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October 20, 2002
22nd Week of Pentecost
Matthew 22:15-21
Pastor Robert Raasch

What Should Be My Attitude Toward a Government Gone Bad?

1. Give to the Government What You Owe the Government
2. Give to God What You Owe to God

Do you know what this is? It's a trap. When I was a kid we used to call this a gopher trap. The gopher would step on this little trigger and "SNAP", he'd be caught in the trap. In fact, if a person is not careful this trap is liable to catch more than gophers. It's liable to catch someone's finger. I mean, that's what traps are for-they're for catching things.

Of course, if a person knows what he's doing, if he is very careful about handling a trap, he may be able to disarm such a trap without getting caught in it. Kind of like that…. Just because a trap is set, doesn't mean that it will necessarily catch something. Sometimes a trap can be disarmed.

My friends, in our text for today, we meet someone who was able to disarm a similar kind of trap. Only in this case, it's not a trap made of steel. It's a trap made of words and ideas. It's a trap that was set for Jesus by his enemies. The trap was set with a simple question, "Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?" Now, in a moment we're going to see how Jesus deftly handled that question and thus disarmed the trap. But I think it's important for us to realize that that trap that Satan originally set for Jesus is still catching people today. Oh, the terminology has maybe been modernized a bit, but the essential question is still there. The question might go something like this:

What Should Be My Attitude Toward a Government Gone Bad?

Here in our text Jesus answers that question with two principles that still apply to our lives today:

1. Give to the Government What You Owe the Government
2. Give to God What You Owe to God

Now, let's take a little closer look at the account we have before us. Matthew sets the scene for us. He says, "Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap (Jesus) in his words." In this case, the Pharisees collaborated with the Herodians. Usually these two groups were enemies of each other. But in this case their mutual hatred of Jesus had put them in bed together. First, they try to butter Jesus up with the words, "Teacher, we know that you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren't swayed by men, because you pay no attention to who they are." And then Jesus' enemies set the trap: "Tell us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?" Do you hear the precarious position that question puts Jesus in? If Jesus says, "Yes, you should pay taxes to the Roman government, he's going to lose a lot of his popularity with the Jewish people. The Jews hated paying that poll tax to the Roman government. It was just another reminder that they were no longer the great, independent nation they once were. Now they were subjects of a foreign nation and were being taxed just for being alive.

On the other hand, if Jesus were to answer the Pharisee's question by saying, "No, you shouldn't pay taxes to Caesar," well then, Jesus is going to be in hot water with the Roman officials. He could be arrested for trying to subvert the government. So, there's the trap which Jesus' enemies had set for him. Would Jesus stand up for the hated Roman government or would he bow to the winds of popular opinion? What would you have done in his situation?

Now, before you answer that question, let me add one more detail that might make your decision just a little more difficult. In order for the Jews to fulfill the requirements of this tax, each person had to pay one Roman denarius, a small silver coin worth about one day's wages. On the coin there was stamped a portrait of Caesar, along with this inscription, "Tiberius Caesar Augustus, son of the divine Augustus." Did you hear that? Each and every one of those coins announced that the Emperor was the Son of the Divine, that is the Son of God. In fact, throughout much of the Roman Empire, the Emperor Caesar was regarded by the people as a god-someone they should worship and offer incense to!

So now, go back to that little silver coin. Would Jesus require the people to pay taxes to a government that was promoting emperor worship? Would God want his people to support a pagan ruler? Should Christians be required to support someone or something whose religious views are completely contrary to God's Word? My friends, do you see how the situation which confronted Jesus 2000 years ago still has application in our lives today? Does God want us to pay taxes to a government that, for example, uses our tax dollars to distribute birth control to high school students or to pay for abortions for welfare moms, or to subsidize pornography in the name of art? And does God really expect us to submit ourselves to public officials who are guilty of lying and cheating and committing all kinds of unmentionable acts while in office? Are we really supposed to use our God-given dollars to support those kinds of people? Or for that matter, what if we happened to live in the country of Iraq? Would God want us to use our tax dollars to help Saddam Hussein build a nuclear bomb? Hmmm. What would Jesus say about that? Well, personally, I believe that he would say exactly what he says right here in our text, namely, "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's." Or to put it another way, I. Give to the Government What You Owe the Government.

