Bible Text: Matthew 22:15-22 | Preacher: Pastor Christian Preus | St. Paul reminds us that our citizenship is in heaven. Jesus is our King. He has already conquered. His is a victorious Kingdom. It won’t fall and it won’t fail us. The gates of hell will not prevail against it. He has crushed the devil under His feet. He has overcome the world. He has borne the sin that so corrupts this world and all its kingdoms and all its people; He’s borne it and suffered God’s righteous judgment against it. He’s left death slain and He reigns to all eternity. He is our King, the God-man to whom every knee will bow and before whom our knees bow this morning and every day of our lives.
So the first thing we need to do today is repent. Repent of the cloud of gloom and depression that has fallen on us Christians as we see the kingdoms of this world fail us. In whom do we trust? In a president? In a nation? In a stock market? Or in our God? Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and unto God the things that are God’s. What belongs to Caesar? What belongs to your politicians and your government leaders? What belongs to your country? Your trust? Your hope? Your peace of conscience?
No. Never does Jesus tell us to trust our leaders. He tells us to honor them and obey them and pray for them, but not to trust in them. He knows the nature of politicians better than we do. He called Herod a fox. Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor, will say that Jesus is innocent and then immediately hand him over to the Jews to be crucified. Jesus puts no trust in men, least of all politicians. The point is not that we agree with our leaders or like them. It’s that we obey them, pay our taxes, follow their laws. Yes, it’s wonderful to have good leaders, leaders we agree with, Christian leaders even, who will protect the Christian Church and promote family and defend innocent lives, especially the lives of the unborn. We pray that God would give us these leaders every Sunday and every day when we pray the Lord’s Prayer, “Give us this day our daily bread.” And it’s our duty as citizens in this country of ours to so exercise our vote that we try to elect leaders who will protect Christ’s Church and unborn life and marriage and family. But we are not promised any such leaders. Jesus doesn’t promise an earthly kingdom. Herod the Great tried to kill Jesus when he was a little baby. Caesar Augustus demanded worship as a god, and his step-son Tiberius Caesar, along with all the other emperors after Caesar Augustus, expected to be worshiped as gods by their subjects. They promoted all sorts of horrible laws, and eventually they openly persecuted the Christian Church. So Jesus’ words are measured and sober. He doesn’t promote some naïve belief that we’ll have perfect leaders and the perfect country on this earth. Let the heathen dream about that and imagine there’s no heaven. We are citizens of heaven. So when Jesus says, Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, he’s telling us what not to render as much as he’s telling us what to render.
Give the government your money, when they demand it. Pay your taxes. Obey their laws, even if you know their laws are silly. Pray for your leaders. Don’t be rioters in the streets like the heathen, as we’ve seen so much lately in our cities. Give the government your earthly obedience. That’s what belongs to Caesar. But some things belong only to God. Don’t ever give what belongs to God to Caesar.
In particular, your heart doesn’t belong to Caesar. It belongs to Jesus. It’s a good thing to love your country of course. This country has been very good to us Christians. It’s allowed us to worship our Lord in peace. It’s rewarded hard work and allowed the expansion of unheard-of material blessings. It’s kept wars off of our soil for over 150 years. There are few countries in the history of the world who could boast of that kind of record. We have every reason to love this country. God has blessed each and every one of us by giving it to us.
In fact, our honor for our country belongs to the fourth commandment, Honor your father and your mother. Luther gives us the meaning, “We should fear and love God so that we do not despise or anger our parents and other authorities, but honor them, serve and obey them, love and cherish them.” You should love your country because you fear and love your God, and God put you here in this country for your good. Luther even says that we should call our leaders “fathers” as the Romans did, because this would remind us of the honor and love we owe them. So love your country as you love your mother, but keep in mind Jesus’ words, “He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me.” Your heart belongs to Jesus. You seek first His Kingdom, not the kingdom of this world. The Psalmist says, “Even if my father and mother forsake me, the Lord will receive me.” Just as little as you would obey your father if he told you to sin against your Lord Jesus, so little should you obey your government if it tells you to sin against your God. Worse even than a rioter and a rebel is a man who obeys his government’s wicked demands.
