Dual Citizenship

“Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.” (Matthew 22:21)

Have you stopped cheating on your spouse? That’s a trick question because no matter how you answer, “yes” or “no,” you incriminate yourself.  That’s precisely the type of question posed to Jesus in today’s gospel.

“Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not?  If Jesus answered “no,” he would have been reported to Roman authorities and arrested for treason.  If he answered “yes,” he would have been branded a Roman collaborator and lost credibility among his followers.  Aware of the dilemma -- damned if you do and damned if you don’t –Jesus skillfully avoids it by answering: “Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.”

What lesson are we to draw from this incident recorded in three of the four gospels? You and I possess dual citizenship: citizenship in political entities – national, state, local -- and citizenship in God’s kingdom.   We therefore have two sets of obligations, one to God and one to civil authority, both of which are like two sides of the same coin. A failure in our duty as citizens of either is a failure in our duty as Christians.

As citizens of political entities, we have an obligation to pay taxes that fund public services.  But obviously that’s not all because, just as importantly, we‘re also obligated to make sure that officials at all levels of government perform their duties competently and ethically.  Accordingly, we must be informed and faithful voters, who hold leaders accountable; who participate in governmental decision-making; who fearlessly voice our opinions; and who are willing to serve in elective or appointive positions.  We also must be willing to participate in community service groups that promote the public good like Rotary, Parents Do Care, PTSA, Greenpeace and the Red Cross.  Moreover, we must be willing not only to speak out against injustice, but also to work toward insuring that all members of society are accorded the same rights that we enjoy.   Our rights, after all, are only as secure as the rights of the least among us.

As citizens of God’s kingdom we likewise have important obligations, obligations that flow from the First and Second Great Commandments – to love God and to love neighbor.   Created in God’s image, our primary purpose in life is to become Christ-like in the way we relate to one another.  To guide us Christ gives us the example of his own life as related in the gospels and as reflected in the Beatitudes.

The Beatitudes offer a clear code of conduct, a radically different set of values for defining the ethical life.    For Jesus, blessings don’t result from achievements judged according to popular standards like wealth, power or social status, but from achievements judged according to divine standards like service, sacrifice, compassion and mercy.

 The Beatitudes, challenging conventional wisdom, call us to a deeper faith that runs counter to the superficiality of modern culture; counter to the notion, for example, that the good life is about looking, sounding or feeling good.  The Beatitudes call us to a faith rich in love and forgiveness; a faith unafraid of pain or persecution; a faith willing to risk everything in pursuit of peace and justice.  And oh yes… Jesus never claimed that following him would be easy. 

What happens if our dual citizenship leads us into conflict between what we owe to God and what we owe to civil authority?    The answer is clear.  We must resolve conflict so as not to compromise our primary obligation which is to God.  That, after all, is what Jesus did by dying on the cross.  St. Thomas More, who also died for his faith, in describing himself said it well: “The Kings’ good servant, but God’s first.”

In conflicts of conscience authentic Christians have been choosing God over Caesar throughout history.  They did it in Roman times when thousands of martyrs accepted death rather than worship the emperor.  They did it during the 17th century when thousands of European refugees fled to America to practice their faith.  And they’re still doing it in modern times.

Consider the case of Franz Jaeggerstatter, an Austrian peasant and father of three young children who opposed Adolph Hitler in the 1930s.  When Hitler’s armies marched into Austria and held a mock vote of the people to show that they approved of the invasion, Jaeggerstatter was the only person in his village to  vote “no.”

And when war broke out in 1939, Jaeggerstatter refused to report for duty in Hitler’s army.  He even refused noncombatant duty when it was offered him.  Finally, on August 2, 1943, he was arrested and executed by the military.  Jaeggerstatter had two obligations, one to God and one to his country.  When they conflicted, he chose to remain faithful to his primary obligation.

What if you were a Catholic living during the Third Reich and you knew that pursuant to German national policy millions of Jews throughout Europe were being rounded up and herded off to concentration camps for certain death.   How would you have responded?  How would I?  How did members of the Church’s hierarchy respond?  Caesar or God?   That’s not a trick question, but admittedly, it’s a tough one. Some were guilty, you see, but all were responsible.

Anthony J. Sciolino

29th Sunday in Ordinary Time
October 16, 2005.  (Cycle A)
Isaiah 16:6, 8;
Thessolians 1:1-5b
Matthew 22:15-21.