As April 15 th looms near on our calendars, many of us are still
searching for our relevant documents, adding and subtracting on
calculators and working hard to submit our tax forms from the federal
government and the State of Michigan before the deadline. This annual
ritual is a time for both the joy of our tax refunds and the agony of our tax payments.
In the first century, Jesus was asked if it was right to pay imperial
taxes. These were special taxes that were only levied on subject peoples,
not Roman citizens. But this question in Matthew 22 was a trap. The
Pharisees viewed the Denarius coin, which had a picture of Caesar and
which called Caesar divine, as a heretical thing to use. –If Jesus answered yes, the Pharisees would bring him to trial in front of the religious court. The Herodians, on the other hand, were folks who were on King Herod’s payroll. They were looking forward to having Jesus arrested for telling people not to pay their taxes. –Either a yes or no answer would mean an end to Jesus ministry. But Jesus saw their trap asked for a coin with Caesar’s image on it and gave an enigmatic answer that still resonates with us today, Jesus said, “Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.” As a citizen of the United States and the State of Michigan, we have duty and an obligation to pay our taxes. It is our way of contributing to the common good. Our common parks, our roads, our public education, even the baby formula given out through the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program has its source in our tax dollars. Of course, we should always hold our government accountable and make sure that our tax dollars are being spent wisely and not squandered frivolously; but paying our fair share of the cost of our community shared resources is something that Christ followers should do. In the same way, our time, our talents and our offerings should also
be going to build up the community of faith that we belong to. Our churches are the hands and feet of Jesus on this earth and the work that we are called to do to love our neighbor as much as ourselves is critical to our life of faith. In our time and community, we should both give back to our government their fair share as well as to give back to God.
Article in Rockford Squire Newspaper April 13 th 2023.