We see this all throughout the Bible. Look at the midwives in Egypt, those beautiful examples of Christian disobedience. Pharaoh ordered them to expose and kill the little Israelite boys. They defied him and did what God commanded instead. So should every governor and every legislature and every city in this country defy the wicked order to allow the slaughter of the unborn in our country. Look at Saul’s servants, when he tells them to put the priests of God to the sword. They refuse his order. So should every soldier if our country ever engages in aggressive, unjust war. Look at Shadrach and Meshack and Abednego, look at Daniel, who would rather go to the fire and be thrown to the lions than worship any god but the Lord. These are not children’s stories. They were written for our instruction, for our times. We need the courage of those midwives, the honor of those soldiers, the stubbornness of those saints. Daniel was willing to give up his reputation, his job, his wealth, his life. God will give us the strength to do exactly that if we ask it of him. He will grant our prayer. He promises to. So don’t worry about what the future brings. Only trust in Jesus and know that His Kingdom will never fall and He will never fail you.
This is why Jesus adds the phrase, “and to God what is God’s.” The government deserves your obedience when it comes to demanding mammon from you. But it cannot demand your conscience. It may not tell you how to worship your God, when to worship him, what to wear when you worship him, how to distribute the Lord’s Supper, or what we preach here. These things belong to God. It’s not the first amendment that gave you your freedom and right to worship your Lord Jesus. No government on earth can give that right. It’s the right and the duty and the honor given us by God Almighty, enshrined in the First Commandment, “You shall have no other gods.” And since no government can give that right, no government can take it away.
Jesus told Pilate, My kingdom is not of this world. He did not say, “My kingdom is not in this world.” It most definitely is in this world. The power of the world’s governments is the sword, the force of arms, and their great associate, money. But the power of Jesus’ kingdom is His blood shed for us, the forgiveness of sins he speaks to us. His Kingdom is within us, as His Spirit wins our hearts for our Lord Jesus by His Word. Jesus raises up an army not of soldiers with guns in their hands, but of saints with the Word of God on their tongues. And we are invincible. The church shall never perish. Note that St. Paul speaks of our citizenship being in heaven in the present tense. It IS in heaven. Now. He doesn’t say it will be in the future. It is now. There is only one Kingdom of Christ, only one reign. He rules now over us as surely as He reigns over the dearly departed in heaven. We are united with the saints of all times. We together with the saints in heaven wait for and expect the resurrection of all flesh and the life of the world to come, when Christ will change our lowly bodies, subject to so much pain and temptation on earth, to be transformed to be like His glorious body, and we will rule openly with Him. That’s what we wait for. But even now our citizenship is in heaven. Because we are Christ’s. His body and His blood we’ve taken. And He has conquered already. He is our refuge and strength. He is our mighty fortress. Listen to the words of Psalm 18, “For it is you who light my lamp; the Lord my God lightens my darkness. For by you I can run against a troop, and by my God I can leap over a wall.” Listen to the words of Jesus, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them and they follow me. And they will never perish, neither will anyone snatch them out of my hands.” So know it. Christ has already won. And you are Christ’s, your Baptism proves it, so you are victorious with Him.
What does this have to do with paying to Caesar his due? Everything. You have nothing to lose. Give Caesar his money and obey his laws for Jesus’ sake. Jesus told you to. That’s enough. And give your King and your Lord Jesus what belong to Him. Together with Christ oppose Caesar’s commands if he dares tell Christ’s Church what to do. And pray for your rulers, that they give us good laws, punish the evil and reward the good, as God commands. We have the example of many an evil king turning from his wickedness because of the prayers of the faithful. Manasseh went from sacrificing his sons at the altar of Baal and persecuting the church of God, to being its greatest defender. So God’s reign on earth goes. Don’t grow weary. Rise to arms, with prayers employ you.
When the Pharisees and Herodians came to trap Jesus in His words and get him either to oppose Caesar or side with Caesar’s wicked behavior, Jesus rebuked them and rebuffed them. They tried to butter Jesus up, compliment him, trick him into thinking their questions were innocent. So it goes among us now. The Pharisees are the antichristian media and professors of our day and the Herodians are the politicians. And they will speak sweet words to the church, even as they try to destroy Christ’s rule among us. But see what Jesus does. His word conquers them. They have nothing to say and they walk away. Later they will kill Him. But they cannot stand against His Word. And His resurrection proved that even their violence against Him was for the glory of God and our salvation. So it goes now. We will see persecution. We have seen it. But the Word they still shall let remain, nor any thanks have for it. At the end of our Gospel, it is Jesus who remains with His people. And at the end of the day, it is Jesus who remains with us. No power of earth or hell will ever rip Him from His Church. He has bought us with His blood. We are His bride for whom He laid down His life. His words will never fail us, His forgiveness will never run out, and He will fulfill what He has promised. He will so guide and govern the kingdoms of this world to benefit us. Trust Him. Your King will never fail you. Amen.