Throughout the gospels, we hear about a variety of encounters where religious leaders confront Jesus. In this week’s passage from Matthew, two opposing factions have joined together and try to entrap Jesus. They begin with flattering words, and then set him up with a no-win question about taxes. “Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor or not?” If Jesus says not to pay taxes, he is publicly encouraging people to defy the Roman authorities and will suffer the consequences. If he says yes to the taxes, the crowds who are oppressed by Roman rule (as well as the religious groups who are opposed to Rome’s occupation on religious grounds) will turn against Jesus. Surely the religious leaders are pleased with themselves. They’ve come up with the perfect question to trap Jesus.
His response is not what they expect. He threads his way skillfully between the forced choice they have presented, while actually turning the conversation in the direction he would like to go. Instead of giving a yes/no answer about paying taxes, Jesus pivots with an answer that transforms the encounter into a conversation about allegiance. “Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” He moves the conversation to another level.
This is among the passages Christian thinkers use in conversations about the role people of faith are called to play in civic life. Humans live in communities and for thousands of years we have lived in societies that are large and complex enough to need systems for rule-making, ways to gather resources for the public good, and opportunities for different ideas about life together to be shared. People of faith will always live in political systems and will always need to find ways rely on our understanding of who God is and who we are in relation to each other as we strive to act faithfully in society.
How do we give to God the things that are God’s? How do we live our allegiance daily? That is the underlying question we each will be answering over and over again every day of our lives. In each choice we make (big or small), each encounter with others, each statement we speak, each action we take, we will find an opportunity to live in ways shaped by our commitment to God. Just what does that look like? Just a few verses after this week’s story in Matthew, in response to yet another question from religious leaders, Jesus gives principles that will help guide decisions in our lives. Jesus tells them (and us) that the greatest of all the commandments are: “you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind” and “you shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
As people of faith, we are called to act in ways that reflect our commitment to God and our love for our neighbor in all that we do and say. We “give to God the things that are God’s” by prioritizing God and God’s beloved children in all that we do and say. These principles guide our participation in civic life, as well as all the rest of our lives.
Peace,