God and Taxes

WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
October 19th 2008
Rev. Mark R. Bradshaw-Miller
“God and Taxes”
Stewardship Season: Reordering Our Lives
1 Thessalonians 1:1-10; Matthew 22:15-22

For the next six weeks we are going to talk about the last sacred cow for Christians in North America. That topic is money. When preachers and I included myself, usually talk about money we do it a setting that has something to do with the churches operating budget – our annual campaign. I believe this is a grievous injustice because it does not truly help us to grasp the radical nature of stewardship. When we connect stewardship with funding our operating budget we are at risk to faulty thinking. The first problem is that we begin to believe stewardship is about giving our money to keep the church running. Connected to this is the belief that Westminster doesn’t really need the money because we have an endowment. As a result one of the basic spiritual disciplines of Christianity is neglected.
The spiritual practice of giving is really under assault in our consumer culture. In a consumer culture we expect something in return for our generosity, or for our dollar. In a consumer culture when we give we expect that our wants will be cared for appropriately. When this does not happen in the marketplace we will demand that management make it right. If we do not get what we order we have the right to demand restitution. There is nothing wrong with this in the marketplace but you might be able to see how this could cause problems in a community of faith. In this consumer culture we need to spend far more time reordering our understanding to become imitators of Christ.
When writing to the church at Thessalonica Paul is speaking about the basics of faith which are founding on practice of imitation. It is an imitation which begins with Jesus and continues throughout the community of faith. Paul praises this community and reminds them of the importance of continuing with the basics. The faith we share in Christ is founded on gratitude which is nurtured through prayer, bible study, worship and serving others. In other words, it begins with the knowledge that all we have and all we are is a gift from God. It is a radically different message than what we are nurtured in our consumer culture. The praise that Paul offers for the community goes beyond their faithfulness and extends to their faithfulness witness. By their imitation of Paul, others can see how their lives have been transformed. Nowhere is this more evident than in Jesus encounter with the Pharisees.
“Is it lawful to pay taxes?” It is a trap that is set up for Jesus. It is like asking: “When did you stop beating your children?” There is no way to answer the question which does not get you into trouble. If Jesus says “yes” then the crowd will consider him just another sell out to the empire. If Jesus says “no” then he will become an enemy of the state and subject to death. It is not an easy place to be. But it is the sort of question which divided those in positions of power and the majority of the people. So instead of answering the question Jesus changes the conversation. He challenges those entrenched on both sides of the issue to imagine that the world is not so fixed.
“Give me a denarius.” And Jesus begins the lesson, like any skilled educator, with a question. ‘Whose head and whose title is on this coin?’ His testers do not catch the trick in his question because they answer as if it is simply one question. The face on the coin is indeed Caesars but the title says that Caesar is God, sovereign. And it is on this point that everything changes. The religious leadership have become so tied to the power structures that they no longer notice the money they use is blasphemy. The title given to this political figure is to be reserved for God alone. And Jesus reveals this with his simple words: “give to God what is God’s and Caesar what is Caesars.”
Jesus words are so astounding that his detractors leaves speechless and impressed. Unfortunately his words do not really resolve the issue of whether or not we should pay taxes. For that matter he does not give a clear answer for how to sort out what belongs to the emperor and what belongs to God. What Jesus does do is to put the question back upon the crowd, and back upon us to decide where the boundaries of each realm.
To venture an understanding of all of this we have to begin with the simple truth that Jesus does not answer many questions for those of us living in a democratic state. The best of our tradition has helped us navigate these waters by beginning with the knowledge that human beings bear the image and likeness of God and as such we belong to God. As such our ultimate loyalty is always reserved for God. Nothing can come before God, not even the emperor. That is why Christians must always be wary of politicians of any stripe, they want our ultimate loyalty and as God’s children we cannot give it. So while Jesus does not answer the question about taxes he does answer the issue of ultimate authority and ultimate loyalty.
We no longer have an emperor but we do have people and entities that compete for our ultimate loyalty. The economy- money – consumerism – all have begun to trample on the image of God in each person by turning us into commodities to be bought and sold. And as good consumers we act and react through a lens that sees our money, our life, our decisions as just that; ours. We earned it, or inherited it, and as a result we are the ultimate arbiter of how it will be used and spent. Autonomous consumers whose only restraint is the amount of money and credit we can obtain. But as Christians we must reject this sort of thinking which divides us into autonomous individuals who bear no responsibility for one another.
The God we know in Jesus Christ welcomes all people to come and follow. But this invitation is not without responsibility. As followers of Jesus the way we live and the decisions we make about money is always a spiritual issue. If we are able to put a little away for ourselves and give a little for Gods work it will mean we will be less able to participate in the consumptive madness of our age. But more importantly it will help us to change our focus and relationship with money. Even in tight times – the symbolism of saying I will save this little bit and give this little bit for God’s work – is a sign of defiance to the powers that want us to continue, thoughtlessly, to be consumers of the next thing.
And since there is a bit of talk these days about taxes, if I did not say something about it I suppose it would be irresponsible. I am not maker of policy and as a minister, preacher, I do not have a suggestion on the right way to deal with taxes. However, I do have something to say. As followers of Jesus we need to enter that conversation from a different angle. Our support or rejection of tax policy cannot be based on primarily how it affects us. As Christians we cannot enter this conversation from a selfish perspective. Instead we must always begin with how this affects the widows, orphans, aliens; the most vulnerable in society. As we seek to be good stewards and reorder our lives we must be ever vigilant for the struggle being waged for our loyalty. God has created us to be more than consumers, we are children of God and as such it is my prayer that we will be transformed each day as we struggle against the powers that keep us from living faithfully in our whole lives, especially with money. Amen? Amen!

