Twent-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A

MATTHEW 22:15-21
I ENJOYED MY TIME IN COLLEGE. I HAD SPENT MOST OF MY LIFE IN MONTANA, SO YOU CAN IMAGINE THAT WHEN I WENT AWAY TO WASHINGTON, D.C., AT THE AGE OF 17, IT WAS A LIFE-CHANGING EXPERIENCE FOR ME. I MAJORED IN BIOLOGY, BUT I WAS FASCINATED BY HISTORY, THEOLOGY, AND PHILOSOPHY. YOU CAN'T ARGUE MUCH ABOUT HARD SCIENCE, BUT IN THOSE LATE NIGHT SESSIONS IN THE DORMITORY WE WOULD TACKLE ALL MANNER OF QUESTIONS THAT HAD NO ANSWERS. WHEN WE DISCUSSED RELIGION, OF COURSE, EVEN THOUGH WE WERE ALL CATHOLICS AND REASONABLY SERIOUS CATHOLICS AT THAT, WE ALL HAD DIFFERENT OPINIONS ABOUT THE RUSTLINGS GOING ON IN THE CHURCH AS IT PREPARED FOR THE VATICAN COUNCIL.
AND WHENEVER WE TALKED ABOUT RELIGION, I WOULD FEEL HOLY. THE MORE I KNEW ABOUT THE BIBLE, THE HOLIER I'D FEEL. I WOULD DIVE INTO THOMAS AQUINAS, BECAUSE HE WAS THE PHILOSOPHER WE STUDIED MOST AT CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY, AND THAT WOULD MAKE ME FEEL HOLY. AND IT WAS A GOOD FEELING. AND I'D GO HOME TO MONTANA DURING THE SUMMER AND OVERWHELM MY PARENTS WITH MY NEW KNOWLEDGE. AND THAT WOULD MAKE ME FEEL AS THOUGH I WERE ON THE SIDE OF THE ANGELS.
BUT I WASN'T. I LOOK BACK AND SEE THAT ALL THAT KNOWLEDGE WAS OF COURSE A GOOD THING. BUT IT WASN'T HELPING MY PRAYER LIFE, IT WASN'T GETTING ME CLOSER TO GOD, IT WASN'T ENCOURAGING ME TO SERVE MY NEIGHBOR. IT HAD BECOME A SUBSTITUTE FOR REAL RELIGION.
WHEN WE HEAR THIS GOSPEL, IT IS OFTEN FOLLOWED WITH A SERMON ABOUT PATRIOTISM, OR THE SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE. WE SOMETIMES INTERPRET JESUS' WORDS TO MEAN THAT THERE IS A SHARP DIVISION IN SOCIETY BETWEEN RELIGION AND EVERYTHING ELSE. AND THESE WORDS HAVE BEEN USED TO JUSTIFY ALL SORTS OF THINGS. BUT I DON'T THINK JESUS WAS TALKING ABOUT ANY OF THIS. THE PHARISEES SPENT A LOT OF TIME ARGUING WITH EACH OTHER ABOUT HOW TO FOLLOW THE LAW. THIS TOOK UP MOST OF THEIR TIME. THIS STILL GOES ON, AS YOU MAY KNOW, ESPECIALLY IN ISRAEL, WHERE AMONG THE ULTRA-ORTHODOX, IT IS ALMOST A SIN FOR A YOUNG MAN TO HOLD DOWN A JOB. NO, HIS MISSION IS TO SPEND MOST OF HIS WAKING MOMENTS STUDYING SCRIPTURE AND THE TALMUD. THIS HAS BECOME A SUBSTITUTE FOR REAL RELIGION. AND WHEN THE PHARISEES POSE THE QUESTION TO JESUS, IT IS TRUE THAT THEY WERE TRYING TO TRAP HIM. IF HE CAME DOWN ON ONE SIDE, HE WOULD BE A REBEL, A SUBVERSIVE. IF HE CAME DOWN ON THE OTHER, HE WOULD BE TURNED ON BY THE COMMON PEOPLE, WHO RESENTED PAYING TAXES TO THEIR OPPRESSORS. SINCE THE ROMAN EMPEROR WAS CONSIDERED A GOD, IT WAS ALMOST BLASPHEMOUS TO PAY TAXES.
BUT JESUS IS SPEAKING TO THE PHARISEES ABOUT THEIR VERY PREMISE, NOT LAYING DOWN SOME NEW RULE ABOUT THE SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE. IT IS PRECISELY THIS KIND OF QUESTION THAT OCCUPIED THEM; QUESTIONS WHICH COULD BE ARGUED OVER FOR DAYS ON END; QUESTIONS WHICH THE SACRED SCRIPTURES COULD BE USED TO SUPPORT ALMOST ANY POSITION; AND QUESTIONS WHICH IN THE END HAD NO REAL ANSWER.
