In recent weeks, as we’ve made our way through the lectionary, Jesus has been teaching in the temple, and he’s been running into trouble, or maybe not so much trouble at this stage as challenges of a particular sort.  The religious authorities have been and are continuing to question his legitimacy – or authority - to teach.  And typically, we find them trying to trip him up, by asking him legitimate but politically volatile questions.

They’re quite artful in their deception, because they use the phrase, IS IT LAWFUL to pay taxes to the emperor or not?   Now it’s important to understand that in those days, there was great debate in Jewish circles over whether one should pay an annual poll tax to Rome.  And most questions of theological importance for the community began “Is it lawful?”  Although opinions varied on this particular topic, one of the most popular claimed God’s people should not be subject to pagan Gentiles.  However Jesus answered, he was going to be in trouble, either with his own people or the empire and they knew it, because this now was not just a matter of opinion, but presumably a question of authority.

And Jesus responds initially by calling them hypocrites.  This gives us an important clue into the NUANCES of the dialogue that’s happening between them, because the word hypocrite is a Greek theatrical term meaning “actor.”  So what he is saying to them is that despite the appearance of legitimacy about the current debate on taxes, he knows they are feigning sincerity by pretending to respect him, while in truth they are trying to discredit him.  In fact, they are breaking their own laws by trying to entrap him in his own words.  

And so we hear from Jesus, “give to the emperor the things that are his, and to God, the things that are God’s.”  In saying that he effectively puts the ball back in their own court, basically leaving it to them to figure out for themselves.  Now there is a traditional interpretation for this scripture in the Church that also upholds a vision of reality in which we must live in a world not just subject to God’s law but man’s, and that within man’s law, the alternative is anarchy.  Therefore, when we are law abiding Christians we are adopting the lesser of two evils. (the greater being anarchy.)   

There’s a lot of sanction for the validity of the “law abiding Christian” throughout the bible, especially in the Epistles and when one reads anything written by Paul.  But that skirts just a little bit around the deeper meaning of what the scripture is saying to us, for Christians like their Jewish brothers and sisters, despite that particular interpretation, have long debated the question of how we are to live in the tensions of a world that is divided between God’s law and man’s law

I put to you that social justice movements, long considered political, were spearheaded by Christian men and women who sought to be true witnesses to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, issuing cries against the injustices of slavery, women’s oppression, the criminal justice system, and racism, to name just a few.  They are evidence of the movement of the Holy Spirit in the world, helping to shape and form God’s kingdom over and against, what were once not just commonly accepted ways of life – but biblically sanctioned ways of living. 

Many people consider Christ to be quite a social revolutionary – and he was.  But there are times like this, when he doesn’t truly engage people because they don’t truly engage him.  This lesson is not about being a law abiding citizen, because in fact, sometimes one needs to challenge the law to help bring forth God’s kingdom.  Instead, this is about approaching God honestly, openly and sincerely with our heartfelt questions about how we are to live in this world.  I remember often when I was in seminary, a priest who mentored me used to talk often about things happening in God’s time.  And there’s absolute truth to that.  But there’s also truth to the fact, that God gives US time – the time we need -  to do our own interior work that leads us into a more open and honest relationship with God, so that unencumbered we can be truly open to what the spirit is saying to us.  

We are reminded in the scripture today and in the history of the church, that it is only by asking questions, and not always presuming to know the answers that we come to know God better.  Yes, Jesus leaves us to figure it out – because it is only in the struggle to listen and learn, that we can hope to hear the answer.

 Amen.

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