October 22, 2023
St. Andrew Church
Rev. Anne McAnelly
First Lesson: Psalm 96:1-9
1 O sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth. 2 Sing to the Lord, bless his name; tell of his salvation from day to day. 3 Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples. 4 For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised he is to be revered above all gods. 5 For all the gods of the peoples are idols, but the Lord made the heavens. 6 Honor and majesty are before him; strength and beauty are in his sanctuary. 7 Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. 8 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; bring an offering, and come into his courts. 9 Worship the Lord in holy splendor; tremble before him, all the earth.
Second Lesson: Matthew 22:15-22
15 Then the Pharisees went and plotted to entrap him in what he said. 16 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. 17 Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?” 18 But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why are you putting me to the test, you hypocrites? 19 Show me the coin used for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius. 20 Then he said to them, “Whose head is this, and whose title?” 21 They answered, “The emperor’s.” Then he said to them, “Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” 22 When they heard this, they were amazed; and they left him and went away.
Who, What and Why. The Pharisees we all know as the religious leaders of Jesus’ time. But who are the Herodians? Herodians were supporters of Herod Antipas, the ruler in that Galilean region. So of course, the Herodians would be in favor of the people paying taxes. The What is the new tax that was started in 6 A.D. when Judea became a Roman province. The Pharisees and the people grumbled over this tax. No one likes new taxes. Yet here the Herodians (political leaders) and Pharisees (religious leaders) join forces to entrap Jesus. They are both threatened by his rising influence. They start with a little schmoozing, lying to Jesus about their thoughts of his integrity, before asking him, “Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?”
The why here is the Herodians and Pharisees asking, Should the authority of Caesar be recognized and the poll tax be paid to him? In other words, whose authority does Jesus follow? Who is the real king, the real sovereign. The Herodians would have taken an interest in Jesus and his political views. Herod Antipas had already executed John the Baptist, but who was this Jesus with his itinerant ministry and talk of a kingdom? Was he setting himself up against Rome? The question of payment of taxes was an obvious way to gauge his political views and perhaps to discredit him in the eyes of the people. They were giving Jesus a lose/lose situation. “Ifhe answers yes, then he could be perceived as in collusion with Rome, justifying Roman occupation and oppression of the Jews. This would not be a popular answer among the Jewish people. On the other hand, if Jesus answers no, he could be suspected of revolutionary sentiment against Rome” (Working Preacher, Jeannine Brown). A lose/lose choice.
Fortunately, Jesus sees through their ploy and asks his own questions. After considering the Roman denarius, Jesus responds, “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s.” One commentator writes, “The beauty of Jesus’ answer is that he both concedes payment of the census tax while subverting the reach of the emperor. If read one way, Jesus’ answer is simply an affinnation of Christian submission to governing authorities. Yet if read from another angle, Jesus affirms the all-encompassing reach of God’s ownership in a way that relativizes imperial claims of right to rule. The denarius which Jesus called his questioners to produce read “Tiberius Caesar, August Son of the Divine Augustus” on one side and “Pontifex Maximus” (high priest) on the other. Into the reverberation of such all encompassing and even idolatrous claims, Jesus here reasserts God’s ownership and rule” (Working Preacher, Jeannine Brown). Jesus turned a lose/lose situation into a win/win! He asserts God’s authority without challenging Rome.
How and where we spend our money says a lot about what we value and how we think. It also demonstrates who and what we are aligned with. Consumerism has a way of pulling us into things we don’t value or getting us to want and buy things we do not need.
We just finished up our Stewardship drive as we each prioritize and share how we spend our resources, and what we share with God. Thank you for turning in your pledge! And you can still do that by simply emailing the church office sharing your intentions. We will start follow up calls soon.
Tom Long, a preaching professor when I was at Princeton paraphrased the question to Jesus. “In effect, the opponents of Jesus ask, ‘Are you a fo,olish, uncompromising revolutionary whose allegiance to the kingdom of heaven is actually a political revolution in disguise, or are you a smooth-talking street preacher who stirs up people with glib talk of God’s majesty but who underneath advocates a get-along-go-along policy with the Roman, Gentile pigs?” (Matthew, Westminster Bible Companion, 251 ). It struck me reading this, that Israel is still trying to figure out allegiances and funding today. The horrific attack against Israel, is the worst ever inflicted. Yet we cannot remove this terrorist attack from the 74-year occupation of the Palestinian land and the oppression Israel inflicts on the people trapped there. Our news is strongly biased against the Palestinians, turning a blind eye to the inhumane way Israel treats those under their rule. We must remember that it was Imperial maneuvering that created the State of Israel, displacing the Palestinian people. It is also international law and NA TO that perpetuates the conflict. This truly is a lose/lose situation.
When Jesus was faced with a lose/lose situation he asked questions. I imagine Jesus asking, “Is it lawful to support Israel when we say we want a Two State Solution? Is it right that we have given Israel 260 billion dollars in military and economic aid, while the Palestinians live in oppression and poverty? Why doesn’t Israel have compassion for the Palestinians since the world had compassion for them after WWII? I walked through the Holocaust Museum wondering how they interpret their own story of oppression and continue to oppress another people?
The religious and political powers in Jesus’ time tried to entrap him with a question. But he was able to turn that around, staying faithful to our God. Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s.” God has claim over everything! Everything belongs to God, and we still pay taxes.
Today the Who, What, and Why of this conflict differs based on one’s perspective and allegiances. I think we have gotten tied up in the politics of the situation and have lost our compassion and faith that would say free the oppressed in Palestine by giving them their own state. Yes, support Israel, but only if they create a two-state solution. Stop pretending that we can say we want Palestinian autonomy, but only support the country that is oppressing them. In Jesus’ day the leaders justified Roman occupation and oppression of the Jews. Now leaders justify the Israeli occupation and oppression of the Palestinians.
Jesus showed us that a lose/lose situation can be turned into a win/win if we ask the right questions. So who gets our money? Who are we aligned with? Who is your king? Our Psalm is called a psalm of enthronement, celebrating the joy of God’s reign. “O Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth!” “Sing a new song to the Lord.” They are singing a new song to welcome in a new era, a new time in God’s reign. What new song do you want to sing? What new era do you want to have ushered in? I so hope that our leaders can sing a new song about the conflict in the Holy Lands. Sing a new song about the entrapment of Palestinians. Sing a new song about uniting around God’s promise of peace and justice in all the world. AMEN.