Keep at IT

WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
October 12th 2008
Rev. Mark R. Bradshaw-Miller
“Keep at IT!”
Psalm 99 Philippians 4:1-9 Matthew 22:1-14

Paul’s words– taken out of context can sound like a simple ethical exhortation – a plan for personal piety – timeless words which need no historical setting. On one level that is true however, Paul lived so much more. Paul was not simply providing an ethical framework on how to be nice in church and in the world. Instead – Paul was making a call for unity from the depths of a very grave situation. Paul, along with many others, had given up much to follow Jesus. They had faced ridicule, loss of jobs, family, imprisonment and even death. To early Christians, Paul’s words were not the sort which could be sanitized and reprinted on a disposable cup from Starbucks. Instead, these were words necessary for survival and faithfulness in a hostile world not excited about the message.
This is our last week with this letter to the Philippians. Over the last few weeks we have heard what is considered to be Paul’s most personal letter where he calls for unity and communion from the depths of a grave situation. As he writes these words, in the midst of a world changing crisis, Paul speaks more of joy than anything else. Despite not knowing what tomorrow will bring, Paul is teaching his sisters and brothers the means of survival by reminding them about their identity. And while history is a strong corrective to sentimentalizing the words of Paul the parable of Jesus may be the best corrective of all.
Jesus begins teaching: “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king…” With these words our minds begin to imagine that Jesus is talking about God. In other words the king in the story is about God and about the great banquet where many will join together in honor of the son of the King. The traditional interpretation is this: The King is God who sends his slaves, prophets, to the people of Israel who refuse to obey and come. The king sends more slaves, prophets, to do the job. This time the slaves are made fun of and some are even abused and others killed. God gets so angry that he sends the great army of Babylon to destroy the nation and send them into exile.
At this point, the interpretation goes, Israel has lost God’s blessing. As a result God opens up the invitation to all people. In fact, everyone is brought in, good and bad. Everyone is welcome to the feast now, except the people of Israel. Finally at the feast the king notices that one person does not have on the right clothes. The king is not happy and asked how he got into the banquet without the right clothing. The man was speechless and the King demands that the silent one, the intruder to the banquet, be bound hand and foot and thrown out into the place of death and the place of suffering. Finally, the interpretation goes, this man is rebellious and unworthy of God’s welcome. From this we are to understand that we must all be careful that we accept God’s welcome and come to the feast in the right clothing. So that interpretation goes. And I no longer believe this interpretation is adequate.
Every parable of Jesus is intended to take our understanding of the world and feed it back to us with just enough of a twist so we go away thinking, and perhaps changed. This parable is no different. There are two pieces we need to keep in mind. The first is that the banquet metaphor is often about Jesus as the host who invites all on behalf of God. In this story which is supposedly a metaphor for the history of God with Israel it does not even include Jesus. Nowhere does the King send his own son to go and compel people to come to the banquet. While this could be explained away what holds most sway for me is that the uninvited guest remains silent in the face of the king accusations.
