Rev. David Holwick L
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
March 25, 2012
Mark 12:14-17
|
I. New Jersey leads the nation.
A. We live in a distinctive state.
1) We are the least corrupt state in the country.
It was reported last week in Slate.com, based on a
study by the Center for Public Integrity.
Most New Jerseyans didn't believe it.
But the report said we have the best transparency,
accountability, and anti-corruption mechanisms.
Apparently we have had so much corruption in the past
we enacted some very tough reform laws.
So now we live in paradise. [1]
2) But there is one area we still excel in - taxation.
According to the website, 24/7 Wall Street, New Jersey
residents have a higher tax burden than any other state.
Add up all our taxes - state income, sales, gas, property -
and we are forking over 12.2% of our income.
Our rate is twice that of Alaska.
If you are in the top 1% of earners, add in the federal
taxes and you are paying more than half your income
back to the government. [2]
B. Taxes have never been popular.
1) Back before the Revolution, the citizens of Boston organized
a Tea Party to protest British taxes.
a) Defied government authority and had fun at same time.
b) The modern Tea Party movement has tried to revive it.
2) The ancient Jews didn't like taxes either.
a) Jesus was born in far-off Bethlehem because of taxes.
b) It wasn't just the financial burden it imposed, but the
religious message it sent.
c) Some Jews refused to pay taxes because of this, which
put them in open defiance of the government.
C. The enemies of Jesus sensed an opportunity.
1) They had Jesus on the horns of a lose-lose dilemma.
a) They would force him to take a stand, whether he
supported paying Roman taxes or not.
1> If he opposed taxes, that would make him an enemy
of Rome and they could go straight to Pilate.
2> If he supported taxes, he would lose the support of
the Jewish population.
b) No matter what he answered, he lost.
1> This is why they butter him up so much with the
phony praise at the beginning.
2> Jesus had used this kind of stunt on them
(Matt 21:25-27) and now they could get revenge.
2) Jesus responded with one of the all-time great comebacks.
a) Instead of lose-lose, he really made it win-win.
b) It has a lot to tell us about how we should relate to
the society we live in.
II. Israel was an occupied country.
A. The Romans required Israel to pay a special tax.
1) They had to use a specific Roman coin, the denarius.
a) The front of the coin had an image of the current
Caesar, Tiberius.
b) The inscription said "Son of the divine" and "Highest
Priest."
2) Many Jews considered the imagery idolatrous.
a) It is interesting that Jesus didn't have one on him.
b) But his opponents did.
B. The three main Jewish attitudes on taxes.
1) Zealots - Roman taxes are evil and shouldn't be paid.
2) Pharisees - taxes are not good but we should go along.
3) Herodians - we are part of the Roman power structure so we
think taxes are great! They finance our paychecks.
C. Jesus reveals his own approach.
1) The coins for the tax bear Caesar's image and inscription.
a) Therefore there is nothing wrong in giving it back to
him.
b) At the same time, God must be given what is God's.
2) His brilliant answer is brilliantly vague.
a) Just what is rightfully Caesar's?
1> Some of our money? All of our money?
2> What about other things, like obedience?
b) For that matter, what specifically do we owe God?
III. Is Jesus actually opposing taxes?
A. God is the only true king.
1) Everything Caesar has is given him by God.
2) Caesar doesn't own anything, so we owe him nothing.
B. This is popular with some radical Christians.
1) Mennonites who withhold military portion of their tax.
2) They use some interpretive tricks to justify it.
C. Jesus did teach that Christians are tax exempt.
1) Matthew 17:24-27.
24 "Doesn't your teacher pay the temple tax?"
25 "Yes, he does," [Peter] replied.
When Peter came into the house, Jesus was the first
to speak. "What do you think, Simon?" he asked.
"From whom do the kings of the earth collect duty
and taxes -- from their own sons or from others?"
26 "From others," Peter answered.
"Then the sons are exempt," Jesus said to him.
2) Only foreigners owe taxes, not citizens.
Go to Roxbury tax office and inform them that Jesus
says you are local so you don't owe any taxes.
What is more, you want a refund on all those
property taxes you have paid over the years.
They are going to give you a big fat refund check,
and you had better be sure and tithe it!
3) Unfortunately, Jesus goes on to pay that tax for Peter.
a) We don't want to offend anyone. Matt 17:27
D. People can come up with obscure arguments to support this view,
but too many verses go against it.
1) Jesus did not agree with the Zealots.
a) He wasn't a violent revolutionary like they were.
b) His kingdom is other-worldly.
2) Ironically he was accused of opposing taxes at his trial:
Luke 23:2
And they began to accuse him, saying, "We have found
this man subverting our nation.
