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Title: Paying Taxes
[_01__] Jesus, in this
Gospel encounter with 2 of his adversaries – the Pharisees and Herodians
successfully avoids being “tackled” / arrested by their strategy and question
about paying taxes to the Roman Empire, to “Caesar”, or not.
Jesus holds up a
coin, showing Caesar, and says…sure, pay taxes to Caesar, in other words, take
care of your material and earthly responsibilities, but also render unto God
what belongs to God.
[_02__] A few years after
my friend, N._____, got married, he asked his wife what she wanted for her
birthday. She said I want a card with words.
So, he went out,
bought a Hallmark card, signed his “Love, N.______” name put in an envelope and
gave it to his wife. His wife was thoroughly displeased. Not happy on her
birthday.
No, she said, I
want your words, not the Hallmark words.
Sometimes, we may get the
incorrect idea that we can make ourselves happy or others happy only by doing
the material things correctly or checking boxes.
And , is it not
true that you – as a parent, or teacher or anyone who is responsibility for
someone else are called to deliver more than material goods.
EXAMPLE – Many years ago, when I first started at the
seminary, going to the seminary was a big change in my. I was very aware of all
the material changes I had made, I moved out of the place where I lived, put
all my things into boxes, moved them there, move some stuff to my parents
house, quit, left my job, all the people I knew.
There was a priest
in my parish, who was part of this journey from my “old life” to “new life”. Very
early in the 1st semester, in the fall semester, I saw him, he asked
me how I was doing. I said, everything's going well so far. And he said to me,
but “I hope so because nothing has happened yet.”
I was taken
aback insulted by this remark. But he had a point in that I really only done a
few material things so far. I had not yet put my own calling into words, I had
only signed the card, I had not put my own
calling into words yet.
[_03__] The message of the gospel is that God has a
deadline. And it is somewhat similar to a “tax” or system of “taxation”. How is
discipleship similar to a paying taxes?
Why is discipleship like
paying taxes? It's not because there's
a tax return or there's forms to fill out or the signatures of the IRS.
It's similar to a tax because
it is based on what we have. As Jesus says in the Gospel, those who to whom
much is given, much will be expected.
And discipleship is also about
making a payment and observing a schedule…. the reality of a deadline, and also
the reality of an extension.
I'm aware that I don't always
deliver to God, or love my neighbor, how and when I am supposed to do so. And
in this regard, sometimes I don't meet the deadline. And when I fail to act
justly, in a truly timely manner, than justice delayed is justice denied by me,
James Ferry.
I may miss the deadline. But
the Lord also generously offers us extensions beyond the deadline, to repent,
to reform, to go to confession, to start over. And to recognize that the Lord
does ask us sometimes, he may ask us for more than we think we can give.
But also he will reward us
more than we can expect. Any one of us may feel stretched, taxed, stressed out,
pushed beyond our limits, and to ask the question, what really belongs to me?
That's the question. That's
the tax question. That's a financial question what belongs to me what am I owe
the government on?
But it's also the question
that God is asking us to consider what belongs to you and it to recognize that
everything we have first comes from God and we're called to give ourselves back
to God in love of God and love of neighbor.
[_03__] Several years ago, a priest who had
educated me the seminary retired. His name was Father Robert and he was very
intellectually bright in Latin and Greek, but what I also knew him for was his
hard-working devotion to his parish.
Once, on a Sunday morning
after Mass, he went to a parishioners house with his tool box or tool belt, to
fix the broken garage door that would not close properly. This was an example
to me of the crossover between “Ceasar” and “God”
When he retired at age 71, he
moved to a new rectory where there was much work to be done on the floors, the
walls, painting, etc. At 71 years old and retired, he really did not have to
give back anything to “Caesar” in that he did not have to run his parish
administratively, but only be a chaplain and priest and be available to people.
But he believed in the
“hybrid” or “cross over of material and spiritual responsibilties.”
Does this cross-over and
hybrid reality not exist for you, as a parent, as a mother, father, as a
teacher, as anyone who is caring for someone else?
If you accompany, take a loved
one to the doctor or the hospital, this often involves “rendering unto Caesar”
by handing over the $25 co-pay and filling out all the forms …but also involves
“rendering unto God” by being present to someone whom you love.
When Father Robert got to his
new rectory where he was to retire, he knew the
knew the rectory/house needed repairs. He knew the place the plan was to
fix up the building the rectory the room that he was in, but there were also
limited parish funds to do. One day, the
pastor pulled up a carpet in the room of his residence. This revealed that the
floor was kind of messed up underneath the carpet. There were dozens or
hundreds of little nails sticking out from the hardwood. This was kind of
dangerous. The pastor assured Father Robert that this would be fixed the floor
would be fixed or re carpeted or something.
Within an hour, however,
Father Robert, however, took out his own pliers, removed every single nail
personally and made the floor smooth.
I think he financially saved
the parish a few dollars.
We live in a broken world in
which we are often cynical about taxes, taxation, government funding and
getting what we deserve.
Jesus himself was aware of the
hypocrisy of the question about paying taxes and whether one can achieve
“salvation” and “security” by doing only one or the other. The call is to do
both.
But, in giving back to God, we are also following in Jesus’
footsteps – who creates and a new law and a new order , he made the payment on
the Cross before we even got here and reminds us to love God and love our
neighbor with a hopeful attitude, not as a penalty from God but as a reminder
to give back for what we have been received. By our actions by our acts of
contrition and sorrow, by what we choose lovingly to do and lovingly to avoid,
we can render to God what belongs to God, thus receive a greater return both in
heaven and on earth. [_END__]
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