The Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Give to God's People the Things that are God's
Matthew 22:15-22

Today’s Gospel passage concludes with probably one of the most widely known passages in Scripture. From the old King James translation: Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and unto God the things that are God. This passage is frequently used to justify the separation of church and state or as a prod to generous stewardship. But this passage begins with the Pharisees. Historians and religious scholars don’t seem to know a lot about the Pharisees: who they really were, how important they were, what their role or purpose was.

The Gospel writers portray them as active opponents of Jesus. And that gets my attention. When I think of the lack of discipleship in our contemporary society it seems to me to come from indifference, and maybe some selfishness, but not active opposition.

But the Pharisees actively sought to discredit and defeat Jesus. And not just the Pharisees. In today’s passage, Matthew says that the Herodians have come to challenge Jesus as well. It’s easy to read right past that phrase, but we shouldn’t. Here’s what one commentator says about the Herodians in this story: “Now the Pharisees have brought members of the Herodians along. These are the courtiers and clients of Herod, Rome’s puppet king. They represent not only the Jewish ruling authority in Judaea outside the city of Jerusalem, but also the threat of Roman intervention in Jesus’ public ministry. Notoriously, Herod and his followers accommodated the Roman occupying power. So when the Herodians show up to listen to Jesus, the authority of Caesar has now entered the scene” (Angela V. Askew, Sermons that Work).

In the Gospels the Pharisees represent, not so much Judaism overall, but the entrenched structure and power of the temple authorities. And the Herodians represent the political power structure of the day. They represent Caesar and the Roman empire.

In the Adult Ed class last year one of the curricula we used was titled “Eclipsing Empire.” Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan presented the material. Their primary thesis is that God’s Kingdom, as it was presented and manifest in Jesus, directly threatened to eclipse the Roman Empire. Borg and Crossan stress that talking about Jesus without talking about the Roman Empire is like talking about Martin Luther King without talking about racism in America. And yet in church we very often talk about Jesus without any mention of the Roman Empire. They stress that we really need that historical matrix to understand and interpret Jesus’ words and actions.

This certainly seems a valid point with this Gospel passage. In this passage Jesus is reacting. Jesus’ words are said in reaction to provocation from the Pharisees and representatives of the Roman Empire.
Borg and Crossan emphasize how Jesus was an explicit threat to the Empire. For example, Caesar’s public titles at the time included: “Divine, Son of God, God, God from God, Lord, Liberator, Redeemer, and Savior of the World.” When equivalent claims and status are attributed to Jesus, they come into direct conflict.

Also, the Kingdom of God and the Roman Empire offered contrasting ways to order society, to bring peace and stability, to establish right relationship between citizens. In the Roman Empire peace is achieved through victory. Civic relationships are characterized by a differential of power and this maintains security and stability.

In the Kingdom of God peace is achieved through justice… the sort of justice which is called distributive justice. Right relationship between citizens in the Kingdom of God is characterized by a just distribution of God’s blessing and abundance.

Peace through the victory of the powerful. Peace through the just distribution of God’s abundance. Empire versus the Kingdom of God.

We do well to ask ourselves today: What is the coinage of our relationships with others in society, in the world. What is the coinage of our relationships with other human beings? Is it power? Or is it the just distribution of God’s gifts? Are we on the side of Empire or the Kingdom of God?
I think it is hard to deny that in the global world of nations we live in a world of empire, a world where relationships are characterized by power.

A very superficial Wikipedia search suggested that in a recent year, the United States’ budget for military spending was over 650 billion. In the same time frame, non military foreign aid was around 30 billion. That’s 5% on sharing, compared to power. I know this kind of statement tends to generate knee jerk reactions from people on all parts of the political spectrum. Hold those knee jerks. It occurred to me in passing as I was thinking about these things that knee jerk reactions and kneeling are mutually incompatible activities. You can’t have a knee jerk reaction and kneel at the same time.

I know these are complicated issues. I only mean to illustrate a reality that I think is very hard to deny. We live in a world of empire. We live in a world that maintains, or seeks to maintain peace and stability by the use of power.

We also live in a world that lacks distributive justice. Some of you drive through Ford Heights on your way to church. And there are all of the occupy Wall Street, occupy Chicago, occupy everywhere protests that are going on right now. I haven’t really given these much careful thought. And the issues here, too, are complicated. I am sympathetic to the critics who point out that the protestors are complicit in the systems they criticize and that their goals are vague. But it seems to me that this movement arises out of the unarguable reality that distributive justice is not present in our world. Our world is not characterized by a just distribution of God’s gifts.

We live in a world of empire. And just as he did 2000 years ago when he challenged the Roman Empire, I think Jesus challenges the world of empire in which we live.

I do believe that Jesus calls us to citizenship and advocacy for a world of distributive justice. The Kingdom of God is a place where God’s blessing and bountiful gifts are justly distributed. Even the Pharisees when they were speaking to Jesus noted that Jesus did not treat people with partiality. And our baptismal covenant, our Episcopal articulation of faith and mission, speaks of our call to work for justice and to respect the full and equal dignity of every human being.

Yes, on a global or national scale in the political sphere, these issues are complex. But we must ask ourselves: If we affirm that all good comes from God… all good comes from God… the bounty of the earth, the abundance of blessing, the opportunity for joy and wonder… the rich resources of creation… If all good comes from God, how can we act to help justly distribute God’s good gifts? We must act that question at every stage of our civil and political involvement. How can my action, my voice, my vote, help in the just distribution of God’s gifts?

And the choice between empire and the Kingdom of God is ours also on a more immediate or personal level. Every time you encounter a person in need and you have resources in your possession share, distribute. It’s that simple. Every time you have been blessed with something good or beautiful, share.

A few other examples come to mind. A ministry colleague of mine is involved in a program called the National Parks Project. This is not a government program. It’s a program that works to provide opportunities for kids with limited opportunities to experience our country’s National Parks. It’s a way to share with others the wondrous beauty of God’s creation found in our National Parks. That’s Kingdom of God distributive justice work.

Another program. Chicago Opera Theater (Chicago’s other opera company) has a program called Opera for all. It’s an outreach program in the schools. Lots of cultural institutions do something like this, taking the arts to the schools, and these are all good programs, but this one is special. This is about much more than the formation of future audiences. They go to four elementary schools in Chicago where exposure to the arts is limited. And they don’t just go for one concert; they stay for the whole year. They perform music, yes, but they also work with the students to help the kids write their own operas. I doubt that the finished product has much in common with traditional grand opera, but the kids have the opportunity to be creative. It’s a sharing of God’s gift of creativity. Distributing the glorious gift of creative endeavor more justly.

As Christians, we often talk about how everything comes from God. With that comes the general sense of obligation that we probably ought to be giving more to the church than we are as a way of giving back to God. But God doesn’t need our gifts. And I think we forget that God is not present just in the church, but in the hearts and souls and lives of every human being. God is present in God’s people. To give to God’s people is to give to God.

So maybe we should hear Jesus’ words in this morning’s Gospel like this: Give to God’s people the good things that are God’s. As citizens of the Kingdom of God, we are to work for the just distribution of God’s good gifts. Give to the people of God the abundant goodness that is God’s.