He opposes payment of taxes to Caesar...."
IV. Is Jesus setting up two independent spheres of authority?
A. Government has its place and religion has its place.
1) We often express this as the separation of church and state.
2) This is a convenient understanding but can be dangerous.
a) It can be reduced to God gets Sunday morning and the
government gets everything else.
b) Totalitarian governments like Nazism were content with
people going to church as long as they didn't
interfere with government policies.
c) America is having an intense debate right now on whether
Christian groups can be forced to offer medical
procedures they think are immoral.
B. God doesn't go 50-50 with government.
1) He has delegated some responsibilities to it.
2) Romans 13 gives more details:
a) Governments should enforce basic morality.
1> Evil should be punished and good rewarded.
b) In return, we support government with our finances and
obedience.
V. Jesus believed in a hierarchy with God on top.
A. Government has its place but it is not equal to God.
1) There can never be an absolute separation of church and
state.
a) (Santorum was trying to get at this when he said
President Kennedy's separation of his faith from his
politics made him want to vomit.)
2) Christianity should pervade everything we think and do,
even when it comes to politics.
a) At the same time, the New Testament doesn't give precise
"position papers" on political issues.
b) We are to love God, study the Bible, and figure things
out the best we can.
3) Committed Christians will have a positive impact on their
nation.
In 1831, about 50 years after America won its independence,
a Frenchman named Alexis de Tocqueville visited.
He made this famous observation:
"I sought for the greatness of the United States in her
commodious harbors, her ample rivers, her fertile fields,
and boundless forests -- and it was not there.
I sought for it in her rich mines, her vast world commerce,
her public school system, and in her institutions of
higher learning -- and it was not there.
I looked for it in her democratic Congress and her
matchless Constitution -- and it was not there.
Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her
pulpits flame with righteousness did I understand the
secret of her genius and power.
America is great because America is good, and if America
ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great!"
#17352
B. Sometimes we must be in opposition to government.
1) Timothy Weber wrote this:
In Romans 13 Paul paints a positive picture of the role
of government and commands Christians to obey it.
But in Revelation 13 the author describes a government
gone demonic and warns believers to resist it unto death.
According to the book of Acts, it did not take Jesus'
followers long to discover that "we must obey God rather
than men" (Acts 5:29). #4902
2) When God and government clash, God always wins.
a) We must defend Biblical morality, even when the
government takes a different line.
b) Always stand true to your convictions.
VI. What we owe God.
A. We owe him our souls.
1) The early church father Tertullian commented on today's
passage, "Render to Caesar indeed money; to God,
yourself."
2) God calls all of us to repent and believe in the Lord Jesus.
3) We must acknowledge his lordship of our life.
B. We owe him our ultimate allegiance.
1) We acknowledge God's lordship over the claims of others.
2) The power of God is greater than the power of government.
Rev. Dr. Sloane Coffin once said in a sermon:
"Christians, like Jesus, have God as their authority,
and no authority as their God." #2913
3) We obey God even when it is hard or costly.
a) Gov. Christie recently said to an opponent of his
school reorganization plan: "I'm the governor, man!"
b) The Almighty says to a Christian, "I'm God, man!"
1> We listen to his Word, then we try to do it.
C. We owe him our service and worship.
1) We need to devote time to him.
2) We need to devote effort to him.
3) We need to devote our resources to him.
a) Compare what you spend in taxes to what you give to
God's work.
b) It's not even close!
D. All governments will one day turn to dust. Only God is forever.
=========================================================================
SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:
[1] “New Jersey Ranked Least Corrupt State,” Abby Ohleiser, Slate.com,
< http://slatest.slate.com/posts/2012/03/19/center_for_public_
integrity_s_state_integrity_investigation_fails_8_states.html>,
March 19, 2012.
[2] “States Where People Pay the Most (and Least) In Taxes,” 27/7 Wall
Street; <http://247wallst.com/2011/07/21/108558/3/>, July 21, 2011.
# 2913 “The Ultimate Authority,” Rev. Eric S. Ritz, Dynamic Preaching
(www.sermons.com) Disk, Summer 1992 "a", from sermon “The Cry of
Freedom,” July 7, 1992.
# 4902 “We Owe God More Than We Owe Caesar,” Timothy Weber, Rev. Brett
Blair's Illustrations by Email, www.sermonillustrations.com,
April 28, 1999.
#17352 “Quotes On Patriotism;” this quote was by Alexis de Tocqueville.
These and 35,000 others are part of the Kerux database that can be
downloaded, absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html
=========================================================================
Copyright © 2024 by Rev. David Holwick
Created with the Freeware Edition of HelpNDoc: Easily create CHM Help documents