Who Owns What

October 18, 2020 | Proper 24 | Matthew 22:15-22 | The Rev. John Reese

Have you heard about bitcoins?

The bitcoin is a virtual form of money that was created in 2009 by an anonymous software developer who wanted to have a currency that was free from middle men, like banks which charge interest and fees and governments which regulate and tax.

Here’s how it works: new bitcoins are minted, or enter the virtual marketplace, whenever a computer solves an incredibly complex algorithm – which can take several computers working hours to do. Once solved, a new virtual coin is created and made available for bidding in a marketplace, where people trade goods and services and even standard money to procure them. Your stash of virtual money is then stored on the hard drive of your laptop or in an app on your smartphone, waiting to be redeemed at a vendor that will accept it, or via a bank that can convert it into cold hard cash.

And if you think this is a fad or a niche “nerd currency” consider this: There are currently more than 18 million bitcoins in circulation, each with real monetary value. The value of a single bitcoin is almost $11,000. Likewise thousands of vendors now accept bitcoins as legitimate payment.

For many the attraction of bitcoin is not its worth but simply the fact that it is a subversive alternative. It works around and undermines the standard system and frees you from the annoyances of fees and rules and a little something called “taxes.” At least for now.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus is approached and quizzed by his enemies. The goal is to trick Jesus, to see where he stands on the hot-button issue of taxation and in the process paint him in a negative light, no matter what his answer. Would he pump the party line of their Roman overlords and say, “Taxes are fun!” thus alienating all those who felt it unjust and idolatrous? Or, would he show himself to be a bitcoin kind of guy, encouraging people to buck the system, avoid the hassles and obey their conscience? To do so would open him up to charges of treason and sedition.

The world is still trying to paint Jesus into a corner. We see him used by one group to shore up the status quo and keep everyone in line. At the same time there’s someone else invoking his name to help tear down some structure and incite some kind of rebellion.

But it’s not just Pharisees and Herodians and the world of crazies who are guilty of this. We all are. We are all good at trying to plaster Jesus onto something we’re passionate about, especially if it involves allowing us to get out of something we really don’t want to do.

When it comes to doing what’s difficult in our relationships, or at work, or as a member of our church or as a citizen of our country, we’re masters of making ourselves the exception to the rule or inventing an alternative approach that makes the path a little easier for us. We invent a new kind of currency, so to speak, that avoids the stuff we don’t like – be it paying taxes, turning in the report at work, pledging to our church, or serving on the committee we’ve been invited to join. And lest we feel bad about it, we convince ourselves that Jesus would be all for it. That is, until we actually ask him.

Jesus’ response to his accusers is masterful. “Show me the money,” he says. “And they brought him a denarius. And Jesus said to them, ‘Whose likeness and inscription is this?’ They said, ‘Caesar’s.’ Then he said to them, ‘Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s’” (vv. 19-21).

Did you see what Jesus did? He didn’t side with the Pharisees or the Herodians. He didn’t land squarely with the pro-tax agenda or the new currency crowd. He wasn’t squarely with the status quo or the anti-idolatry insurrection. He affirmed them both.

Let me ask you a few questions that I am sure you can answer:

Did you put on shoes this morning, or did you come to church in a car?

Do you eat cereal for breakfast, or don’t you like football?

Are you Episcopalian, or do you live in America?

Will you obey God, or will you pay taxes to Caesar?

Welcome to the world of false dichotomies – things that are wrongly set against each other, “either/or”s that really aren’t. Can you wear shoes and come to church in a car? Can you eat cereal and enjoy football? Can you be Episcopalian and live in America? Of course; in fact, you can be an American Episcopalian who wears shoes and eats cereal while enjoying football after you’ve traveled to and from church in a car. None of these things are mutually exclusive. Beware of the one who asks such questions, because there may well be an agenda behind them.

So Jesus is essentially saying this: “Yes, there are earthly matters of obedience that are not fun and may not even seem right – like paying taxes. And there are faith matters of obedience and allegiance to God that demand our attention and require our devotion. But they are not necessarily at odds. Do not use one as an excuse to avoid the other. I’m not going to be a convenient escape for earthly things you hate doing. Do both.”

Key voices in the Protestant reformation, including Martin Luther, used these words as a critical building block in what would become known as the doctrine of two governments or of two kingdoms. There is the spiritual kingdom where God rules with the Gospel, feeding his church with forgiveness and changing her heart by his Spirit. Then there is the realm of the secular which includes every human institution and structure – such as government and work and family – and through which external matters are dealt with.

The point for the reformers was that both realms, both kingdoms, belonged to God. Both were tools of his used to bring about his purposes. In one realm he provided the structures for survival, and in the other he provided the means of grace and for membership in his eternal family. But they were, they are, both his.

Therefore, it was illegitimate – except in case of extreme contradiction of Christian conscience – for Christians to play the “Jesus-card” in order to avoid stuff they don’t like. For Jesus is ruling the secular, external world, too – albeit in a different way. So do not opt out of taxes on the grounds that you tithe. Give your tithe and find a legitimate way to deal with your taxes. Through one, God is glorified in an act of spiritual worship. In the other, God is glorified in an act of secular obedience. He is the ruler of, and we are citizens of, both realms.

Jesus isn’t here to take sides on our agenda or to be a useful pawn as we craft our own way of living in this world. Jesus came to craft a people who believe that he is Lord over all things and who, as a result, pursue obedience and beauty in every aspect of life. And yes, at rare times that pursuit will drive us to bust the current secular system. But even then it will drive us to build another one where we’ll be called to ask the same old questions: “What is required of me in this relationship? What does faithfulness look like as a citizen? What does love look like in this particular responsibility that I loathe?” We are to be a people who ask those questions even though we know the answers may be uncomfortable.

But we’re often like the little boy who was given two quarters – one for Sunday School and one for an ice cream cone. Walking along the street, one of the coins slipped out of his hand and fell through some grillwork into the drain below. The little boy raised his face toward heaven and said with genuine sorrow, “Well, God, there goes your quarter.”

We need to realize that this world – all parts of it – do not belong to us or to Caesar. They belong to God, and so we should not be seeking to co-opt him as we craft our own world but trying to honor him within both realms of his world.

So back to bitcoins. Right now it thrives as a subversive alternative. It grows because of the things it allows you to escape and avoid. But a great question to ask is this: What if it truly catches on? Rules will be added. Oversight will take place. Fees and charges will inevitably emerge. And sure, the new way may be better than the cold hard cash we currently hold. But in the end irony will rule. The new system will require its own obedience, its own forms of un-fun faithfulness. And somewhere, someone will begin crafting something easier.

Sure, Jesus may buy some bitcoin. But if he does, it’s probably not because he wants to overthrow our financial system. You see, the coin in your hand is his tool to begin with, whether it’s stored on a hard-drive in a virtual marketplace or sits in your pocket with a noted American’s face on it. And Jesus is going to challenge us to be faithful with it.