19 Oct 2014 - taxing question

He said to them, "Whose image is this and whose inscription?" 
They replied, "Caesar's."
At that he said to them,
"Then repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar
and to God what belongs to God."

This doesn't mean that we have two categories, one secular, and one spiritual. We might be tempted to use this as an excuse to separate our politics from our religion. We might wish to privately oppose something but publicly support it. Yet what does not belong to God? Indeed even Caesar is made in God's image and inscribed with his likeness. There is nothing, strictly speaking, that just belongs to Caesar.

But that doesn't mean we don't have to pay taxes. Somehow we are called to render to Caesar what is his even while at the very same time rendering it to the God who owns all things. Caesar only owns anything in a partial and temporary way. We are allowed and indeed commanded to participate in that sphere of life to the degree that our offerings in it are also offerings for God. God values a well-ordered society. He is able to use even bad rulers to his purpose, "making kings run in his service".

"I have called you by your name,
giving you a title though you knew me not."

The LORD can work even where he is not known. He can work even where he is misunderstood. He can work to bring order to society through Caesar. He can bring deliverance to Israel through Cyrus. There authority is from him. Before anyone else the "LORD is king, he governs the peoples with equity." And so there is a sense in which even all the tax we pay is an offering to God. This only seems extreme too us because we are too used to dividing our lives between the sacred and the secular. These areas which are not explicitly given to the LORD are still under his rule. Yet the LORD prefers to be known. He delights to work through the hearts of those that are open to him. Blessings are poured out in greater abundance and there is more peace when we cooperate with him.

And so he reveals himself to Cyrus:

I am the LORD and there is no other,
there is no God besides me.
It is I who arm you, though you know me not,
so that toward the rising and the setting of the sun
people may know that there is none besides me.
I am the LORD, there is no other.

He chooses leaders so that the world can be a place where people can come to know him. But he also chooses each one of us individually so that our hearts can be places where he is known. 

For our gospel did not come to you in word alone,
but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with much conviction.

Order in the world allows a more undivided attention on God. As does conviction in our hearts. This morning we celebrate that we are chosen in power and the Holy Spirit. We are given not just faith but much conviction. With the conviction in our hearts we become seeds of peace even in the places of the world where God is not known. When we have this conviction our lives and our words do make him known.

Sing to the LORD a new song;
sing to the LORD, all you lands.
Tell his glory among the nations;
among all peoples, his wondrous deeds.