And he
saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription? They say unto
him, Caesar's. Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things
which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's. (Matthew 22: 20-21)
I have
a neighbor whom I’ll call “Ray” (Because that’s his name). Some years ago, Ray
took issue with our federal government when it ever-so-politely requested he
don a green uniform and travel to the Republic of South Vietnam. Ray was quite
willing to acquiesce to Uncle Sam’s travel plans, but only on the condition
that he be allowed to serve as an army medic and treat wounded soldiers and
civilians. The army, however, felt Ray should be issued an M-16 and use said
device to kill communist Vietnamese. Since this impasse proved irreconcilable,
Ray elected to remove himself to Canada for the duration of the unpleasantness
in Southeast Asia.
Recently,
a certain Mr. Colin Kaepernick, greatly concerned over issues of poverty and
injustice here in the USA, took to kneeling during the playing of our national anthem.
Many other professional, college, and high school athletes have begun to
observe this posture during the playing of the anthem—an act of protest which
has drawn considerable opprobrium from many quarters.
As I
look at the Gospel lesson in the Revised Common Lectionary for Pentecost 20
(Matthew 22;15-22), I have to ask, “Just what does it mean to ‘render unto
Caesar?’” What is a Christian’s responsibility to his or her country?
As
folks in my congregation know, I’m always uncomfortable with the presence of
the American flag in the apse of our worship space. Don’t get me wrong: I love
our flag and my native country, but I am extremely uneasy when I see it
venerated on equal footing with the symbols of the Christian faith. Once upon a
time (about 100 years ago during World War I), good German American Lutherans—who
still said mass in Luther’s German—started placing flags in their ethnic
churches to prove that they were loyal to their adopted country. I get that.
But I also get nervous seeing lapel pins shaped like the cross of Jesus Christ
colored like the Star Spangled Banner. God is not an American, and God doesn’t
like us best. God is the Father of all
people.
When
we start to talk about our responsibilities to God and country we first have to
clear up some bad thinking. America is not, as some would say, “a Christian
nation.” Constitutionally, Caesar is not allowed to meddle in the activities of
the church and cannot dictate the faith of the populace. Even if we have a
Christian majority, we have no right to impose a belief system on the minority.
Prayer in school or the teaching of so-called “Creation Science” have no place
in American public education.
Similarly,
we shouldn’t mistake freedom OF religion with freedom FROM religion. Equally intolerable
as Christian zealots are the arrogant nihilists who maintain that they believe
in nothing and don’t want to be reminded that people of faith actually exist.
In his
1523 letter on Temporal Authority. Martin Luther defined the responsibilities
of the church and the state. The state has the responsibility to protect the
church. The church, in turn, has a duty to protect the state by speaking out
against abuses and by influencing temporal rulers to do Godly work. Luther
reminds us—as did Saint Paul in Romans 12—that all authority comes from God,
and it is to God that we owe all our obedience before anything else.
So how
do we “render unto God?” I’d say we start with God’s Law which, in a nutshell,
admonishes us to love God and love everyone else. Christian obedience demands
that we learn to love in compassion and actively seek the best for our fellow
human beings and the world God created. In essence, we’re asked to grow a
conscience and live by it.
For the most part, I find it pretty easy
to “render unto Caesar” here in America. I pay my taxes and receive the
benefits of our laws, infrastructure, social safety nets, public education, and
myriads of other blessings of the Land of the Free. I obey the laws (usually—I do
confess to being a bit cavalier where speed limits are concerned, God help
me!), volunteer in the community, and donate to charitable interests.
Nevertheless, there are times—as Colin Kaepernick and my buddy Ray demonstrate—when
rendering to Caesar is at odds with conscientious rendering unto God. At such moments,
it might be well to remember Luther’s words at the Diet of Worms: “To go
against conscience is neither right nor safe.”
For many, rendering to God will mean
picking up a weapon and standing guard so that international law and the rights
of the weak will be protected. For others, it has meant refusing to pick up
arms or refusing to obey human laws which spit in the face of God’s Law. Luther
himself was an outlaw, refusing to bend to the edicts of his emperor and pope. So
where the hostlers of the Underground Railroad. So was Dietrich Bonhoeffer and
thousands of other patriotic Germans who quietly worked to subvert the immoral
edicts of the Third Reich. So were those who sat defiantly at lunch counters
where they were not welcomed, or refused to move to the back of the bus. So,
too, may be the “Occupy” demonstrators, the “Black Lives Matter” protestors,
and the athletes who kneel in prayer for our nation rather than stand to give
unquestioning obeisance to a nation where—if we’re to be honest—liberty and justice
are not yet for all.
I’m all for patriotism, but being a good
American won’t make me a good Christian. Being a good Christian, however, might
just make me an excellent American.
(This
Sunday, October 22, 2017, as a “kick-off” to a week of celebrating the 500th
anniversary of the Protestant Reformation, the folks at Faith Lutheran of
Philadelphia will celebrate only one mass and will spend the afternoon rendering
to both God and Caesar through a number of community service projects. We’ll be
visiting shut-ins, making baby blankets, preparing our neighborhood garden for
the winter, and patrolling our neighborhood to remove the effluvium of garbage
which disgraces our streets. We like to think of this as love in action—just our
way to give back to both God and the state.)
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