church

INI
18TH Sunday after Pentecost
October 16, 2011
Ascension Lutheran Church, Tacoma WA
Paul Naumann, Pastor

Christians Have DUAL CITIZENSHIP
Matthew 22:15-22

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all, Amen. This morning we
turn our attention to the 22nd chapter of the Gospel of Matthew, beginning at
the fifteenth verse, as follows:

Then went the Pharisees, and took counsel how they might entangle him in his
talk. And they sent out unto him their disciples with the Herodians, saying,
Master, we know that thou art true, and teachest the way of God in truth,
neither carest thou for any man: for thou regardest not the person of men. Tell
us therefore, What thinkest thou? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or
not? But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, Why tempt ye me, ye
hypocrites? Show me the tribute money. And they brought unto him a penny.
And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription? They say unto
him, Caesar's. Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things
which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's. When they had
heard these words, they marvelled, and left him, and went their way. These are
the Words.

In the name of Jesus Christ, Who is the Christian's Commander in Chief, Dear
Fellow Redeemed,

Imagine what it would be like if you could be a citizen of two different
countries at the same time. Actually, I know several people for whom that is
true. Some of you have met retired Pastor Warren Fanning; he was born in
Canada, and although he hasn't lived there for some time, he still maintains a
"dual citizenship," both in Canada and the United States. I knew another man
whose family emigrated from Liverpool, England, about ten years ago –
although he long ago became a naturalized American, he still retains his British
citizenship, as well.

And I know another person who has a dual citizenship. You! Of course, you
and I are citizens of the United States. But we really do have a dual citizenship.
For every believer, every person who's had his sins washed away by Jesus, is
also a citizen of heaven. As November nears and local elections approach, we
will once again exercise our citizenship in this great country of America. Sadly,
though, there are a lot of Christians who hardly give their heavenly citizenship a
second thought. They seldom think about the huge benefits of being a believer,
not to mention the responsibilities. "Brethren, these things ought not so to be!"
As Christians, we have a duty, both to our earthly country - our beloved United
States - and to our greater, more permanent homeland: heaven. What is that
duty? It's to realize the blessings of both, and to shoulder the responsibilities of
both. Jesus addresses the topic in our text for this morning; that's why today's
theme is:

Christians Have DUAL CITIZENSHIP
I. As citizens of America we owe allegiance to our country.
II. As citizens of Heaven we owe allegiance to our Savior!

In our text for today, Jesus once again meets up with the hypocritical leaders of
the Jews. This time it's the disciples of the Pharisees who get together with the
Herodians to confront Jesus. Now there's an unlikely combination if there ever
was one. The religious sect of the Pharisees normally hated the political party of
the Herodians, and were hated by them in return. The only thing that was
stronger than their hatred of each other - the only thing they agreed on - was
their hatred for Jesus. If Jesus really was the Messiah, as He claimed, then the
Pharisees were afraid He'd loosen their spiritual strangle hold on the Jews. If
Jesus really was a great King, the Herodians feared, then their days as a political
power were numbered. So they got together and plotted against Jesus. How to
get this troublemaker out of the way...?

The scheme they came up with was an ingenious one. They'd entangle Jesus in
His talk. They'd ask Him a question He couldn't possibly answer: "Is it right to
pay taxes to Caesar, or not?" If He said, "Yes, you must pay taxes to Caesar,"
the common people would turn away from Him, because everyone hated the
Roman government. They saw the Romans as infringing on their religion, by
denying them their right to govern themselves as God's People. On the other
hand, if Jesus said, "No, don't pay taxes to Caesar," well, better yet! Then they
could turn Him over to the Roman governor and He'd be executed as a rebel
and a traitor.

They gave Jesus an "either-or" choice. "Either we allow the Romans to govern
us, and deny our religion, or we acknowledge only God as our Ruler, and defy
the Romans." Jesus, of course, saw through their plot right away. Jesus
perceived their wickedness, and said, Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites? Show
me the tribute money. And they brought unto him a penny. Then Jesus
proceeded escape from their cleverly-laid trap, merely by holding up that coin
and asking them a simple question - "Whose picture is this?" "Caesar's," they
said impatiently; any child could see that! Then saith he unto them, Render
therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things
that are God's. With a simple maneuver, Jesus put His finger on the flaw in their
reasoning - it's not an "either-or" question at all...but "both-and". Believers
have a duty both to their government and to God. For us Christians in the
United States, the meaning of Jesus' lesson is obvious: we are both citizens of
America and citizens of Heaven.

