“Of Taxes and Patriotism”

             I am returning after a long absence from blogging.  Christ UMC, the church where I pastor, generously provided me with a month free from the pulpit in June, so that I could do some long-range planning for worship services and programming over the next twelve months.  So, this Sunday I return to my preaching responsibilities after a very fruitful “planning month.” 

            This first Sunday in July closely coincides with our national celebration of “Independence Day” on the 4th of July.  So, in recognition of our national celebration, I want to focus on the relationship between faith and patriotism.  Specifically, what obligations do Christians owe to their secular government?  To inform and guide our exploration of this question, hear this story from Jesus’ ministry:

“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 the emperor, 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, ‘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.’ When they heard this, they were amazed; and they left him and went away.”  ~ Matthew 22:15-22

            In order to appreciate this episode, it is important to fully understand the political context at the time of Jesus’ ministry.  Jesus lived in Israel, a country which had been conquered and subjugated by the imperial Roman Army.  Israel and its capital city of Jerusalem were occupied by Roman soldiers, who enforced the Roman law.  For instance, Roman soldiers or government officials could legally compel an Israelite to carry their pack or other equipment for one mile (see Matthew 5:41).  Naturally, this bred resentment and animosity against the Romans.

            Of all the insults and penalties which the Israelites endured as an occupied people, the worst, most egregious was the “census tax,” a tax levied on each person within Israel.  The Romans required that this tax be paid in Roman currency.  Most of the Roman currency contained the image of Tiberius Caesar, who was the Roman Emperor.  It also contained an inscription which said, “Tiberius Caesar, august son of the divine Augustus, high priest.”  From the perspective of their Jewish beliefs, most Israelites considered the coins blasphemous because of the image and inscription. 

For many Jews, the census tax was the last, ultimate humiliation.  A nationalist movement began to form after the tax was instituted in 6 C.E.  This movement built over the next 60 years, until a revolution erupted in 66 C.E.  The "Great Revolt"was fought between Jewish Zealots and Roman soldiers for the next four years.  Finally, the Romans gained the upper hand and defeated the Jewish Zealots.  The Romans destroyed the Temple and completely burned the city of Jerusalem. 

In our scriptural account the Pharisees and Herodians, who were theological adversaries of Jesus, seek to trap him.  Although they begin with much flattery, the question they put to Jesus is a “trick question.”  They ask Jesus, “Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?”  In their use of the term, “lawful,” Jesus’ adversaries mean the Jewish law – not the Roman law. Fundamentally, Jesus’ antagonists have posed a question of duty and obligation.  Essentially, they are raising the same question which we are exploring this weekend:  “What obligation do the faithful owe to their secular government?”

As noted above, this is a trick question; a trap.  On the one hand, if Jesus says that it is lawful to pay the census tax, then his response will antagonize and alienate many of the Jews who hate the tax and are already sympathetic to the nationalist Zealot movement.  On the other hand, if Jesus replies that it is unlawful and that the faithful should refuse to pay the tax, then he risks being arrested by the nearby Roman soldiers as a revolutionary.

Of course, Jesus nimbly sidesteps the trap by replying, “Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”  Matthew records that Jesus’ adversaries are amazed by his insightful answer and that they turn and go away.

Our contemporary political context in the United States is radically different than the political context in which Jesus found himself in the First Century.  Yet, we, too, must struggle with this same fundamental question:  “What obligations do Christians owe their secular government?”  In my reflections on Sunday, I will suggest that Jesus’ answer to this question is very open-ended and so the answer depends upon the political context in which Christian disciples find themselves. 

As noted above, it seems to me that Jesus’ response is open-ended.  It is not that Christians must simply pay their taxes and be respectful.  Rather, Jesus says more than that; Christ urges his followers to render to the government what belongs to the government.  What belongs to the government may vary with political context.  In other words, the obligations which Russian Christians owe to their government may vary greatly from the duties and obligation which we American Christians owe to our government.

In the United States, we are governed through a representative democracy.  In this form of government, religious conviction has an important role to play.[i]  The Founding Fathers appreciated that a free and open public discourse was vital to a healthy democracy.  Therefore, they intended to create a system which encouraged many participants to engage in public discourse, sharing a diverse variety of different perspectives. 

Most of the Founding Fathers believed that religion has a vital role to play in the ongoing public discourse so critical for a healthy democracy.  For instance, George Washington, in a “Farewell Discourse” at the end of his Presidency says, “Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports.”  What Washington and other Founding Fathers perceived was that religion has the capacity to look beyond narrow individual and group self-interests, in order to discern broader concerns of justice, peace, and long term vision.  In its history, there have been times when religious people called the United States to respond to these higher concerns.  Two of these times were religious leadership in the abolition of slavery in the nineteenth century and the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s.

One of the largest challenges perceived by the Founding Fathers was the threat of what they called, “factionalism,” which today we might refer to as “polarization.”  In the Federalist Papers, No. 10, James Madison writes that with factionalism, “the public good is disregarded in the conflicts of rival parties, and that measures are too often decided, not according to the rules of justice and the rights of the minor party, but by the superior force of an interested and overbearing majority.”

In our present political climate, factionalism or polarization has become extremely exacerbated to the point that meaningful public discourse has been completely eroded.  We do not listen to divergent perspectives anymore.  Instead, we talk past one another.  We have our own news sources, our own trusted pundits.  Truth has become relativized and we only believe what already validates our preconceived perspectives.  Yet, public discourse is the life blood for a democracy.  If we cannot renew and revitalize public discourse, then democracy will surely die.

Perhaps churches have an instrumental role to play in the renewal of public discourse and the revitalization of our democracy.  Since love is the core of the Christian message, contemporary American churches, as gathered communities of faith, have the requisite resources for creating safe places to renew public discourse and political dialogue. 

We began this time by asking, What obligations do Christians owe to their secular government?  Within the American political context, perhaps one of the most important contributions which Christians can make to our government is to work towards restoring public discourse.  Additionally, Christians must also encourage our fellow citizens to lift our gaze above narrow self-interest and also work for broader issues of peace and justice and vision.

If you live in the Lincoln, Nebraska area and do not have a place of worship, then I invite you to come and join us this Sunday, July 2nd, as we celebrate Independence Day.  Christ United Methodist Church is located at 4530 A Street.  Our classic worship services are at 8:30 and 11:00 on Sunday mornings. 

Come and join us.  Everyone is welcome and accepted because God loves us all.

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[i] Although the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution prohibits the establishment of any religion as the official religion of society, it also guarantees the free exercise of religion.