaves for his opponents and for you and I to ask and answer ourselves is what, or really who, bears the image of God? Under whose proverbial boot is God’s name written? And what do they give back to God?
We belong to God. You and me and all people are made in the image of God, as Genesis tells us. And even more so as Christians, as little Christ’s, it’s as if at baptism, Jesus indelibly writes his name on your forehead. So when Jesus says to give back to God the things that are God’s, he is talking about me and you. That belonging shapes our identity and informs how we act in the world.
Like the toys in Toy Story, they did not act to earn their belonging. Andy and Bonnie love their toys because they are theirs! And because they are loved, the toys want to do all they can to make the person they belong to happy.
In the same way, we did nothing to belong to God. God simply made us God’s own. Which means you can’t belong to a political party or a president no matter what they say, what demands they make, or what identity they try to give you. Because you have already been claimed. And nothing and no one can take that mark away from you. That belonging and love inspires what we do in the world, including how we render to Caesar the things that are Caesars.
Jesus is clear, we do owe things to Caesar and Rome. In our day, that means we pay our taxes, we vote, we uphold just laws, we run for office. Belonging to God doesn't free us from our responsibilities to the world or to our country. It shapes how we fulfill them. You see we do all of those things (pay taxes, obey laws, vote, serve jury duty), never out of your allegiance to Caesar, or in hopes of one party winning, and especially not for ourselves; but only ever for your neighbor.
For in serving our neighbor, we serve God, to whom we belong. God does not need your taxes or your vote or any other civic action, but your neighbor does.
Before any election, the question to ask ourselves is not what party or candidate do I want to win but who will serve my neighbor best? All your neighbors, but especially your hungry neighbors, thirsty neighbors, unhoused neighbors, immigrant neighbors, your sick neighbors.
Over the next two weeks, Rome will tell you to act, vote, and believe this way or else: or else you aren’t American, or else democracy will be over, or else the other guys will win and the whole thing will go to hell.
Caesar will demand your loyalty and your allegiance. But what Caesar cannot tell us is who we are and whose we are. For you belong to God. Before you are a republican or democrat, a progressive or conservative, a pharisee or herodian, you are a child of God.
That belonging inspires how we live in the world. Do people see the family resemblance by how we act, what we say, how we welcome, and how we serve our neighbor?
For what we do to our neighbors, we do to God. Sometimes we get that right, sometimes we don’t.
Regardless, God’s mark is still there.
Amen.
