Render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God, what is God’s.
I think many of us think about this passage in two ways. The first is that Jesus was a pretty smart guy. He saw the trap that was being laid for him, and skillfully, brilliantly, he not only answered the pharisees question, but created in it an extraordinary teaching moment.
The second way we think of this passage is usually most in evidence around tax time, that time of the year when we have to render unto Caesar …. and complain in the process.
But I see in Jesus’ answer something much more profound. And as I contemplate Jesus saying these words, I can almost see him turn to look at me, a faint smile on his lips, and a discrete wink of the eye as he says “render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God, what is God’s.……“
Why? Because EVERYTHING is GOD’s !! EVERYTHING is GOD’s !!
God is not something separate from our lived experiences in life. That there are things that are God’s, and things that are NOT God’s. It’s all one package! It’s not like God is here in Church, and NOT there when I do my taxes. How did we ever start to think that faith and life were separate? How did we ever begin to think that God cared more for how many times we went to Sunday Mass, and didn’t care for how we lived our lives between the Sundays. How did we ever start thinking that our lives are not surrounded by, touched by, nuanced by, immersed in God within whom we live, and love and have our being. That our very lives, and their every moment, is a prayer. A “praise be to God”. Or in Hebrew – Hallelujah
I find this message no more eloquently presented than by the poet Leonard Cohen, in his song Hallelujah. There are many verses to that song first written in the mid-1980’s and which pushed the literary boundaries of the integration of the spiritual into the earthy and visceral aspects of living. Quite apart from the haunting music, the earthy imagery in the lyrics, the simple melody that powerfully stirs the spirit, In the verses most commonly sung, there is one verse that touches me most deeply. It goes ….
You say I took the name in vain, I don’t even know the name, But if I did, well really, what’s it to you? There’s a blaze of light in every word, It doesn’t matter which you heard, The holy or the broken Hallelujah: Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah
That phrase there’s a blaze of light in every word – it doesn’t matter which you heard – the holy or the broken hallelujah.
We like to think that the prayers of a “Holy” person somehow carry more weight than the prayers of one less-than-holy, don’t we? Yet scripture tells us again and again the opposite. Indeed, what is most important is not the pray-er’s holiness in the eyes of the world, but rather their authenticity in the eyes of God. Or as Cohen says .. it doesn’t matter which you heard, the Holy or the Broken Hallelujah.
So often we tie in our sense of Holy to the externals of our faith. So, entering a church, sitting in a pew, singing a hymn, are all seen as holy things in a holy place sitting on holy ground. If this time of pandemic, this time of distancing and seclusion has caused us to ponder anything, it has to be that holiness exists beyond the familiar pew, singing the favourite hymn within the expected liturgy.
What is the most holy is not the external trappings of our prayer, but it’s authenticity. And I have to believe that in these times of uncertainty, of worry, of fear, and of grief over lifestyle lost and lives lost – there have been many many very real prayers with God. Authentic and guttural conversations with God. Real, unabridged dialogue with God. A lot of “cold and broken Hallelujahs”.
And that’s ok.
Because we are all broken and wounded and in need of healing. And because Everything is Gods -our God is there with us in ALL of those moments. Always has been. Always will be. We all struggle in our lives in one way or another. Yet in the midst of doubt and fear we find the energy to look to God for help.
So, whether it is in these moments when we struggle with the pandemic, or at the end of our lives in earth, you and I stand before God, authentic, real, no pretences, totally revealed, with nothing on our lips but a word of praise – Hallelujah. Rendering unto God what is God’s. As it should be.