Render to Caesar
A sermon for the Twenty-third Sunday after Trinity in which the author commits at least thirteen Christian Nationalisms.
An audio recording can be found here.
The Pharisees came up with an ironclad way to trap Jesus in His words: “Get Him to talk about politics. That way, no matter what He says, we can find fault with Him.” Many pastors find a similar trap being set for them: “Pastor, should we vote for sinful candidate A or sinful candidate B? Does God want us to help immigrants or not? Should everybody be free to get married or only some people? Should abortion be permitted to save the life of the mother? Do you believe in transgender people?” Sometimes these are honest questions, but usually they are loaded with an agenda and designed to trap any who might try to answer them.
Many pastors and Christians have chosen the easy way out of the trap: Don’t answer at all. You might have been taught this growing up. Never talk about politics or religion in polite society. Perhaps this is wise in certain settings, but as a general rule, refusing to engage in tough discussions is a cop-out for the Christian, especially the pastor.
Jesus’ answer is a masterful one. Not only does He engage, He gives an answer that is both religious and political at the same time: “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” (Mt 22:21) Instead of avoiding a political question, Jesus answers by defining the scope and limits of political power. Some things do belong to Caesar, and some things belong to God.
“Aha!” someone might say, “Jesus is teaching us about the separation of church and state. We agree! Keep the politics out of religion. The church has no business talking about political issues.” That is, in fact, the opposite of what our Founding Fathers intended. The separation of church and state is a limit upon the government, not the church. It is meant to keep the government from infringing upon the church, not to keep the church out of every aspect of government.
What things belong to Caesar? Only the things that God has entrusted to him. Caesar has authority only because God has given it to him. His authority extends only insofar as God has permitted him to rule. On the other hand, what things belong to God? Everything. The cattle on a thousand hills. “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!” (Rev 11:15) The life and soul of every person on earth belong to God.
Our theologians often speak of the two kingdoms in which we live: the secular kingdom and the spiritual kingdom. This is a right distinction to make, but it’s a mistake to conclude that Caesar rules in one and God rules in the other. No, God rules in both kingdoms. He rules the kingdom of the left by entrusting authority to Caesar, and He rules the kingdom of the right through the Gospel.
And because God is ultimately the one ruling in the political sphere, it is not only permitted but necessary for the Word of God to be applied to political topics. Pastors not only can but must speak to political issues, because God rules there as surely as He rules within His church.
But today, this backward idea of the wrong separation of church and state is at play in the minds of most Americans. Instead of understanding that God rules all things and entrusts a certain degree of authority to Caesar, many live as though Caesar rules all and permits the church to operate in a small corner of society. They say to Christians, “You are free to believe whatever you want in the privacy of your own mind, but don’t talk about it in the workplace. Don’t bring your Christianity to school. Keep religion out of politics.” And many, many Christians have bought into this idea. “Pastor, you’re allowed to tell us that Jesus loves us, you can tell us that He forgives our sins, but don’t you dare talk about political issues from the pulpit.”
And what is a political issue? Abortion, immigration, marriage, sex, conception, pregnancy, birth, education, the raising of children, the duties of husbands and wives, the responsibilities of parents, the care of the poor and elderly, the treatment of strangers, the administration of justice, the punishment of criminals, war and peace, life and death. In other words, every aspect of life, aside from the sixty minutes a week that you spend sitting in a pew, is a political issue that is off-limits to the church. Every part of your life, with one tiny exception, belongs to Caesar. Separation of church and state!
Many Christians have bought into this false idea that Caesar rules over all things and graciously deigns to give a tiny portion of his authority to the church. And many pastors have dutifully gone along with it, remaining silent as one area of life after another is declared off-limits to God’s Word. They dare not speak plainly about abortion, marriage, sexuality, or any other issue that might offend the sensibilities of the world. Instead, they offer a watered-down, Hallmark version of Christianity in which the highest virtue is to be nice and inoffensive. But a pastor who is more concerned about offending men than offending God has forgotten whom he serves. Christ commands us to render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s. And what does a pastor owe to God? Faithful proclamation of His Word, of the whole counsel of God—not just the parts people want to hear. He must proclaim God’s Word without compromise, without apology, without regard for whether the world approves.
Jesus told the Pharisees to show Him the coin for the tax, and the denarius they immediately produced bore Caesar’s image and Caesar’s inscription. At that time, Caesar was the most powerful man on earth, ruling the greatest empire the world had ever known. But where is that empire today? Where is Caesar? Where is his image and his inscription? Gone. The power that God entrusted to Caesar is no longer his. Indeed, his very life was on loan from God, and that too has been taken back. Caesar’s power and authority are fleeting, but what about God’s image and inscription?
St. Paul writes in Colossians 1:15 that Jesus “is the image of the invisible God.” He is the Word from the beginning, who was with God and who is God (John 1:1). All authority in heaven and on earth belongs to Him. Kings and emperors may imagine themselves to be masters of the world, but, whether they know it or not, they are only servants to whom God has entrusted a little authority for a little while. And long after their thrones have crumbled and their names and inscriptions have been forgotten, the Word of Christ will still be proclaimed throughout the earth. His Gospel will still be preached, His church will still stand, His forgiveness will be proclaimed, and His kingdom will have no end. Caesars come and go; their petty kingdoms rise and fall, but the Word of our God endures forever. Amen.