Second in a series.
I call this series "Sermons You'll Never Hear In Church."
Why won't you hear them in church?
Some bible truths are "inconvenient truths." They are "untouchable" because not many pastors and preachers have the guts to talk about them.
As always, if you have heard one of these sermons in church, please let us know?
If you don't happen to be a believer, you are still more than welcome to listen. Please know, however, that I am primarily addressing believers.
"It is a poor sermon that gives no offense; that neither makes the hearer displeased with himself nor with the preacher."
- George Whitefield -
Today's sermon is another from Jesus.
Up until now, I suspect you've only heard corrupted, watered down, misrepresented versions of this sermon.
Heard any good ones from the pulpit lately?
Image courtesy of Dean Moriarty and http://pixabay.com
In the first installment in this series, I referred to those misrepresented versions by their typical title:
"Render Unto Caesar!"
Sometimes that is abbreviated simply to "Render."
The "Render" version of Jesus' sermon is so very popular that you don't even have to go to church to hear it. You can hear it from your friends:
Friend 1: "April 15th is around the corner."
Friend 2: "Yeah, I know. Have you got your tax records together?"
Friend 1: "Not quite - I'll probably be up all night."
Friend 2: "I'm sick and tired of paying these taxes."
Friend 1: "Well, you know what Jesus said... 'Render unto Caesar.'"
Friend 2: "Yeah, I know."
And so it goes.
The truly sad thing is,
that version is all wrong. If you believe it, you've been duped.
A number of fellow Steemians have weighed in on "Render Unto Caesar." Some "render" quite good analyses, but this is not an endorsement. I simply want you to see that "the standard interpretation" is far from the only one.
Steemit Articles Referencing "Render Unto Caesar"
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
Why do I say you've been duped?
The organized church has been co-opted by the government. In exchange for "peaceful coexistence," preachers and church leaders have been trained to misrepresent what Jesus said. Jesus' real meaning has been obscured.
In all truth, the "Render" version has become so widespread that many preachers probably don't even consciously realize they are misrepresenting what Jesus said.
I want to counteract that by getting right into today's sermon.
"Render unto GOD what is His."
I've begun with the punchline.
The main point of Jesus' sermon is this: our principle duty is to give God what is his.
How did the sermon get turned on its head, how did it become focused on giving to Caesar instead of God?
You have to understand the circumstance.
Jesus was being mercilessly pursued by the human governments of his day.
"The scribes and the chief priests sought to lay hands on him at that very hour, for they perceived that he had told this parable against them, but they feared the people. So they watched him and sent spies, who pretended to be sincere, that they might catch him in something he said, so as to deliver him up to the authority and jurisdiction of the governor."
- Luke 20:19-20
The authorities wanted to eliminate Jesus. They had a plan:
Make Jesus say something to get him in trouble.
They thought for sure they had the question that would do the job, something Jesus absolutely could not answer.
"So they asked him, “Teacher, we know that you speak and teach rightly, and show no partiality, but truly teach the way of God. Is it lawful for us to give tribute to Caesar, or not?”"
- Luke 20:21-22
Their question was the equivalent of asking a married man, "Have you stopped beating your wife?" Any plain answer would be damning.
If Jesus were to say "It is unlawful to pay tribute to Caesar," he would fall under the condemnation of the Roman government.
If Jesus were to say "Pay tribute to Caesar," his own Jewish leadership would condemn him as disloyal. This was a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" moment.
Jesus, of course, recognized the evil motive behind the question.
"But he perceived their craftiness, and said to them, “Show me a denarius. Whose likeness and inscription does it have?” They said, “Caesar's.” He said to them, “Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.”"
- Luke 20:23-25
Contrary to the vast majority of commentaries, Jesus brilliant answer was in no way the equivalent of "Give tribute to Caesar." Even if you were to ignore the second and more weighty half of his statement, all Jesus said with respect to Caesar was to give him what belonged to him.
This leaves a wide open question.
One I've never heard raised in the "standard" sermon on this topic, the question is this:
What does belong to Caesar?
When the government claims you owe them money, that you have a debt to them - is it true? What makes it true?
The genius of Jesus' answer is that he left it to the hearer to determine what, if anything, belonged to Caesar.
This begs another question:
Why won't your religious leaders leave it to you and your conscience to determine what belongs to Caesar? Why do they always assume something of yours belongs to Caesar?
Think about that. Could it be that they're sleeping with the enemy? Could it be that they receive special treatment from the government? Could it be that they are beholden to the state due to having incorporated the church as a 501 c 3 organization?
Those who pledged allegiance to Rome would interpret Jesus' answer according to their own beliefs. Those who did not recognize Rome would have a different understanding.
Roman Coins
Image courtesy of Classical Numismatic Group, Inc. CC BY-SA 2.5
Why the denarius illustration?
Just as every Roman coin had the image of Caesar stamped on it, every human bears God's image:
"So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them."
- Genesis 1:27
Jesus' hearers who believed in the scriptures were well aware of the creation account. It would have been self evident that their creator held a superior claim on their lives and their property. The unbelieving Romans would have simply dismissed that truth.
"Render unto GOD what is His."
Hey, wait a minute. These disingenuous questioners never asked what to give to God, did they? Why would Jesus say this?
Simply because THIS is the core message of Jesus sermon.
It's not about Caesar.
Although "Render unto GOD" was the last thing that Jesus said, he said it last for emphasis. In other words, this was Jesus' final word on the topic.
"In God We Trust" — All Others Pay Cash
Image courtesy of HealthWyze and http://pixabay.com
What's the bottom line?
It's really simple. Caesar owns nothing. Everything that human government as we know it today has, it takes by threat of force. It extorts it under duress. It is entirely ill-gotten gain.
God created everything. Consequently, God owns everything.
Isn't it time to give God his due?
He created you. He owns you. He has given you custody and stewardship of yourself and your resources.
Enough of this fixation on Caesar! Ignore the sycophantic pundits, the apologists for taxation. You are not a subject at the whim and disposal of human government. Put yourself and your resources where they belong - entirely at God's disposal.
Amen, and amen!
FIN
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