Rev. Arturo Mendez

St. Matthew Lutheran church of Westfield

10/18/2020

Theme: Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.

 

May the peace and grace from our lord and Savior be with all of us.

 

15 Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him in his words. 16 They sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians.“Teacher,” they said, “we know that you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are. 17 Tell us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay the imperial tax[a] to Caesar or not?

 

In this Pericope teach us about Jesus asking to the Pharisees from whom was the image in this coin, This particular text is common to use to the discussion about the separation off the  two kingdoms the church and  the state And the obligation of the Christians to pay their taxes including other duties as a citizens of this Kingdom.

 

And in this passage we can see one more time when the Pharisees were together they want to set a trap to Jesus. And always this thing happened because the lack of faith and because they really were mad about their parables of Jesus and of the teachings against them. We need to know in the Jewhis people of those days it was considered to pay taxes to Caesar it was an act of betray against the Jewish nation In terms of idolatry, But Jesus answered them Right.

render to Caesar the things that are caesar's and to God the things that are God’s. 

 

Christ our Lord says:

St. Matthew 22.21

Render . . . to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's. Seems easy enough. When we pay our taxes, we render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's. When we obey the law show respect to our earthly authorities and honor those who uphold godly government, we render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's.

 

2 This is our duty as Christians. As people who live under earthly government, we have a command from God to render unto Caesar the things that are his.

St. Paul says:   Romans 13.1, 3-5

Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities.  For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God . . . For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil.  Do you want to be unafraid of the authority?  Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same.  For he is God's minister to you for good.  But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain, for he is God's minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil.  Therefore you must be subject, not only because of wrath but also for conscience' sake.

 

3 Such duty to render unto Caesar does have its limits. 

 

If and when Government or any earthly authority calls on you to sin or support sin—then it’s time to stand with St. Peter and say:

            Acts 5.29

We ought to obey God, rather than men.

 

4 Here, on obedience to God the second part of Jesus' comment comes into play:

St. Matthew 22.21 Render . . . to God the things that are God's. At all times, regardless of what any earthly authority says, we owe God our love and trust above all things. At all times, we owe God our worship and praise. And just as we owe Caesar what he lawfully demands of us,

we owe God the firstfruits of what he has given to us. We owe God our tithes and offerings.

We owe God the use of our talents for the sake of his Church. We owe God the time and effort and devotion it takes to grow in faith toward him and to persevere in doing good to one another. God is Given and We given to, in response of what He has done for us He is the owner of everything in this world, And we are only the administrators of what he has given to us, at the end of the day nothing is ours  

 

5  is our duty as Christians. As saints of God who have our citizenship in heaven even while here on earth we have the command from Christ our Lord to render unto God the things that are God's. Anything that stands in the way of your faithfulness to God—Anything than stands in the way of our sanctification—Anything that hinders you from rendering unto God what is rightfully His, is to be marked and avoided as idolatrous evil.

 

6 So today, by these Gospel words of Christ, the Holy Spirit calls on us to examine our hearts and see just how well we render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and unto God the things that are God’s. Do you pay your taxes grudgingly, OR in dutiful joyful obedience to Christ's word?

Do you willingly and lovingly give respect and honor to those in authority as part of your faithfulness to God, OR only out of some sense of political or societal necessity? Do you offer your praise and worship and offerings to God because they are your genuine heartfelt sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving for God's salvation in Christ OR only because you’ll feel guilty if you 

don’t?

 

7 Today, Christ calls us to repentance. He calls us to repent of our disobedience to earthly authority and even our unwilling grudging obedience.

He calls us to repent of our lukewarm half-hearted praise and worship and our lack of Faith to give our tithes and offerings to God. some times our sinful condition guide us to don’t trust in God, in His Providence if I give this To God’s curch I Can’t afford this or that  to pay certain things we need to pay etc. the Word of God said this in;

Malachia 3 Ever since the time of your ancestors you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord Almighty.

“But you ask, ‘How are we to return?’

“Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me.

“But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’

“In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse—your whole nation—because you are robbing me. 10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.

 When we pray the Lord's prayer, In the catechism of Martin Luther teach us about the four petition, give us this day Our Daily Bread,

 what does this mean? 

God certainly gives daily bread to everyone without our prayers even to all evil people but we pray in this petition that God will lead us to realize this and to receive Our Daily Bread with Thanksgiving .

what is meant by daily bread? 

Daily bread includes everything that has to do with the support and needs of the body ,such as food, drink, clothing, shoes, house, home, land, animals, money, goods, a devout  husband or wife , devout Children, devout workers, devout and Faithful rollers, good government, good weather, peace, held, self control, good reputation, good friends, faithful neighbors, and the like.

We forget that he is the owner of everything and Everything that he gives us is us at loan for the time we are living in this earth God  gives and we are given to.

God has Give His Son to Die in the cross for ours for all our transgressions

He has give His Holy Baptism, His word and the holy supper,To eat and drink his body he has given us his pardon through God our Father. 

He calls us to repent of our sinful breaking of the fourth commandment and the first. Honor your father and mother—that includes all earthly authority. And You shall have no other gods before me. Christ’s call to repentance is a call for each of us to fulfill his words in all their divine fullness and in all Christian joy: St. Matthew 22.21

Render . . . to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.

 

8 For the greatest rendering has already been done. The greatest tax has already been levied

And paid. The greatest sacrifice has already been made—for the sake of Caesar and all the world and unto the God the Lord. The rendering of that sacrifice is the crucifixion of our Christ our Lord. By Christ’s crucifixion Caesar has been paid his due in the dead body of Christ whose execution he carried out. By Christ’ crucifixion God has been paid the ransom for our sin in the blood that flowed from his head, hands and feet and side By Christ’s crucifixion the price of our salvation has been paid by the very Son of God himself.

 

9 By dying on the cross Christ has freed us from seeing our Christian duties as a burden to the soul. And By rising from the dead he has promised us a new life where we are free from all the burdens of imperfect earthly authority and free to worship God  in spirit and truth and with all holiness.

 

10 Even now in this life, we have been so blessed. Christ has forgiven our imperfect respect for earthly authority. Christ has forgiven our imperfect use of earthly authority which flows from his hand. Christ has forgiven our lukewarm rending to God of our lack of Faith in His Providence  Christ has forgiven us by his holy innocent bitter sufferings and death. And by his resurrection Christ has freed us to properly respect our earthly authorities. By his resurrection Christ has freed us to

Dutifully faithfully even joyfully give him our worship and our praise and the first fruits of all that we’ve been given.

 

11 So render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's—and do it with joy in your heart. And

Render unto God the things that are God's in faithfulness to Christ in love for one another an d

in certain hope of the life of the world to come.  Amen.

 

May the peace of God who trespasses all understanding keep you soul in mind in life everlasting Amen

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