23rd Sunday after Trinity + Matthew 22:15-22 + November 4, 2018

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In the Name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

As our nation goes to the polls on Tuesday to elect representatives, St. Paul wants us to contemplate our true citizenship. He says, “Our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.” We are no longer citizens of this world. That’s not to say that being a citizen of a nation is unimportant. Citizenship in heaven and citizenship in the United States aren’t opposed to one another. The opposite of being a citizen of heaven is being a citizen of the world, which is the kingdom of devil. Paul writes in Colossians 1:13-14 that God the Father “has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.” Jesus says in John 3:19, “the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.” Citizens of the world prefer the darkness of their own deeds to the light of Christ. The world not only doesn’t love Christ, it hates Him. The world hates Christ becomes He shows it for what it truly is: wicked, perverse, and hypocritical. Citizens of the world are enemies of the cross of Christ, “whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame – who set their minds on earthly things” (Philippians 3:19).

But you are citizens of heaven. You have been transferred from the kingdom of the devil, this wicked and unbelieving world, by Christ Himself. He ransomed you not with gold or silver. Nothing that men regard as precious would do to redeem you from the power of sin, death, and the devil. He redeemed you with His precious blood shed upon the cross. He paid the price for every single sin of yours, each sinful deed, every sinful word, and every perverse and selfish thought. He has made satisfaction for the sins you have committed and the righteous acts you have failed to do. He offers that to everyone in the Gospel, promising the remission of every sin and citizenship in heaven to everyone who believes in Him and trusts that His death pays for all one’s sins. The worldling’s end is destruction. But yours is everlasting life and blessedness. The citizen of the world’s god is his belly and he serves his god by indulging in whatever his flesh desires. But your God is the true God and you render to Him the things that are due Him. The worlding glories in their shameful acts and their shameful beliefs, imagining that they don’t need a God other than themselves and their bellies. The citizen of this world’s mind is set on earthly things which are transitory and temporary. The citizen of heaven’s mind is set on heavenly things, so Paul says in Colossians 3:2, “Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.”

But being a citizen of heaven through faith in Christ Jesus and setting your mind on things above doesn’t remove you from the fact that you are a citizen of this country. We’re somethings tempted to imagine that citizenship in heaven removes us from actually being citizens of our country. We’re tempted to think that Christians are exempt from living as a citizen so they can ignore their rulers and thumb their noses at laws they don’t like. But this is not at all what being a citizen of heaven means. Jesus corrects this kind of thinking when He says, “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's” (Matthew 22:21). Faith in Christ makes us into citizens of heaven. But while we live this life we live under Caesar. And Caesar has been instituted by God, “For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God” (Romans 13:1). While living as a citizen of heaven Christ commands us to render to Caesar the things that are due to Caesar.

What things are due to Caesar? The question at hand in the Gospel lesson is taxes. The sinful human nature detests the idea of having governing authorities set over it, so it’s no surprise that the sinful human nature in all of us grouses about paying taxes. In Romans 13 St. Paul teaches that the earthly government has two duties: to praise those who do good and punish those who practice evil. “Because of this you also pay taxes,” Paul says, so that they can devote themselves to these tasks (Rom 13:6). Peter says the same thing in his first epistle. “Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake, whether to the king as supreme, or to governors, as to those who are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good” (1 Pet 2:13-14). Our government has taken even more duties upon itself, duties not given to it by God. Nevertheless, Christ commands His Christians to pay their taxes and even more so to submit themselves to “every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake.” In our day there are many who flaunt their disobedience and publically encourage others to disobey the law. But this is not to be so among those who are citizens of heaven, who are to render obedience to Caesar, unless Caesar demands we violate the Christian Faith. In those cases we must obey God rather than men. Unless that happens, we render Caesar obedience since “the authorities that exist are appointed by God” (Rom 13:1).

The Apostle also commands us to pray for the governing authorities. Paul tells Timothy, “I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence” (1 Timothy 2:1-2). Each week in the Divine Service we pray for the governing authorities in the General Prayer but it’s good to incorporate this petition into your private devotion as well. The prayer is that the governing authorities would do what God has given them to do, maintain righteousness and punish wickedness so that “we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in godliness and reverence.” We pray that Caesar does His divinely-appointed duty so that we can have peace but more importantly that the Church can be free to proclaim the Gospel which forgives men their sins and makes them into citizens of heaven through faith. So when Christ teaches us to “render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's,” He is commanding us to render to Caesar our taxes, our obedience as far as He does not compel us to sin, and our prayers that Caesar fulfill His God-given duties so that we may we fulfill ours, for Christ also says “and to God the things that are God's.”

What do we render to God? Fear, love, and trust. None of those belong to Caesar. These belong to God alone. He commands us to fear Him as our Creator and Judge, so that we try not to sin and disobey Him. He commands us to love Him above all things in this life as our highest good. He invites us to trust Him above all things in this life. None of these belong to Caesar. Caesar is unworthy of our faith because he too is a creature of God. Too many trust Caesar to provide for all their needs and give them daily bread. Too many love Caesar as the highest good in life and that causes them incredible anxiety when Caesar doesn’t so what they demand. Do not let this be so with you. You are citizens of heaven and you eagerly await your Savior from there. Render to Caesar what belongs to him but look to God for the things He promises to give you in His Word: daily bread, the forgiveness of sins and everlasting life as citizen of the kingdom of God. Amen.

In the Name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

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