Historic First Lutheran Church of Pasadena

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

They laid plans to trap Him. Those are the words used by St. Matthew, the former tax collector, in describing the motives and the actions of the Pharisees when they approached Jesus about paying taxes. The funny part is that the Pharisees honestly could have probably cared less about taxes. They were not part of the Roman government. In fact, the Roman government was hated by the Pharisees as an evil, necessary or unnecessary. In their own minds, they would be probably be better off without the Roman government. So to come to Jesus with this “pressing concern” about the propriety of paying taxes was truly entrapment. If Jesus had answered, “Pay taxes,” the Pharisees could have made Jesus look bad in the eyes of their fellow Jews as being a Roman sympathizer. If Jesus had answered, “Don’t pay taxes,” the Pharisees could have marched right off to the local government office and report him as being a troublemaker, as being opposed to the government. Either way, they figured they’d come out the winner and Jesus would come out the loser.

Jesus’ answer is truly classic, a phrase that has stuck around with us to this very day: “Render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.”

Taxes are on many of our minds right now. We’ve heard a little about taxes from our two presidential candidates. We’ve probably read a little about taxes as we’ve perused the newspaper or the voter’s guide where one proposition after another is explained in detail, telling us how much each proposition will cost us over a long period of time. Ask anyone in the financial industry and they will tell you that we have just passed the October 15 final deadline for filing 2007 income taxes. Many of us have just recently received our annual property tax bills in the mail. Taxes are on many of our minds right now. Rendering unto Caesar is on many of our minds right now.

Knowing that this Gospel was popping up this Sunday in our 3-year cycle of Scripture readings, a ministry colleague back East did a little calculating to prove that Americans tend to not have problems rendering unto Caesar. He started with the premise of a self-employed family of two earning $50,000. annually. He estimated, using reliable percentages, that family pays a little over $21,000 annually in direct taxes (income tax, property tax, self-employment tax, sales tax, etc.) That’s 42% of their income. He then estimated that family pays almost $35,500. annually in living expenses, everything from mortgage or rent payments to clothing to food to gas to a two-week vacation. Already, just doing quick math in the mind, that family earning $50,000. annually is expending $56,500. for taxes and for daily, conservative living expenses. Then factor in 10 percent ($5000.) for contributing to a savings or retirement plan and another 10 percent (another $5000.) for contributions and that family of two earning $50,000. annually is expending almost $66,500. We wonder why so many people are in trouble today. We wonder why so many of us are in trouble today.

Rendering unto Caesar seems not to be a problem today, at least theoretically. We all know that if we don’t pay “Uncle Sam” eventually an official, scary-looking envelope will turn up in our daily mail along with all that junk advertising. We all know that if we don’t pay our car loan or rent payment eventually someone will come to us with their hands open, looking for some money to be placed into them. Caesar, whatever name he goes by today, is fairly unforgiving when people don’t do their proper rendering.

A much more challenging part of Jesus’ answer to the Pharisees is the second part – “Render unto God what is God’s.” I believe that’s a much more challenging part of Jesus’ answer for a couple of reasons.

First of all, God doesn’t send us official, scary-looking envelopes. He doesn’t show up at our doors with His hands open, demanding payment. By the usual standards of Caesar, God is a push-over.

Secondly, I believe those words are much more challenging for us today because we wrestle with the issue of “what is God’s.” The government is clear. They automatically withhold a portion of our income, telling us it belongs to them. Our car registration or property title makes it very clear that there is a lien holder. Someone else clearly owns that shiny Ferrari or that vacation home.

What is God’s? We struggle with that question and because we do, we struggle with rendering unto God what is God’s.

The truth of the matter, whether we want to hear it or not and whether we like to hear it or not is that the clothes on this body belongs to God. The four crisp $20. bills in this wallet belong to God. The car we drive and the house we live in belong to God. What’s more than that, every cell of this skin, every strand of this hair, every drop of blood that keeps us alive belongs to God. We belong to God. We belong to God because He planned us. He made us. He has blessed us abundantly. And, more than anyone else has ever done for us, Jesus Christ died for us. The government has never died for us. Our lien holders have never died for us. Only Jesus Christ has died for us, making “us” “His.”

What is God’s? We get trapped with that question. We struggle with that question because we don’t like the answer. We struggle with that question because we don’t like the consequential outcome and results of the answer. We struggle with that question because it makes us admit at least to ourselves that we owe God much more than we can ever pay.

My friends in Jesus Christ, dearly loved by Him, dearly sacrificed for by Him, render unto Caesar what you must and render unto God what He deserves – your entire body, soul and spirit, your every waking moment, your every precious thought, your every word of praise.

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

Pastor Christopher Schaar
Historic First Lutheran Church of Pasadena