Taxes, pride, and surrender: challenges since the time of Jesus
By Dean Collins
Taxes, pride, and surrender. These words stir our thoughts and emotions. The reaction to the first word usually brings a sigh of resignation followed by a complaint. I don’t think I have ever met a person who loves paying more taxes! Regardless of one’s income range, there seems to be a universal sense that others should pay more and we should pay less.
Of course, as with most topics, there is political division over taxes. In the United States, each party has what they believe to be the best answer to taxation that is fair and reasonable. There is little common ground. But as they say, taxes is one of the two sure things we all must deal with. (The other is death.)
Paying taxes
There was a certain Pharisee who likely did not like paying taxes any more than you do. One day he asked Jesus if it was lawful to pay taxes to Caesar. Jesus questioned the motive behind the question. He knew the Pharisee wasn’t sincere but tried to trick him into an answer that would facilitate an even quicker path to the agenda of the Pharisees, which was to get rid of Jesus. But Jesus said, “Give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” Both the critic and the Christ-follower knew that was an exceptional answer to a tricky question.
Jesus knew that human systems play a role in society. While Scripture is clear that the kingdom of God is both here but not fully visible, the Scripture also calls us to be submissive to governing systems of authority. When Jesus returns, his eternal kingdom will be made fully visible and there will be no more taxes, no more wars, no more injustice, and no more poverty. But in the now and not-yet world of our current kingdom living, we must reveal the light, love, and grace of Jesus without pride or pretense.
Avoiding pride
Just a few verses after we read Jesus responding to the question about taxes, we see him speaking against behaviors he had witnessed among the scribes. His description suggests that they flaunted their position and their wardrobe and spoke with a tone and vocabulary that suggested superiority. And apparently, they took financial advantage of widows and prayed high-browed prayers. There is nothing wrong with using big words when praying. But Jesus seemed to think that the words and way of these prayers were more for show than for surrender.
Jesus sat watching the behavior of the scribes and others as they placed their offerings. More and more I have noticed that churches don’t pass the offering plate anymore. Maybe it was because no one liked the deacons peeking to see if you dropped a 1, 10, or 100-dollar bill in the plate. If we were uncomfortable with the deacons looking, just imagine Jesus passing the plate or watching your online giving!
Jesus was apparently sitting close enough that he could see what amount people actually gave. He was unimpressed with the impressive-looking religious leaders’ gifts. He commended a poor widow who gave her last 2 cents. We might question whether she should have given all she had, but she seemed to understand that we give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and we give to God what is God’s.
Learning surrender
The widow’s gift was the perfect example of our third word today, surrender. With her offering, Jesus could see that she held nothing back. Her next meal and her next anything was now in the hands of God. If he provided, she would eat. Whatever her need, it would be God who met the need.
What would it look like and feel like to be fully surrendered to God? Does it require putting our whole paycheck in the offering plate? Do we drain the 401k and simply trust God to provide? Probably not. But these passages might give us a better understanding of our need to evaluate what is valued in God’s kingdom and God’s economy compared to what is valued in our human systems. As we follow Jesus, I suspect we will by necessity release more and more to his use and for his purposes and care less and less about the shiny things of this world.
Jesus ate with the rich and the poor. He did indicate that surrender to God comes more naturally to the poor than the rich. Passages like this one are not easy and they are not to be taken lightly. Each of us must wrestle with our own issues of pride and our willingness to surrender. And while we do, we will still need to pay our taxes.
Lord, today we choose to sit with your Word. We ask that your Holy Spirit guide us to understand the grip that pride, position, and wealth sometimes hold in our lives. Forgive us for our tendency to think more about the here and now and not enough about your kingdom that is here yet not fully seen. We surrender our lives to you. We include our possessions in our surrender. Teach us where, when, and how to use the material blessings we have to bring glory to your name and to bless those in need. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Your time with God’s Word
Mark 12:13-17; 38-44 ESV
Photos by Towfiqu barbhuiya on Unsplash
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