Christ or Caesar?
Who We Are and To Whom We Belong
There are faithful Christians here in America who are exercising their civic duty to vote. Actually, I engaged in this right and responsibility on the very first day of early voting. I was the 272nd person in Wheeling to cast their vote in this year’s election! I did it proudly and faithfully. To me, there is no tear of allegiance between my faith and my politics, for I seek to keep them in their proper order: It is faith-first, and all other things in its light.
Faith illumines the way we see the world, and so it informs our politics. It is when we use our politics to inform our faith, I think, that we get all backwards and turned around. Truth be told, we’re all good at getting ourselves backwards and turned around, so we must keep working on it. The word “repent” means “to turn” and Jesus calls us to do it, again and again.
I noticed an interesting thing while I was standing in line to vote. I knew the 268th person to vote in Wheeling. I know his faith. I know his heart. He is a lot like me, in that he is clear that his faith informs his politics, not the other way around. I also know that my vote was going to come right behind his and cancel his out! Who would have thought, two men of faith who would end up on different ends of the political spectrum? How can it be that two people of faith would cast their ballots so differently?
Well…it’s always been that way. And it always will. Because faith isn’t black and white. Public life is messy and complicated. On this side of Eden, we will never see the world the same. On this side of the that ‘One Fine Day’ that Paul wrote about in Corinthians, we will only see things, as if, in a mirror dimly.
In Mark 12 we get the Christ or Caesar conundrum. Jesus is asked, “Is it lawful to pay tax to the emperor?” And Jesus famously replies, “Give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s.” Of course, the question is a trap! It’s not a sincere question of the heart. It’s not a question of an open mind seeking to discern the most faithful way through a complicated world. It’s a rouse. It’s meant to serve an agenda. The text is very clear to tell us how politically manipulative the whole scenario is. And it comes in a series of manipulative questions seeking to harm Jesus.
So much of what I see being bandied about as “Christian” politics sounds a lot like the manipulative trappings that Jesus faced by these Pharisees and Herodians. And it makes me angry, because I see good hearted people acting ugly and crass. I see smart, faithful people putting more hope into a political party (or even one candidate) than they do in Jesus. I see people who love the truth so much that they would gamble away their relationships in order to share it—the problem being that it isn’t truth; instead it’s someone’s twisted narrative. That sharing of mis-truth that makes the mirror dimmer instead of shining a light to see things clearer. It makes me angry because it’s changed people that I love. It makes me angry because it’s so pervasive that it has probably affected me. And it has probably changed me. I don’t have the elegance nor the clever wit that Jesus had to respond in a way that would silence the masses and make them stand in awe. I wish I did. This Pastor’s Page would have been a lot shorter ;)
As I write this piece, it is Halloween. I pray that after these elections people will remove the ugly masks they’ve been wearing and we can go back to the people I once recognized, walking around with smiles on our faces and hope in our eyes. But that would be naïve. For the stakes are that high. And the contrasts are that stark. And the differences between the sides really are that far apart. Partisanship has become the sectarian religion of our day, and it has converted many hearts and minds. It has become an affront to our Polar Star of Christian Unity.
I don’t have the words that Jesus had that could bring the crowds to the silence required to soak in his wisdom and perspective. But I pray that his words would still have that affect on the church today. That we would consider the wider perspective Jesus offers us. Caesar is too small and his empire is too weak. The president is just a person, and the government isn’t in ultimate control, nor is our ultimate concern. The one who votes different from you is trying their best with the information they’ve been given, just like you are. In fact, we have more in common than we think we do. For all of it, including all of us, belong to God.
And if you want a sobering theological view —one day the United States of America will join the line of great empires like Babylon and Rome, and fall. Even when that day comes, God will remain. So, who shall we place all our love, trust and support? For me, it will be in the One to whom it all belongs and will always remain.
Until that day, I will seek to remain faithful to this One in the ways I vote, and more importantly, with how I chose to live with those who differ from me. May both attempts honor the God to whom it all belongs.
It’s been an anxious political season, dear church. I’m afraid it won’t be over on the morning of Nov. 6th . So please, take some time to be silent and amazed in the awe of Jesus’ words to us. Breath deep and know that one day you’ll get to ask Jesus some questions face to face. But remember, on that day Jesus will have some of his own questions for you. And in the meantime, know that I love you and hold you in my prayers.
Blessings,
Rev. Kenny