Jesus said, first of all, "Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's." "Pay
the government what you owe to the government!" our Savior tells us, and He's
not just talking about forking over our income tax on April 15th. We are
citizens of this great, free country of America. The freedoms we enjoy bring
with them responsibilities, however. If we ignore that fact, or take our
responsibilities as citizens lightly, we're not only being bad Americans, we're
being bad Christians.

There is a careful separation between church and state in our country, and we
can be thankful that there is. That certainly doesn't mean, however, that our
God has nothing to do with our government! Ask yourself - who is it who gave
us the democratic form of government we enjoy in the first place? The Almighty
God is the One who established this government (and every other one, for that
matter). The founding fathers of this nation recognized that fact, and no
amount of sneering from the arrogant unbelievers of our own day can change it.
We owe our allegiance to our country, first of all, because God gave us our
country! Paul says, "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." Rom 13:1.

How does the Lord expect us to fulfil our duties as citizens of America? By
obeying its laws. By paying its taxes. But also by being involved, as individuals,
in shaping the course our country will take in the future. "Rendering unto
Caesar" means that you've got responsibilities. You can't just sit back with your
evening paper and complain about the terrible shape our country's in - that's too
easy. In America - thank God! - you can do something about it!

"But what can I do?" you ask. There are a lot of things you can do - first and
most important, you can pray. Scripture promises that "...The effective, fervent
prayer of a righteous man avails much." Pray for your local leaders, your state
representatives, your congressmen and your president. Remember to regularly
ask the Lord's blessings on our government. Secondly, get informed on the
issues. Find out where specific candidates stand on specific issues. It takes
time, but it's worth it. Write to your elected representatives. Let them know
about the issues that concern you. Finally, get registered in your political
precinct and vote. Do you think your one vote doesn't make a difference?
Believe it or not, every year in this country, hundreds of elections are won or
lost by just one vote per precinct! If you value the blessings of free speech and
freedom of the press, if you thank God for the blessing of freedom of religion -
then exercise your American citizenship and work to preserve those freedoms!

Jesus reminds us that we have a solemn obligation to serve our government as
citizens of the country in which we live. But His main point is to remind us of a
greater allegiance we all have: we are first and foremost citizens of heaven! And
Jesus says, "Render unto God the things that are God's."

I'm afraid that that heavenly citizenship is something we don't think about too
often. If someone asked you what country you were from, you're answer would
be automatic - "I'm an American." In a more important way, though, we are
citizens of heaven. Our president is Jesus, our nationality is Christian, and our
homeland is heaven. A few minutes ago we spoke the Christian "Pledge of
Allegiance" when we confessed our faith according to the Apostles Creed.

In the Second Article of that Creed lies the reason we can call ourselves
citizens of heaven - "And I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who
was born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead
and buried. He descended into hell, and the third day He rose again from the
dead..." You see, this isn't a citizenship that we're born into. This is a
citizenship that had to be purchased for us. Jesus bought it for us when He gave
up His life on the cross. We didn't work for it, or earn it; it was simply given to
us as a free gift of God's grace. When the Holy Ghost brought us to faith in
Jesus, so that we placed our whole confidence in our Savior for the forgiveness
of our sins, then we became members of God's Kingdom, citizens of heaven by
faith in Jesus. As Paul puts it, in Ephesians 2: "Now, therefore, you are no
longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members
of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles
and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone." Eph 2:19-20.
For Jesus' sake, you and I have been rescued from hell and placed on the path
of eternal life. And our Lord will get us there! It's as sure as the fact that He
lived, and died for us, and rose again the third day. We are, even now, citizens
of heaven!

And, in the same way, our responsibilities as citizens of heaven really are more
like blessed privileges than grudging duties. We have the privilege to gather here
each week to listen to the Good News of the Gospel. We have the privilege of
praising our Savior with words and hymns. We're encouraged to call on His
name in prayer to supply all our wants and needs. We're honored with the
privilege of teaching our children about Jesus. We have the privilege of
participating in the extension of Christ's kingdom by sharing the Good News
about Jesus with other people. Above all, as citizens of heaven, we have the
blessed privilege of bringing all our sins to our Savior in repentance, and of
receiving His gracious forgiveness. In all of these ways, with our thanks and
praises, our time and our offerings, our hymns and prayers, our teaching and our
witnessing, we are "rendering unto God the things that are God's." After all the
blessings He has given us, I think you'll agree it's little enough for us to give
Him!

John F. Kennedy once said, "Ask not what your country can do for you; ask
what you can do for your country." As grateful citizens of the United States, we
would do well to bear that in mind. As citizens of heaven, however, that quote
is especially apt. We don't even need to ask what our God has done for us - we
all know that from memory: "He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever
believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." As citizens of
heaven, waiting to inherit that life, our only question in the meantime is -what
can we do for our God? In Jesus' name, AMEN.