October 19, 2008, 29th Sunday of Ordinary Time
Isaiah 45:1, 4-6 I Thessalonians 1:1-5 Matthew 22:15-21
To the churched and unchurched[1]
gathered in a temple not built by human hands[2]
First reading from Isaiah 45:1, 4-6
To the churched and unchurched[1]
gathered in a temple not built by human hands[2]
First reading from Isaiah 45:1, 4-6
Thus says the LORD to his anointed, Cyrus, whose right hand I grasp, subduing nations before him, and making kings run in his service, opening doors before him and leaving the gates unbarred: For the sake of Jacob, my servant, of Israel, my chosen one, I have called you by your name, giving you a title, though you knew me not. I am the LORD and there is no other, there is no God besides me. It is I who arm you, though you know me not, so that toward the rising and the setting of the sun people may know that there is none besides me. I am the LORD, there is no other.
The word of the Lord
Thanks be to God
Alleluia, alleluia.
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew 22:15-21
Thanks be to God
Alleluia, alleluia.
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew 22:15-21
Glory to You, Lord
Then the Pharisees met together to try to think of some way to trap Jesus into saying something for which they could arrest him. They decided to send some of their men along with the Herodians to ask him this question: "Teacher, we know that you are very honest and teach the truth without fear or favor, regardless of the consequences. Now tell us, is it right to pay tax to Caesar or not?” Knowing their malice, Jesus said to them, "You hypocrites are trying to snare me with your tricky questions. Show me the coin that pays the Roman tax." Then they showed him a denarius. He said to them, "Whose image is stamped on it, and whose name is this beneath the image?" They replied, Caesar's." At that he said to them, "Then give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God."
The Gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
Introduction
Presidential election 2008
Here it is October 19, 2008, and “The frost is on the pumpkin and the fodder’s in the shock.”[3] Here we are carving out the pumpkin to celebrate Halloween -- the eve of the hallowed ones – the eve of All Saints, November 1. Here we are seventeen days away from presidential election 2008, and the Gospel today is timely as it tells us to render to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.
A tricky answer
When the Pharisees asked Jesus whether it was OK to pay tax to the Romans or not, they were being tricky. Right-wing Herodians[4] (whose financial security depended on loyalty to Rome) said it was OK to pay tax to Rome, while left-wing Jewish nationalists said it was not OK. No matter how Jesus answered their question He was going to get into trouble either with the Herodians or the Jewish nationalists.
In response Jesus asked the Pharisees to show him the coin with which the Roman tax was paid. They showed him a silver coin of the Roman Empire which bore the image of Caesar. “Whose image is this,” He asked. They answered, “Caesar’s.” Then He said to the Pharisees, "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." (Mt 22:21) That was a tricky answer to a tricky question. It was such a tricky answer that fewer texts in the Gospels are more debated and more subject to a variety of interpretations than this famous dictum of Jesus.
In response Jesus asked the Pharisees to show him the coin with which the Roman tax was paid. They showed him a silver coin of the Roman Empire which bore the image of Caesar. “Whose image is this,” He asked. They answered, “Caesar’s.” Then He said to the Pharisees, "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." (Mt 22:21) That was a tricky answer to a tricky question. It was such a tricky answer that fewer texts in the Gospels are more debated and more subject to a variety of interpretations than this famous dictum of Jesus.
The render-to-Caesar dictum
At first reading, the render-to-Caesar dictum doesn’t seem to say much at all. It doesn’t spell out in detail the relationship between Caesar and God, State and Church, politics and religion. Despite the contention of some, the dictum is not the Scripture’s version of our Nation’s sacred Principle of Separation of Church and State. Overly zealous protectors of that principle seek to rule out moments of silent prayer in public schools and displays of the menorah or manger in public places. They even seek to remove words like “under God” in the pledge of allegiance or inscriptions like “In God we trust” on our coins.
The render-to-Caesar dictum doesn’t say all the things which ideologues down through the ages have used it to say. It does, however, say something simple and important; it says there are two realities out there – Caesar and God, State and Church, politics and religion; and Christians in every age must deal with and do justice to both.
The render-to-Caesar dictum doesn’t say all the things which ideologues down through the ages have used it to say. It does, however, say something simple and important; it says there are two realities out there – Caesar and God, State and Church, politics and religion; and Christians in every age must deal with and do justice to both.
Luther’s two-realm view
In the sixteenth century, Martin Luther, father of the Reformation in Germany, divided human life into two separate compartments: a spiritual realm where we owe obedience to God and a material realm where we owe obedience to the State. His clear line of separation between Caesar and God, State and Church, politics and religion pervaded much of Protestantism down through the ages. In the first half of the twentieth century Luther’s two-realm view of human life proved to be incredibly disastrous. It explains the inexplicable; it explains how it was possible for German Nazis to light the fires of the crematories in the concentration camps of Dachau, Auschwitz and Buchenwald (where six millions Jews were incinerated) and then hurry off to Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve! That’s possible in a world where Caesar and God are compartmentalized.
That view of two separate realms in human life is alive and well in every age. The church whose pulpit challenges the rush to war or tries to chip away at Roe vs Wade is told to mind its own business. The church whose pulpit scolds the scandal of a rich nation having 45 million hard-working citizens without health insurance is told to mind its own business. The church whose pulpit berates the greed of Wall Street which has put Main Street into the present financial meltdown is told to mind its own business. And that business is succinctly characterized as holy water, incense and the “wafer.” There are two separate realms -- the world and the sacristy -- and the church should stick to the sacristy.
