Actually, three things are certain: taxes, death and judgment. You no doubt have heard of the dictum: “Only two things are certain in this life,death and taxes.” I was reminded of this saying when I went to the Post Office this week to mail my tax forms in and stood in a long line. It went at a snail’s pace and I thought I would never get out of there!
But while standing in line I was reminded of the saying about death and taxes. On a deeper and more serious level it raised this question for me: “If I am not living in this world but am living in the kingdom of God, why do I have to pay taxes? Isn’t this paying allegiance to the “kingdom of Caesar?” I mean, if I really want to be separate from the world, then why not make a clean break of everything and claim ultimate allegiance to God, thereby absolving myself of any obligation to the government?
Jesus has a word to say on this.
In this Synoptic Gospel accounts [Matthew 22:15-22; Mark 12:13-17; Luke 20:19-26] the Pharisees tried on one occasion to trap Jesus in his conversation. Both the Pharisees and the Herodians conspired and baited him with this question:
“Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?”
He knew their insincerity, so he asked for coin. They gave him a denarius [sort of like our penny today] and he asked, “Whose image and what inscription is on this coin?”
They answered, “The emperor’s.”
Jesus simply answered, “Give therefore to the emperor Caesar the things that are his, and to God the things are God’s.”
Simple. Direct. No further questions needed. Not a case of allegiance. Just a case of faithfulness and lawfulness. These are the two things certain in view of the judgment and eternity: faithfulness and lawfulness. It comes down to a question of witness. Am I faithful and law-abiding? As Christians we have dual citizenship: heavenly and earthly. This duality only causes us trouble when allegiance to God is threatened. Otherwise, faithfulness and lawfulness are the two certain things that will catch the attention of people who care about neither. They will see the inner peace and the quality of relationships around us.
In Christian love, Curtis
1 comment:
I think we were both directed to think exactly the same way about that saying about death and taxes, Curt. I appreciate your focus on faithfulness. That is what it is all about. We don't have to be the best at anything or famous in anything, but we do have to be faithful.
Love these blogs, Curtis.
Jim Davison
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