Serving God, Serving Our Nation

Robert Hall
Tarrytown United Methodist Church

July 2, 2006

Mark 12:13-17 (Deuteronomy 10: 12-21)

We are not accustomed to the question of whether or not we should pay taxes. In the USA, we must pay taxes, or face some serious consequences.

But for first century Hebrew people, it was an issue. The government which levied the taxes was the Roman empire, uninvited conquerers. The coin used to pay the tax was the denarius, which had the image of Tiberius Caesar, with the inscription, “Son of the Divine Augustus, the High Priest.” So paying the tax would be an insult to the Jews on two fronts: rubbing in their subjection to another nation, and requiring them tacitly to acknowledge Tiberius as divine.

So Jesus was being drawn into a hot controversy. On the one hand, the Pharisees had accommodated themselves to the Roman presence, but they did not like it. The Zealots, remnants of the revolutionary revolt against Rome earlier, were violently opposed to paying the tax. The Herodians had thrown in with Herod, the Hebrew leader who was a Roman puppet. If Jesus says not to pay the tax, he will be in trouble with the Romans and Herodians; if he says to pay the tax, he will be on the bad side of the large population of common people, including the Zealots.

The Herodians and Pharisees begin by flattering Jesus twice: They call him sincere, and that he shows no partiality to anyone, and that he teaches truthfully. Then they ask, in two diffferent ways, “Is it lawful {permitted} to pay the tax?” And, then, “Should we, or should we not?” But Jesus sees right through them, that they are trying to entice him into a hard spot. So he asks them to bring him a coin. Now, by rights, they should not even have a coin, because of its symbolism of being a god’s coin. But they find a coin pretty quickly. It is Jesus’ show and tell. Then Jesus asks the question, “Whose head and inscription is on the coin?” When they identify the obvious, Jesus gives the famous instruction: “Give Caesar what belong to him and God what belong to God.”

Notice: Jesus does not really give them a direct answer. He throws back to them the decision: You decide what belongs to Caesar and what belongs to God; then do what is right.

Those listening to Jesus would have known that, according to their faith tradition, every thing that exists, including they themselves, belongs to God. They are made in God’s image. The coin may be imprinted with the head of Tiberius; but they, each of them, are imprinted with God’s image. So, what do you give to God? Your whole life, your ultimate loyalty. “You shall have no other gods before you.” In deciding whether to pay the tax, remember that there is a priority of loyalties, and God comes first. We belong to God by creation. “Our primary obligation to God includes and transcends every other duty.” ( Lamar Williamson, MARK, John Knox, 1983).

As early Christians would remember and teach this saying of Jesus, they also knew of another reason for this ultimate loyalty. We are the children of God by redemption as well as creation. Jesus is our Savior and Lord, and no ruler can take his place.

Our context is vastly different today. The first century faithful, Jewish and Christian, lived as subjects of a government they did not choose and which they were unable to change. The best they could hope for was a benevolent ruler who would impose enough stability that they could live without being invaded and get on with their day to day lives. We live in a nation, the leaders and laws of which we continue to choose, and which we continue to change. Though we may complain, we are greatly blessed by the division of powers, the rule of law, the guarantee of basic freedoms and the ability to choose our leaders. We have protections which ancient peoples would never have envisioned.

So Jesus’ words so long ago are not a law for us to obey but a way for us to think about our decision of how to relate to our governing authorities. The question is given back to us, too: What do we owe God and what do we owe our nation? In our context, how we we honor God and our nation?

It is tempting to divide the world into God’s realm and the state’s realm, and try to serve them under different values. But as those who owe our deepest allegiance to God, this is not an option. We take our Christian principles into life and find ways in which they can be applied to the political order in which we live.

I believe Jesus would push us back to the two-part great commandment: that we are to love God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength; and to love our neighbor as ourselves. I suggest that we see our nation as one of our neighbors, needing our active participation. In our situation, we are not only permitted but commanded to love our neighbor, in and through service within our nation---all while keeping our primary loyalty foremost.

To be sure, our service to nation cannot be a blind or dumb loyalty. The nation, as the church, is always in the need of being reformed. Ours must be a prophetic witness, calling our country to live up to the ideals enshrined in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. These include the dignity of every person as created in God’s image, equal protection under the law and freedom of opportunity. We are also called to re-shape our national life so that those who are most vulnerable to mistreatment and exploitation and neglect will be cared for: in biblical terms, the widows, orphans and resident aliens. (See the Deuteronomy text!)

I was born almost one year after the beginning of our entry into WWI. I have never seen our nation more divided than it is now. There is great division regarding the shape of our future as a nation. Our nation needs us, the church, to participate. We are a peculiar people: we are transnational in that wherever anyone confesses Christ and is baptized, we declare that we are brothers and sisters with them. But every Christian lives in a particular place. We have a vision of what God wants the world to be. And, so, in this nation, we serve that vision within our national life. We will differ, even in the same church, on strategies to advance the righteousness and justice of God in our national life. But I hope we will be united in our common vision as demonstrated in the life and teachings of Jesus.

I can be a cynic with the best of them, but I am called to set aside cynicism as a disciple of Jesus Christ. I am called to live with hope for the future of God’s kingdom and to join with God in the shaping of our nation in the service of that kingdom.

Within the church, we will not reach the same conclusions about our obligations to the state as Christians. But Jesus calls us to keep our priorities straight. We are called to worship the Lord of lords, the God of gods. We are warned not to worship any Caesar, anytime, or any nation, or any flag. No nation or leader can bear the weight of being worshipped. We rightly serve our nation when we understand and live out of the truth that we belong first to God. We serve the kingdoms of this world by living under the influence of the kingdom of God, that active, powerful, truth-telling love which we have known and experienced in the Risen crucified one, Jesus Christ.

Are you rendering unto your nation that which God calls you to render? What are the calls to discipleship that God has placed on your heart, to serve the nation, the communities where you live, the state in which you reside, as an expression of your ultimate loyalty to God?