Twenty-Ninth Sunday of Ordinary Time
October 16, 2005


Have you ever dodged an issue/confrontation? Have you ever squirmed out of giving an answer that puts you on the hot spot?

· “Father, if I judge this war in Iraq as immoral, can I withhold the portion of my income tax that supports the military from my payment?”
· “Father, I give to a certain charitable organization. But I discovered that as a part of their ‘health benefits’ they provide abortion counseling. Yet, they do so much good on other fronts. Is it moral for me to continue to support them financially?”
· “I hear that there is so much potential for curing diseases in somatic nuclear transfer stem cell research. But the Catholic Church says it is another form of abortion in that it kills an embryo. Science says it is not. Who do I believe?”
· “Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not?”

The question of where my civic responsibilities end and my religious ones begins has been around for a long time. The debate about whether religion and politics can mix is not new. Today’s readings insert us squarely into that debate. The author of this section of Isaiah names a pagan king an instrument, a ‘chosen one’ of God. But Cyrus doesn’t even believe in a God, much less the Jewish one. Jesus is confronted by the Herodians and Pharisees – who pose that same age old question – can you be a believer (in his case, a devout Jew) and still pay taxes to a godless government?

Jesus had an infuriating way of not answering questions. Today’s response is no exception. “Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.” What kind of answer is that, besides one that gets him off the hook of the trap he was in? At least now he won’t be accused of being a collaborator with the Romans to the expense of his Jewish faith. Nor can they turn him over to the Romans to be arrested as a seditionist. But is there a deeper wisdom to his response that might help us 2,000 years later with our questions?

“Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.” Jesus’ response confronts them and us with the demand to act out of our deepest convictions and take responsibility for those actions whether we are leaders or followers, whether we identify ourselves at a particular moment as Christians or as citizens. Jesus invites us to the realm of personal freedom where we accept our responsibilities to God and to the state. “Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.” There is a duty we owe to both, not always easily reconciled or discerned. Just as God used Cyrus and his government to effect his plan in their time, God can and will use ours to effect his plan. And who is to know whether it is our voice, bringing up our Christian perspective on stem cells, on abortion rights, on women’s rights, on justice in the workplace, which will turn the tide. Who is to say that it will not be our speaking to the church and its leaders that calls it to a deeper discipleship and more authentic following of the truth? Fidelity to one’s religious tradition and allegiance to secular powers is not only possible but is seen in today’s readings as God’s will for us.

“Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.” It would have been nice if Jesus had answered differently. “Repay to Caesar only that percentage of the tax that was just, that was not used to wage war or destroy ecosystems or oppress people who have different political ideologies than us.” However, he didn’t. He didn’t tell us necessarily to join CUCA or be a Democrat or Republican or serve in the Peace Corps. (Nor did he tell us not to.) And we, like the Herodians and Pharisees of his day, are left to pray and work our way to OUR answers as to what belongs to Caesar, and what belongs to God.