AND JESUS SPEAKS THOSE FAMOUS WORDS, “GIVE TO CAESAR WHAT IS CAESAR’S AND TO GOD WHAT IS GOD'S”, TO CALL THEM BACK TO REAL RELIGION.
REAL RELIGION IS NOT GETTING A PHD IN THEOLOGY, OR BEING A GREAT MISSIONARY, OR WRITING SPIRITUAL SELF-HELP BOOKS. REAL RELIGION IS NOT MARCHING IN A PRO-LIFE DEMONSTRATION, OR FEEDING THE HUNGRY, OR VISITING THE SICK OR IMPRISONED. DON'T GET ME WRONG, THOSE ARE ALL WONDERFUL THINGS, AND THEY MIGHT INDEED STEM FROM RELIGIOUS VALUES; BUT, YOU KNOW, YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE TO BELIEVE IN GOD TO DO ANY OF THESE THINGS. AND THE DANGER IS ALWAYS THAT WE CONFUSE THINGS LIKE THIS WITH REAL RELIGION.
JESUS REMINDS THE PHARISEES THAT AS THEY STUDY THE SCRIPTURES AND DEVELOP LAWS FOR EVERY KIND OF HUMAN ACTIVITY, AS THEY ARGUE FAR INTO THE NIGHT ABOUT THE MEANING OF A PASSAGE IN GENESIS, THEY AREN'T RENDERING UNTO GOD WHAT IS GOD'S. AND THE PHARISEES, YOU MAY NOT KNOW, WERE CHARITABLE. THEY DID CARE ABOUT THE SICK, AND THE WIDOWS AND ORPHANS. AND THEY MADE RULES ABOUT HOW YOU WENT ABOUT GIVING CHARITY, AND THEY ARGUED OVER THOSE RULES AS WELL. AND JESUS REMINDED THEM THAT EVEN HERE THEY WERE NOT RENDERING UNTO GOD WHAT IS GOD'S.
YOU AND I ARE CREATURES. WE ARE TOTALLY DEPENDENT ON GOD. LIFE MAY NOT BE SO BAD FOR US RIGHT NOW, BUT EVERYTHING IS CONTINGENT; OUR WORLD COULD COMPLETELY CHANGE TOMORROW. AS CREATURES, WE OWE OUR CREATOR. WHAT IS IT THAT WE OWE HIM? THE OLD CATECHISM GAVE US THE ANSWER IN A SIMPLE STATEMENT THOSE OF US WHO ARE OLD ENOUGH CAN ALWAYS DREDGE UP FROM OUR BRAINS: WE WERE CREATED TO KNOW, LOVE AND SERVE HIM IN THIS WORLD, AND BE HAPPY FOREVER WITH HIM IN THE NEXT.
KNOWING GOD REQUIRES PRAYER, REFLECTION, MEDITATION; IT TAKES TIME, IT MUST BE A PRIORITY. AND IF WE TRULY KNOW GOD, IT LEADS TO LOVING HIM, AND IF WE TRULY LOVE HIM, IT LEADS TO SERVING HIM. AND IF WE AREN'T LOVING, IF WE AREN'T SERVING, THEN WE PROBABLY DON'T KNOW HIM, WE PROBABLY HAVE FORGOTTEN THAT WE ARE CREATURES. WE HAVE PUT GOD INTO A BOX AND WE OPEN IT UP ON SUNDAY MORNING AND CLOSE IT DOWN AFTER WE PAY OUR WEEKLY DUES. AND WE THINK THAT BECAUSE WE GET THROUGH THE WEEK WITHOUT SERIOUS SIN, BECAUSE WE TAKE CARE OF OUR FAMILIES, BECAUSE WE MAY BE GIVING OUR TIME AND EFFORTS TO SOME CAUSE, WE ARE OK. BUT JESUS REMINDS US THAT WE HAVE TO CONSTANTLY EXAMINE OURSELVES, AND ASK THE QUESTION, ARE WE RENDERING TO GOD WHAT IS GOD'S? ARE WE TAKING SERIOUSLY OUR DUTY TO WORSHIP, TO GIVE OURSELVES OVER TO HIM, TO ALLOW HIS HOLY SPIRIT TO USE US? ARE WE TRYING TO KNOW HIS WILL FOR US, AND TRYING TO CARRY IT OUT?
THE DEVIL HAS A GREAT WEAPON THAT HE CAN ONLY USE AGAINST GOOD CHRISTIANS; THAT IS TO MAKE THEM SPEND THEIR TIME IN ACTIVITIES AND PRACTICES WHICH AREN'T REALLY DEVELOPING THEIR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD – BUT BECOME A SUBSTITUTE FOR DEVELOPING THAT RELATIONSHIP.
AND SO OUR TASK THIS WEEK IS TO EXAMINE OUR LIVES AND ASK WHETHER WE ARE RENDERING UNTO GOD WHAT IS GOD'S. ARE WE TAKING THE FACT THAT WE ARE CREATURES SERIOUSLY?