Matthew 22:15-22
“Tax Policy”
October 19, 2014
How do you balance conflicting loyalties?
You are a religious Jew living in a land
occupied by a foreign army and are asked to pay taxes that will ultimately
support the occupation. If you don’t pay
them, the army may take it out on everyone by force. What’s worse, the coins that are in circulation
picture the emperor as a god, so you who are a part of a people who have been
taught to avoid idolatry at all costs and to worship God and God alone are now
being asked to carry what is essentially a pagan idol in your pocket to pay
those taxes.
“Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to
pay taxes to the emperor, or not?” [Matthew 22:17]
What’s the answer? When the Pharisees asked Jesus that question,
it was because they “plotted to entrap
him in what he said.” [Matthew 22:15]
No matter whether he said, “Yes,” or, “No,” he could be made out to be
disloyal, whether to his own people or to the
ruling authorities or to God.
Thank goodness none of us ever find ourselves trying to make
decisions like that. None of us ever
have to evaluate whether to vote for a political candidate with whom we agree
on some things and disagree on others.
None of us ever have to ask how far we can allow latitude for
disagreement before we compromise our integrity.
Within the United Methodist Church these days,
that’s a big question for clergy, because of the same-sex marriage issue. Those who believe the time has come to allow
it are nonetheless under the operating rules of the Book of Discipline that strictly forbids United Methodist clergy
from officiating, and the Book of
Discipline can only be altered by General Conference, which meets every
four years. The next session is in
Portland in 2016 and is unlikely to make that change. So they are stuck between loyalties. Those who oppose it find themselves part of a
denomination where they feel that a large proportion of people have forsaken
biblical standards and they wonder if, by remaining, they are supporting an
organization that they consider to be on the edge of corruption.
How do you balance conflicting loyalties?
Sports teams now regularly hold games and
practice on Sundays. Even if they stay
away from Sunday morning, which is not always the case, an away game held
across the county or further that starts at 1:00 means that players need to be
on the road by 11:00 or so. (By the way,
you will often see an acolyte at our early service wearing a uniform so that
they can both go to church and play in a game.
Not every church has an 8:30 service, though.) The recognition that is offered to athletes
in our society at all levels is pervasive, and the desire to belong is very
strong in children and adolescents.
Parents want the best for their children, and sports teach them many
important lessons. At the same time that
both the kids and the parents recognize the importance of Sunday School and
church, if they skip church no one is going to say they cannot be here next
week. If they miss practice or a game,
that may very well be it for the season.
The next thing you know, it has been months since we’ve seen them.
How do you balance conflicting loyalties?
Have you ever heard the term “Sandwich
Generation”? It refers to people of a
certain age who may be the parents of those kids on the sports teams or who are
in school plays or taking tuba lessons or who need extra help with their school
work or a ride to Brownies; people who also have older parents who need a ride
to the doctor or have to get to the Acme because they just ran out of eggs,
milk, and butter yesterday and the forecast is for six inches of snow tonight;
people who have been asked to work overtime this evening because that same snow
storm may close work tomorrow.
How do you balance conflicting loyalties?
You know that your family needs the support you
give them through the wages you earn.
There are taxes to be paid. There
are insurance bills and co-pays. PECO
does not accept payment in chickens and eggs.
So you work long hours to make ends meet, so long that your husband or
wife, who is also working hard, has already turned in by the time you get home
three or four nights a week.
Jesus’ answer about loyalties was brilliant in
the way it threw things back onto the people trying to entrap him.
“Give therefore to the emperor the things that
are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” [Matthew 22:21]
Basically, he’s putting into words what we all
know: that there are hard choices to make and that we make them, like it or
not; and that they cannot be made without remembering to include God in your
calculations. The Pharisees were asking
for one, hard-and-fast rule. He refused
to give that, but insisted instead that people consult their consciences.
That could mean that people of good faith could
very well end up on opposite sides of the most difficult questions. There’s a story about how Rose Kennedy taught
her children about voting. She is said
to have told them, “When you enter the voting booth and the curtain closes
behind you,” (which is how the machines were designed in those days), “there
will be a lot of little levers that you can ignore. There will be two larger ones, labeled
‘Republican’ and ‘Democrat’. If you
press the one marked ‘Republican’, God will strike you dead.” You do know that’s a joke, right? You do also know, I hope, that you should
pray very seriously about every decision that you make as a citizen.
In fact, every major decision should be made
with prayer, regardless of whether it’s a public or a private matter. It’s safe to say that God likes to be
consulted on things, and that our own lives turn out better when we take the
time to do that. That is a good
principle to observe when the trickiest conflicts come along. Marilynne Robinson, who won the Pulitzer Prize
in 2005 for her novel Gilead, is
someone who is good at lifting up the complexities of life. She says of herself,
“I find that my praying turns into thinking. It’s like trying to contain something, and
then perhaps it turns into prayer. It’s
almost impossible for me to maintain it as a purely distinct activity.”[1]
That is just as it should be. Pray with your mind, and think with your
prayer. That is balance, and how to find
it. Then, and only then, will you know
the best way to “give to God the things
that are God’s.” [Matthew 22:21]
Whatever
is left over, the emperor may have.
[1]
Marilynne Robinson, interviewed by Sarah Pulliam Bailey, found at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/08/marilynne-robinson-lila_n_5955202.html?ncid=fcbklnkushpmg00000051
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