Responsibility

What belongs to the governing authorities? What belongs to God? As followers of Jesus, what should we give to the government and what should we give to God?

As followers of Jesus, we have a responsibility to the authorities and to the governing bodies who are over us, recognizing that it is God who has given us all things, it is God who has put government in place, and it is God who has given authority.

All things belong to God and God has given us all things.

This dynamic of giving the governing authority their due, while simultaneously giving God his due, is what Jesus was addressing when he was being tested by the Pharisees and the religious leaders in Matthew 22:15-22, when the Pharisees plotted how they would entangle Jesus in his words.

Matthew’s gospel account tells us, “They sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, ‘Teacher, we know that you are true and teach the way of God truthfully, and you do not care about anyone's opinion, for you are not swayed by appearances. Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?’ But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, ‘Why put me to the test, you hypocrites? Show me the coin for the tax.’ 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.’ When they heard it, they marveled. And they left him and went away.” (Matthew 22:16-22, ESV).

According to Jesus, his followers are to give the governing authorities their due. We are also to give God what belongs to God, which is everything. We are called to honor God with how we engage the world and with how we worship God with our humble and faithful obedience. We are ultimately responsible to God for how we honor and obey those who he has put in authority over us. We are responsible to God for giving him his due as well, because all things come from God and he is our ultimate authority.

May we be responsible citizens of this world, and be responsible citizens of the Kingdom of God, as we give to the governing authorities their due and as we give to God what is his as we worship him.

A Collect for The Twenty-first Sunday after Pentecost, (Proper 24): “Set us free, loving Father, from the bondage of our sins, and in your goodness and mercy give us the liberty of that abundant life which you have made known to us in our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.” (Book of Common Prayer, 2019).

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