“Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”
- St. Matthew 22:21
Those of us who are converts from Anglicanism probably remember the old “Offices of Instruction” in the 1928 Book of Common Prayer. We may recall what we were taught about our duty under the commandment, “Thou shalt not steal.” We were instructed that it meant: “To keep my hands from picking and stealing: To be true and just in all my dealings.”
It is a simple instruction, but there is great wisdom in it. It recognizes that stealing takes more than one form. The first is the obvious act of taking what belongs to another. The second, less obvious but potentially more destructive, is the deliberate refusal to be truthful and just in our dealings with others.
Children must be taught to resist the temptation to take what is not theirs. Parents who teach their children to respect the property of others are helping them develop the discipline necessary for an honest life. The impulse to take something simply because we want it is neither innocent nor harmless.
The consequences of theft extend beyond the immediate victim. When merchandise is stolen from a shop, the loss is often passed on to customers through higher prices. Those who suffer most are frequently the sick, widows, orphans, and elderly people living on limited incomes. In some neighborhoods, businesses have been driven away by persistent theft, leaving residents without convenient access to essential goods.
Yet the second kind of stealing may be even more damaging, and that is failing to be true and just in all our dealings. The pursuit of truth and justice requires effort, but so does their deliberate rejection. While ordinary theft can destroy a business, dishonesty and injustice can undermine an entire church, society, or nation.
People make mistakes, of course, but honest people try to learn from them. They seek to understand what is right and strive to live accordingly. Dishonest people, however, may deliberately avoid the truth because it is inconvenient or because selfishness offers a more attractive course. No matter how many laws we enact to protect the innocent and punish the guilty, human laws cannot succeed fully when the law of God is despised.
We cannot expect others to be honest if we refuse to examine our own conduct. Because we were marked by original sin, the pursuit of truth and justice requires a lifelong effort. It is Christ who provides for our failures, offering His Father's pardon whenever we repent and confess our sins. His mercy does not excuse our wrongdoing; rather, it enables us to turn away from it and begin again.
This need for truth and justice stands behind our Lord's encounter with the Scribes and Pharisees when they questioned Him about paying taxes to Caesar. Their question was not an honest request for instruction. They were attempting to trap Him. If Jesus approved the tax, they could accuse Him of cooperating with the Roman occupiers. If He opposed it, they could denounce Him to the Roman authorities as a revolutionary.
Jesus asked them to show Him the coin used to pay the tax. They produced a Roman coin bearing Caesar's image and inscription. Under the strict interpretation of Jewish ritual purity that His questioners professed to observe, their handling of such an image presented an uncomfortable contradiction. They had come to challenge Jesus while carrying the very currency of the Roman system.
Their hypocrisy was exposed. Jesus then gave His memorable answer: “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”
The word "render" is essential to understanding this teaching. It means giving someone what is rightfully due to him. Paying a legitimate debt is not an act of generosity; it is the fulfillment of an obligation. Those who used the currency of the Roman government and benefited from the order it maintained had responsibilities within that system. Refusing to meet a legitimate obligation would itself be an act of injustice.
Christ's teaching, however, does not end with our obligations to earthly rulers. We must also render to God what belongs to Him. The statement “We have no king but Caesar” (John 19:15) was spoken by those who rejected Christ's kingship. Our Lord Jesus Christ is the King of kings and Lord of lords. Whatever legitimate authority earthly rulers possess exists under the sovereignty of God.
No government can claim the worship that belongs to God alone. Our civil responsibilities are real, but they do not cancel our supreme allegiance to Christ. We are called to be responsible citizens while remembering that our ultimate loyalty belongs to the One who created and redeemed us.
What, then, do we owe God?
We owe Him our praise, our thanksgiving, our obedience, and our worship. We owe Him the faithful use of the gifts He has entrusted to us. Our lives themselves belong to Him, because He is our Creator and Redeemer.
The biblical teaching concerning first fruits and tithes expresses this truth. First fruits were offered to God as an acknowledgment that all blessings ultimately come from Him. The tithe represented a portion set aside for His service. These offerings were not simply whatever remained after every personal desire had been satisfied. They acknowledged God's prior claim upon what His people possessed.
Our lives, considered in their entirety, are an offering to God. We cannot divide our existence into one part that belongs to Him and another part over which He has no claim. Nor should we regard our material possessions as entirely our own, forgetting the One who has provided them.
We must not imagine that our generation faces difficulties unknown to those who came before us. Every age has its burdens and responsibilities. Our Lord Himself was born in Bethlehem when His parents went there in connection with the Roman census to determine taxes. Yet we sometimes behave as though our financial obligations and personal responsibilities make generosity impossible.
Money is not always the real issue. Even those who possess great wealth can convince themselves that they need just a little more. The deeper question is whether we recognize our responsibility to God and are willing to act upon it.
We cannot sincerely ask God to bless our lives while deliberately refusing to obey Him. We cannot convert the world to a Faith that we do not practice. We cannot adequately help the poor and the weak if we refuse to use the time, talents, and resources God has given us for their benefit.
Saint Paul reminds us, “Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap” (Galatians 6:7). Christian generosity requires us to let go of something, trusting God to use our offerings for His purposes. We need not give in the expectation of receiving a greater material reward. Rather, we give because everything we possess is ultimately His, and because love of God must express itself in action.
The Scriptures speak with particular directness through the prophet Malachi: “Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me ... in tithes and offerings” (Malachi 3:8). These words challenge us to consider whether we have withheld from God what we ought to offer faithfully and willingly.
Truth and justice require courage. We need courage to be honest when dishonesty seems advantageous, to fulfill our obligations when doing so is inconvenient, and to give generously when selfishness urges us to keep everything for ourselves. We find that courage in Christ, who offered Himself completely for our salvation and continues to build His Church through the faithful service of His people.
Our support of the Church is not merely a contribution to an organization. It helps sustain the worship of God, the proclamation of the Gospel, the administration of the sacraments, and the work of Christian charity. Through our offerings, we participate in the continuing mission Christ entrusted to His Church.
When we render to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's, we are not embracing some new principle. We are obeying the ancient commandment: “Thou shalt not steal.”
So we must examine our consciences. Are we truthful and just in all our dealings? Do we fulfill our obligations to our neighbours and to legitimate civil authority? Do we offer God the worship, thanksgiving, and material support that are His due?
By the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, may we become people whose lives are marked by honesty, justice, and generosity, rendering faithfully to every person what is rightfully due and offering to God the love and obedience that belong to Him alone.