The Judeo-Christian confession is that “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein; for God has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers.” In this morning’s introit, David took those words from Psalm 24 and expressed them simply, “The earth is God’s; the world belongs to God, and everything in the world is in Him.”
There’s a radical idea—we confess it, read it in the Bible, and sing it in the song; what does it mean to us, that everything in the world belongs to God? Does it actually affect how we view the world? Does it change us in any way? Or is it just Sunday morning stuff?
In Genesis we read that we are created in the image of God. We bear God’s image and likeness. Whose inscription is on our face, but God’s? If we belong to God, then we are called to look like God in what we say and do. Again, Sunday morning stuff or a faith stance that shapes our lives and decisions and actions?
And another question—if everything belongs to God, what about Caesar? What about government and laws and taxes? All of us count ourselves fortunate that we live in a democracy, that we live in the United States, that our government is basically stable, that we have freedom of religion and speech, that people can gather in the streets and start a public conversation about things they care deeply about. We do belong to Caesar, too. Government is necessary, so are laws and taxes and citizen participation.
Jesus’ words to render to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s have at times been used to make nice, neat distinctions between the sacred and the secular; the private and public spheres. They have been interpreted to support the idea of separation of church and state. Yet, this is a modern concept, not an ancient one. Understood in our First Amendment, it means the government shall not establish a state religion, nor shall it prevent the free exercise of religion. Separation of church and state is not about keeping our own spiritual lives neatly compartmentalized from our everyday social, political and economic lives and decision-making.