Only three times in the Gospel of Matthew is someone silent in the face of authority or a king. When Jesus is taken under the cover of night and brought before the high priest, bound hand and foot, Jesus was silent. He was silent when charged with wrongdoing, for being the outsider with the wrong clothing. In front of Pilate, Jesus is questioned by him and gives no answer to any of the charges. In fact, Jesus is the one, the one who remains silent in the face of arbitrary and capricious authority. Jesus is the one who is called the outsider, the one who does not belong in the religious community. Jesus is the one with the wrong clothing. As a result, Jesus is the one who is bound hand and foot and taken to the place of outer darkness, Golgotha, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. So instead of this being an allegory for the kingdom of God I believed it is meant as a contrasting comparison to the kingdom of God.
After all, as we look at Jesus’ life, the revelation of God, it is safe to say that God does not act this way. God does not wipe out a population because he is angry. God does not kill women and children for refusing an invitation. Unlike the welcome table of God, this earthly king has set up a banquet to satisfy his desire for glory and recognition. And, at God’s welcome table, the slaves will be the ones with the place of honor. For those who cannot afford the fancy wedding cloths, at God’s banquet feast, they will be welcome anyway. And because of this we can know that the king in this story is not the God who we know in Jesus Christ. And that is good news.
As an otherworldly, after we die image, this parable speaks little to us now other than this: “Good luck to you since God acts like this. After you die, you might be in, you might be out, and you might end up thrown out for not having the right clothing.” This is not the good news of Jesus Christ. This is not the way God works. And that is the good news. But this good news is hidden just below the surface of this parable if we have ears to hear.
In fact, considering this interpretation of this passage alongside the words of Paul make Paul’s word more relevant our own place in time. Paul’s words and Jesus’ parable give us a way of understanding the world we know well through the lens of faith. The world of the parable is our world.
Consider this: We live in the murder capital of the United States. The death is right outside our door, and it includes people we know. Children, who have been labeled expendable by the wider society, are killing or are at risk of being killed for food, or survival or because they are simply on the wrong street. These children are our children. These children have been bound hand and feet – with apartheid like education systems, our children have been bound hand and feet with inadequate healthcare, our children have been bound hand and feet by the continued indifference of society. Our children have come to the party with all those strikes against them. If they finally make it into the party they face questions like: How did you get in here with your pants hanging low? So we pass more laws which will bind them hand and foot and throw them back into the city where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth right now.
As people who follow the one, the son of God, who was bound hand and feet and thrown into the places of death, we have an obligation to proclaim these things as no longer acceptable. But it is a hard thing to bear once we know. So when we are faced with this world of death and despair remember that Paul faced the same world of death and despair. And Paul says: “stand firm in the Lord… help these co-workers… Rejoice again I will say, Rejoice… Let your gentleness be known to everyone… The Lord is near… Do not worry about anything… pray… God, will guard your hearts and your minds…” When Paul says these things they are not simply words to live by but the very thing which enables us to face the struggle all around us. So let us never forget that as we bear the good news that God’s own son was unwelcome in the places of power and went anyway. We have a simple charge from Paul which enables us to remain faithful when things get tough. “Finally, whatever is true, whatever is honorable; whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, think about these things… and most of all: Keep at it.” Amen.