"Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar; and to God what belongs to God." What do we Christians and enfranchised citizens of a representative democracy owe Caesar in this time, in this place, in this most important election of our time?
We owe Caesar to keep Caesar in his proper God-intended place. Jesus was speaking from the Scriptural framework that earthly power is derived from God and that God works through earthly power to further God’s Kingdom purpose. The rabbis teach that the law of the land is God’s Law unless the law of the land contradicts God’s Law. In that tradition, St. Paul urges Christians to obey the law. Caesar’s God-intended proper function as God’s servant is to maintain order for a civil society, so that God’s People can live in peace. So Caesar is also our servant. And we Christians cannot give ultimate loyalty and allegiance to any servant. When Caesar the servant claims to be Caesar the master, Caesar becomes demonic. Then we must resist Caesar. Not only for our sakes, for the sake of our fellow citizens, and for Caesar’s sake. Nor can we divide our lives and the world into "two realms" ~ Caesar’s and God’s; sacred and secular. We cannot set Caesar equal to God. Our loyalty to Caesar is secondary to our loyalty to God. The coin of the realm bears Caesar’s image. We bear God’s image. God’s claim on us is all-embracing. Our loyalty to God is the context for our loyalty to Caesar. So St. Peter wrote to Christians, "Fear God and honor the emperor." We keep Caesar in Caesar’s place by living with integrity as Christians.
We owe Caesar our prayers. The Prophet Jeremiah told the exiles in Babylon, "God tells you to work for the welfare of Babylon and to pray on Babylon’s behalf for -- on its welfare - yours depends." Early Christians saw themselves as exiles in the new Babylon that is Rome. So like Jeremiah, St. Paul urges Christians, "Pray for the emperor." For Paul that meant Nero. And what should we pray? "Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." Caesar is not God. The nation is not the Kingdom of God. And no nation is a "Christian nation." Nevertheless, it is here that we must live the words we pray. We owe it to Caesar to pray to God to give Caesar wisdom to use earthly power in the service of God’s Kingdom values. We have a responsibility to pray, to expect, and to hold Caesar accountable that Caesar establish and govern according to such Kingdom values as justice, truthfulness, fairness, peace, the equality of human dignity of all, care for the poor, protection of the powerless.
And we hold Caesar accountable through our vote. So we owe it to Caesar that we vote. The voting rate of Christians is the same as that for all eligible Americans ~ 50%, the lowest voting rate of any Western democracy. For Christians, even more than a shameful failure of civic responsibility, it’s a sacrilege! We Christians are not to conform ourselves to the world - but are to be transformed by Christ into salt and leaven and light ~ agents of the Kingdom, working Kingdom values into society. So voting is not only our civic duty; voting is a holy obligation, a sacramental act, the central expression of Jeremiah’s call to participate in and be responsible for the good of the community in which we live. Voting expresses our stewardship. Voting holds accountable those we entrust with Caesar’s power. Christians are not to leave our faith outside the voting both. Pray before you vote. Vote what you pray.
"Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s and unto God that which is God’s." We are enfranchised citizens of a representative democracy. The power is ours. We don’t give it away. And we must never let it be taken from us or surrender it. We entrust it to those we decide are best able to be stewards of the power that will be used in our name. We owe it to Caesar. We owe it to ourselves. For we are Caesar. Isn’t that what the Declaration of Independence and our Constitution are about?
Fr. Ken