Where's Your Focus?

The message given in the United Methodist churches of the Wheatland Parish on Sunday, July 11, 2021.  The Bible verses used are Matthew 22:15-22.

            When we think about Jesus, one of the things we don’t think about often enough is just how smart Jesus was.  I don’t just mean wise, although Jesus obviously was very wise.  I mean smart.  Intelligent.  He knew a lot about a lot of things.

            Think about it.  He knew a trade--we’re told that he was a carpenter.  He knew the scriptures--over and over again, no matter what the subject was, no matter what was going on, Jesus could come up with a scripture quote that perfectly covered the situation.  He was an excellent judge of character.  He could accurately size up people very quickly.  When someone claimed to want to follow him, he knew whether they really would or whether they were just caught up in the moment.  When someone asked him a question, he could tell whether they really wanted to know the answer or whether they had some other reason to be asking.  I mean, yes, Jesus had an advantage, being the divine Son of God and all, but still, it’s clear that Jesus was a very intelligent man.

            But above all, Jesus had a clear sense of purpose.  Jesus knew who he was.  He knew why he was here.  Jesus did not waver in his purpose.  He did not allow himself to get distracted from his purpose.  Jesus was going to do what he had been sent here to do, and nothing was going to take him away from that.

            The Pharisees tried to.  One of the ways the Pharisees tried to distract Jesus was to get him to take sides on the various “hot-button” issues of the day, knowing that whatever side Jesus took would get him into trouble with the other side.  We have an example of that in our reading for today.  The hot-button issue they asked Jesus was “Is it right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar, or not.”

Now, understand what the imperial tax was.  First, it was a tax imposed by the government.  It was not a religious tax.  It did not go to the Pharisees or the priests or to upkeep of the temple or anything like that.  This was a tax that was paid to the Roman government.

            And it was not a tax imposed on everyone.  This was a tax imposed on people the Roman government had conquered.  In other words, if you were a Roman citizen, you did not have to pay this tax.  But if you were a citizen of Israel, or any of the other countries Rome had defeated and taken over, then you did have to pay it.

            So, this was a controversial issue, for a few reasons.  One, Israel still had hopes of regaining its independence from Rome.  In fact, a few times they had gained it, although never for long.  So, in the eyes of some, paying this imperial tax was an admission that Israel no longer had a right to independence, that it was just a province of Rome.  They did not want to admit that.  

            Also, the tax could be quite high.  We’ve talked before about how tax collectors were not really bound by law on how much they could demand from people.  They could take as much as they liked, as long as they sent Rome its share.  So this tax could be really hard for people to pay.  And of course, this tax was in addition to all the various offerings and tithes the people of Israel were supposed to pay at the temple.  People could handle the temple offerings and fees, because those, at least in theory, went to God.  But to have to pay still more to Rome?  That got them upset.

            So, if Jesus said people should pay the imperial tax, it could get him into a lot of trouble.  But if he said they should not pay it, that could get him into trouble, too.  Rome, for the most part, did not care what the people of Israel did, but one thing they did care about was money.  And Jesus was an important person at this point.  If he told people not to pay taxes to Rome, Rome might very well arrest him.

            And so, the Pharisees thought the trap was set.  No matter what Jesus said, no matter which side he chose, he would get into trouble.  A perfect situation for them.

            But Jesus was too smart for them.  Jesus refused to take a side.  He looked at Caesar’s picture on one of the Roman coins, and famously said, “Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and give to God what is God’s.”  And of course, the Pharisees were stunned.  Their trap had failed.

            But Jesus did not just say this to avoid falling into a trap.  We talked last week about how Jesus is the truth.  Jesus would not say anything he did not mean.  What Jesus said was completely consistent with his purpose.  It was totally consistent with why he had come to earth.  Jesus did not come to earth to choose sides.  Jesus did not come to earth to settle political questions.  Jesus came to earth to bring salvation and eternal life.

            And that’s the point Jesus was making when he said, “Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and give to God what is God’s.”  Jesus was saying, these earthly political issues are not important to me.  I did not come to tell you whether you should pay taxes to Rome.  I came to take the punishment you should get for your sins.  I came so that whoever believes in me should have salvation and eternal life.  Jesus was saying, you need to stop focusing on these narrow political issues.  You need to focus on God.

            It’s the same point Jesus made to Peter earlier in the gospel of Matthew, at Matthew Chapter Sixteen, Verse Twenty-three.  Jesus said to Peter, “You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”

            That’s an important lesson for us.  Our human concerns always seem so important to us.  And it’s understandable because, after all, we’re human.  And any more, those human concerns usually become political concerns.  It sometimes seems like all anyone wants to focus on is political concerns.  In fact, it seems like we cannot think of anything that is not political.  Sports have become political.  Diseases have become political.  Soda pop has become political.  

            And as Christians, we all tend to have opinions on those political issues.  And that’s okay.  After all, we do have to live in the world.  But the problem is that if, as Christians, we put our main focus on political issues, we will tend to put our main focus on finding political solutions.  When an issue comes up, we will look to the government to take care of it.  

            Now, certainly, government has a role to play in human society.  But the focus of a Christian should not be on government.  The focus of a Christian should be on God.

            As Christians, our first loyalty, our only loyalty, is to God through faith in Jesus Christ.  The government can make it easier or harder to express that loyalty.  It can do things that make it easier or harder to show our faith in Jesus.  It can also do things that make our lives on earth easier or harder.  But nothing the government does changes what we believe or who we believe in.  And nothing the government does changes our duty to serve God, to be faithful to God, to show love to God, and to show love to others.

            Now, maybe that makes sense to you, and maybe it does not.  But what happens, at this point, is that we start thinking about the “what abouts”.  But what about this issue?  What about that issue?  Those are important issues.  They affect a lot of people.  They can affect people’s entire lives.  In fact, they can determine whether someone has life.  God certainly must care about that, right?  And if God cares about it, then God certainly wants me to be involved in it, so the government does what God wants it to do, right?

            Well, maybe.  I’m not saying that Christians can never get involved in political issues or should never be part of the government.  But I do think it can be a slippery slope.  Remember, there were a lot of important political issues in Jesus’ time, too.  They affected a lot of people.  They affected people’s entire lives.  They determined whether someone even had life.  But Jesus did not get involved in those political issues.  In fact, as with our reading for today, he specifically refused to get involved in them.

            It must have been tempting.  After all, Jesus could see how the Roman government was treating people, especially the people of Israel.  He could see when they treated people badly, when they abused them, when they cheated them.  And of course, Jesus had the power to do something about it.  It had to be very tempting for him to use that power to change the government.  But he did not.  Because Jesus’ purpose was not to cure all the problems of life on earth.  His purpose was to offer people the chance for salvation and eternal life.

            But Jesus did help people in their lives on earth, didn’t he?  Well, yes, he did.  But he did not do that through the government.  When Jesus saw someone who needed help, he did not go to the governor and tell him to start a program to help that person.  Jesus went to the person and helped them.  And that’s what Jesus told us to do, too.  

            The government is an important part of life on earth.  It always has been.  But as Christians, our primary focus is not on influencing the government.  Our primary focus is to help people whenever we can.  Help them with their lives on earth, but also let them know about the salvation and eternal life that’s available to them through faith in Jesus Christ.  

            The issues of life on earth, however important they may seem, are only temporary.  Salvation is for eternity.  Offering that salvation was Jesus’ main purpose.  As Christians, it should be our main purpose, too.