SERMONS

By The Rev. Alston Johnson

“For the Nation”

The late writer William Buckley said that it had been his experience that if a guest mentions God once at a New York dinner party the reference is greeted with silence; mention God twice, and there are no further invitations to dinner.

It seems that such social faux pas’ were unknown in the First Century Palestine of Jesus’ day. For Jesus and the disciples and the early church, it seems that it is religion and/or politics every time, all the time. In today’s Gospel Jesus is being drawn out by two parties, the Pharisees and the Herodians, into one of the hot topics of their day - paying taxes to the Romans.

Both groups have something at stake in the Roman tax.
The Pharisees were noted for their strict observance of the written and oral laws of Judaism. Their ultimate concern was in the keeping of “halakha,” legal and moral precepts pointing the “way” one is to go in life; through deeds and actions. This is a classic question for a Pharisee, “Is it lawful . . . to pay taxes to the emperor or not?” Are we compromising Moses, the commandments, the tradition, halahkha, the way, by trading in the currency of an infidel? An emperor who believes he is a god? Are we compromising our righteousness, our sanctity?

While the Herodians, less of a presence in the Gospels, as their name implies, might be thought of as “King’s Men,” a la King Herod, and they were probably closely attached to the Jewish/Roman court and the civil government. You might say the future of taxes in Israel was a question close to their hearts. They represent two relationships with the state: the controversialists, and the conformist - one for, one against. So much first century Jewish identity was folded into this one question - pay the tax or not? Resist or not? Revolt or join the Roman gravy train?
And so they bring a hard question for Jesus; a question meant to reveal his loyalties, a question meant to move him off the political fence.

“Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor or not? Should we pay them? . . . because we know you are sincere, you bow your head to no one, etc., etc” . . . their ingratiating flattery meant to lure Jesus.

Pause: Yet, Jesus does not save them from the hard question.

As is true of Jesus in so many settings, rather than settle for an “either/or” answer, Jesus opens a third option for his accusers, and his followers. What Jesus is saying is that He will not save the Pharisees, the Herodians, or us, from the tension that we find inherent in trying to be citizens of this world, while we are becoming citizens of the next. No; the tension remains. The indigestion and heartburn that come with mixing religion and politics remains.

Give to Caesar what is Caesar - God what is God’s.

One of the most moving things that I have seen on television recently was the biography of John Adams, based on the book by David McCullough. John Adams is burdened by a desire to remain in community, communion, with our mother country; and insists that all grievances be addressed through the appropriate channels, the Parliament, the Royal courts - in a sense, giving to Caesar what is Caesar’s, who in this case is King George.
But over time, Adams finds that the mother country trespasses upon virtue, trespasses upon common decency, and turns a deaf ear to the very channels of redress that have been opened to those who would protest. So therefore, Mr. Adams, through much fear and trembling, turns toward the path of revolution, peaceful if possible . . . otherwise if need be; but with reluctance and loss.

The film captures a very moving speech that Mr. Adams makes before the Continental Congress, just prior to taking a vote to separate from England, adopting the Declaration of Independence. If carried, such a vote would put at risk the life, the property, and the families of each man in the room. If caught, there would be summary execution. As my brother in law put it so well, “The Founders were going all in; they were playing for more than they had to lose.”

Some have called Adams speech of July 1, 1776 the most important utterance of American history, because from it rose a single-mindedness of purpose; the colonies united. There is no complete recollection or dictation of the speech, just notes from memory:

“Objects of the most stupendous magnitude, measures in which the lives and liberties of millions, born and unborn, are now before us. We must expect a great expense of blood as payment, but we must always remember that a free constitution of civil government cannot be purchased at too dear a rate as there is nothing on this side of Jerusalem of greater importance to mankind.

In a nation that understands itself as founded upon Biblical principles, it seems to me that the Founding Fathers of this country would have to stare directly into the face of Jesus’ teaching, as well as the teaching of the Apostle Paul, in order to secure the means of free government that we enjoy.

That is why I so appreciate the portrayal of John Adams as one of slow, almost reluctant, conversion to the notion that the terms of community had been abrogated, not simply by those from below, but by those from above as well. I like to think that Adams was groping for that third door, the third option. He certainly paid a price in terms of popularity and posterity for generally groping for the third option. The movie portrays his extreme unpopularity among the Controversialists and Conformists of his own day.

The founding of our nation resembled nothing of the New York dinner parties William Buckley attended; it was all politics and religion, all the time. Not, perhaps, unlike first century Palestine.

There is something in the DNA of being an American, of celebrating our Independence that has to do with being willing to break from secular constraints that would bind our conscience; in the case of the Revolution, our freedoms and our stake in government - taxation without representation.

There is something about being a Christian American that means freedom, liberty, is never simply a gift for self-indulgence, self -aggrandizement - but rather an opportunity for God to be glorified.

More often than not when we are talking politics as we are socialize and theorize, we are apt to become like those who come to trap Jesus in an “either/or” sort of debate; let’s push this issue off the fence. On the other hand, in our real lives, the lives we lead, especially the lives we lead trying to be faithful to Christ, we are apt to be more like John Adams - hoping, groping, stumbling, trying to find a third option in a world that would like to force our sympathies prematurely.

And so Independence Day is not just a celebration of breaking free, spitting in old Caesar’s eye, it is also a day of remembrance, a day to pray for guidance, that the expansiveness of our freedoms not become simply opportunities for our appetites, and that we invite God’s presence to school us, to shape us, toward an appropriate end for our freedoms.

Independence Day is a day to be reminded that our Lord more often than not is looking for the third door, and that we should look for it as well. So that we may have “a zeal for justice and the strength of forbearance, that we may use our liberty in accordance with his gracious will.”