The Rev. Dr. Pamela Dolan
Beyond Right and Wrong
October 22, 2023
Text: Matthew 22:15-22
“In God we trust.” If you want to go down an internet rabbit hole, look up this phrase to find out it ended up on our currency. Or, instead of spending your day doing that, just trust me—it’s a lot. The super-short version is that this motto made its way onto American coins during the Civil War, essentially to proclaim that God was on our side. A half-century or so later, Teddy Roosevelt tried to have it removed, but there was such intense backlash that he retreated. And it was in the 1950’s, during the Cold War, that the phrase was added to our paper money. Religion, violence, money, and patriotism—a pretty toxic brew. No wonder the conspiracy theory crowd loves it!
The problem with the motto “In God we Trust” is, of course, that our constitution enshrines the separation of church and state, a separation that some Americans today worry is eroding, while others wish we could make the wall between them even more porous. In the Roman Empire, no such wall existed. That is why the coin, a denarius, bearing the emperor’s image plays such a pivotal role in today’s Gospel story—the emperor wasn’t just the head of the Roman government, the emperor was a deity, at least officially worshiped as well as obeyed.
Violence, patriotism, and religion were an especially toxic brew during the time of Jesus. Choosing a faith that conflicted with the official religion of Rome was tantamount to treason, because it undermined the emperor’s authority. Rebellions were put down with brutal efficiency; state-authorized terror was what made the so-called “peace of Rome” possible. The people interrogating Jesus stood on two sides of a political/religious divide: Pharisees and Herodians were not usually allies, but this time they were willing to come together. People on both sides of this particular divide saw Jesus as an enemy, dangerous to the status quo and to their own different kinds of power and authority. They had devised a question to which there was no safe answer, and they thought they had him trapped.
As so often happened, Jesus sidestepped the trap with elegance, leaving us with an answer that in turn raises its own series of questions. How do we know what belongs to God and what belongs to Caesar, especially when our faith teaches us that everything we have comes from God? What kind of relationship should followers of Jesus have with secular authority, especially when the empire or state is corrupt? I could go on, but I’m sure you get the point.
Much of this comes down to a question of loyalty. In baptism, we are marked as Christ’s own forever—at an ontological level, we bear the image of Christ every bit as much as a denarius bore the image of Caesar. This is why it is so important that we remember our baptisms on a regular basis. We need these reminders of what we believe and what we have promised, but mostly especially we need to remember whose image we bear, who and whose we are.
Perhaps it is the very divided world we are living in right now, but what struck me most about today’s Gospel passage is how Jesus refused to be trapped by either/or thinking. Some commentaries highlight the rhetorical, logical skill of Jesus in this exchange, as if his highest goal were to best his opponents. But I’m not sure I see it that way. It’s true, these men are portrayed in Matthew’s Gospel as enemies of Jesus, and even he calls them hypocrites. But Jesus is the one who tells us that the way we treat our enemies is a true test of who we are. It’s easy to love our friends and family, but people who love God will love their enemies as well.
And I wonder if maybe in this moment Jesus decided that the best way to show love to these men, his enemies, was to demonstrate that there is always another way, a way out of either/or, black-and-white, winners-and-losers thinking. Jesus was demonstrating a higher consciousness, showing how they and we can step back from dualisms and the frantic need to be right. Even in his anger and frustration, Jesus didn’t want to destroy his opponents—he wanted them to grow, to be curious, to see beyond their own limited perspectives. And perhaps it worked, at least for a time, because the men went away amazed. They were humbled, but not humiliated. And maybe this allowed for a new open-mindedness, at least for a time.
The idea that everything is a zero-sum game, that everything boils down to winners and losers, is always a trap. You know how stories often start with the phrase, “There are two kinds of people in this world”? Well…NO! Just no. There are myriad kinds of people in this world. There are infinite shades of gray. There are nuances, paradoxes, mysteries. That is what makes the world so beautiful and messy and complicated—and yes, at times, so threatening and scary.
I heard an extraordinary interview yesterday with Ben Ranaan, whose sister and stepmother were taken hostage by Hamas. Judith and Natalie Ranaan were just released on Friday night, and NPR was getting Mr. Ranaan’s response to the news. Scott Simon asked him how he was feeling, given that these two members of his family are no longer hostages, but they are still in a conflict zone. I’d like to quote his answer in full. He said,
“I mean, we’re a very peaceful family. And that’s what has made this whole situation so absurd—that Natalie and Judith aren’t politicians. They aren’t soldiers. They’re people who love people. And so our family is grieving in this moment of elation. We’re grieving for all the families that are still being kept hostage. We’re grieving for innocent Israelis and Palestinians who are caught in the middle of this horrid humanitarian crisis.”[i]
Being people who love people. Grieving in a moment of elation. Having compassion for the innocents on both sides of a conflict, even when your own family members have been traumatized and victimized by the conflict. That rings so beautiful and so true. What a profound expression of humanity, of the human spirit. There is a humility there, too, a willingness to engage with complexity, that I find profoundly hope-inducing.
Humanity, humility, and a willingness to engage with complexity do not mean we never take a stand. I do not think Jesus is telling us to opt out or cop out. The fully engaged, fully alive human being will be called on again and again to step into the fray, to get involved, to care and to turn our caring into action. How else can we begin to love our neighbor as ourselves? But rarely will the solutions we seek to the complex problems we face be simple or obvious. We need to find new ways of working together, of practicing curiosity and compassion instead of judgment, opening ourselves up to new possibilities that can only happen when we set aside false certainties and oppositions.
Jesus makes this look easy. For the rest of us, it’s anything but. So let’s remember the inspiring words of the Talmud in addressing situations like this:
“Do not be daunted by the enormity of the world’s grief. Do justly now, love mercy now, walk humbly now. You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to abandon it.”
[i] NPR, Weekend Edition, October 21, 2023. “His family members were taken hostage by Hamas. Now they’re coming home.”
