Speak Truth to power....

Matthew 17: 24-27

24 When they reached Capernaum, the collectors of the temple tax came to Peter and said, ‘Does your teacher not pay the temple tax?’ 25He said, ‘Yes, he does.’ And when he came home, Jesus spoke of it first, asking, ‘What do you think, Simon? From whom do kings of the earth take toll or tribute? From their children or from others?’ 26When Peter said, ‘From others’, Jesus said to him, ‘Then the children are free. 27However, so that we do not give offence to them, go to the lake and cast a hook; take the first fish that comes up; and when you open its mouth, you will find a coin; take that and give it to them for you and me.’

For those of us who value the separation of Church and State, a position in our generation which is a bit easier to live out within Post Christendom Scotland, any words from Jesus on our relationship with the State are welcome.  In our story today Jesus is enlightening us about a tax gathered by the religious authorities called the ‘Temple Tax’. Jesus teaches on the Roman tax in another place (Matthew 22: 15-22). In the time of Jesus the religious authorities had real political power. They could lodge charges and they conducted trials but their power was restrained by Rome and for example they were not allowed to carry out the death penalty. That was a reserved power to Rome. Wise Rome! The people of Israel / Palestine had a form of ‘Home Rule’ or ‘Devolution’ in the form of the Religious elite and they formed a very powerful vested interest group in the socio-political life of the people. To offend them meant serious trouble; exclusions and stigmatising treatment. There are many stories in the bible revealing this. Jesus always taught that these exclusions imposed by the religious powers of His day were not part of the Story of God. Jesus of the Nazareth sermon taught the social inclusion of diverse personal and social identities, participation, reconciliation, restorative justice and ethical practice. There is an ethical way to live, so why pay tax to a corrupt group that Jesus Himself described in Mark 12: 40 in the words ‘40They devour widows’ houses and for the sake of appearance say long prayers….’? Jesus is quite clear; disciples do not forfeit their freedom to live out the radical alternative to current political circumstances by paying tax. Paying the Temple Tax does not make you a follower of the Temple elite!  Disciples compromise their way of life of peace-making and announcing that the Kingdom of Peace is inaugurated in Jesus Christ by getting caught up in diversionary political debates that simply cause offence and needless division.  If there is a choice to whom a disciple can pay tax (a choice not open to disciples in the first century but is available to us who have the blessing of living in democracies however limited) then it must be to the authority that gives the opportunity to be; peacemakers, reconcilers, who offer a preferential option for the poor, the sick and vulnerable, the care of children, the end of violence and prejudice towards women and the end of prejudice and injus-tice towards minorities. If we had a choice we would choose to implement and be the practical expression of the teachings of Jesus of the Nazareth sermon. We claim to live this out in our communities of disciples; why would we not vote for it in neighbourhood councils and the governance of the country in which we live given the opportunity? The community of disciples don’t seek power or office to change things from the top down; the Church is separate and independent of the State; it is simply wrong for the Church or any other religious group to exercise institutional political power. Disciples of Jesus believe that Jesus Christ is Lord and therefore Caesar or any other religious or secular power is NOT!  As disciples and as a community we offer our taxes to the state authorities willingly but never our worship because that would be idolatry.  Disciples of Jesus seek to live out the teachings and practices of Jesus in our everyday lives and communities. Things change more radically and more inclusively from the inside out and from the bottom up. This is how the communities of Jesus must speak Truth to power; the truth and universal benefit of peace-making and inclusion where we can all, yes, every last one of us, can belong even if we don’t believe, no matter our religion, colour, gender or sexual orientation, we can live together in interdependence and peace. This is the Kingdom that Jesus inaugurated. Not long after this story takes place Jesus will come face to face with authorities for the final time and will non-violently refuse and will resist their legitimacy to rule with their brutal oppression; it will cost Him His life at the cross.