May the mumbling commence!
Are we fraudulent in our faith? It is a question we have to ask ourselves honestly when we examine our lives. It is a question that the religious leaders of Jesus’ day neglected to ask honestly of themselves. Read from Matthew chapter twenty-two:
Then the Pharisees went off and discussed how they could trap him in argument. Eventually they sent their disciples with some of the Herod-party to say this, "Master, we know that you are an honest man who teaches the way of God faithfully and that you don't care for human approval. Now tell us - 'is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not'?"
But Jesus knowing their evil intention said, "Why try this trick on me, you frauds? Show me the money you pay the tax with." They handed him a coin, and he said to them, "Whose face is this and whose name is in the inscription?"
"Caesar's," they said.
"Then give to Caesar," he replied, "what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God!"
This reply staggered them and they went away and let him alone. (Verses 15-22)
Jesus called them frauds. What was fraudulent about what they were doing? The answer is not easy for us to understand because of the gulf of time and culture. In the Jewish culture of Jesus’ day, graven images were a big time no-no. It violated one of the Ten Commandments in their eyes.
The Jewish leaders who confronted Jesus with the tax question should not have been carrying Roman coinage because of the images that they held – the image of Caesar, who was worshiped by some as a god. It was the reason for the moneychangers in the temple – temple tax could not be paid in Roman denominations because of the images on the coins.
Yet the Jewish leaders easily produced a Roman coin for Jesus. That is one of the reasons that Jesus called them frauds. In many ways, they were living lives of deception. Later in Matthew, Jesus goes through a long line of these deceptions of the religious leadership.
It is an interesting question in this season of presidential election. How does our faith intersect with the ways that we pay tax to our government? Are we willing to give back to government what is theirs to begin with? Who graces our bills and coins? Former presidents and historic figures grace them.
Jesus did not deny the need of paying taxes to the government. Let us not be hesitant to pay our share of the tax. It supports needed programs and subsidies. It invests in our future as a nation. The money may not always be spent in the way that we would like.
Even so, in our country, we have the power to vote people into and out of office. We have the ability to write to our representatives and speak our minds. We have the privilege of helping to unseat the many powerful political action committees that in actuality run our government.
Yes, we give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s. Let us boldly exercise our faith as we interact with the political leaders of our day. God created government to serve the people. Let us make sure that we are watchdogs that keep the government honest. The lure of corporate money is entirely too strong.
And let us ask ourselves how we bring into the sanctuary of God our political ideals. How do we distort the worship of God because we create barriers within the congregation? Each way we do these things, we show ourselves to be fraudulent.
Let us be true to God and to one another.
Enough mumbling for now…
Peace Out
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