That view of two separate realms in human life is alive and well in every age. The church whose pulpit challenges the rush to war or tries to chip away at Roe vs Wade is told to mind its own business. The church whose pulpit scolds the scandal of a rich nation having 45 million hard-working citizens without health insurance is told to mind its own business. The church whose pulpit berates the greed of Wall Street which has put Main Street into the present financial meltdown is told to mind its own business. And that business is succinctly characterized as holy water, incense and the “wafer.” There are two separate realms -- the world and the sacristy -- and the church should stick to the sacristy.
A church not minding “its own business”
Pope Leo XIII considered his business to be much more than holy water, incense and the wafer, and he wandered out of the papal sacristy. In 1891, he wrote Rerum Novarum (The New Order of Things). That was a social encyclical which condemned Socialism,[5] affirmed the right of private property and championed the right of workers to a family wage. That’s old hat now, but it was real pioneering back in those days.
Good Pope John XXIII also considered his business to be much more than holy water, incense and the wafer, and he, too, ventured out of the sacristy. On October 11, 1962, he opened the Second Vatican Council. Its second most important document is entitled Gaudium et Spes (The Joy and the Hope). The document’s English title is The Church in the Modern world. Its very first line reads, “The joy and hope, the grief and anxiety of the world are the joy and the hope, the grief and anxiety of the Church.” What a warm description of the relationship between the Church and the world! The two are not polarized realities at loggerheads with each other; rather, they are partners in the human condition, rejoicing and weeping together. That, too, was pioneering after centuries of the Church and world battling away at each other.
From Leo XIII’s Rerum Novarum through Vatican II’s Gaudium et Spes to Benedict XVI’s recent Address to the United Nations, the Church has attended to much more business than just holy water, incense and the wafer, and has ventured far out of the sacristy.
Good Pope John XXIII also considered his business to be much more than holy water, incense and the wafer, and he, too, ventured out of the sacristy. On October 11, 1962, he opened the Second Vatican Council. Its second most important document is entitled Gaudium et Spes (The Joy and the Hope). The document’s English title is The Church in the Modern world. Its very first line reads, “The joy and hope, the grief and anxiety of the world are the joy and the hope, the grief and anxiety of the Church.” What a warm description of the relationship between the Church and the world! The two are not polarized realities at loggerheads with each other; rather, they are partners in the human condition, rejoicing and weeping together. That, too, was pioneering after centuries of the Church and world battling away at each other.
From Leo XIII’s Rerum Novarum through Vatican II’s Gaudium et Spes to Benedict XVI’s recent Address to the United Nations, the Church has attended to much more business than just holy water, incense and the wafer, and has ventured far out of the sacristy.
The eve of the presidential election, Nov. 4, 2008
Charles Chaput is the Archbishop of Denver, Colorado. His book Render to Caesar appears at a particularly significant time -- the eve of one of the most important presidential elections in recent American history. In his book he speaks about “serving the nation by living our Catholic beliefs in political life.” He writes, "The Church claims no right to dominate the secular realm. But she has every right – in fact an obligation – to engage secular authority and to challenge those wielding it to live the demands of justice. In this sense, the Catholic Church cannot stay, has never stayed, and never will stay out of politics.” For Chaput, too, the Church’s business is much more than holy water, incense and the wafer. For him, too, the Church ventures unapologetically out of the sacristy.
Conclusion
E PLURIBUS UNUM
On one side of our American coin we read the inscription In God We Trust. On the other side we read another inscription in capital letters: E PLURIBUS UNUM (OUT OF THE MANY ONE). That Latin motto refers to thirteen original colonies becoming one nation under God.
If today we would ask Jesus whether it is lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not, He would answer by asking for an American coin. “How does the inscription on it read,” He would ask. We would answer, “E PLURIBUS UNUM -- OUT OF THE MANY ONE.” “There’s your answer,” Jesus would say to us. “Out of Caesar and God, State and Church, politics and religion let us make one. Out of the lifeless disconnect whereby the world and its politics are not leavened by the religious values of justice and compassion let us make one. Out of the unfeeling disconnect whereby religion is not touched by the real world with its joys and griefs let us make one. Yes, indeed, out of the horrible disconnect between Caesar and God which can incinerate Jews and then rush off to Midnight Mass let us make one.
Out of the two let us make one, not as extremist Jews, Christians or Muslims would make them one by Yahweh, Jesus or Allah gobbling up the State and destroying our Nation’s sacred Principle of Separation. But as Good Pope John and his Council would make them one -- as partners and fellow travelers rejoicing and weeping together on the human journey.
If today we would ask Jesus whether it is lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not, He would answer by asking for an American coin. “How does the inscription on it read,” He would ask. We would answer, “E PLURIBUS UNUM -- OUT OF THE MANY ONE.” “There’s your answer,” Jesus would say to us. “Out of Caesar and God, State and Church, politics and religion let us make one. Out of the lifeless disconnect whereby the world and its politics are not leavened by the religious values of justice and compassion let us make one. Out of the unfeeling disconnect whereby religion is not touched by the real world with its joys and griefs let us make one. Yes, indeed, out of the horrible disconnect between Caesar and God which can incinerate Jews and then rush off to Midnight Mass let us make one.
Out of the two let us make one, not as extremist Jews, Christians or Muslims would make them one by Yahweh, Jesus or Allah gobbling up the State and destroying our Nation’s sacred Principle of Separation. But as Good Pope John and his Council would make them one -- as partners and fellow travelers rejoicing and weeping together on the human journey.
[1]] By the “the unchurched” is especially meant not those who have left the church but those whom the church has left!
[2] Acts of the Apostles 17:24
[3] When the Frost is on the Pumpkin by James Whitcome Riley 1853-1916
[4] Herodians belonged to the political party of Herod Antipas, son of Herod the Great.
[5] Socialism believes the state should own everything.
