Where Does God Fit?

Matthew 22: 15-22

Roger Lynn

July 9, 2017

(click here for the audio for this sermon)

The religious leaders wanted a quick and easy answer. They wanted to know if Jesus was on their side. Actually, they were pretty sure they already knew the answer. They wanted the world to be black and white, good and bad. They offered him two choices. If he agreed with their understanding of the world he would be a hero. If he disagreed with their understanding of the world he would be a villain. What they got instead was not at all what they expected. Jesus chose a third path, which was to hand the whole thing back to them.

“Render unto Caesar...” he said. It is a saying so familiar that we have mostly stopped really hearing what it says. Or more precisely, what it does not say. I would venture to guess that most of us, most of the time, hear Jesus saying something like, “Pay your taxes and don’t get money matters confused with spiritual matters. If it’s got the government seal on it, then it is separate from the things of God.” But listen closely. He doesn’t actually say that. He doesn’t actually define what is Caesar’s and what is God’s. The Pharisees get to decide that for themselves. We get to decide that for ourselves. And that, more than any particular answer to any particular question, is precisely the point. Faith is not about someone handing us a set of answers and us blindly accepting them. That’s what the Pharisees were looking for. They wanted to be the ones in charge of the answers. They wanted Jesus to agree with them. But not only did Jesus not agree with their answers. He didn’t even agree with the premise of the question. It’s not about a simple list of answers to questions like, “Should we pay our taxes?” Answers to such questions will come, but that’s not where we begin. We begin with a much more basic question - “Where does God fit in your life? Where does God fit in the world?” That is where we must begin if we are to understand Jesus’ answer about rendering unto Caesar and rendering unto God. Where does God’s domain begin and end?

There are those who would say that it’s a simple matter of dividing the world into that which is physical and that which is spiritual. The physical doesn’t matter at all, so we can do whatever we want. The spiritual does matter, so that is what we must pay attention to. Say our prayers. Keep our thoughts pure. Maintain an open channel for a connection with God. And what we do on Monday morning, or Saturday night, is of no consequence. How we spend our money or our time is of no concern. It sounds good in theory. People have been trying it in one form or another for a really long time now. It would be wonderfully easy if it worked. But it simply does not reflect the reality of how we are put together. We are whole, integrated, connected beings. I can’t decide to ‘render unto Caesar’ the part of me that has nothing to do with God, because there is no such part of me. And as long as we try to live that way, as if life can be divided up into neat, tidy, separate spheres, we condemn ourselves to a life which is disconnected from the rich fullness of God’s intention. 

Jesus could have answered their question with concrete details. “Yes, you should pay your taxes, because the government helps maintain the infrastructure which supports a safe and stable way of life.” Or, “No, you should not pay your taxes, because the government doesn’t respect or represent your values and traditions and ways of life.” Or, “Yes, but at the same time seek to work from within the system to make changes that will make a positive difference.” Or whatever other detailed answer he might have given. And if he had chosen to give that kind of answer, then people would have been free to agree with him, or disagree with him, to think him a hero or a villain, depending on their particular point of view. But he wouldn’t have really changed anything. Everyone would still be operating out of the same basic world view – where things can be divided between us and them, physical and spiritual, God and not-God. 

The answer he actually gave, on the other hand, places us in an entirely different position. Jesus has pulled the rug out from under that sort of understanding. We have to decide something far more important than whether to pay our taxes or not. The question before us now is, “Where does God fit?” What part of my life is affected by my faith? What part of my life is different because I am seeking to be connected to God? And if we are honest with ourselves, really honest, the answer may surprise us. We may discover that there is a difference between what we want to be true and what actually is true. When we understand the question in terms of where God fits in our lives, I suspect that most of us want the answer to be ‘everywhere.’ But that path is really challenging. It means paying attention to all of our choices. And even then the answers are seldom neat and easy. Where should I shop? Should I eat only locally grown organic food? Should I give my business to establishments associated with groups I disagree with? Should I pay my taxes? On and on the list goes. And there is no one set of ‘right’ answers. We make our way through this sometimes bewildering wilderness of life’s choices haltingly and slowly, doing the best we can in any given moment to discover which choices will lead us and the world towards light and life and away from darkness and death. Sometimes we will get it right. Sometimes we will need to repent and seek a different path. And always we can strive to keep before us the question, “Where does God fit?”