In a way, the confrontation between his enemies and our Lord in today's Gospel is similar to the "no win" argument of those in our American society who wish to banish the Church from the public square. They foolishly twist the words of the First Amendment of the Constitution. The guarantee that the State will not get involved in or prohibit the free exercise of religion is a one-way street. In no way does the First Amendment say, as they imagine, that the Church cannot be involved in the government or political issues. In fact a democratic republic needs and looks to the Church and the family to provide the necessary virtue, values and morals without which any society will disintegrate and collapse. There have been arguments aplenty concerning the religion of the founding fathers of our nation as a counter to those who wish to silence and destroy the Church from the public square. Better, however, is the Word of God before us today that says the authority of all earthly government comes, ultimately, from God, whether the incumbents of any particular government acknowledge it or not.

     The Persian king named Koresh in Hebrew, Cyrus, was a Gentile. Though not counted among God's people, God calls him his "messiach," messiah: "This is what Yahweh says to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have grasped…that you may know that it is I, the Lord, the God of Israel, who call you by your name…though you do not know me" [Isaiah 45:1-7]. The point is that Yahweh, the one, Triune God, is the only true God, and he controls all human history and destiny ultimately to serve his purposes. When we believe that, we will not waste our time in fruitless arguments with unbelievers, but, rather, watch and pray and continue to receive God's gifts and guidance on behalf of and for the life of the world. Jesus said, "You are the salt of the earth…You are the light of the world…let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven" [Matthew 5:13-16 (ESV)].

     Jesus' enemies had already decided their goal was to have him eliminated, whacked, destroyed, killed. They thought they had hatched the perfect plan. "We'll entangle him in his own words by forcing him to take sides, either with the hated Roman government or with religion. Either way, we've got him!" For, if Jesus would take the side of the government, they themselves would be witnesses to his religious apostasy. On the other hand, in case he would attempt to take the side of religion and therefore against the government, they brought along representatives of "the Herodians"-PETH we could call them, "People for the Ethical Treatment of Herod"-who surely would report him as a traitor to Rome.

     They approached Jesus in the most painfully polite way in order to set him up, or butter him up, as we would say. "Teacher," they said, "we know that you are true and teach the way of God truthfully, and you do not care about anyone's opinion, for you are not swayed by appearances." You're even-handed, balanced, you don't play favorites. "Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?" Which is it, church or state?

     Remember, after Jesus was taken captive and appeared before Pilate the Roman governor, Pilate demanded an answer from Jesus. He asked him, saying, "Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you?" Jesus answered him, "You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above" [John 19:10-11 (ESV)]. Separation of Church and State? I don't think so! "Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God," Romans 13:1.

     Jesus does not answer their question directly, but, aware of their malice, turned it back on them. "Why put me to the test, you hypocrites? Show me the coin for the tax." When they produced a denarius he pointed out the image and inscription of Caesar and said, "give to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." What we're missing in our reading today is the next verse, which says, "After they heard this they marveled." He had caught them in their own game. All things belong to God who created everything in the first place, including all authority. The real question is one of your various and ultimate allegiances.

     In our country I freely pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands-insofar as and to the extent that it does not contradict my ultimate allegiance to the Word of God. Where the State embraces a position or policy or law that contradicts God's Word-legal abortion as a primary example-certainly, I do not consider it a moral/legal option for myself, but more than that I will teach and counsel others and even speak out publicly that, though considered legal by the governing authorities, abortion is murder and a sin against the Fifth Commandment. Here's an example of freedom, on the one hand, from being compelled by the government to deny my religious faith, and, on the other hand, freedom of non-violent protest and a continuing witness to try to influence the government to return to obedience to the Word of God.

     Myriad examples could be sited. We live in a day of unique challenge with the secularization of society and its disintegration under the banner of "multiculturalism." In the introduction to the book by Alvin J. Schmidt, "Under the Influence: How Christianity Transformed Civilization," Paul L Maier summarizes how Schmidt carefully documents Christianity's, and therefore God's, dramatic influence of world history. He writes,

Even knowledgeable believers will be amazed at how many of our present institutions and values reflect a Christian origin. Not only countless individual lives but civilization itself was transformed by Jesus Christ.