I think it's interesting to note that when Jesus enemies ask him whether they ought to pay the tax to Caesar, Jesus asks them to show them the coin they are to use to pay the tax-and they have no trouble producing one. They have no qualms about using the money the Romans had minted. And for that matter, they have no qualms about using the roads the Romans had built, or the court system they had established, or the peace they had maintained throughout the Mediterranean world. You see, those are all good things which the Roman government provided to the people. In fact, those are reasons why God established the government in the first place. Remember how St. Paul put it in Romans 13? He writes, "There is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God." And why would God allow for the establishment of earthly governments? Paul tells us that the government "is God's servant to do you good." And how does the government do us good? Again, St. Paul: (The government) is "an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrong doer." In other words, the primary function of the government in the world is to maintain law and order among mankind. That's why God gives a federal judge the authority to sentence a criminal to life behind bars. Or why God gives the state trooper the right to pull you over for making an illegal U-turn, or why God gives the president the authority to send our soldiers into harm's way. In God's eyes, the bottom line is always, "to bring punishment on the wrongdoer." Or to put it another way, "God has established earthly authorities as his representatives to use the law to keep the sinful outbursts of mankind in check.

Now, because God has established earthly authorities as his representatives, God has something to say about what our attitude should be toward such representatives. St. Paul puts it this way in Romans 13, "Every one must submit himself to the governing authorities." What does that mean-to submit ourselves to the governing authority? Paul says that means, "If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor."

In other words, our obedience to the government is to be a reflection of our obedience to God. If the government demands that we pay such and such an amount in order to be able to operate a car or park in a particular spot, then we have to pay that amount, as Scripture says, "not only because of possible punishment, but also because of conscience." In other words, as Christians, our desire to obey the government comes not only from a fear of being thrown in jail, but more importantly, from a heartfelt desire to please God who gave us the government in the first place.

Now, does that mean that as Christians we always do a good job of obeying the government? No, each and every one of us has a sinful nature that still likes to complain about the authorities God has put over us, or tries to cut corners when it comes to paying Uncle Sam what we owe him, or asks, "What can I get away with? Rather than what does the law require?"

I don't know about you, but when I think about the number of times that I've shown less that a perfect attitude toward the authorities God has placed over me, I realize that I need to come before God and say, "God have mercy on me, a sinner. Forgive me for the times I've dishonored and disobeyed the authorities you've placed over me." But then, as we bring to God our private offenses as well as our public ones, you and I can know, that because of Jesus' perfect obedience in our place, we stand acquitted in God's eyes. And it's Jesus' sacrificial love for us that gives us the desire to do what God tells us here in our text, and that is, willingly, "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's."

But now, maybe you're thinking to yourself, "Wait a minute. What if the government I'm under is really a bad one? What if I determine that the government officials are all corrupt, godless individuals? What if the government demands that I do things contrary to God's Word? Do I still have to obey them? Well, that's where Jesus' 2nd principle comes into play, namely, II. Give to God You Owe to God.

You see, in most cases, our obedience to the government is a reflection of our obedience to God. You might say that our obedience to the government is in direct line with our obedience to God. However there may be situations, however, when what the government demands and what God demands are in two opposite directions. For example, if our government were to pass a law requiring that we all worship Allah. Or, as it was with the early Christians, that they all worship the Caesar, well then, they and we would be required by God to respectfully disobey that command-even if it means suffering the consequences at the hands of the government.

The early Christians were put to death for not offering incense to the Emperor. Peter and the Apostles were publicly flogged for preaching the gospel of Jesus, against the commands of the government. Even today, there are Christians who are suffering pain and persecution at the hands of their government because the government is demanding that they do things contrary to God and His Word. In Communist China, parents are required to abort their 2nd or 3rd child or face still penalties in education and employment. In many Islamic countries, it is against the law to share the gospel with someone else. You maybe remember the story of those two American women who were held hostage in Afghanistan because of their evangelism efforts.

Even here in the United States, the day may come when our government defines a "hate crime" as preaching a sermon on the sin of homosexuality. Or the government may determine that in order for our school to be accredited, we'll have to teach evolution in our classrooms, or hire a certain number of people who practice alternate forms of spirituality. In each of these cases, we'll need to call to mind Jesus' words here in our text, "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's." We'll give to the government what we owe it-but not if it contradicts God and his Truth. If we have to make a choice between God and the government, then St. Peter's confession must still be our confession, namely, "We must obey God rather than men."

Are there going to be times when we truly have to wrestle with issues like these? Times when we wonder whether we should register as a conscientious objectors or whether we should to accept federal aid for our Lutheran school if it might mean compromising our Christian beliefs. Times when we wrestle with the difference between what our society expects of us and what God expects of us.

My friends, as long as we live we will face these kinds of decisions, these dilemmas, yes, these traps. Yet, by God's grace, we don't face them alone. God has given to us the ultimate instruction manual. As we listen carefully listen to the words, as we reflect upon his love for us, as we prayerfully ask for his guidance, we will be able to avoid getting caught in these spiritual traps. May God guide us as we live as his people under the authorities he has established for our earthly good. In Jesus' name.